Participation in formal learning activities of older Europeans in poor and good health

Stanisława Golinowska (), Agnieszka Sowa, Dorly Deeg, Marco Socci, Andrea Principi, Ricardo Rodrigues, Stefania Ilinca and Henrike Galenkamp
Additional contact information
Stanisława Golinowska: Collegium Medicum Jagiellonian University
Agnieszka Sowa: Institute of Labour and Social Studies (IPiSS)
Dorly Deeg: VU University Medical Center
Marco Socci: National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (INRCA)
Andrea Principi: National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (INRCA)
Ricardo Rodrigues: European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research
Stefania Ilinca: European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research
Henrike Galenkamp: VU University Medical Center

European Journal of Ageing, 2016, vol. 13, issue 2, No 4, 115-127

Abstract: Abstract Little attention has been given to the involvement in formal learning activities (FLA) in the older population when considering different health statuses. The aim of this study is to explore the extent to which possible predictors (derived from previous research as well as a conceptual model) of FLA differ for older people in poor and good health. Data are used from SHARE 2010/2011 for the 50+ populations in 16 European countries. Poor health is defined as self-report of having two or more chronic diseases assessed by a medical doctor, i.e. multimorbidity. Possible predictors of learning activities represent individual characteristics: functional limitations, demography (age, gender, marital status and household size), human capital (achieved level of education), employment, income and participation in other social activities. To assess the predictors of FLA, logistic regression models are used and average marginal estimates are compared across groups. In addition to multimorbidity, labour market activity is used as a grouping variable. The average participation of individuals in the group with multimorbidity was nearly 50 % lower than that in the group in good health (6.5 vs. 13.3 %). Regardless of multimorbidity, human capital proved to be significant predictors of FLA, especially in those active on the labour market. However, the associations were weaker in the multimorbidity group. Also, significant associations were observed of other types of social activities, in particular cultural and leisure activity and volunteering, with FLA. This study suggests that similar factors are predictors of FLA in older people with and without multimorbidity.

Keywords: Older people; Human capital; Learning activities; Labour market activity; Morbidity; Active ageing; Successful ageing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-016-0371-6 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:eujoag:v:13:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s10433-016-0371-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... iences/journal/10433

DOI: 10.1007/s10433-016-0371-6

Access Statistics for this article

European Journal of Ageing is currently edited by Marja Aartsen, Susanne Iwarsson and Prof. Dr. Matthias Kliegel

More articles in European Journal of Ageing from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().