Subjective well-being among the Filipino elderly

This study investigated the subjective well-being among the institutionalized and non-institutionalized male and female Filipino elderly, their experiences and understanding of subjective well-being and its components, and identified the influencing factors that contribute to the subjective well-being among the Filipino elderly through a series of in-depth interviews. This study also explored the importance of the dimensions of psychological well-being to the SWB of the Filipino elderly. The perceptions of the caregivers and the significant others on the subjective experience of well-being among the Filipino elderly were also explored. This study employed the qualitative research design. To gather data regarding the SWB among the Filipino elderly, 16 (8 male and 8 female) institutionalized elderly from Golden Acres and 16 (8 male and 8 female) noninstitutionalized elderly from Tarlac, Pangasinan and Bulacan shared their views regarding their experiences of SWB. The findings shows that the concepts of SWB among the institutionalized and non-institutionalized elderly centers on the constructs of autonomy, good health and the sense of contentment, fulfillment and accomplishment. In terms of differences in living arrangement, the institutionalized elderly emphasized being altruistic and having positive disposition in life more compared to non-institutionalized elderly who highlighted having a sense of contentment, fulfillment and accomplishment, having spiritual fervor, and being financially secured. A comparison of the responses of the elderly based on gender shows that the most common concepts of SWB between male and female elderly included autonomy, mobility and life satisfaction. Although they shared common concepts, the male and female elderly highlighted different concepts. For instance, the male elderly emphasized being altruistic, being active and being healthy while the female elderly emphasized a positive disposition in life, knowing your family background, being loved and cared for and being able to relate well with others. The present qualitative investigation on the conceptualization of subjective well-being resulted in an empirically derived model of subjective well-being among the Filipino elderly