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This study investigates the gender disparities and cohort differences in the health trajectories of older Chinese adults. Drawn on a nationally representative dataset from the 2008–2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, this paper uses a growth-curve model to identify the health trajectories of older adults in functional limitations, chronic diseases, depressive symptoms and cognitive skills. Older women are found to have slightly fewer functional limitations than older men at an earlier age; however, this gap is reversed later because of women's higher deterioration rate in physical function. Compared to men, older women have more chronic diseases at younger ages, but this trend is changed after age 90 years due to a faster decline rate in chronic diseases for women. The gender gap in the depressive symptom trajectories narrows with age, whereas the gap in the trajectories of cognitive skills widens. The cohort differences favouring later-born cohorts decrease with age in the trajectory of functional limitations. The latest cohort born in 1940 or after has the fastest increase in chronic diseases and depressive symptoms among all the cohorts. These results are further verified using the random-effect model and pooled ordinary least squares. Policymakers should promote gender equality and reduce cohort differences to achieve the national goal of "Healthy China". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been found that people with disabilities remain at the margin as far as the different aspects of their lives are concerned. This paper tests the hypothesis that disability leads to lower quality of life among older adults in low and middle-income countries. The data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) was used in this study which was conducted in Ghana, China, India, Russia, South Africa and Mexico. The disability scores have been made utilising Item Response Theory, Partial Credit Model and are centered on eight functioning and health areas. Bivariate analysis, binary logistic regression and pooled regression analysis have been used to fulfil the objectives of the paper. The findings reveal that disability acts as a hindrance in attaining a high quality of life (HQOL) amongst the older adults in the above mentioned low and middle-income countries. The older adults with disability are as much as 60% less likely to enjoy an HQOL with respect to the older adults without disability. Better socio-economic development like improved health care for disabled older adults with disability enhanced living standards for both abled and disabled, efficient pension schemes for older adults with disability and effective social service schemes would be very much essential to improve overall QOL among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carrying out investigations into the relationships between the satisfaction in old-age security and its influence factors is of great significance for safeguarding social fairness and justice. As powerful statistical tools in machine learning, the support vector machine (SVM) and back-propagation neural network (BPNN) algorithms are used to develop nonlinear estimation models for satisfaction in the old-age security in China. Five influence factors (educational background, educational satisfaction, satisfaction with family's financial situation, overall life satisfaction, society overall evaluation) were used as the input features. A SVM model obtained in this paper has prediction accuracies of 78.0% for the training set and 77.5% for the test, and a BPNN model possesses prediction accuracies of 77.8% and 77.0% for the two tests. Obviously, the SVM is superior to the BPNN in predicting satisfaction of old-age security in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though a continued increase in life expectancy is a significant public health achievement, keeping older adults active and maintaining their well-being is challenging. Active aging requires physical health, mental health, functional independence, economic stability, social participation, and spiritual identification. Among all these factors, social cohesion has significant importance, but there is a dearth of studies focusing on older adults' social cohesion. Thus, the present study focuses on the level of social cohesion among older adults and its variation among the different economic classes. This article uses data from the Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa during 2007–10. Social cohesion scores have been constructed using Item Response Theory Partial Credit Model. Also, bivariate analysis, concentration curves, concentration indices, and multivariate regressions have been used for the analysis presented in this paper. This study confirms the strong predictive power of age, wealth, education, and working status of older adults on their social cohesion across the countries. Higher social non-cohesion is found among the economically poor older adults in Mexico, Russia, India, and China. In contrast, it is just opposite in the case of older adults in South Africa. Governments should develop policies to foster a society with a high level of social inclusion, social capital, and social diversity, to achieve further advancement in social cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increasing awareness of mental health problems among older adults, limited mental health services are available to meet their needs. The proposed study aimed to evaluate the need for mental health services among older adults in Shanghai, China, and identify gaps in the existing service system to inform policy making. Based on 80 face-to-face interviews amongst several groups of older adults and community officers, doctors and government stakeholders, the study found that (a) the mental health needs of older adults living with family members mainly present as needs for social interaction, sense of belonging, and self-realization; (b) special groups, such as older adults living alone, mainly desire support to address loneliness, older adults with physical disabilities desire social respect, and those with mental disabilities seek social acceptance; and (c) community cadres and other stakeholders have paid little attention to demands related to mental well-being among older people. It is necessary to deliver mental health education to community stakeholders and the public, popularize mental health knowledge, and publicize professional psychological counseling and treatment services. Meanwhile, policy makers should allocate resources to train professional mental health services personnel to meet these growing mental health needs and increase financial support for mental health services for older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the unique experiences of the emotional processing of the widowhood of individuals of the Chinese seniors, and immigrant background in the United States. By interviewing eight Chinese immigrant widows living in Phoenix, the United States, this study focuses on the comparison of social relations and lifestyles before and after their spousal loss, as well as the unique forces of their Chinese backgrounds and the transnational remarriages in their bereavement process, and then widow status. The narrative accounts of the participants therein illustrate that transnational marriage and blended families generate a series of practical challenges, including unexpected severed friendships and inheritance disputes between stepmother and stepchildren. The consequences are reflected in the increase of self-loathing and low self-esteem, the refusal to remarry, the rising anger at the betrayal of friends, as well as the rapid formation of a high level of independence and self-determination in such circumstances. These findings increase knowledge of widowhood of Chinese women with immigrant background, therein enrich ethno-cultural diversity in the widowhood studies.This study concludes with the implications of providing bilingual legal aid and counseling to Chinese-origin, US-based, and widows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]