Healthy life style does matters for community-dwelling older adults pursuing quality of life.

Project Members
  • Principal Investigator
    1. Prof. Li-Fan, Liu (NCKU)
  • Co-investigator
    1. Prof. & Founding Director, Su-I Hou (University of Central Florida)
    2. Prof. Helene Hoi-Lam FUNG (CUHK)
    3. Prof. Li-Chung, Lin (NCKU)
    4. Prof. Shyhnan, Liu (NCKU)

 

 

Enhancing the Quality of Life for an Aging Population

 

Researchers report how a healthy lifestyle driven by active physical, mental, and social elements can improve the lives of the elderly

 

The WHO promotes the concept of ‘healthy aging’ which encourages the continuance of physical and social activities throughout one’s lifetime. An isolated and inactive lifestyle is known to be harmful for our physical as well as mental health. Researchers now show how an active lifestyle ensures a disease-free, long life for individuals—especially the elderly—in urban and rural community dwellings

 

According to the United Nations’ (UN) data on world population, the present population is aging at a faster rate compared to the past. As the number of seniors keeps growing each year, it is likely to impact the economic, social, and healthcare resources across the world, highlighting the changes we need to make in our systems to ensure a healthy and dignified life for the elderly. To assist healthy aging, a multi-dimensional approach is required. This approach must include the participation of individuals as well as the larger society and public policy. This approach needs to focus on two aspects—first, delaying aging and preventing chronic diseases by cultivating healthy habits during mid-life, and second, providing long-term care for the elderly.

 

This is where the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Taiwan, and Worldwide Universities Network’s Global Research Group SDGs in Asia comes in. Supported by NCKU, the Global Research Group aims to conduct research that will help achieve the UN SDGs—particularly SDG 3, 6, and 7—in Asia.

 

In 2020, they started a research project focused on SDG 3—good health and well-being. In this project—led by Professor Li-Fan Liu of NCKU and comprised of Prof. Su-I Hou of the University of Central Florida, Prof. Helene Hoi-Lam Fung from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Professors Li-Chung Lin and Shyhnan Liu of NCKU—a survey was carried out among individuals aged 50 years and above, living in two urban and rural dwellings each, in southern Taiwan.

 

Prof. Liu tells us, “This project aims to explore to what extent the healthy lifestyle including physical, mental, and social factors influence on the health status of the community dwellings and their quality of life in Taiwan. Our goal is to facilitate the sharing of the best practices followed by different nations towards a healthy aging lifestyle.”

 
The first wave of this two-wave study was conducted between October 2020 to February 2021, on 1,032 adults. The second wave was done from September 2021 to March 2022 and had 1,281 participants. This project found that doing physical exercise led to a decrease in stress and depression among the elderly. Also, people who had a greater degree of social participation in activities like volunteering, visiting friends and connecting with the community had a higher quality of life, which is directly correlated with healthy aging—those with a higher quality of life experienced better aging attitudes.
 
The noteworthy factors affecting the wellbeing of middle aged and elderly people were found to be economic status, chronic diseases impacting daily health, number of children staying with them, daily exercise schedules, mental health condition, participation in social groups, frequency of laughter, spiritual health, and a positive perception about aging.
 
This project also found how the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the aging population. The effects of age-related comorbidities, high stress, lack of exercise and laughter, and isolation have a significant impact, leading to a decline in the happiness levels of middle-aged and elderly people. A combination of physical exercise and high mental resilience together with a sound economic status are important factors for the wellbeing of individuals in community dwellings. The urban dwellings show higher happiness levels than their rural counterparts.
 
A healthy lifestyle is a fundamental component of the quality of life. Prof. Liu also elaborates, “Though the definition of quality of life can vary from one individual to another, it is important to establish some common benchmarks around which public policies can be developed and implemented. By clearly understanding the mechanisms through which a healthy lifestyle can be provided, it will be easier to maximize its benefits for the aging citizens.“

The group has already published their findings in three journals and has spoken about this project in multiple conferences and workshops. Their work has been widely publicized and has been declared as an excellent community model by Global Views Monthly, Taiwan. Let us hope their findings, one day, are converted into better public policies for the elderly.
 
Reference
 

Authors

 

 

Title of original paper

 

 

Journal

1 Prof. Li-Fan Liu, 2Prof. Su-I Hou, 3 Prof. Helene Hoi-Lam FUNG, 1 Prof. Li-Chung Lin, 1 Prof. Shyhnan Liu

 

Healthy Lifestyle Does Matter for Community-Dwelling Adults Pursuing Quality of Life

 

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DOI

 

Affiliations

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1 NCKU, Taiwan

2 University of Central Florida,

3 Chinese University of Hong Kong

 
 

Caption: Workshop for the middle aged and elderly people in Taiwan as a part of the ‘Healthy Lifestyle’ program for enhancing Quality of Life

Source: Project Report of the WUN Asia SDGs group

 

 

 

About Professor Li-Fan Liu

Li-Fan Liu works as a professor at the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Taiwan. She has done her Ph.D. from Institute of Gerontology at King's College in the University of London. Her research interests are in areas like Long-term Care Policy and Management, Health and social welfare policy and Social gerontology. She is an active member of the UN’s SDGs related to ‘Good Health and wellbeing’ and ‘Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions’.

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