Abstract
Background: Chronic disease management has been the emphasis of research with elderly populations. Building upon this work, there is a need to examine protective practices and supports for the mental health of older adults. There are no Canadian empirical studies that examine those factors in relation to positive mental health.
 Aim: This study identified associations between protective factors and self-rated mental health for senior, community-dwelling Ontarians.
 Methods: A secondary analysis was undertaken to examine a subset of variables from the population-based Canadian Community Health Survey (2012) data. Statistical analysis correlated a range of extracted individual, social, and environmental variables for two major age groups of Ontarian seniors (N = 6,121), those aged 65 to 79, and those 80 years and older.
 Results: Positive mental health was significantly associated with marital status, co-habilitation, income, perceived health, life stress, and health behaviours. This grouping of personal and social characteristics lost significance for positive mental health among seniors aged 80 years and older. Regardless of the seniors’ age, flourishing mental health was predicated upon physical activity, positive self-rated physical health, and finally, limited life stress.
 Conclusion: Based on provincial data, trends in self-rated positive mental health suggest that key factors ought to be integrated into the delivery of coordinated and interdisciplinary services to protect the mental health of seniors.
Highlights
In 2016, Statistics Canada reported that there were 5,780,900 Canadians 65 years of age and older
Based on analysis of extracted data from the 2012 CCHS, it was determined that the majority of community-dwelling Ontario seniors (81%) experience flourishing mental health, a higher proportion compared to seniors in Canada (79%)
This study examined the nature of positive mental health among communitydwelling Ontario seniors based on a secondary analysis of publicly available data from the CCHS (Statistics Canada, 2012)
Summary
In 2016, Statistics Canada reported that there were 5,780,900 Canadians 65 years of age and older. The majority of these individuals, as high as 90% (Statistics Canada, 2011) reside in non-institutional accommodations, within the community Among this group of seniors, 83% report living with at least one chronic health diagnosis which has the potential to compromise their physical functioning (Chappell, 2008). Among Canadians, the frequency of antidepressant medication use has increased among both males and females identified using epidemiological data collected over a 15 year period (Simpson, Meadows, Frances, & Patten, 2012) These authors found no appreciable change in the prevalence of major depressive episodes or self-rated mental health scores during this same period. Results: Positive mental health was significantly associated with marital status, co-habilitation, income, perceived health, life stress, and health behaviours This grouping of personal and social characteristics lost significance for positive mental health among seniors aged 80 years and older. Conclusion: Based on provincial data, trends in self-rated positive mental health suggest that key factors ought to be integrated into the delivery of coordinated and interdisciplinary services to protect the mental health of seniors
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