Lifelong learning in active ageing discourse: its ... › core › services › aop... · discourse: its conserving effect on wellbeing, health and vulnerability MIYA NARUSHIMA*,

Lifelong learning in active ageingdiscourse: its conserving effect onwellbeing, health and vulnerability

MIYA NARUSHIMA*, JIAN LIU* and NAOMI DIESTELKAMP†

ABSTRACTThe Active Ageing Framework has been adapted as a global strategy in ageing pol-icies, practices and research over the last decade. Lifelong learning, however, hasnot been fully integrated into this discourse. Using survey data provided by adults (aged years and above) enrolled in non-formal general-interest courses ina public continuing education programme in Canada, this study examined the asso-ciation between older adults’ duration of participation in the courses and their levelof psychological wellbeing, while taking their age, gender, self-rated health and vul-nerability level into consideration. An analytical framework was developed based onthe literature of old-age vulnerabilities and the benefits of lifelong learning. Two lo-gistic regression and trend analyses were conducted. The results indicate that olderadults’ participation is independently and positively associated with their psychologic-al wellbeing, even among those typically classified as ‘vulnerable’. This result providesadditional evidence that suggests the continuous participation in non-formal lifelonglearningmay help sustain older adults’ psychological wellbeing. It provides older lear-ners, even those who are most vulnerable, with a compensatory strategy to strengthentheir reserve capacities, allowing them to be autonomous and fulfilled in their every-day life. The result of this study highlights the value of the strategic and unequivocalpromotion of community-based non-formal lifelong learning opportunities for devel-oping inclusive, equitable and caring active ageing societies.

KEY WORDS – lifelong learning, active ageing, psychological wellbeing, vulnerabil-ity, compensatory strategy, health promotion, ageing in place.

Introduction

It has been nearly years since the World Health Organization (WHO)endorsed the Active Ageing Framework (hereafter the active ageing

* Department of Health Sciences, Brock University, Ontario, Canada.† Independent Researcher, Canada.

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framework) in . It has influenced ageing policies and practices acrossthe world, and drawn public attention to the new opportunities and chal-lenges that global ageing brings to both individuals and societies. Theactive ageing framework advocates optimising opportunities for ‘health’,‘participation’ and ‘security’ – three key determinants of the quality oflater life. It also advocates recognising physical health, mental health andsocial connections as equally important elements (WHO ). Activeageing discourse is a product of growing governmental concerns aboutfinancing health care and social services for ageing populations. At thesame time, it mirrors and potentially promotes a positive shift in social atti-tudes towards old age: viewing later life not as a period of ‘deficits’, but aseither a time of ‘competency and knowledge’ (Boudiny : ) or a‘period of opportunity and wellbeing, with retention or development ofthe psychological and cognitive resources to cope with life’s challenges’(Bowling and Iliffe : ).Following this global trend, Canada has started working on active ageing

policies, encouraging all level of governments to create age-friendly commu-nities by improving services, programmes and infrastructure for ‘ageing inplace’ (Federation of Canadian Municipalities ). Senior citizens(aged and older) currently make up per cent of the Canadian popu-lation, much smaller than other world regions like Japan and WesternEurope. Yet, they are the fastest growing age group, projected to increaseby per cent over the next years (Federation of CanadianMunicipalities ; Statistics Canada a). Approximately per centof current Canadian seniors are immigrants, most of who came fromEurope and Asia, and have lived in Canada for several decades (Turcotteand Schellenberg ). It is predicted that successive cohorts of seniorswill be increasingly ethno-culturally diverse (Statistics Canada ).Although per cent of Canadian seniors live in private households,three-quarters reported at least one chronic health condition and one-quarter reported more than three conditions (Canadian Institute forHealth Information ). Moreover, one in four seniors are living alone(Federation of Canadian Municipalities ; Statistics Canada b),and per cent of older Canadian women live in poverty (NationalSeniors Strategy n.d.). These facts suggest that one important task forseniors is to find the means to optimise wellbeing to help cope withchronic health conditions, loneliness, stress and other setbacks (Zarit).Lifelong learning in late adulthood deserves more attention in the

current discourse of active ageing policies. The active ageing framework(WHO ) acknowledges that lifelong learning, along with formal educa-tion and literacy, is an important factor that facilitates participation, health

Miya Narushima et al.



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and security as people grow older. While a few places, such as the EuropeanCommission (Oxley ) and the Province of British Columbia, Canada(Government of British Columbia n.d.), have explicitly inscribed ‘lifelong’in their active ageing policies, generally speaking, it is mentioned far lessoften than topics like physical activities and paid and non-paid work.Nevertheless, an increasing body of literature has found clear linksbetween adult learning and learners’ subjective wellbeing and health(Dolan, Fujiwara and Metcalfe ; Feinstein and Hammond ;Feinstein et al. ; Field , ; Hammond and Feinstein ;Manninen et al. ; Schuller et al. ), while irrefutable evidenceexists to show that these benefits are even greater for vulnerable groups(Bailey, Breen and Ward ; Dolan, Fujiwara and Metcalfe ;Feinstein et al. ; Manninen et al. ).Studies that directly examine the effects of later-life learning on older

