Investigating Self-Care Agency and Well-Being of Elderly People

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between self-care agency and well-being perceptions of elderly people and to reveal whether or not self-care agency and well-being differ based on some socio-demographic characteristics. In the study, the data were collected by using Self-Care Agency Scale and WHO-5 Well-Being Scale from 394 elderly individuals residing in the city center of Burdur province between November and December 2019. In data analysis, descriptive statistical methods, one-way analysis of variance, two independent groups t-test, reliability analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis were used. The correlation analysis results of the study indicated that there was a positive and moderate correlation between self-care agency and well-being of the participants (r = 0.41). According to the regression analysis, participants' perception on self-care agency accounted for 17.3% of total variance on well-being. According to this, increasing perceptions on self-care agency statistically increased well-being perceptions (t = 9.069; p < .001). In addition to, it was determined in the study, while participants' well-being scores showed significant differences in terms of age groups, and their' self-care agency and well-being scores showed statistically significant differences according to the educational level.