Social Capital and Preferences for Aging in Place Among Older Adults Living in Rural Northeast China

Perspectives on the popularization of smart senior care to meet the demands of older adults living alone in communities of Southwest China: A qualitative study

Background

Older adults who live alone face challenges in daily life and in maintaining their health status quo. Currently, however, their growing demands cannot be satisfied with high quality; therefore, these demands expressed by elders may be settled in the form of smart senior care. Hence, the improvement in smart senior care may produce more positive meanings in promoting the health and sense of happiness among this elderly population. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of demands and satisfaction with regard to the provision of senior care services to the community-dwelling older adults who live alone in Southwest China, thus providing a reference for the popularization of smart senior care.

Methods

This study adopted a qualitative descriptive approach on demands and the popularization of smart senior care. Semi-structured and in-depth individual interviews were conducted with 15 community-dwelling older adults who lived alone in Southwest China between March and May 2021. Thematic analysis was applied to analyze the data.

Results

Through data analysis, three major themes and subcategories were generated: "necessities" (contradiction: more meticulous daily life care and higher psychological needs vs. the current lower satisfaction status quo; conflict: higher demands for medical and emergency care against less access at present), "feasibility" (objectively feasible: the popularization of smart devices and applications; subjectively feasible: interests in obtaining health information), and "existing obstacles" (insufficient publicity; technophobia; patterned living habits; and concerns).

Conclusions

Smart senior care may resolve the contradiction that prevails between the shortage of medical resources and the increasing demands for eldercare. Despite several obstacles that stand in the way of the popularization of smart senior care, the necessities and feasibility lay the preliminary foundation for its development and popularization. Decision-makers, communities, developers, and providers should cooperate to make smart senior care more popular and available to seniors living alone, facilitating independence while realizing aging in place by promoting healthy aging.

Neighborhood Environment and Mental Well-Being Among Chinese Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Social Capital

Background and Objectives

Neighborhood environments are increasingly recognized as associated with mental well-being among older adults. However, their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated mediating effects of cognitive and structural social capital (SC) in relationships between neighborhood environments and mental well-being among older adults.

Research Design and Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1,277 community-dwellers aged 60 years and older in Hong Kong in 2021. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale assessed mental well-being. Perceived age-friendly environment was assessed. Objective neighborhood environment was measured by the number of neighborhood facilities (e.g., transportation, community centers, leisure facilities) within 200-m and 500-m buffer areas from respondents' residences. Structural equational modeling was used.

Results

Perceived age-friendly environment regarding community and health support had a protective role on mental well-being. More community centers were directly associated with better affective-emotional well-being, while more passive leisure facilities directly lowered psychological-functioning well-being. Cognitive SC outweighed structural SC in mediating relationships of neighborhood environment on mental well-being.

Discussion and Implications

Our findings advance the ecological model of aging by providing evidence for cognitive and structural SC as mediators to explain the relationship between neighborhood environment and mental well-being. Policy implications for optimizing mental well-being in aging societies are discussed.