adults, however, are few and far between. In many countries, adults overthe age of are often excluded from adult learning statistics as they areassumed to be the post-work generation. In addition, research in adult learn-ing traditionally focuses more on ‘transforming effects’ (e.g. personal change,community activism) than ‘conserving effects’ (e.g. self-maintenance, thesocial fabric), where ‘education prevents decay or collapse or consolidatesa positive state of stability’ (Schuller : ). Given the context of globalageing, it becomes more important to investigate the latter effects of learning,which can be quite invisible, yet play an important role in maintaining auton-omy, health and quality of life among older adults. Although still limited involume, recent studies examining the association between later-life learningand psychological wellbeing suggest that continued engagement may helpolder learners sustain wellbeing over the long term (Jenkins ; Jenkinsand Mostafa ; Leung and Liu ; Narushima ). The purposeof this study, therefore, is to identify further the effect of the duration ofolder adults’ participation in lifelong learning on their psychological well-being, while taking into consideration their health state, vulnerability andother key demographic variables.

Literature review

Active ageing, health and chronic conditions

The idea of being active for a good old age is not new. However, the prin-ciple of the WHO’s () active ageing framework differs from traditionalactivity theory (Havighurst ; Neugarten, Havighurst and Tobin ).Activity theory has been criticised for its unrealistic expectation that olderadults can maintain the same levels of activity as they did in middle age

Lifelong learning in active ageing discourse



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by ‘denying the onset of old age’ (Walker : ). The active ageingframework advocates a broader approach, which defines ‘being active’ ascontinuing to engage in any social, economic, cultural or civic activity atthe level of one’s capacity (Boudiny ). The idea is to embrace notonly the individual’s right and responsibility to remain active, but also thegovernment’s responsibility to create an age-friendly social system and com-munity environment. Consequently, in theory, the framework calls for alllevels of governments to take action to ensure opportunities for all olderadults, especially those who are most vulnerable, to stay involved, healthyand secure (Boudiny ; Mayhew ; Walker , ; WHO ).Nonetheless, the adaptation of this framework is far from flawless.

Boudiny () in the United Kingdom (UK) argues that the activeageing framework tends to be narrowly used to promote physical activityand prolonged labour participation, so that it is often used interchangeablywith ‘productive ageing’ and ‘healthy ageing’. According to Boudiny, thisdominant discourse risks falling into the same pattern as activity theorydid a half century ago, because it posits health and independence – un-attainable for vulnerable adults who are frail, dependent and very old – asits ultimate goal. In order to develop more inclusive policies and practices,she proposes an alternative vision that acknowledges health as a resource forand an outcome of active ageing, not as a prerequisite for or a goal of activeageing (Boudiny ).Recent research has started paying attention to the experiences of active

ageing with chronic conditions. Richardson, Grime and Ong’s () quali-tative study in the UK found that their participants (N = , aged –),who lived with severe osteoarthritis, pragmatically just ‘kept going’ inbody and mind despite chronic pain and stiffness. Lassen’s ()fieldwork in two activity centres in Denmark also found that his participants(N = , aged –) enjoyed various activities despite a range of seriouschronic conditions, thereby ‘keeping disease at arm’s length’. Lassen(: ) argues that engagement in ‘social and/or physical activityforms enough distance to help older adults focus on wellness rather thanillness, and manage their everyday life to delay further physical deterior-ation’. What these studies (Boudiny ; Lassen ; Richardson,Grime and Ong ) share is a realistic picture of growing old, one thatacknowledges the changes and challenges of late adulthood.

Vulnerabilities, reserve capacities and compensatory strategies in later life

The notion of ‘vulnerabilities’ provides a helpful basis to analyse the roles oflifelong learning in the light of active ageing. Vulnerabilities in old ageinvolve various ‘risks’ that may cause a poor quality of later life or premature




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or unintended death (Grundy ; Schroder-Butterfill and Marianti). According to the ‘old-age vulnerability framework’, the most high-risk sub-groups of older adults are the old-old, those with low incomes,those with limited education, those widowed and living alone, those withpoor social networks, those in poor health and women (Grundy ;Schroder-Butterfill and Marianti ). In other words, vulnerabilities inlate adulthood are determined by individuals’ socio-demographic charac-teristics (i.e. age, income, education level, marital status, gender), theirliving and health conditions, the availability of resources and their abilityto use those resources. It is reasonable to assume that the more riskfactors, the more likely an older person will suffer severe outcomes, as therisks are more likely to intersect.Nonetheless, according to the vulnerabilities framework, negative conse-

