Analyzing Socio-Economic and Geographical Factors that Affect the Health of the Elderly
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Analyzing Socio-Economic and Geographical Factors that Affect the Health of the Elderly Zacharias Dermatis 1 & Athina Lazakidou 2 & Athanasios Anastasiou 1 Panagiotis Liargovas 2
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Received: 17 May 2019 / Accepted: 13 September 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The aim of the current research is mainly to investigate socio-economic indicators that affect the health status of the elderly. Specific objectives are the recording of the current profile of the elderly and the investigation of the perception of the health status by elderly, the proportion of older people suffering from health problems, their most common health problems, the percentage of elderly whose health status affects their life quality, the overall life quality of elderly, and the degree of correlation of socioeconomic indicators to the quality of life of elderly. A sample of 897 questionnaires, collected from a number of open elderly care centers in Greece, was the basis of the current survey. The collected data concerning the location of certain health problems and aspects of perceived general health and perceived quality of life of participants were located automatically in geographic maps as geographic information systems (GIS), in order to be shared and analyzed easily. There is almost complete coincidence of our research findings and their statistical analysis with the theoretical approaches of the related literature, with the exception of the relation of marital status with the perception of the quality of life. Direct geographic mapping aims at identifying health problems and socio-economic indicators of the elderly in Greece and transferring information to healthcare professionals in order to impose proper control measures in a very small period of time. Keywords E-health . Social geography . Socio-economic factors . Elderly people . Quality
of life . GIS
* Zacharias Dermatis [email protected]
1
Department of Management Science and Technology, School of Economics and Technology, University of Peloponnese, Tripolis, Greece
2
Department of Economics, Digital Health Applications and Health Economics Analytics Laboratory, School of Economy, Management and Informatics, University of Peloponnese, Tripolis, Greece
Journal of the Knowledge Economy
Introduction Nowadays, studies of the elderly have attained important significance due to the aging of the population across the globe. The elderly are confronted with a number of problems that have to do with both physical threats to health and psychological and biological problems. Elderly people are subject to feelings of insecurity, exclusion, and abandonment. In addition, the decline in their physical abilities gradually leads to the inability to treat illnesses or to psychological disorganization. Moreover, economic difficulties due to inadequate retirement and inefficient healthcare can lead to further isolation and worsening of the state of psychosomatic problems of the elderly. Thus, people at the third age exhibit new needs that can be ana
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