{"id":237278,"date":"2025-02-12T13:28:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T13:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/older-people-in-england-happier-and-more-satisfied-now-than-before-covid-researchers-say\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T13:28:01","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T13:28:01","slug":"older-people-in-england-happier-and-more-satisfied-now-than-before-covid-researchers-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/older-people-in-england-happier-and-more-satisfied-now-than-before-covid-researchers-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Older people in England happier and more satisfied now than before COVID, researchers say"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Older<\/div>\n
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Older people are “happier, more satisfied, and have a greater sense of purpose” than before the COVID-19 pandemic, a study has found.<\/p>\n

Experts analysed data from a long-term study, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, which has been tracking the wellbeing of 3,999 people aged 50 and older in England over time since 1998.<\/p>\n

The researchers found that those surveyed reported that their happiness, eudaemonic wellbeing – which measures whether life feels worthwhile – and life satisfaction all plummeted during the COVID-19<\/a><\/strong> pandemic.<\/p>\n

However, Paola Zaninotto, professor of medical and social statistics at UCL’s Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, said “remarkably” people reported higher happiness, wellbeing and satisfaction since then.<\/p>\n

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“As many would expect, we found that wellbeing declined during the pandemic, and instances of depression rose,” she said.<\/p>\n

“While depression is still slightly more prevalent than before 2020, remarkably, overall older people are now happier, more satisfied and have a greater sense of purpose than before the pandemic.”<\/p>\n

The study did find levels of depression among the 50-year-olds surveyed have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.<\/p>\n

Around 11.4% reported depressive symptoms before COVID-19, which rose to 27.2% in late 2020. Post-pandemic, the study found levels of depression had fallen to 14.9% – still above pre-COVID figures.<\/p>\n

Read more from Sky News:
Ageism limits mental health care for elderly – report<\/a><\/strong>
Things do seem better in the morning, study suggests<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ms Zaninotto added that “the pandemic had a profound effect on the wellbeing of older people in England,” but added “we can only speculate on the reasons” why those surveyed reported feeling better after COVID-19.<\/p>\n

“It perhaps could reflect a renewed appreciation for social connections and meaningful activities, as well as increased psychological resilience after a period of adversity,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Improved health security following widespread vaccinations could also have contributed to this positive shift.<\/p>\n

“We saw marked differences by age and affluence, underscoring the importance of tailored support policies for the immediate and lingering effects of pandemics on the well-being of our older population.”<\/p>\n

The study was published in the journal Aging and Mental Health.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Older people are “happier, more satisfied, and have a greater sense of purpose” than before the COVID-19 pandemic, a study has found. Experts analysed data from a long-term study, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, which has been tracking the wellbeing of 3,999 people aged 50 and older in England over time since 1998. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/02\/1920x1080\/skynews-older-couple-smiling_6825842.jpg?20250211173509","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[607],"tags":[2120,1200,67698,2838,124,1075,47828],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237278"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237278"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237280,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237278\/revisions\/237280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}