quences arise only when the balance between a person’s risk factors/condi-tions and his or her reserve capacities falls below his or her control to ensurea reasonable quality of life (Grundy ; Schroder-Butterfill and Marianti). Vulnerability involves four domains: ‘states’ (i.e. personal character-istics), ‘threat’ (i.e. events/environmental challenges), ‘coping capacity’(i.e. an individual’s reserve capacities such as positive wellbeing, socialnetwork and utilisation of compensatory strategies) and ‘outcome’ (i.e.quality of life and survival). The interaction of the first three domains deter-mines the fourth: i.e. either a negative or positive outcome (Grundy ).Consequently, not every older adult who shares similar risk factors/condi-tions ends up with a negative outcome. It depends on one’s reserve capaci-ties and how one can utilise compensatory strategies to change and managelife (Schroder-Butterfill and Marianti ). While reserve capacities andcompensatory strategies in later life are largely influenced by a person’slife history and social environment, this does not mean that it is impossibleto reinforce or develop them in old age. According to the old-age vulnerabil-ities framework, it is important to recognise the significant effects of currentcircumstances and behaviour on the general wellbeing of older people(Grundy : ). In this study, we thus view the participation in aspecific form of lifelong learning programme as a compensatory strategythat older adults can draw on to improve those reserve capacities.

Psychological wellbeing as a predictor of health and quality of life

Psychological wellbeing is one of the most important reserve capacities.While its definition differs slightly from study to study (Diener ;Olsson et al. ), psychological wellbeing generally involves the indivi-dual’s subjective evaluation of various aspects of his or her life (e.g. ofevents, physical and mental issues, and life circumstances). It consists of




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three basic elements: the individual’s affect (e.g. positive or negative emo-tional states), ability (e.g. adaptive capacity or coping skills) and perception(e.g. satisfaction, purpose and outlook) (Catolico , cited in Momtazet al. ; Diener ; Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD) ; Olsson et al. ; Ryff et al. ).Psychological wellbeing as used in this study is closely related to conceptssuch as eudaimonic wellbeing, positive functioning and self-actualisation,which entails aspects of life satisfaction, autonomy, integrity, personalgrowth, purpose of life, competence and mastery, and positive relatedness(Ryan and Deci ; Ryff and Keyes , cited in Vanhoutte ).Psychological wellbeing in late adulthood is a complex variable which may

be influenced by both personal as well as social factors including: the olderindividual’s demographic characteristics (e.g. age, marital status, educationlevel, occupation and income, degree of social integration and socialsupport), health state (e.g. self-rated health, chronic diseases, functionalcapacity), availability of supportive social environment and cultural valuesin their society (e.g. ageism) (Iwasa et al. ; Momtaz et al. ; Olssonet al. ; Vanhoutte ). Not surprisingly, the personal and socialfactors affecting psychological wellbeing overlap with the aforementionedrisk factors and vulnerabilities in later life. It is thus reasonable to assumethat the higher the degree of vulnerability, the more chances an olderperson will report a lower level of psychological wellbeing.Since these risk factors and conditions are related to mortality, psycho-

logical wellbeing is also used as a relevant predictor for physical health, sur-vival and quality of life in later adulthood (Iwasa et al. ). A number ofstudies in psychology and health have found that a higher level of psycho-logical wellbeing leads to better coping with life events (Andrews ),lower morbidity, decreased symptoms and pain (Pressman and Cohen), a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease and distress (Ryff et al.) and reduced falling (Anstey et al. ). Conversely, a higher levelof ill-being (e.g. anxiety, anger, depressive symptoms) is a predictor of anincreased risk of functional disability (Cuijpers, de Graaf and vanDorsselaer ), cardiovascular disease (Ryff et al. ) and mortality(Howell ; Iwasa et al. ).Combined, these studies confirm the importance of maintaining positive

psychological wellbeing as a reserve capacity for health and quality of life tohelp mitigate unwanted outcomes in the face of older adults’ vulnerabilities.They also suggest why we should examine psychological wellbeing not onlyin terms of individuals’ efforts for emotional regulation, but also as it isrelated to social contexts, including the availability of compensatory strat-egies to maintain positive wellbeing.




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Benefits of lifelong learning participation

Over the last decade, a growing body of literature in adult education hasfound psychological wellbeing and health to be an important part of thewider benefits of lifelong learning. Large-scale studies in the UK andEurope have unanimously supported the positive link between lifelonglearning participation and psychological wellbeing and health amongadult learners (Dolan, Fujiwara and Metcalfe ; Feinstein andHammond ; Feinstein et al. ; Field , ; Manninen et al.; Schuller et al. ).Although the complex pathways linking learning participation and posi-

tive wellbeing and health require more study, Hammond () in theUK has provided a helpful conceptualisation of psychological resources asthe mediators between adult learning and health outcomes. Based on herinterviews (N = , aged –), she found that learning helps adultsdevelop the five psycho-social resources (i.e. ‘self-esteem and self-efficacy’,‘identity’, ‘purpose and hope’, ‘competences and communication’ and‘social integration’) that promote their general ‘wellbeing’, ‘mentalhealth’ and ‘effective cop(ing) with change and adversity including illhealth’ (Hammond : ). These findings clearly suggest that partici-pating in adult learning courses functions as a compensatory strategy foradults to help them develop psychological and social reserve capacities.Other researchers who have focused on later-life learning see this point as

