Well-being in Canadian seniors: Findings from the Canadian study of healthand aging

While aging is associated with increased health problems and disability, mo st seniors subjectively rate their health positively, and view aging as a p ositive period of life evaluation, increased wisdom and maturity. The somew hat paradoxical nature of these findings suggests that later life well-bein g is multidimensional and variable. Drawing on data from a nationally repre sentative survey, this paper describes the subjective well-being of a sampl e of Canadian seniors, using the Ryff multidimensional measure of well-bein g, and investigates the effects of various demographic, health and socio-ec onomic conditions on reported levels of well-being. Seniors' well-being is robust in terms of the dimension of autonomy, which is resilient to the phy sical and social circumstances of later life. But, as seniors age, they exp erience declines in their sense of purpose in life and opportunities for pe rsonal growth, in part, due to socio-economic factors. Good health and func tional status are important for seniors' sense of mastery over their surrou nding world.