Mental well-being among the oldest old: revisiting the model of healthy ageing in a Finnish context

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This study aimed to examine how participants aged 80 years old or over describe their mental well-being—exploring the suitability of the model of healthy ageing when outlining the mental well-being concept.

Methods: Six structured focus group interviews with 28 participants were conducted in Western Finland in 2017. Qualitative content analysis was performed, where both manifest and latent content was considered in a process involving meaning condensation and coding, followed by categorization.

Results: The healthy ageing model constituted a useful framework for the conceptualization of mental well-being, illustrating the links between these two constructs. The analysis resulted in a four-dimensional model of mental well-being in oldest old age, the key components being: Activities—enjoyment and fulfilment; Capability—functioning and independence; Orientation—awareness, shifted perspectives and values; and Connectedness—sense of belonging.

Conclusions: Although functional status plays an important role for well-being in general, it is not the principal component of self-reported mental well-being within the heterogeneous group of the oldest old. Further, many persons in this age group do not view themselves as passive or dependent, on the contrary, they underline the importance of empowering attitudes, a positive mindset and actively creating circumstances which support their mental well-being.

KEYWORDS:

• Older adults
• oldest old
• mental well-being
• content analysis
• focus groups
• Scandinavia
• Finland

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the study participants for generously sharing their time and experiences, as well as the supporting personnel in the participating organizations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) “More Years, Better Lives- The Potential and Challenges of Demographic Change”, including support from the Academy of Finland, the Research Council of Norway (RCN), the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), Spain, and the Ministry of Health, Italy; NMM is supported by the programme “Contratos predoctorales para Formación de Personal Investigador, FPI-UAM”, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain [-]; EL´s work is supported by the Sara Borrell postdoctoral programme from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain) and co-funded by European Union (ERDF/ESF, “Investing in your future”) [CD18/00099].

Notes on contributors

Johanna Nordmyr

Johanna Nordmyr (MSocSc) is a PhD Candidate in Health Sciences at Åbo Akademi University. Her research interests include mental health promotion and early prevention initiatives.

Johanna Creswell-Smith

Johanna Cresswell-Smith is a Project Coordinator at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. Her research areas are mental health promotion and the social determinants of mental health.

Valeria Donisi

Valeria Donisi is a Psychologist, Cognitive behavioural Therapist, PhD in Psychological and Psychiatric Sciences at the University of Verona, where she during the last 10 years has been working as a research fellow in the field of mental health.

Elvira Lara

Elvira Lara is a postdoctoral researcher at the Hospital Universitario de La Princesa (Madrid, Spain). Her research focuses on the epidemiology of mental health, ageing, subjective well-being, and older adults´ cognitive impairment.

Natalia Martín-María

Natalia Martín-María is a postdoctoral researcher at Department of Psychiatry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, at Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, and at Department of Psychiatry, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Princesa (IIS-Princesa), Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Madrid, Spain. Her research areas include subjective well-being, loneliness, health status and mortality.

Linda Nyholm

Linda Nyholm (registered Nurse, PhD in Caring Science, Associate Professor) works as a researcher and university lecturer at Åbo Akademi University, Finland, and has profiled her research on caring ethics, clinical caring science and welfare technology.

Anna. K. Forsman

Anna Forsman (DrPH) is an Associate Professor in Health Sciences at Åbo Akademi University. Her research interests include mental health promotion and how mental health and mental well-being can be enhanced and protected across the lifespan through psychosocial initiatives and complex interventions.