Successful Aging: Selected Indicators in a

Given the increasing population of older adults in the United States, it is important to identify indicators of successful aging and the interrelationships among these variables to develop interventions to promote successful aging. This article reports an analysis of indicators of successful aging in a group of older adults from North and South Carolina. Risk factors that may make it harder for older adults to age successfully are identified. The relationships between chronic disease and indicators of successful aging are examined, and potential ideas for interventions to enhance successful aging are discussed. Keywords successful aging, life satisfaction, purpose in life Successful aging may be defined as the older adult’s percep-tion of favorable adaptation to the cumulative physiological and functional alterations associated with the passage of time, spiritual connectedness, and a sense of meaning and purpose in life (Flood, 2002). The increasing life expectan-cies (Tabloski, 2006) and growing racial and ethnic diversi-ties in the United States (Bowling & Dieppe, 2006; Phelan