| Summary: | 碩士 === 臺中健康暨管理學院 === 健康管理研究所 === 93 === Objectives: The primary purpose of the study was to define and measure the productive activities among the elderly and to analyze related factors of participating in productive activities in Taiwan.
Method: Data came from a cross-sectional community-based survey “Successful Aging of the Elder in Taiwan” conducted at Miaolee County in 2004. All data were colleted by face-to-face interviews. The study sample was drawn from 720 subjects for 65 years of age or older by proportional probability sampling. The baseline response rate was 81.1%.
Participation in productive activities was defined as any activity that can produce goods or services of economic values, including paid or unpaid work. These activities included five domains: paid or unpaid work, help in family or friends with housework and activities of daily living, gardening, and attending volunteer work. The frequency of current status, past history, and interrupted years of participation were also investigated. Logistic regression model was used for analysis .
Results: The rate of current participating in any kind of productive activities was 60.1%. Helping family with housework was the most prevalent participation in productive activities(42.8%).
The major motivations of participation in productive activities were to make life more meaningful (72.8%) and to maintain their health (70.4%).
Most of the elderly who participated in productive activities believed that there were positive effects on their life or interpersonal relationship.
After controlling demographics, health-related factors, and social support in the multiple logistic regression model, the elderly who were older (OR=0.29 for those aged 75-79, and OR=0.18 for those 80 years old or over), living in Gongguan/ Jhuolan (OR=0.21), getting more chronic diseases (OR=0.83), and presenting with ADL disability (OR=0.23), had less probability of participating in any kind of productive activities.
Suggestions: From the findings of this study, it is suggested that the effects of participating in productive activities on physical or mental health will be further explored.
The government should enhance educational promotion about the productive activities for the elderly and general population, to encourage elderly participation of volunteer work in the communities, and to offer opportunities of employment and education for the elderly.
|
|---|
