Predicting wellness among rural older Australians: a cross- sectional study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Research on older adults' wellbeing often lacks clarity, using terms like 'wellness' and 'quality of life' inconsistently.
• Existing studies on older adults' health show mixed evidence, potentially due to varied terminology and measurement tools.
• There is limited research on the multi-dimensional construct of wellness specifically within rural older populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test an ecological model of wellness for rural older adults.
• To investigate the influence of intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community, and public policy factors on wellness.
• To address the lack of clarity and consistency in research on older adults' wellbeing.

Main Methods:

• A community saturation recruitment strategy was used across six rural case study sites in Queensland and Victoria, Australia.
• Telephone surveys were conducted with 266 community-dwelling rural older adults (aged 65 years and over).
• Wellness was measured using the Perceived Wellness Survey, with an ecological model incorporating intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional factors.

Main Results:

• Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that intrapersonal factors (physical health, mental health, loneliness, financial capability) and interpersonal factors (social network size, community participation) significantly predicted wellness.
• Institutional factors, resource base environment, and access to amenities/services showed only a marginal contribution to the wellness model.
• Community characteristics also made a marginal contribution to the prediction of wellness.

Conclusions:

• An integrated measurement model is useful for understanding the physical, social, and economic influences on rural older adults' wellness.
• Physical health was the strongest predictor of perceived wellness, followed by mental health and lower levels of loneliness.
• Social capital (social network size) and community participation also predicted wellness, highlighting the need for multi-faceted strategies to enhance wellbeing in this demographic.