Leader: Maria Letizia Tanturri (UNIPD); Other collaborator(s): Annalisa Donno (UNIPD), Martina Salierno (UNIPD).
Literature suggests that old people who have an active life-style and an enriching social life, who are well integrated in their context and engaged in cultural activities, not only declare to have a higher life satisfaction, but they also proof to be healthier. Using Time Use Survey data, this task aims: a) to study how the old (stratified by sex, SES, kinship, geographical context) allocate their daily time, with particular focus on time spent in social engagement, hobbies, sports, cultural activities; b) to identify among the activities old people perform daily, those that are considered more pleasant and that are related to higher life satisfaction; c) to suggest to health or care workers opportune social prescribing in order to direct patients to activities that may help with their emotional or physical needs, in order to increase positive health and wellbeing outcomes.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
The review identified positive factors in the use of applications, including increased weekly physical activity, greater adherence to programs, the ability to customize training plans based on any existing medical conditions. It also provides immediate information on physiological parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, etc., giving feedback on the volume of activity performed and the quality and timing of choices that promote a better quality of life and sleep. The ability to interact through apps among multiple individuals following the same physical activity program, thanks to connection on a platform, encourages interactions within the community and activity through challenges among users.
- Preliminary definition of the possible different steps to build the app “MENO SOLI, MEGLIO ACCOMPAGNATI” in order to help old people to be more active, more socially engaged and feel less alone.
- Definition of the empirical strategy to get the input data for the app using the Italian Time Use Survey (possible stratification criteria, potential activities or group of activities to be included).
- 1 accepted proposal for an oral presentation on perceived and de facto Loneliness in Old age using Time Use Survey for Age-IT Conference (scheduled in Venice, May 20-22)
- 1 accepted proposal for a poster presentation on gender values and the unequal division of unpaid work in Italian couples of different generations for Age-IT conference (scheduled in Venice, May 20-22)
- 1 accepted proposal for an Oral presentation on Loneliness in Old age and life satisfaction to be presented at the European Population Conference (scheduled in Edinburgh, June 13-15)
- 1 accepted proposal for a poster presentation on gender values and the unequal division of unpaid work in Italian couples of different generations to be presented at the European Population Conference (scheduled in Edinburgh, June 13-15)
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
Potential practice implication
- determine how previous behaviours influence skeletal muscle response to exercise and nutrition programs designed to maintain muscle mass and functionality, this will allow to design tailored exercise interventions to improve skeletal mass quantity and quality;
- determine which nutritional factor (caloric restriction, fasting, protein quality/quantity) enhances the positive effects of exercise on different physiological (muscle strength/quality, VO2max, ventilation, balance, etc) variables, this will allow to better understand how manage nutrition in a real setting;
Potential Policy implications
- Implement subsidized nutrition programs specifically tailored to older adults, ensuring access to healthy and balanced meals.
- Identify age-friendly design principles into urban planning to encourage active living, such as well-lit walking paths, accessible parks, and benches for resting.
- Provide data for healthcare professionals about geriatric nutrition and exercise to better address the unique needs of older patients during medical consultations.
Potential Industry implications
- design new tools (wearables, apps) aimed to increase healthy habits compliance and to measure physiological (hydration, heart rate, etc) and behavioural (steps, sedentary time, etc) daily variations to give (through also machine learning processes) tailored suggestions for a proper exercise and correct personalized nutrition
Potential practical implications
- The elaborated distinction between de facto loneliness and perceived loneliness in old age can help policy makers to identify the old people who are more in need of public support, and to understand which activities might help the old at risk to overcome their solitude.
- Identification of gender inequalities among the old couples might offer to policy makers, associations and stakeholders, strategies to promote more equal gender values and behaviors specifically among the old.
- Preliminary study will provide inputs for the future launch of a new app to help old people to be more socially engaged in their territory, to increase their social contractedness and to get practical help to avoid isolation.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
- Selection and recruiting of a Research Assistant for the WP2.1 (Marina Salerno) and initial formation on the methodological issues and specific instruments of the analysis of Time Use data.
- Preliminary data analysis on the Italian Time Use Survey data to identify and grouping the activities to be considered for the algorithm for the app “MENO SOLI, MEGLIO ACCOMPAGNATI”
- Scientific work on two different strands of research:
- Loneliness, social connectedness and daily solitude in old age
- Gender ideology and gendered division of domestic work in old age
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
- Methodological work to find appropriate statistical models to compare data analysis on the Italian Time Use Survey data to identify and grouping the activities to be considered for the algorithm for the app “MENO SOLI, MEGLIO ACCOMPAGNATI”: The focus is to explore how reallocating time between pairs of activities may impact the outcome variable, which is life satisfaction. In this context, Compositional Data Analysis (CoDA) methodology is particularly useful, as it relies on analyzing the ratios between activities (specifically log-ratios), allowing the data to be examined in relative rather than absolute terms. This approach helps to better capture the dynamics of time distribution across different activities and their impact on life satisfaction.
