Exploring learning needs for community education among older adults from the perspective of active aging: a qualitative study in rural China

ABSTRACT

Older adults are often excluded from the category of active learning populations in many cultures. However, Active Aging (AA) Framework highlights that regular participation of older adults in community education activities can enhance opportunities for social participation, thereby promoting successful aging within this demographic. This descriptive qualitative study aimed to explore the learning needs for community education among older adults in rural China from the perspective of active aging. Purposive sampling method and maximum difference sampling were used to recruit 18 participants aged 60 and over. Four core themes emerged from the analysis: the need for health knowledge, the need for participating in social activities, the need for social security knowledge, and the need for educational methods. The findings of this study confirm that older adults in a Chinese village setting have diverse learning needs for community education. Awareness of these needs can assist policy makers and healthcare workers in providing tailored curricula and intervention measures to meet their learning needs.

KEYWORDS:

• Older adults
• rural
• community education
• active aging
• public health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request. The thematic data supporting this study’s findings are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Ethics approval

This study involves human participants and was approved by the Life Science Ethics Committee of Zhengzhou University (ZZUIRB-2021105). All participants provided written informed consent before taking part.

Ethical review

This study was approved by the Life Science Ethics Committee of Zhengzhou University (ZZUIRB-2021105).

Patient consent for publication

Not applicable.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2023.2253179

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under Grant numbers 71874162.