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The concept of ‘ageing well’ in ten Latin American and European countries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2009

R. FERNÁNDEZ-BALLESTEROS ,
L F. GARCIA ,
D. ABARCA ,
E. BLANC ,
A. EFKLIDES ,
D. MORAITOU ,
R. KORNFELD ,
A. J. LERMA ,
V. M. MENDOZA-NUMEZ  and
N. M. MENDOZA-RUVALCABA
...Show all authors
R. FERNÁNDEZ-BALLESTEROS*
Affiliation:
Department of Biopsychology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.
L F. GARCIA
Affiliation:
Department of Biopsychology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.
D. ABARCA
Affiliation:
National Elderly Network, Vilcabamba, Ecuador.
E. BLANC
Affiliation:
Department of Social Sciences, Catholic University of Uruguay, La Plata, Uruguay.
A. EFKLIDES
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Tessaloniki University, Greece.
D. MORAITOU
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Tessaloniki University, Greece.
R. KORNFELD
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine Pontifical, Catholic University of Chile, Santiago.
A. J. LERMA
Affiliation:
Del Valle University, Cali, Colombia.
V. M. MENDOZA-NUMEZ
Affiliation:
Unit of Gerontology Research, Autonomous University of México, Mexico City.
N. M. MENDOZA-RUVALCABA
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Mexico.
T. OROSA
Affiliation:
Faculty of Psychology, National University, Havana, Cuba.
C. PAUL
Affiliation:
University of Porto, Portugal.
S. PATRICIA
Affiliation:
Air Force Gerontological Centre, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
*
Address for correspondence: Rocío Fernández-Ballesteros, Department of Biopsychology, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049-Madrid, Spain. E-mail: r.fballesteros@uam.es
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Abstract

A review of several studies examining the lay concept of successful ageing and related concepts leads to the conclusion that elders from different cultures appear to agree on most of the components identified in the literature. From the research emerges a multidimensional conceptualisation of ‘successful ageing’ that is described on the basis of physical, emotional, cognitive and social domains, and which coincides with most theoretical and empirical definitions. The main goal of the present research is to study similarities and differences between concepts of ‘successful ageing’ in several Latin American and European countries and in two different age groups, and also to examine whether a similar structure of the lay concept can be found across both continents. The results show minor differences at item levels among countries, continents and age groups, and a similar internal structure across them.

Keywords

ageing wellsuccessful ageingoptimal ageingimplicit conceptlay perceptions
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 41 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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