If you have a chronic illness, becoming a recluse and forgoing pursuits that have always brought you pleasure can be a blow to your quality of life. Even if you can't achieve goals that were once within your grasp, simply doing what you love appears to be enough to keep your emotional health quotient high. That's the finding of a study undertaken by Canadian researchers called "Participation and Well-Being Among Older Adults Living with Chronic Conditions."
The team explored the value of remaining involved in daily activities and social roles as a means to maintaining life satisfaction for people whose illnesses may curtail their abilities. What the scientists found was that the act of participating in and of itself was more important than a sense of accomplishment. In other words, just getting out there and trying was what really mattered. "Participation has a unique contribution to older adults’ well-being where satisfaction with participation rather than the accomplishment of activities is of importance," lead author Dana Anaby of the University of British Columbia and colleagues wrote in an article they published in Social Indicators Research.
For the study, 200 older adults with chronic conditions completed evaluations including "Satisfaction with Life Scale," "Assessment of Life Habits," "Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, and "Affect Balance Scale." In addition, the participants’ level of mobility was measured with the "Timed Up and Go" test.
