The importance of the university of the third age to improved mental health and healthy aging of community-dwelling older adults

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim of this uncontrolled interventional study was to determine the effect of a yearly educational course within the University of the Third Age on quality of life, life satisfaction, sense of coherence, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, attitudes toward old age, and older people’s perception of social support. The population included 121 community-dwelling older people who had completed a yearly educational course within the University of the Third Age (three educational modules: 1. Cardiovascular Diseases, 2. Mental Health, and 3. Neurological Diseases; 16 lectures and two practical lessons for each module). Psychosocial factors were evaluated using the following tools: the Older People’s Quality of Life questionnaire (OPQOL_brief), the Life Satisfaction Index for the Third Age – Short Form (LSITA-SF), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI), the Attitudes to Aging Questionnaire (AAQ), the Sense of Coherence scale (SOC-13), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and social support. After completing the yearly educational cycle, older people who had had lower scores for individual parameters at the beginning of the study were found to have a statistically significant improvement (p < .001) in anxiety, depression, quality of life, sense of coherence, life satisfaction, attitudes toward old age and aging, and perceptions of social support. To promote healthy aging, education at universities of the third age is recommended for lonely older people and older people with symptomatology of anxiety and depression.