FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH QUALITATIVE WELL-BEING IN OLDER WOMEN

Evaluation outcomes of health promotion are framed increasingly in terms of client well-being and quality of life. The goal of this research was to identify factors associated with personal well-being experience in community-dwelling older women. The aim of the present study was development of a regression model predictive of well-being. The method was secondary analysis of data from a recently completed study which had included 161 community-dwelling older women, aged 65 through 99, living within a 200-mile radius of a major midwestern city. Data had been obtained through structured personal interviews including The Integration Inventory (II), a 37-item, validated Likert scale instrument, as a measure of the dependent variable, qualitative well-being (Ruffing-Rahal, 1991a). Stepwise multiple regression analysis designated five significant variables with independent effects on well-being: (1) Number of Health Concerns: (2) Perceived Ability to Actively Practice One's Religion; (3) Age; (4) Length of Residence at Present Address; (5) Education. With all five variables incorporated in the regression model, the R2 was .34. In addition, there was one significant 2-way interaction, the relation between Number of Health Concerns and Length of Residence at Present Address (p = .04). Findings highlight the interplay of personal and ecological factors, specifically, those of comorbidity, religiosity, and residence in relation to older women's everyday well-being experience. The implications for community-based gerontologic health programming consider: (1) interventions to sustain and enhance qualitative experience, i.e. well-being; (2) explicit integration of religion and spirituality into health promotion with targeted older populations; (3) domestic environmental features including length of residence as integrally related to daily well-being.