Aging and wellbeing: investigating elderly preferences and values

Elderly health care is a contentious issue since elderly are seen as a vulnerable group with particular needs and wants. However, various academic fields doing research on elderly health care, quality of life, and wellbeing have found that within the elderly population, there are subgroups that differ in terms of health and wellbeing requirements. Our study focused on the very old elderly, usually 80-years and older, living in the Northern part of the Netherlands. We found that subgroups of elderly, based on dependency level i.e., living independently and looking after yourself, living semi-dependently and needing some help with daily activities, and living in an entirely dependent setting, influences elderly quality of life and wellbeing.

What became clear was that preservation of mobility is an essential factor for all subgroups, and seems to be a gateway to maintaining other health(cognitive function and physical activity) and non- health related aspects (social interaction and having a purpose) of life. Also, we found that osteoarthritis is a non-fatal disease that causes significant disability in the female population, while coronary heart disease causes substantial disability in the male population. After considering the results, we recommend a physical activity intervention, aimed at the aging population. It is however clear that the oldest old do prefer function preservation. Clearly, engaging elderly to actively preserve HRQoL domains is essential to regain a sense of purpose and control and to enhance wellbeing.