Abstract
Drawing on the Person-in-Environment perspective, this study examined the role of physical and social environments on volunteering and well-being of older adults in Seoul, Korea. Using indicators identified by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Age Friendly City (AFC) framework, this study aims 1) to investigate effects of environments on volunteering and life satisfaction, and 2) to explore whether the effect of environments on life satisfaction was mediated by volunteering. Data were obtained from a representative study: the 2011 Seoul City-wide Needs Assessment of Middle- and Old-aged Adults. A sample of 4,000 respondents subjectively rated the environment in which they are embedded. General Structural Equation Models (SEM) integrated environmental characteristics as latent variables. Volunteering and life satisfaction were included as observed variables. Path analysis was conducted to test mediating hypotheses. Older adults living in environment with better “social participation” (OR=1.09, p<0.000) and “employment and civic engagement” (OR=1.05, p=0.002) characteristics were more likely to volunteer. Respondents reported higher level of life satisfaction if they lived in environments with better features of “respect and inclusion” (b=3.18, p<0.000), “communication and information” (b=3.48, p<0.000), “employment and civic engagement” (b=0.72, p<0.000), and “social participation” (b=1.59, p<0.000). No physical environment characteristic (“housing”, “transportation”, “outdoor space and buildings”) was found significant. Mediation effect of volunteering was not found. As an innovative attempt to use SEM for analyses of WHO AFC indicators in a non-Western context, our study provides empirical evidences for efforts to design age-friendly environments to increase older adults’ civic participation, and ultimately improve their well-being.