CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

The Senior Citizens are the key people inside our society and holders of the authentic

progression of their own lives. One way to assume and involve them is through their

organizations, such as the local Senior Citizens Club and various associations for retired people.

Often senior citizens are also members of men's and women's service clubs and churches. They

may also belong to volunteer groups such as Red Cross and other organizations.

Seniors are tended to isolate themselves from others because of their fixed and limited

income, loss of friends and family, declining health, and distance from relatives. This lack of

support/social network may reduce seniors' ability to remain active in the community. This social

isolation may result in a change in self-perception, thus changing their relationships with others,

whether due to lack of confidence, opportunity, etc., to interact with others. This social isolation

may be a precursor to loneliness.

Active aging is optimizing opportunities for health, participation, and security to enhance

the essence of life as people age and applies to both individuals and population groups. Active

aging allows people to realize their worth and potential for physical, social, and mental well-

being throughout the life course and to participate and involve themselves in society while
implementing them with sufficient protection, security, and care when they need it. Active aging

strives to extend a healthy life outlook and quality of life for all people as they age.

One of the senior citizens' most common complaints that you hear from older people is of

weakness, but during the pandemic lockdown and restriction, the complaint changed and added a

procuring prevalence in their isolation experience. Senior citizens' reduction of strength and

endurance can be irritating and deflate one's confidence and self-esteem. However, it is possible

to counter this tendency by paying attention to good nutrition and exercise because of the sudden

implementation of lockdowns and safety restrictions.

The fact is that older adults today, the Boomers, are better educated, healthier, and more

financially secure than any other previous generation. They are also more engaged in learning

and interested in contributing to their communities. Keeping older people involved in their

community can substantially reduce the anticipated drain on financial, health care, and housing

resources associated with an aging population.

With the aging process, the ability to do daily activities declines to some degree in every person.

Also, on average, older people tend to have more disorders and disabilities than younger people.

Though, the changes that accompany aging are more than just changes in health. Social issues

influence an older person's risk and experience of illness.

In a scientific study proclaimed in the Journal of Mental Health and Social Behavior of Older

Adults, it was found that older adults who had high or medium levels of engagement that

increased over time developed cognitive and physical limitations more slowly than did those

with low levels of engagement that decreased over time. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic

also hindrance this level of activities that somehow affects their mental health. Because of that,

socially isolated seniors end up having to visit the doctor's office much more often than their

socially active peers, but it is said to be.

One of the excellent by-products of staying socially active is that it almost always correlates to

being more physically active than socially isolated seniors because you will tend to get out of the

house more instead of staying home alone every day.

They are being socially active, have the potential to have lower blood pressure, and conceivably

reduced risk for cardiovascular problems, cancers, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and

diabetes, which reduced the risk for their health as a happy by-product of being physically active

since socially involved seniors get higher dynamic movement levels that help elders be socially

engaged; older adults tend to be more motivated to sustain their health than their less-engaged

peers.
Related Studies

One study found that volunteering among older adults age 60 and above provided

benefits to both physical and mental health, while similar correlations were not found for mid-

life adults who volunteer. The analysis also found that while depression is a barrier to volunteer

participation in mid-life adults, who may seek to compensate for role losses and attenuated social

relations that occur with aging.

A second study found that, in general, volunteers report greater life satisfaction and better

physical health than non-volunteers, and their life satisfaction and physical health improve at a

greater rate due to volunteering. At the same time, older volunteers experience more significant

increases in life satisfaction and more remarkable positive changes in their perceived health due

to their volunteer activities than do younger volunteers.

RELATED LITERATURE

INSIGHTS LEARNED FROM THE RELATED LITERATURE

RELATED STUDIES

INSIGHTS LEARNED FROM THE RELATED STUDIES