Ikigai, Activity and Older European Women

Authors: Agulló-Tomás, María Silveria and Zorrilla-Muñoz, Vanessa. Institute of Gender Studies University, Department of Social Analysis and Department of Mechanical Engineering, University Carlos III of Madrid.

Ikigai does not have an exact and unique translation, but there is a consensus around the life sense and other aspects related to referred concepts of this post. Ikigai is a term treated in Oriental/Japanese research on older people, recently in Anglo-Saxon studies and seems appropriate and interesting to also address it in our European study. The socio-gerontological studies on quality of life reveal that certain everyday life activities (e.g. leisure, care or volunteering, among others), as well as the favourable perception about life itself positively influence the quality of life. Besides, the thesis which argued activity as a core for well ageing has been followed by classics authors from the 50’s to nowadays. According to the criteria of the United Nations Human Development Index, a better quality of life is related to health issues, which is directly affecting the unstoppable increase in life expectancy of people. This phenomenon is more noticeable in older women. In this context, this study and the hypothesis is focused by the following: in European south countries, such as Portugal and Spain, indicators of participation and favourable perception about life in women over 50 years are more positively associated that in countries like Sweden. This paper aims to explore the regression model between such dimensions. From this frame, the model analyses the socio-demographic profile in these three countries, where women have poorer health, are at risk for more depression, support greater number of chronic illnesses and, in turn, are more limited functionally (e.g. women have worse functional mobility) than men over 50 years.

Data were collected from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE: http://www.share-project.org/home0.html), specifically from waves 4 (W4, 2011) and 6 (W6, 2015). The selected sample of 10,262 considers to all women for three countries: Portugal, Spain and Sweden. In particular, it is analyzed as the participation in activities and the perception of a satisfying and fulfilling life are associated with increased mobility, especially in the case of the Spanish and Portuguese women, despite they suffer more health problems in comparison to their Sweden peers. In addition, it is also in these countries of southern Europe where women, in comparison to men, use more technological devices for functional support (e.g. Tele-care and alarm devices, electric wheelchairs, buggies and scooters). In any case, the increased use of devices could be explained because they manifest a greater need for them and also because they have an "ikigai" (oriental term referring to the vital meaning and attitudes towards life) more positive to address the problems. All of this justifies the unmet demand for technology and devices use to support older people, particularly women. This mixed picture also shows the need for further research (from a gender and socio-spatial perspectives) in the applicability of systems that seek greater functional mobility for a more active aging and thus an improvement in the quality of life.

(1) This post is a summary based on a longer text, in process, about “Life perception, activity and mobility as guarantee of healthy ageing in older women”. This work is part of the QASP research project, lead by Joao Forjaz, and is funded by the Institute of Health Carlos III, Intramural Strategical Action in Health AESI 2018, Ref: PI18CIII / 00046. https://qaspresearch.wixsite.com