especially relevant to ‘non-formal’ and ‘non-credit’ types of learning.Narushima () conducted interviews (N = , aged –) and observa-tions of five different general-interest courses for older adults (calligraphy,sewing, Chinese poetry, folk dance and fitness) in a public continuing edu-cation programme in Canada. She found that weekly engagement in thecourse fuels older learners with intrinsic motivations to keep going physic-ally and mentally, providing joy and satisfaction, a sense of self-growthand mastery, and friendships with classmates and teachers. As withRichardson, Grime and Ong () and Lassen (), all intervieweesin Narushima’s () study had some chronic conditions, and consciouslypursued their weekly classes and related learning practice at home as part oftheir health maintenance and self-management practice. In the UK, basedon focus groups (N = ), questionnaires (N = ) and follow-up interviews(N = ), Withnall () found many of her post-work participantsregarded their learning in retirement as keeping their minds active,gaining new knowledge, relaxation and increased social contact.More recent quantitative studies have further examined the association

between participation in later-life learning and psychological wellbeing.Jenkins and his colleague examined the long-term effects of different




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types of lifelong learning on the psychological wellbeing of British olderadults, following more than , older adults between and

with data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (Jenkins ;Jenkins and Mostafa , ). They found that while higher levels ofeducation are generally related to higher levels of wellbeing, without inter-vention there is a gradual decline in older adults’ psychological wellbeingover time, regardless of their level of education (Jenkins and Mostafa). However, they also found that, after controlling for socio-economiccharacteristics and other unobserved factors, participation in non-formaland non-credit type learning (e.g. music/arts/evening classes, sports club/exercise classes) was especially beneficial to maintain older adults’ psycho-logical wellbeing. The participation in these non-formal learning coursesraised older adults’ psychological wellbeing by between and per centof a standard deviation, while formal education and training courses werenot associated with higher wellbeing. The authors concluded that more in-formal, leisure-type courses were most likely to sustain older adults’ partici-pation, consequently enhancing their wellbeing over time (Jenkins ;Jenkins and Mostafa ).In a similar vein, Leung and Liu () in China undertook a cross-sec-

tional study to identify the relationship between participation in lifelonglearning, quality of life and the self-efficacy of older learners (N = ,).While they found overall benefits involving older adults’ participation inlearning and their quality of life, they also found that older learners whoreported a higher level of quality of life were not those who enrolled inmany courses at one time, but rather those who participated in a singlecourse continuously. The authors conclude that what significantlyinfluences the quality of life among older adults is not the amount, butthe continuation of learning and the maintenance of self-efficacy.Following these studies, Narushima, Liu and Diestelkamp (a) went

back to the previously studied public continuing education programme(non-credit general-interest courses) in Canada (Narushima ) toundertake a cross-sectional survey with older learners (aged andolder) enrolled in order to investigate whether what had been found inthe previous qualitative study (Naruushima ) could be generalised pro-gramme wide. The results showed that older learners generally reportedpositive wellbeing and healthy lifestyles such as non-smoking and regular ex-ercise. The result also indicated a positive association between the durationof participation and overall levels of wellbeing after controlling for key cov-ariates such as socio-demographic characteristics and health-related factors(Narushima, Liu and Diestelkamp b).These existing studies suggest the positive effects of continuous participa-

tion in lifelong learning programmes on psychological wellbeing.




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Nonetheless, they still leave some questions unanswered. In particular,when examining the effects of duration, selective attrition (i.e. those whofeel better and healthy tend to remain in the programme) is one of thequestions. Can older adults facing multiple risk factors/conditions keep par-ticipating in and benefiting from these lifelong learning programmes? Thepresent study approaches this question by examining whether the positiveassociation between duration of participation and older learners’ psycho-logical wellbeing remains even after levels of vulnerability and multiplerisks have been taken into consideration.

Analytical framework

Bringing together the old-age vulnerabilities framework and the benefits oflifelong learning, we developed a conceptual framework for analysis in thisstudy (Figure ).Our framework includes potential ‘threats’ and ‘outcomes’ (presented in

dotted squares and arrows), following the old-age vulnerabilities framework(Schroder-Butterfill and Marianti ). In this study, however, we onlyfocused on the associations between ‘risk factors/conditions’, ‘compensa-tory strategy’ and ‘coping capacity’, which were operationalised as the‘level of vulnerability’, ‘continuous participation in a lifelong learning pro-gramme’ (i.e. duration) and ‘psychological wellbeing as a reserve capacity’.

Methodology

Sampling group

Older learners aged and above, enrolled in a public non-formal continu-ing education programme during the fall of , were targeted with a pro-gramme-wide survey. The programme was run by a local school board,which partnered with various community facilities such as communitycentres, adult learning centres, high schools and retirement homes. Itoffered non-credit general-interest courses in four subject areas: (a) artsand crafts, (b) fitness and exercise, (c) music and dance, and (d) language,computer and other practical skills. Four research assistants visited

classes and distributed a self-administered survey that asked for threetypes of information (i.e. basic demographic and health-related informa-tion, general psychological wellbeing and participation patterns). The ques-tionnaire was completed at home by participants and returned the followingweek in class. Ethics clearance was received from the research ethics boardsof the researchers’ university and the school board.




