The quality of life of the elderly in the rural community

U procesu starenja događaju se različite promjene na fizičkom, psihičkom i socijalnom području života. Sve promjene odražavaju se na sposobnosti starijih osoba u zadovoljenju osnovnih životnih potreba i svakodnevnih aktivnosti. Obzirom da je starenje individualan proces koji se odvija različitom dinamikom, u populaciji starijih osoba prisutne su različite karakteristike koje se manifestiraju u njihovom fizičkom izgledu, kognitivnom funkcioniranju i ponašanju. U tom kontekstu važno je procijeniti kako prirodni proces starenja utječe na doživljaj zadovoljstva komponentama i životom općenito, te kako se odražava na kvalitetu života. Kvaliteta života predstavlja multidimenzionalni koncept kojeg određuju subjektivni doživljaj različitih aspekata života i objektivni mjerljivi indikatori. Za provedbu istraživanja i u svrhu izrade ovog rada kreiran je upitnik od 39 čestica kojima su na prigodnom uzorku starijih osoba (N=39) iz ruralne sredine prikupljeni podatci o pojedinim čimbenicima kvalitete života. Cilj provedenog istraživanja bio je ispitati kako osobe treće životne dobi u ruralnoj sredini procjenjuju zadovoljstvo određenim segmentima vezanima uz kvalitetu života. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da su ispitanici uglavnom zadovoljni vlastitim životom i procjenjivanim aspektima života, te da nema statistički značajnih razlika u odnosu na dob i spol ispitanika. To se odnosi na zadovoljstvo materijalnim stanjem, zadovoljstvo bliskošću i odnosima s drugim ljudima te osjećajem sigurnosti, zadovoljstvo osjećajem pripadnosti zajednici i njihovo emocionalno blagostanje i osjećaj sreće. Sudionici ovog istraživanja najvažnijim područjima života procjenjuju zdravlje, bliske odnose s drugim ljudima, pripadnost zajednici i emocionalno blagostanje i osjećaj sreće.In the process of aging there are various changes in physical, psychological and social aspects of life. All changes reflect on the ability of elderly people to meet basic living needs and perform everyday activities. Given that aging is an individual process that takes place in different dynamics, there are various characteristics in the elderly population that manifest themselves in their physical appearance, cognitive functioning and behavior. In this context, it is important to evaluate how the natural aging process affects the satisfaction with its components and life in general, and how it reflects on the quality of life. Quality of life is a multidimensional concept determined by subjective experience of different aspects of life and objective measurable indicators. In order to carry out the research and for the purpose of this work, a questionnaire of 39 particles was created, which provided information on certain factors of quality of life on a suitable sample of elderly people (N = 39) from the rural environment. The aim of the research was to examine how elderly people in the rural environment assess contentment with certain segments related to quality of life. Research results show that respondents are mostly content with their own life and assessed aspects of life, and that there are no statistically significant differences in age and gender among respondents. This refers to contentment with the material conditions, with the equanimity and relations with other people and with the sense of security, to contentment with the affiliation to the community and their emotional well-being and happiness. Participants in this research assess health, close relationships with other people, community affiliation, emotional well-being and happiness as most important areas of life