Getting Old Well in Sub Saharan Africa: Exploring the Social and Structural Drivers of Subjective Wellbeing among Elderly Men and Women in Uganda

Andrea Rishworth, Susan J. Elliott and Joseph Kangmennaang
Additional contact information
Andrea Rishworth: Department of Geography, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802, USA
Susan J. Elliott: Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Joseph Kangmennaang: Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 27514, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-18

Abstract: While literature attempts to explain why self-reported subjective wellbeing (SWB) generally increases with age in most high-income countries based on a social determinants of a health framework, little work attempts to explain the low levels of self-report SWB among older persons in sub-Saharan Africa. Using the 2013 Uganda Study on Global Aging and Health with 470 individuals, this research examines (i) direct and indirect effects of age on SWB through social and structural determinants, and (ii) how direct and indirect effects vary by gender. Results show a significant direct and negative effect of age on SWB ( β = 0.42, p = 0.01). Six indirect paths were statistically significant and their indirect effects on wellbeing varied by gender. Providing support, education, working status, asset level, financial status and financial improvement were significantly positively associated with men’s SWB, whereas younger age, providing community support, participating in group activities, number of close friends/relatives, government assistance and all socio-economic variables were significantly positively associated with women’s SWB. Strategies to address gendered economic, social and political inequalities among and between elderly populations are urgently needed.

Keywords: subjective wellbeing; aging; Uganda; social determinants of subjective wellbeing; environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2347/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2347/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2347-:d:339058

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().