The Relationship between Social Participation and the Elders’ Life Expectancy in Amol City

Abstract Elders population increase can be considered a crisis. Retirement and limitations in social activities are problems encountered by the elderly. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between social participation and life expectancy among the elderly in Amol city. This study follows a descriptive-analytic design in a cross-sectional framework. The population of the study contains the elderly over 60 years of age under the coverage of Amol city (Mazandaran-Iran) health and treatment centers. A sample of 450 members was selected via multi-phases cluster random method. Snider’s social support and life expectancy questionnaires were used to measure the variables of the study. The data were analyzed via running descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation-coefficient, Regression and T-test. In the present study, the regression coefficient of social participation was significant with life hopefulness at the level of 0.01 (β=0.332, P=0.001). Further, the results of the regression analysis demonstrated that social participation could have the capacity to anticipate life expectancy among the elderly. The results also indicated that there was a significant difference between male and female participants in terms of social participants as well as life expectancy i.e. social participation and life expectancy were higher in male participants than in female counterparts. The results of the present showed that an increase in social participation could enhance life expectancy among the elderly; and as a result, provide them with a high-quality living. Regarding the importance of the elders’ heath, it is suggested that more opportunities be dedicated to the facilitation of social participation among the elderly.