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In total, , older learners were approached with (.%)responding. Of the , individuals provided consent forms with nomissing data on the variables necessary for the models of analysis thatwere included for this study. Since participants were recruited from oneof the largest public continuing education programmes in a large metrop-olis, we had a diverse sample group. We thus further divided the participantsinto three groups (i.e. high risk, middle risk and low risk) based on theirsocio-demographic, behavioural and health states.

Measurements

Psychological wellbeing. The older adults’ psychological wellbeing during theprevious six months was measured by the -item Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI) (Dupuy , ). The PGWBI is reliable and hasbeen validated by numerous studies (Dupuy ; Grossi et al. ;McDowell ; Nilsson et al. ; Wu ). It uses six dimensions tomeasure psychological wellbeing, including both positive and negative attri-butes: (a) depressive moods, (b) anxiety and stress, (c) self-control, (d) con-cerns about general health, (e) life satisfaction and (f) vitality (Dupuy ;McDowell ). Answers are assigned scores from to , and then used tomake dimensional scores as well as a global score. The global wellbeing scoreis divided into three levels: ‘severely distressed’ (–), ‘moderately dis-tressed’ (–) and ‘positive wellbeing’ (–) – the higher the scorethe higher the level of wellbeing. In order to examine whether continued par-ticipation in a local public lifelong learning programme might help maintainolder adults’ psychological wellbeing, we created a dichotomous variable byclassifying the participants’ wellbeing status into two categories (i.e. ‘dis-tressed’ when the global wellbeing score was <, and ‘positive wellbeing’when the score was or higher). This variable was the dependent variablein logistic regression analysis.

Figure . The effects of lifelong learning on wellbeing, health and vulnerabilities in later life.




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Vulnerability level. In order to reflect a participant’s vulnerability level, wecreated an index vulnerability level score by using information obtainedfrom the survey. This index was comprised of age and indicators of threedomains (i.e. health, socio-economic status and social support), with ahigher index score reflecting a higher level of vulnerability or risk. Healthindicators included whether the person had chronic conditions (e.g. diabetes,high blood pressure, arthritis), difficulties in daily living (e.g. walking,climbing stairs, hearing), and whether he or she regularly exercised for atleast minutes a day. Socio-economic status indicators included incomeand education level, while social support indicators included marital status,number of confidants, living arrangements and whether an individual parti-cipated in other social activities. An overall breakdown of how the vulnerabil-ity index variable was created is shown in Table .Components of the index of the vulnerability level variable were chosen

based on results from univariate analyses and the old-age vulnerabilitiesframework (Grundy ; Schroder-Butterfill and Marianti ). Each ex-planatory variable comprising the index was given a score; these scores werethen added together to give an overall score for each participant. Theaverage vulnerability level score of participants was ., while themedian score was . (a higher score indicates higher vulnerability).Participants were then divided into three categorical groups based ontheir overall score: low risk (–; n = ), middle risk ( or ; n = )and high risk ( or higher; n = ).

Self-rated health. In addition to the health indicators in the index of the vul-nerability level, we also asked older adults to rate their general state ofhealth by asking the question: ‘Compared with other people your age,how would you say your general health is?’ The choice of answers included:excellent, very good, good, fair and poor. The fair and poor groups werejoined during analysis to ensure the size of each of the groups remainedroughly similar.

Duration of learning. Older learners’ participation patterns, includinglearning duration, were gathered through the final section of the survey.The duration of class participation was examined by asking participantshow many years and months they had taken the course. For the purposeof this study, those who had participated for three months or less (i.e.those in their first term) were excluded as they were still likely adjustingto the programme. The time of duration was then split into three groups:– months (short duration group), – months (middle durationgroup) and months and longer (long duration group).




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Statistical analysis

Chi-square, analysis of variance and t-tests were performed to examinewhether there were differences in frequency distributions or averages.Potential confounders included gender, age, vulnerability level and self-perceived health. Two different logistic regression models were used toexamine the association between duration and wellbeing. For bothmodels, the dependent variable was the overall wellbeing status (: theglobal PGWBI score ⩾; : <, higher values of PGWBI indicate betterwellbeing) and the predictive variable was learning duration. The firstmodel examined the association between duration and wellbeing, whiletaking into account the covariates of age, gender and vulnerability level.The second model included age and gender, but the vulnerability level

T A B L E . Vulnerability index variable composition

Indicator type Sub-variable name Risk condition value

Health indicator Chronic diseases >= conditions = conditions = condition = conditions =

Difficulties in daily life >= difficulties = difficulties = difficulty = difficulties =

Participants in regular exercise Yes = No =

Socio-economic status indicator Yearly income <=Can $, = Can $,–, = Can $,–, = >=Can $, =

Highest educational level Primary school = Secondary school = University/college = Other =

Age indicator Age and older = – years = – years =

Social support indicator Marital status Married = Not currently married =

Number of confidants or more people = – people = or people =

Living arrangements Alone = With someone else =

Participates in other social Yes = activities No =

Note: . Includes any other group-organised activities such as clubs, associations, religious orga-nisations, volunteering, recreational activities, etc.




