Purpose: This longitudinal study examines the effect of social participation on mortality and cognitive impairment for the elderly in Taiwan. Methods: Data were from an elderly population panel in Taiwan ‘The Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly’ 1993–1999. Social participation was defined as paid/unpaid job and participating in volunteer and social groups. Logistic regression analysis was used for predicting the influence of social participation to 6-year mortality and cognitive function impairment, by controlling of socioeconomic status and health-related variables. Results: The elderly with continuous paid work were more likely to participate in social groups. Having paid or unpaid work at the baseline year could lower the risk of mortality six years later, especially for men. Having unpaid work was associated with a higher risk of impaired cognitive function compared to that of non-workers. Participating in a religious group reduced the risk of mortality for women and participating in political groups reduced the risk of impaired cognitive function for men. Discussion: Participating in some types of social activities may reduce mortality or cognitive function impairment in the elderly. However, different activities, gender roles and uneven opportunities for work and social group participation may affect the risk of these endpoints.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to apply group-based trajectory analysis to identify multiple successful aging trajectories by multiple indicators and to examine the factors related to successful aging among the elderly population in Taiwan. Design and Methods: Nation-representative longitudinal data collected from 1993 to 2007 and consisting of 2 cohorts were used, and the trajectories of the following 6 successful aging indicators were analyzed: chronic diseases, physical function difficulties, depressive symptoms, social support, social participation, and economic satisfaction. Results: Members of the cohorts fell into 4 groups: successful aging, usual aging (the older cohort)/insecure aging (the younger cohort), health declining, and care demanding. Successful aging trajectories reflected differences in self-rated health and life satisfaction. Implications: This study provides empirical findings of the heterogeneity of successful aging trajectories in multidimensional indicators.

The aim of this study was to examine the association of work stress, exhaustion, well-being, and related individual, organizational, and social factors, focusing especially on age differences in Taiwan. The data were from the 2015 Taiwan Social Change Survey. The participants were community-based adults, aged 18 years or older, selected via stratified multistage proportional probability sampling from the Taiwanese population. Well-being was measured by self-rated health and psychological health. Descriptive analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and linear regression analysis were used. Work stresses were related to three types of exhaustion, and exhaustion was related to well-being. Individual working style (being creative and using new methods), organizational factors (job satisfaction, work-family conflict, discrimination against women), and social factors (difficult finding a good job than older cohorts) were related to well-being. Older age was related to worse self-rated health, and age showed a reverse-U-shaped relation with psychological health. The resilience of older workers could be an opportunity for the global active aging trend, and interventions to support older workers in organizations would be beneficial.

The goal of this study was to explore the concepts of successful ageing held by elderly people in Taiwan. Data were obtained from the Successful Ageing of the Elderly in Taiwan survey of 2004. The sample was drawn from the population aged 65 or more years in one county in Taiwan by probability proportional-to-size sampling. The participants were asked: ‘What do you think are the essential components of an ideal and satisfactory life in old age?’ They were also asked to score the relative importance of 23 ‘successful ageing’ concepts. The replies to the initial open-ended question were grouped in six categories: physical health and independence, economic security, family and social support, engagement with life, spiritual well-being, and environment and social welfare policy. The most highly rated ‘successful ageing’ concepts were physical health, independence, living without chronic disease, living with family, and receiving emotional care. All the responses were subjected to a factor analysis, and five factors accounted for 58.7 per cent of the variance: family and social support, mastery over life, health, enjoyment of life, and autonomy. It is concluded that elderly people in Taiwan most value health and independence, and also place considerable importance on economic security and family support, which they see as inter-related. Many are also concerned about the social environment and social policy, indicating that their awareness of and participation in socio-political debates affects their quality of life.

Background/Study Context: This study aimed to identify the different trajectories of frailty and factors related to frailty among older adults over time. Methods: Data were obtained from a five-wave panel composed of older Taiwanese adults from 1993 to 2007 (N = 2306). Frailty was defined as the presence of three or more of the following criteria: shrinking, weakness, exhaustion, slowness, and low physical activity. A group-based model of trajectory analysis was applied with time-dependent and time-independent variables. Results: Three trajectory groups were identified: maintaining nonfrailty, developing frailty, and high risk of frailty. Being female, older, and having a lower level of education were risk factors for being in the developing frailty group or high risk of frailty group. Physical risk factors and psychological factors were associated with frailty within each group. Higher financial satisfaction and social participation were protective factors from frailty for the developing frailty group and high risk of frailty group, respectively. Conclusion: Older adults should promote their health physically, psychologically, and socially.