Social Participation in Very Old Age: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Findings From BASE

Abstract

Social participation, defined as socially oriented sharing of individual resources, is often regarded as an important criterion of quality of life in old age. We distinguished three types of participation with respect to content, context, and resources required to participate: collective, productive, and political participation. Data from the multidisciplinary Berlin Aging Study were used to describe social participation of a very old population and to examine individual differences and changes over time. Analyses showed that social participation is cumulative. Individuals who engaged in political activities also took part in the other two types, and those who engaged in productive activities also participated in collective activities. Although many persons changed their social participation over the 4-year period, the cumulative pattern within the population remained unchanged. Educational and occupational resources were positively related to the intensity of social participation in old age, but changes in social participation could be better explained by age and health.

Accomplishment level and satisfaction with social participation of older adults: association with quality of life and best correlates

“…In agreement with many studies [2,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30], younger age and the absence of recent stressing events contributed to best explain a higher accomplishment level of social participation, while better self-perceived health best explained greater satisfaction with social participation. Stressing events can impede social participation.…”

“…Moreover, to our knowledge, no study aimed at identifying the correlates of satisfaction with social participation. Correlates of accomplishment level of social participation identified in the literature [2,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] are personal factors such as gender, age, and education; health status and impairment (including disease category, comorbidity, self-perceived health, and wellbeing); level of activity; and physical and social environment. With the same participants, identifying the variables that best explain accomplishment level and satisfaction with social participation can help to better understand the specificity of these two concepts.…”

Factors associated with Spanish older people’s membership in political organizations: the role of active aging activities

“…In their analysis of social participation, Bukov et al (2002) proposed, among other dimensions, that social activities may be classified as self-oriented activities (when the individual receives resources from the social environment) or socially oriented activities (when the individual contributes resources to the social environment). Taking these dimensions into account, it is possible to identify three different types of active aging activities: (1) self-oriented activities involving low investment, (2) self-oriented activities involving high investment, and (3) socially oriented activities which, by nature, tend to involve a high investment.…”

Associations Between Perceived Proximity to Neighborhood Resources, Disability, and Social Participation Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Results From the VoisiNuAge Study

“…One longitudinal study showed that, unlike men, the frequency of women's involvement in leisure activities was less affected by decreased health. 40 Such differences might be explained by prior social participation habits, 41 meaning of social activities 42 , different obligations and relevance of environmental factors. In the present study, more women lived alone and were single or widowed, they might have more social obligations (e.g.…”