The Social Support and Attitudes toward Aging of the Elderly in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Ching-Ling Chen, 陳靜玲
• Other Authors: Tai-Cheng Lee
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/nrb3pm

碩士 === 美和科技大學 === 社會工作系碩士班 === 106 === Since the entry into the stage of aging society, Taiwan has witnessed the rising average life expectancy and the increased ratio of the aging population, drawing increasingly more attention to the issue of the quality of life for the elderly. To both live a long life and enjoy a good quality of life at the same time is not only related to the various objective conditions of the elderly, but also related to the personal perception and attitudes of the elderly toward old age. In order to understand attitudes toward aging of the elderly and its related influence factors, this study analyzes the data of 1,953 senior citizens over the age of 65 years included in the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (Seventh), conducted by Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2011, to understand the situation of subjective social support and attitudes toward aging of the elderly in Taiwan. The results of study show that the senior citizens in Taiwan are moderately and highly satisfied with the overall social support, emotional support and instrumental support received by them, and the social support received by them varies with the personal characteristics of gender, age, educational background, marital status, living style, health condition, economic status, and religious belief. Secondly, the senior citizens in Taiwan are biased towards positive in the overall attitudes toward aging, cognitive aspects and emotional aspects of aging, and their attitudes toward aging also varies with the personal characteristics of gender, age, educational background, marital status, living style, health condition, economic status, religious belief, and participation in learning. Furthermore, there is a significant positive correlation between social support and attitudes toward aging among the elderly in Taiwan. The study suggests, if the social support for the elderly is strengthened, opportunities for participation in learning are increased, the awareness of financial planning is improved, the knowledge and channels of consultation for health care are provided, and caring services for the elderly are enhanced, it will help attitudes toward aging of the elderly to develop in the positive direction.