Social Activities and Subjective Well-Being of OlderAdults in Ghana

Abstract

There is growing evidence that participating in social activities by older adults improves their health, subjective wellbeing, and ultimately prolong their lifespan. However, in Ghana, there is a dearth of studies on the social activities of older adults and the relationship between social activities and subjective wellbeing. This study describes the social activities engaged in by older Ghanaian adults and explores the relationship between social activities and subjective wellbeing. Data for the study was obtained from the World Health Organization’s study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) wave 1. This report is based on 3970 adults aged 50 years and above who had complete data on all the variables measured. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between social activities and subjective wellbeing. The data shows that majority of older Ghanaian adults do engage in social activities. However, being female, not married, and poor health was negatively associated with participation in social activities. In addition, there was a consistent decline in subjective wellbeing with age across all measured aspects of subjective wellbeing—life satisfaction, subjective wellbeing and happiness. The data shows a strong association between social activities and subjective wellbeing. Furthermore, engaging in family and friends’ and community related activities was positively associated with subjective wellbeing. However, engaging in religious activities was not positively correlated with subjective wellbeing. It is recommended that policies that encourage older Ghanaian adults, especially the poor and women, to engage more in social activities should be enacted.