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There has been growing interest in exploring factors that influence the success or otherwise of welfare policies in democratic countries, such as the interrelationships between the proposed policy and the context it will be introduced into, such as the sociodemographic characteristics of the population and the population's previous experience with welfare policies. However, there has been little exploration of factors that could influence general population support for long-term care for older people. The aim of this study was to investigate the general population's attitudes for determinants of high-quality aged care and different mechanisms for funding and any impact of individual characteristics on these. A representative sample of the Australian general population aged 18 years and over (N = 10,315, 52% female, 22% aged 65 years and over) drawn via quota sampling participated in the survey online. Participants were asked to rate the importance of a list of 10 determinants of quality care and their support for four models of funding, both using a five-point Likert scale. We identified consistently high expectations for long-term care services across the general population, especially among older people, females, those with a family member in care, and those living in rural or regional areas. In terms of how governments practically fund a high-quality long-term care system, we also identified broad support among the general population for both payment of a co-contribution towards the cost of care by older people using services and increased government funding for the system. Over 40% of participants said they would be willing to pay additional tax to improve access and quality of aged care services. While often neglected by governments in the past who assumed voter apathy on the topic, by comparison, our findings indicate that there is currently a strong appetite among the general population for improvements to the quality of care provided and that they are willing to consider changes to the funding model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the well-being of older adults has been highlighted as a significant public health concern. In this study, we investigated the role of psychological resilience in mediating the relationship between positive self-perceptions of aging (SPA) and the subjective well-being (SWB) of community-dwelling older adults in Taiwan during the pandemic. We collected data through face-to-face interviews conducted from October 2021 to February 2022, involving 1,095 participants aged 50 years or above residing in a southern city in Taiwan. More than half of the study participants were female, aged 65 or older, and had less than a high school education. More than two thirds were married and/or living with partners. More than a third had two or more noncommunicable diseases. We calculated scores for SWB, positive SPA, and psychological resilience and examined correlations among the outcome and predictor variables. Our findings indicated that higher positive SPA was significantly associated with better SWB among community-dwelling older adults in Taiwan and that this association was mediated by psychological resilience. Specifically, after controlling for covariates, structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed a significant main effect of positive SPA on SWB (b = 0.412, β = 0187, and p < 0.001), while bootstrap mediation analysis showed a statistically significant indirect mediating effect from positive SPA on SWB via psychological resilience (0.597, 95% bootstrap CIs = [0.445, 0.749], and p < 0.001). These findings highlight the potential importance of cultivating positive self-perceptions of aging and implementing resilience-centered interventions to promote well-being among Chinese older adults in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iran is a developing country with low levels of economic development and globalization and is ruled by a theocratic government. To address the lack of national research on well-being in Iran, this retrospective observational study aims to examine life satisfaction and its main determinants among Iranian adults. Using World Gallup Poll data collected between 2006 and 2017, we examined life satisfaction as a cognitive aspect of subjective well-being in relation to various factors. Our results show that income is the strongest predictor of life satisfaction, followed by standard of living, gender, social support, age, negative affect, and education. In developing countries such as Iran, which face significant economic, political, and social challenges, individuals prioritize the satisfaction of basic needs by emphasizing factors such as the socioeconomic status. In contrast, developed countries with established welfare systems may emphasize other values such as social connections and healthy lifestyle behaviors as key factors in life satisfaction. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the determinants of life satisfaction in Iran and provides insights for future research and policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women's health is the foundation of society's health and it can be achieved only by addressing all aspects of their health. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate the prevalence of social health of Iranian women and related factors. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) was used for reporting; the terms "social health," "women," "Iran," and related keywords were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, PsychoInfo, ProQuest and local databases, SID, Magiran, Irandoc, Elmnet, and Noormags up to August 2022. The published English or Persian quantitative primary studies which were conducted in Iran and reported social health or its dimensions among Iranian women were included. The studies were assessed by quality assessment tool for observational cohort and cross-sectional studies developed by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. From the 786 studies retrieved, 22 studies were finally included surveying different groups of women. Age, marital status, education, employment, socioeconomic status, social support, social participation, social trust, social security, communication skills, and self-esteem were the factors affecting women's social health. Five studies entered meta-analysis and mean score of social health was 98.54 (95% CI: 87.56–109.51) and it was the lowest among women who were the head of households. Since women's social health has been less considered in the society and research studies, further policies, legislations, and capacity building in mentioned fields are necessary. As social health is an important aspect of health, it is necessary for governments to address the known determinants of women's social health in order to plan and promote the health of women, family, and finally society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese government promoted a family physician contract service system in order to establish a tiered healthcare system in June 2016, but there was little evidence to assess the policy performance. This study aimed to examine the association of family physician contract services with the healthcare utilization of community residents in urban China. A cross-sectional face-to-face survey was conducted from July to September, 2019, in four advanced and exemplary cities for family physician contract services in China. A multistage cluster random sampling method was adopted to recruit residents aged 18 and above, and a total of 1508 participants were included in this study. The count model and logit regression were adopted to examine the associations between family physician contract service and healthcare utilization, and the potential bias was addressed using the propensity score matching (PSM) method. There was an increase in number of monthly primary care visits and annual referrals for contracted residents compared to noncontracted residents. Participants who had contracted with a family physician were more likely to choose a primary healthcare facility after illness than those who had not. However, no significant change was found in the number of annual hospital admissions between contracted and noncontracted residents. Family physician contract services may effectively strengthen the use of primary care facilities by community residents and promote the formation of a tiered healthcare system in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]