Geographical life-space and subjective wellbeing in later life

Geographical life-space is an important factor to consider when studying subjective wellbeing of older adults. The purpose of this article is twofold: to provide an in-depth understanding of 1) the geographical life-spaces in which the lives of older adults take place and 2) the relation between life-space and experienced levels of subjective wellbeing. Seventy-six older adults (aged 65 and older) participated in our qualitative study. We applied a qualitative research approach, through combining indepth-interviews with visual life-space diagrams. Our findings show that most older adults continue to experience a high level of subjective wellbeing, regardless of the extent of their life-space. We conclude that the possibility to fulfill one's needs, even in a restricted life-space, is more conducive to maintaining subjective wellbeing than the extent of life-space itself

The associations of different social needs with psychological strengths and subjective well-being:An empirical investigation based on Social Production Function theory

The fulfilment of social needs is essential for human beings to function well and thrive, but little is known about how social needs are differentially associated with types of well-functioning. This study investigates how the three social needs as proposed by Social Production Function theory—the needs for affection, behavioral confirmation, and status—relate to psychological strengths (self-evaluation, hope, and self-regulatory ability), loneliness, and subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive and negative affect). Moreover, possible mechanisms are explored. Using the first release sample of the LifeLines study (N = 13,301) and four other samples (N = 1094, N = 456, N = 415, and N = 142), we found that the three social needs yielded a robust factor structure, and related differentially to gender and education. Their associations with all three psychological strengths were substantial. Affection need fulfilment related most strongly to both emotional and social loneliness, but the expected stronger association of behavioral confirmation with social loneliness was not found. As expected, affection related most strongly to life satisfaction and least strongly to positive affect, whereas status related most strongly to positive affect and least strongly to life satisfaction. Of all social needs, behavioral confirmation had comparatively the strongest negative association with negative affect. With regard to mechanisms, affection was found to have a partial indirect effect on life satisfaction via self-evaluation, hope, and self-regulatory ability, while status had a modest indirect effect via self-regulatory ability on positive affect. It is concluded that different need fulfillments make unique contributions to different types of well-functioning, implying that a mix of social need satisfiers (i.e. different kinds of social relationships and other social provisions) are needed for individuals to function well. This knowledge may support interventions and policy directed at both individual and societal well-being

The pandemic: experiences of people with mental health problems:A qualitative study on experiences of visitors of Stichting (On)Gestoord during the corona pandemic

Al twee jaar kan niemand meer om ‘de coronapandemie’ heen. Wat begon als een ziekte die alleen fysieke klachten gaf is uitgegroeid tot een ziekte die ook mentale klachten geeft bij een gedeelte van de bevolking. Belangrijke redenen voor de mentale klachten zijn eenzaamheid en het (bijna) niet kunnen ondernemen van sociale activiteiten buitenshuis. Opvallend is dat huidige bevindingen uit recent onderzoek over de impact van de pandemie vooral gebaseerd zijn op verhalen van mensen zonder achtergrond in de geestelijke gezondheidszorg (ggz). Eenzaamheid onder mensen met een achtergrond in de ggz is echter vaak hoger en hun sociale netwerk kleiner; de coronapandemie kan een hele andere invloed op deze groep hebben gehad. De impact die de pandemie heeft op mensen die al een ggz-achtergrond hebben is interessant om te onderzoeken.Stichting (On)Gestoord in Groningen biedt een plek aan mensen met een achtergrond in de ggz in de breedste zin van het woord. De bezoekers hebben te maken (gehad) met een vorm van ggz, maar hoeven niet te zijn gediagnosticeerd. Deze mensen hebben zelf behoefte aan ontmoetingen met anderen waarin ze de ruimte krijgen om zichzelf te kunnen zijn. Vanuit Stichting (On)Gestoord kwam de vraag over wat de ervaringen zijn van de bezoekers van de stichting gedurende het eerste anderhalf jaar van de coronapandemie. De vraagstelling binnen dit onderzoek luidt: “Hoe hebben bezoekers van Stichting (On)Gestoord de coronapandemie met betrekking tot hun (mentale) welbevinden ervaren?”Op basis van de Sociale Productie Functie theorie (Lindenberg, 1996) en de theorie van Zelf-Management-van-Welbevinden (Steverink, 2014) is een topiclijst ontworpen. Op basis van de topiclijst is een semigestructureerd interview opgezet en is er een enquête met open vragen opgesteld. Er hebben elf participanten deelgenomen aan dit onderzoek. Bij vijf participanten is een semigestructureerd interview afgenomen, en zes participanten hebben eenenquête ingevuld. Deze mensen participeerden in de maanden juni tot en met oktober 2021. De interviews hebben op verschillende manieren plaatsgevonden, via een digitale verbinding zoals Google Meet of Skype en face-to-face op een ontmoetingsmiddag bij Stichting (On)Gestoord. De enquêtes zijn ingevuld via het systeem van de website Onderzoek DoenUit de resultaten blijkt dat er geen eenduidig antwoord op de onderzoeksvraag te geven is. Iedere participant heeft unieke ervaringen gehad en beleefde de coronapandemie op een andere manier. De pandemie is door een deel van de participanten ervaren als een lastige tijd. Anderen ervaarden geen of weinig invloed. Een enkeling gaf aan dat de coronapandemie een positieve invloed heeft gehad

The Bigger Picture:Research Strategy for a Photo-Elicitation Study Investigating Positive Health Perceptions of Older Adults With Low Socioeconomic Status

Research focussing on older adults of low socioeconomic status (SES) faces several methodological challenges, including high rates of non-response and drop-out. In addition, older adults of low SES tend to be less willing to participate in research and are more likely to experience cognitive impairments and literacy problems. Photo-elicitation studies do not require high levels of literacy, and they might therefore be suitable for use in research with older adults of low SES. To date, however, little is known about setting up such studies with this target group. Our aim was to demonstrate how we systematically set up a researcher-driven photo-elicitation study to generate greater insight into the positive health perceptions of older adults of low SES. Our strategy consisted of three phases: development, testing and execution. In this article, we discuss each step of the research strategy and describe the limitations and strengths of our study. We also formulate recommendations for further research using photo-elicitation methods with this target group. Based on the results of this study, we conclude that the use of researcher-driven photo-elicitation is a powerful tool for enhancing understanding with regard to positive health perceptions and experiences of older adults of low SES. The usefulness of the method is particularly dependent on the careful development and testing of the study

Determinants of participation in voluntary work:a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies

Background: Participation in voluntary work may be associated with individual and societal benefits. Because of these benefits and as a result of challenges faced by governments related to population ageing, voluntary work becomes more important for society, and policy measures are aimed at increasing participation rates. In order to effectively identify potential volunteers, insight in the determinants of volunteering is needed. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review including meta-analyses. Methods: A systematic search in MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SocINDEX, Business Source Premier, and EconLit was performed on August 12th 2015. We included longitudinal cohort studies conducted in developed countries that quantified factors associated with volunteering among samples from the general adult population. Two reviewers independently selected eligible studies, extracted the data and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies using the QUIPS tool. Estimates reported in the papers were transformed into Odds Ratios and 95% Confidence Intervals. For each determinant, random-effects meta-analyses were used to generate summary estimates. Results: We found that socioeconomic status, being married, social network size, church attendance and previous volunteer experiences are positively associated with volunteering. Age, functional limitations and transitions into parenthood were found to be inversely related to volunteering. Conclusions: Important key factors have been identified as well as gaps in the current literature. Future research should be directed towards deepening the knowledge on the associations between the factors age, education, income, employment and participation in voluntary work. Moreover, major life course transitions should be studied in relation to volunteering