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was replaced with self-perceived health, since they were strongly correlated.Following logistic regression, trend analysis was performed for each model.All data were analysed using SAS .. with the significant level set at equalor less than . on two-tailed tests.

Results

Table shows the characteristics of each of the three duration groups.Of the participants included in this study, the majority of partici-pants in each duration group were female (.% in the short duration,.% in the middle duration and .% in the long duration group).Participants in each group had similar characteristics except that indivi-duals in the long duration group were older and had a higher propor-tion positive wellbeing.The overall results of both logistic regression models can be seen in

Tables and . In Model , as seen in Table , those who had a higherlevel of vulnerability were more likely to be distressed than those withlower levels of vulnerability. Compared to those with vulnerability indexscores of –, the odds ratio (OR; % confidence interval (CI)) of beingdistressed was . (.–., p = .) for those with index scores of –and . (.–., p < .) for those with index scores of or more.Similarly, Table shows that an individual reported lower self-perceivedhealth, the OR (% CI) of being distressed was . (.–., p =.), . (.–., p = .), and . (.–., p < .) forthose in very good, good and fair/poor groups, respectively when comparedto those with excellent health.Figures and provide OR (and % CI) for the duration variable

from the logistic regression analyses. Figure shows the adjusted OR ofbeing distressed by learning duration when taking into account age,gender and vulnerability index score; while Figure shows the adjustedOR by learning duration when taking into account age, gender and self-perceived health.When examining the association between an older individual’s learning

duration and their general psychological wellbeing in comparison withthose in the shortest duration group, the odds of being in the distressed cat-egory for those in the longest duration group decreased per cent afteradjusting for age, gender and overall vulnerability index score (OR = .,% CI = .–., p = .). Similar results were observed in Model

when self-perceived health was taken into account (p-values for trends inboth models were less than .).




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T A B L E . Characteristics of participants by duration of class participation

Short duration(– months)

Middle duration(–months)

Long duration(+ months) p

n (%) (.) (.) (.) –Mean age (SD) . (.) . (.) . (.) <.Females (%) . . . .

Percentages

Education status: .Primary . . .Secondary . . .College/university . . .Other . . .

Marital status: .Married . . .Separated . . .Divorced . . .Widowed . . .Single . . .Other . . .

Total income level (Can $): .<=, . . .,–, . . .,–, . . .>=, . . .Prefer not to reveal . . .

Self-perceived health: .Excellent . . .Very good . . .Good . . .Fair/poor . . .

Living arrangement: .Alone . . .Spouse . . .Spouse and other . . .Other . . .

Mean number of confidants(SD)

. (.) . (.) . (.) .

Participates in exercise: .No . . .Yes . . .

Vulnerability levels: .Low (– risks) . . .Middle ( or risks) . . .High (+ risks) . . .

Psychological wellbeing: .Distressed . . .Positive wellbeing . . .

Notes: SD: standard deviation. Sample size may vary for some variables due to missingdata. . Missing values: Age: ; Education: ; Marital status: ; Income level: ; Living arrange-ment: ; Confidants: ; Regular exercise: .




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Discussion

The results of this study indicated a clear association between continuousparticipation in the specific form of lifelong learning courses and the psy-chological wellbeing of older adults, even after controlling for age,gender, health state and vulnerabilities. The findings generally supportthe benefits of meaningful social participation for active ageing andenhanced quality of life in old age (Adams, Leibbrandt and Moon ;Butler ; Gilmour ). More specifically, this study provides addition-al evidence for the benefits of lifelong learning on older adults’ psychologic-al wellbeing and health (Dench and Regan ; Jenkins ; Jenkins andMostafa , ; Leung and Liu ; Narushima ; Narushima,Liu and Diestelkamp a; Preece and Findsen ; Withnall ).

T A B L E . Odds ratios of distressed (Model )

Model Odds ratio % confidence interval

Gender . .–.Age . .–.

Duration:– months . –– months . .–.+ months . .–.

Risk group:– risks . – or risks . .–.⩾ risks . .–.

T A B L E . Odds ratios of distressed (Model )

Model Odds ratio % confidence interval

Gender . .–.Age . .–.

Duration:– months . –– months . .–.+ months . .–.

Self-perceived health level:Excellent . –Very good . .–.Good . .–.Fair/poor . .–.




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The results showed that the longer older adults remained on one courseor pursued the same subject, the better psychological wellbeing theyreported, even after all key covariates were taken into account. Continuousand ongoing participation in lifelong learning programmes contribute tothe conservation of older learners’ psychological wellbeing over time.

Figure . Odds ratios and per cent confidence intervals of distressed for different learningdurations after adjusting for gender (female versus male), age (years) and risk group ( or risks and or more risks versus – risks) (Model ).Significance level: p < . (for trends).

Figure . Odds ratios and per cent confidence intervals of distressed for different learningdurations after adjusting for gender (female versusmale), age (years) and self-perceived health(very good, good and fair/poor versus excellent) (Model ).Significance level: p < . (for trends).




