Productive Aging and the Well-Being of Older Adults

Abstract

Given the current situation of the elderly in the Philippines, the study aimed to probe the relationship between well-being and productive aging among Filipino older adults. Other objectives include to profile older adults who are actively engaged in activities, to identify the motivations of older adults to remain active, to name the activities older adults engage themselves in, and to identify factors that have the probability of determining productivity among older adults. The study was done guided by the conceptual framework that productive aging takes into account the well-being of older Filipino adults and its subsequent factors ‘Productive aging which is generally associated with active engagement is tackled in the sense that “productive activities” are not confined to income-generating ones or volunteerism. Active engagement took into account the domestic activities. Hence, the term active engagement is not confined to only one aspect such as leisure or domesticity. It took into account the responses the respondents wrote and mentioned in their questionnaires. Aside from this, the study would like to contribute to the few number of researches done locally about the Filipino older adults. The study mainly used the qualitative approach in dealing with the said topic. It basically probes the subjective interpretation of older adults on their well-being and hence its relationship with productive aging. The variables, being non-parametric in nature were essentially restricted to non-parametric statistics (Spearman Rank Order Correlation) and mainly utilized frequency distributions. The study utilized the descriptive research design in accordance with the objectives. The respondents in this study are 70 older adults aged 60 and above. This included retired/retirable older adults both male and female within Metro Manila presently engaged in certain activities. The study utilized survey questionnaires both with closed-ended and open-ended questions regarding the contentment of older adults with their life with regards to staying active. From the written responses and interviews, the researcher analyzed the contents to come up with categories used to profusely sort out the variables needed to define accorded contents. Descriptive statistics using frequency and percentage distribution were used in the data analysis. Related literatures both from Western, Asian and Filipino studies pointed out that _older adults in different countries still remain productive despite the misconception that old people are worn-out and becoming disposable. The articles also cited the importance of the over-all well-being of the older adults to be able to remain productive throughout their lives. The importance of health, economic security, education, social support, presence of loved ones, and active participation on family and community affairs are emphasized in able to achieve productive aging. These things greatly affect the life satisfaction of the elderly thereby affecting their well-being. Governments of countries all over are aware of the situation of the aging population and therefore came up with certain policies promoting product..e aging and the welfare or well-being of the elderly. Non-Asian countries are actively supporting research about the elderly in order to come up with better ways of addressing the needs _of their aging population. This is also the same with Asia in general, however, when it comes to the individual research of particular countries like the Philippines, there are still much to be accomplished since there are only limited sources available. Nevertheless, Philippine literature came up with the core issue that older adults are still regarded with high respect in the society due to their contributions in the family and the community. In coming up with such a study in the Philippine setting, the respondents were profiled and where sorted out according to labeled variables. Demographics such as gender, age, civil status and educational attainment were cited. Activities they are actively engaged in were also identified along with the reasons why they do so. Their contentment were also cited and ranked on the following variables namely, health status and financial sufficiency, support from loved ones, and the activities they are engaged in. The respondents were generally contented with the said aspects and are generally ‘happy with life on the whole. The respondents also cited how being active has affected their life and gave out positive reviews Productive aging or successful aging is characterized by engagement with life, a low risk of disease, and high levels of physical and cognitive functioning. This also applies to the well-being of older adults. Productive aging and well-being of the elderly are intertwined and that one is the function of the other. They have the same predicting factors namely: health status and contentment, financial sufficiency, support from loved ones, personal disposition and active engagement. Such factors are related with one another which make-up the over-all well-being of the older person. A Filipino older person cannot be productive if he does not have a positive wellbeing. On the other hand, being productive also brings about effects which are mostly positive to the well-being of older adults. Being productive gives the Filipino older adults the feeling of importance and being needed. They give so much value on the aspect of ‘being of help or of service to others, whether be it family members or outside the clan.