Aging well : the effect of community and social resources on subjective wellbeing among older South Africans

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] My dissertation research uses a mixture of secondary data and aims to add to a small but growing literature on the factors that influence subjective wellbeing in Global South countries. The promotion of aging well has become a key focus of health policy as more of the world's population reaches advanced age. Robust, cross-cultural evidence shows that physical functioning and health generally decline with age, and declines differently for women than men. Yet, there is no consensus regarding the patterns for subjective wellbeing. Subjective wellbeing moves beyond traditional measures of health by capturing the intersection of an individual's life evaluation and the emotional quality of everyday experience. In my dissertation, I investigate the links between community resources, social relationships, gender and wellbeing in an aging South African population. My research confirms selected community and individual resources that contribute to increased subjective wellbeing. This work adds to a growing interdisciplinary literature that views wellbeing and quality of life as important metrics to populations' overall health.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology (MU)

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Missouri--Columbia

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Ralston, Margaret Louise

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Hermsen, Joan
• Schatz, Enid

Statement dc:rights

• Access to files is limited to the University of Missouri--Columbia with SSO login.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10355/45861

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/45861