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This point is noteworthy from the perspective of old-age vulnerability, as itconfirms what Grundy (: ) articulated as the ‘very important effectof current circumstances and behaviour’ on the wellbeing of older adults.In fact, an unexpected finding of our study is that educational level did

not play a significant role in influencing the level of wellbeing in either ofthe two logistic regression models, despite the accumulated evidence ofthe lifelong effects of formal education for an individual’s wellbeing andhealth (Mirowsky and Ross , ). One possible reason might bethat both the direct and indirect effects of schooling at a young age onhealth and wellbeing change across the lifecourse. A study found that theschooling–income effect increases until age , plateaus and then declinesafter age (Lynch ). Another study found that average health–liter-acy scores consistently fall as people age, regardless of their socio-economicstatus (Will, Douglas and Murray , cited in Murray et al. ). Theaforementioned longitudinal study of British older adults (Jenkins andMostafa ) also found that one’s psychological wellbeing graduallyand equally declines over the years regardless of one’s educational back-ground. Bringing together all these studies, one can say that, in order tosustain psychological wellbeing – an important reserve capacity – andavoid the negative consequences of vulnerabilities in old age, olderpeople need to take some action to compensate for their decline, regardlessof their degree of vulnerability. The result of the present study corroboratesthat the continuous participation in a lifelong learning course is one effect-ive compensatory strategy.In addition, the results of this study highlighted the protective effect of a

specific form of lifelong learning for older adults, particularly those mostvulnerable. In contrast to our hypothesis that the longer the participation,the lower the vulnerability levels due to selective attrition, nearly one-third of our participants in the longest duration group fell into the ‘high-risk’ category (i.e. with more than seven risk factors/conditions). Yet,members of that group reported equally increased psychological wellbeingregardless of that vulnerability. This is probably because their local, non-formal and non-credit leisure and recreational type of lifelong learningprogramme, with its supportive environment, can enable even the most vul-nerable and frail older adults to continue to participate in their activeageing lifestyles at their own pace (Lassen ; Richardson, Grime andOng ). This in turn helps restore their psychological reserves includingwellbeing, motivating their participation and maintaining their coping cap-acity, while mitigating the effects of their risk conditions (Grundy ;Hammond ; Schroder-Butterfill and Marianti ).Aligned with other studies that take a more inclusive and broader view of

active ageing (Boudiny ; Lassen ; Richardson, Grime and Ong




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), participants in this study also demonstrated that physical health isnot a prerequisite for an active lifestyle in old age. Nonetheless, given theempirical link between a higher level of wellbeing and better physical func-tion and health (Andrews ; Anstey et al. ; Pressman and Cohen; Ryff et al. ), and, conversely, higher levels of ill-being as a predict-or of increased functional disability and mortality (Cuijpers, de Graaf andvan Dorsselaer ; Howell ; Iwasa et al. ; Ryff et al. ), it isquite possible that continuous engagement in later-life learning activitiescan create a virtuous cycle to prevent or slow down the onset of diseasesand physical deterioration. This may also be why more vulnerable olderadults with poorer health tend to report higher perceived benefits of andappreciation for lifelong learning programmes on their wellbeing andhealth (Dench and Regan ; Narushima, Liu and Diestelkamp b;Manninen et al. ).Nevertheless, the results of our study do not necessarily mean that all

types of lifelong learning have a similar effect on older adults’ psychologicalwellbeing. Consistent with what previous studies have found (Jenkins ;Jenkins and Mostafa , ; Manninen et al. ), our study showedthe positive effects of non-formal and non-credit lifelong learning courses –often undervalued as leisure and recreation – on the maintenance of olderadults psychological wellbeing. To be clear, the lifelong learning pro-gramme examined in this study is a publicly funded, non-formal and non-credit programme offering diverse general-interest subjects. It is alsoworth mentioning that all classes are easily accessible by public transporta-tion, and that the school board subsidises fees for low-income seniors.This equity-oriented programme environment makes it easier for thosewith some physical and mental health conditions or lower incomes to con-tinue to pursue their personal interests in their local communities.Clearly, more research is needed to investigate how and why continuous

participation in lifelong learning matters so much in later life. Nonetheless,combining the results of our study with the existing literature, we speculatethat participation in community-based non-formal lifelong learning playsdifferent roles at two levels. At the individual level, psychological qualitiessuch as ‘self-esteem’, ‘self-efficacy’ and ‘resilience’ (Hammond ) – im-mediate and direct benefits of learning –may need to be more frequentlyreinforced in late adulthood to sustain an individual’s psychological well-being, due to the increased need to cope with physical, material andsocial changes. Later-life development is a continuous process of behaviour-al and psychological adaptation, the regulation of one’s resources throughthe process of ‘selection, optimisation and compensation’ (SOC) (Baltesand Baltes ; Freund and Baltes ). According to this theory,those who successfully select valued activities continue to find compensatory




