Taiwan has one of the highest life expectancy rankings in the world. The number of nonagenarians and centenarians has been increasing significantly. While longevity has become the inevitable trends both nationally and internationally, people would rather make wishes to “living long” while “living well”. Meanwhile, the objective terms of successful ageing criteria include no major disease and disability, high cognitive and physical functioning and social engagement. I am curious about if this group of very old individuals meet the “objective criteria? Are there subjective criteria from which may even better or more suitable to describe the participants as successful agers? My huge interests from this study are to explore the overlapping ideas of “living long” and “living well” upon the very old individuals. And what are the subjective criteria being successful agers when they have been successfully living in their 90s and even 100s. Hence, this study explored the experiences of nonagenarians and centenarians both in the past and at present in Taiwan. Qualitative interviews were conducted between 2022 and 2023. A self-report Health and Life Survey with 27-items were delivered before the interviews were held. The very old individuals who were unable to communicate spontaneously with the researcher or to talk without the assistance from family members would be excluded from the study. In total, 5 centenarians and 16 nonagenarians were included and interviewed. The findings showed mostly positive emotions and attitudes towards current life and self-growths and appreciation from past life events or experiences for better or worse. The relative growth of the very old population has the immense importance not only to individuals and family but also society and government in terms of tailor-made policies from further welfare, Long- Term Care and health design.
Date:
2023-06-12
Relation:
IAGG Asia and Oceania Regional Congress 2023. 2023 Jun 12-14.
