Your Opinion Matters: A Cross-Sectional Study on Happiness among Older Adults in Siberia

The objective of this work is to explore the condition of older adults in Tomsk and in the broader context of Siberia, considering indicators of health, happiness, and life satisfaction. We conducted a survey on a convenience sample of 500 local older adults (50 years old or older, with an average age of 64) and compared results with other available studies. We found that respondents generally reports lower levels of general health, happiness, and life satisfaction than most countries included in the analysis, and that Siberia is in the group of regions and countries where older adults are less happy and less satisfied with their life than younger adults. This is mainly due to health conditions, since only 1 in 5 respondents report their own health, compared to age-mates, to be good or very good. Interestingly, we also found that being member of a community group in Tomsk is not associated to better health, happiness, or life satisfaction, but if we focus on older adults which are not just members but engaged members, we find a positive associations with our well-being indicators expected for community membership.