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strategies, optimise desired outcomes, and have higher levels of emotionalwellbeing and life satisfaction. Older learners who stick with their subjectof interest over the years may be going through a similar process as theSOC, thereby obtaining a sense of continuity and satisfaction that compen-sates for the changes and consequent worries and anxieties they face in theirdaily lives.At the social level, continuous participation on the same course also helps

older adults develop connections and a stronger sense of community withfellow students and instructors, providing them with informal socialsupport (Dench and Regan ; Narushima ; Schuller et al. ;Withnall ). The results of this study showed that there was no differ-ence in the number of confidants despite the higher average age of thelonger duration group, and the fact that the number of one’s confidantsand friends decreases when one gets older. As this result suggested,staying in a single programme helps older adults build and maintain an in-formal social support network. While not the main focus of our investiga-tion, this result nevertheless suggests that long-term participation incommunity-based non-formal lifelong learning is not only of benefit for psy-chological wellbeing at the individual level, it also provides a ‘social fabric’or ‘a collective environment that is conducive to sustaining health’ as advo-cated by Schuller et al. (: ).Given our goal to realise ageing in place through creating age-friendly

communities within an active ageing framework (WHO ), this indirectbenefit at the social level should be considered as an equally importantaspect of the ‘conserving effects’ of community-based non-formal lifelonglearning (Schuller ).

Conclusion

Given the limitations of cross-sectional study design and the general meth-odological challenges involved in assessing the impact of lifelong learningon psychological wellbeing with its many possible confounding variables,we were unable to determine causation. Furthermore, the problem of select-ive attrition was not completely solved despite our creation of the three vul-nerability levels, because those who participated in this survey may have hadhigher levels of wellbeing than those who did not. Moreover, those enrolledin this continuing education programme, to take full advantage of itsbenefits, may have had higher levels of wellbeing at the outset. Organisedlearning and educational activities may cause stress and anxiety for someolder adults due to their negative experiences in formal education (Field), so that such people may not participate in the programme to




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begin with. In addition, this study encompassed people on non-creditcourses only, so no comparison can be made with those older people whotake credit courses but are not engaged in lifelong learning activities.Despite these limitations, the findings of this study signify that continuous

and ongoing participation in a community-based non-formal lifelong learningprogrammemay work as a compensatory strategy for older adults by helpingthem sustain their psychological wellbeing – an important source of supportand protection for autonomy and self-management in later life. Continuingengagement in activities and relationships that they value can help olderpeople focus on wellness rather than illness, despite chronic conditionsand other challenges in later life. The role of later-life learning should beunderstood as far more than merely instrumental. Nevertheless, its conserv-ing effect on wellbeing and health underscores the need for more strategicand unequivocal policies and practices to promote lifelong learning amongolder adults as a vital part of the active ageing framework.Unfortunately, personal and structural barriers prevent many older adults

from taking advantage of these benefits. Participation in adult learning andeducation is unevenly distributed between countries and within a givencountry. For example, in OECD countries, the participation of more edu-cated adults is three to five times higher than those with less education –the more vulnerable group (Desjardins ). In addition, participationin lifelong learning (both formal and non-formal) drastically decreaseswith age. A survey of European countries found that the average partici-pation rate in education or training courses among those – years oldwas per cent, of those years and older only percent (Kolland andWanka ). Nevertheless, the same research also suggests that the partici-pation rate varies hugely even between countries, and that Nordic countrieswith equity-oriented public policies have much higher participation rates(Kolland and Wanka ).Given the lifelong learning divide, the decrease in participation in learn-

ing activities in later life and the ongoing budget cuts for adult learning inmany countries, it is crucial to promote the benefits of lifelong learning toallow all older adults – especially those whose poor educational, financial,social or health background makes them more vulnerable – to take advan-tage of this effective compensatory strategy. In order to develop more inclu-sive and equitable active ageing policies and practices, Boudiny (:–) advocates three additional principles: ‘fostering adaptability’,‘supporting the maintenance of emotionally close relationships’ and ‘re-moving structural barriers related to age or dependency’. Publicly subsi-dised non-credit general-interest lifelong learning programmes, like theprogramme examined in this study, can play a vital role to help realisethese principles. Policy makers at all level of governments should take a




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fresh look at lifelong learning programmes as a necessary and cost-effectivestrategy for promoting wellbeing and health, and develop more affordable,accessible and diverse later-life learning programmes to achieve the goal ofactive ageing in place for all. Creating an active and caring ageing society,after all, is the responsibility of both individuals and governments.

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank all participants who kindly took time to share their informa-tion and insights, and the school board staff and instructors for their co-operationduring the data-collection period. Our special thanks go to the three research assis-tants (Iris Hartwig, Joycelyn Afrifa and Jenn Braisford) who carried out the data col-lection with energy and tact. We also express our gratitude to the anonymousreviewers whose constructive feedback helped us strengthen this article. This studywas funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada(grant number --). There is no conflict of interest involved in thisresearch.

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Accepted September ; first published online November

Address for correspondence :Miya Narushima,Department of Health Sciences,Brock University, Sir Isaac Brock Way,St. Catharines,Ontario, Canada LSA

E-mail: [email protected]



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mailto:[email protected]


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