Kondale Gurara Teshome, Desie Yekoyealem, Adamek Margaret E
School of Psychology, College of Education and Behavioral Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
School of Social Work, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Aging Ment Health. 2025 Aug;29(8):1505-1514. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2025.2464711. Epub 2025 Feb 16.
While several studies from the gerontology and lifespan development perspective address the well-being of older adults, studies that directly pertain to the subjective well-being (SWB) of older adults from a resource-poor context are lacking. This study was conducted to gain insights about older adults' conceptualization of their SWB in Ethiopia.
We employed an exploratory qualitative approach to investigate older adults' perspectives of their well-being. Thirty-one participants, 20 men and 11 women, were purposively selected for the study. We used in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to collect data. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data.
The analysis yielded six prominent themes: physical and mental health, family and social interactions, financial stability and security, optimism and autonomy, religious faith and practices, and the opportunity to work and contribute to the community.
The study provided insights about older adults' conceptualization of well-being from a low-income country context. Older adults viewed their well-being holistically as a combination of physical, mental, family, social, financial, religious, and community dimensions. The findings point to a need for comprehensive and contextually-relevant psychosocial and economic interventions and rehabilitative plans to enhance older adults' well-being.
虽然从老年学和寿命发展角度开展的多项研究探讨了老年人的幸福状况，但缺乏直接针对资源匮乏背景下老年人主观幸福感（SWB）的研究。开展这项研究是为了深入了解埃塞俄比亚老年人对其主观幸福感的概念化理解。
我们采用探索性定性研究方法来调查老年人对自身幸福的看法。该研究特意选取了31名参与者，其中20名男性和11名女性。我们通过深入访谈和焦点小组讨论来收集数据。采用主题分析法对数据进行分析。
分析得出六个突出主题：身心健康、家庭与社会互动、经济稳定与保障、乐观与自主、宗教信仰与实践以及工作和为社区做贡献的机会。
该研究提供了关于低收入国家背景下老年人幸福概念化理解的见解。老年人从整体上将其幸福视为身体、心理、家庭、社会、经济、宗教和社区等维度的综合体现。研究结果表明需要制定全面且符合实际情况的心理社会和经济干预措施以及康复计划，以提高老年人的幸福感。
