Date of Award
8-2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Legacy Department
Applied Sociology
Committee Chair/Advisor
Luo, Ye
Committee Member
Granberg, Ellen
Committee Member
Winslow, Sarah
Abstract
Previous research has indicated that there is an association between community characteristics and health status among older adults, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship, and what factors may moderate this relationship are unclear. This study attempts to fill this gap by assessing whether physical/social activities mediate the relationship between community facilities and the health of older adults using CHARLS 2011 survey including 6,651 older adults in China. In addition, this study tests gender differences in this relationship. Communities are primarily operationalized using government-defined boundaries. Health status is characterized by overall self-rated health and functional limitation. As predicted, this study found out older adults who live in the community with more of a variety of community facilities are healthier. The current study shows that physical activity and social activity are significantly positively associated with self-rated health and negatively associated with functional limitation, but they do not mediate the relationship between variety of community facilities and health outcomes. This study also found out positive effects of variety is more evident on women than men.
Recommended Citation
Xu, Jingyuan, "Community Facilities and the Health of Older Adults in China" (2015). All Theses. 2219.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/2219