Quality of life and social participation of the AUNEX older adults.

Name of the project

Quality of life and social participation of the University Classrooms for Older Adults of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (AULAS).

Dates

20/05/2013 – 02/11/2015

Coordinating Organisation

Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH)

Participating Organisations

Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH)

Name of the Call

Doctoral Thesis

Goals

To evaluate the general perceived quality of life of people participating in the programmes for older adults of the UMH, to know the type of social participation of the people attending these programmes of the UMH.

To know the profiles of the people attending to these programmes for older adults in relation with their volunteering activity.

To evaluate if there are differences between the quality of life of the people living alone and the people who live with other people.

MAIN CONCLUSIONS:

- The activity and social implication level can put aside the negative effects of ageing, thus improving their life satisfaction.

-  Social participation avoids the isolation of older adults, thus fosters the subjective satisfaction and their wellness generally.

- Social participation should be understood as a kind of social support that adds benefits to the individual.

- The University Programmes for Older Adults contribute to improve their quality of life, allowing them their continuity in the social participation and contributing to the eradication of the stereotypes about old age, as they are immersed in an intergenerational context.

- The social participation of older people must be considered as a vital necessity, required for their self-realization, which must be coupled with significant interactive activities, thus allowing the development of their potentialities and the improvement of their quality of life.