Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
Health Service Center, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan.
Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2024 Mar;24 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):273-278. doi: 10.1111/ggi.14826. Epub 2024 Feb 13.
This study aims to elucidate what volunteering activities mean for older adults in Japan by analyzing their emotions and evaluations from hedonic (e.g., happiness), eudaimonic (e.g., self-growth), and social (e.g., social coherence) well-being.
The qualitative research was conducted to describe the subjective experience of older adults' volunteering activities (frailty checkups) in the community-setting. Eight older adults were interviewed about their experiences during these activities. The interview data were analyzed from two assumption frameworks: first, three aspects of well-being, and second, timeframes of well-being, during the activity, medium-term, and long-term. Previous studies have not focused on the polysemy or the timeframe of well-being.
Our results showed that hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well-being are not independent, but overlap. Furthermore, even if older adults experience certain emotions at a point of time, they may change in the long term. This implies that it is important to analyze older adults' feelings and experiences from not only one aspect but from different perspectives and measure their feelings not just at a particular moment but in the long term. This is the first empirical study to examine qualitatively the holistic experiences of well-being among older adults who volunteer.
We conclude that this study is unique in that it attempted to associate empirically the experiences of older adults during volunteering with their general psychological status of well-being. These findings could help make volunteering activities more meaningful for older adults and create or promote an active community. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 273-278.
本研究旨在通过分析日本老年人在享乐（如幸福）、幸福（如自我成长）和社会（如社会凝聚力）福祉方面的情绪和评价，阐明志愿活动对老年人的意义。
本研究采用定性研究方法，描述了社区环境中老年人志愿活动（虚弱检查）的主观体验。对 8 名老年人进行了有关其活动经历的访谈。访谈数据从两个假设框架进行分析：首先是幸福感的三个方面，其次是活动期间、中期和长期的幸福感时间框架。以前的研究没有关注幸福感的多义性或时间框架。
我们的研究结果表明，享乐、幸福和社会福祉不是独立的，而是相互重叠的。此外，即使老年人在某一时刻体验到某些情绪，他们也可能会在长期内发生变化。这意味着，不仅要从一个方面，而且要从不同的角度分析老年人的感受和体验，不仅要在特定的时刻，而且要在长期内衡量他们的感受，这一点很重要。这是第一项从定性角度研究老年人志愿服务整体幸福感体验的实证研究。
我们的结论是，这项研究的独特之处在于，它试图将老年人在志愿服务期间的体验与他们的一般心理健康状况联系起来进行实证研究。这些发现可以帮助使老年人的志愿活动更有意义，并创造或促进一个积极的社区。老年医学与老年病学国际 2024 年；24：273-278.
