Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Methodology for Establishing a Community-Wide Life Laboratory for Capturing Unobtrusive and Continuous Remote Activity and Health Data
Published on: July 27, 2018
Keeping busy: a Yup'ik/Cup'ik perspective on health and aging
Scarlett E Hopkins1, Pat Kwachka, Cécile Lardon
1Center for Alaska Native Health Research, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks 99775-7000, USA. fnshh@uaf.edu
Objectives:
Knowledge of cultural beliefs about health and how they influence life choices and intervention is essential in forming health policy and health promotion programs to meet the growing needs of aging minority populations. This study explores cultural beliefs and practices of health and well-being of Yup'ik/Cup'ik women in two rural villages in southwestern Alaska.
Study Design:
Exploratory, descriptive qualitative study.
Methods:
Interviews were conducted with 15 mid-life and older women to address two key research questions: 1) How do Yup'ik/Cup'ik women define health and wellbeing; and 2) What environmental, social, and cultural factors contribute to healthy aging?
Results:
The women in this study define health aging within the framework of subsistence living-keeping busy, walking, eating subsistence foods, and respect for elders. These beliefs and practices promote a strong, active body and mind, vital components to healthy aging.
Conclusions:
While many health beliefs and practices appear very different from those current in research on aging, many commonalities and similarities emerge-concern for family, importance of physical activity and healthy diet. A significant finding of this study is that traditional Yup'ik/ Cup'ik ways of living parallel that of current research findings on what constitutes healthy aging in mainstream populations.
Related Concept Videos
Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
Concepts of Health and Illness
The Effect of Aging on Tissues
Dimensions of Health and Illness
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention I
The health belief model (HBM) attempts to predict health-related behavior in specific belief patterns. According to the HBM, a person's...
Cognitive Development During Adulthood