Further scientific work on two different strands of research:
- Loneliness, social connectedness and daily solitude in old age
- Gender ideology and gendered division of domestic work in old age
- Preparation of the paper: “The unequal division of domestic work in Italian couples of different generations: does the adherence to traditional value still matter”, oral presentation, International Time Use Association Conference, Corfù, October 2024
- Submission of an abstract to the IUSSP International Population Conference, Brisbane, July 2025, “Being alone, without feeling lonely? The unmet desire for company among older Italians, with Annalisa Donno (University of Padua) and Tiziana Nazio (Sociologist at University of Turin)
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
- Three meetings with the company that will develop the APP on SOCIAL ACTIVITIES:
- October 29th: Introductory meeting with the WP2 partners to define the division of work and outline the schedule.
- November 7th: Meeting with the app development team to clarify next steps and deliverables.
- December 17th: Discussion on the questionnaire, minor modifications made, and agreement on delivering the output in matrix table format. Next meeting postponed to early January 2025.
- Preparation of the initial questionnaire to profile the app users to be able to tailor the proposed activities to these profiles
- Methodological work to elaborate the algorithm for the app on SOCIAL ACTIVITIES with the Italian Time Use Survey data to identify and grouping the activities to be considered. The focus is to explore how reallocating time between pairs of activities may impact the outcome variable, which is life satisfaction. In this context, Compositional Data Analysis (CoDA) methodology is particularly useful, as it relies on analyzing the ratios between activities (specifically log-ratios), allowing the data to be examined in relative rather than absolute terms. This approach helps to better capture the dynamics of time distribution across different activities and their impact on life satisfaction.
- Further explorations have been conducted to identify and apply an alternative methodology that does not rely on log-ratios. This approach enables the creation of a coefficient matrix without the need for excessive aggregation of activities or extensive zero imputation, better aligning with our scope.
- Further scientific work on two different strands of research:
- Loneliness, social connectedness and daily solitude in old age
- Gender ideology and gendered division of domestic work in old age
- Submission of two short abstracts to the PopDays 2025, Meeting (Biannual meeting organized by the Italian Association for Population Studies) in Cagliari, June 2025:
- “How time allocation shapes life satisfaction in old age: A compositional approach”, Martina Salierno (University of Padua), Annalisa Donno (University of Padua) and Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua)
- “Being alone, without feeling lonely? The unmet desire for company among older Italians”, Annalisa Donno (University of Padua), Tiziana Nazio (Sociologist at University of Turin) and Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua).
- Preparation of the paper: “How time allocation shapes life satisfaction in old age: A compositional approach”, Martina Salierno (University of Padua), Annalisa Donno (University of Padua) and Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua”
- Preparation of an abstract for IES Innovation & Society: Statistics and Data Science for Evaluation and Quality, Brixen 2025: “Is Time Well Spent in Later Life? Understanding Life Satisfaction Through Daily Time Reallocation Across Activities”, Martina Salierno (University of Padua), Annalisa Donno (University of Padua) and Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua)
- Preparation and discussion of a thesis: Jessica Pezzaioli “L'impatto dei valori di genere e della divisione del lavoro domestico sulla soddisfazione dei partner: un'analisi tramite modelli ad equazioni strutturali” (The impact of gender values and the division of domestic labour on partners’ satisfaction: an analysis using structural equation models).
Participation to conferences/abstract submission:
- “Isolation or Independence? Investigating Older Adults’ Loneliness in Italy”, oral presentation on perceived and de facto Loneliness in Old age using Time Use Survey for Age-IT Conference (Venice, May 20-22)
- The unequal division of domestic work in Italian couples of different generations: does the adherence to traditional value still matter?”, poster presentation for Age-IT conference (Venice, May 20-22)
- “Isolation or Independence? Investigating Older Adults’ Loneliness in Italy”, Oral presentation on Loneliness in Old age and life satisfaction using Structural Equation Models, presented at the European Population Conference (Edinburgh, June 13-15)
- “The unequal division of domestic work in Italian couples of different generations: does the adherence to traditional value still matter?”, oral presentation on gender ideology and the unequal division of unpaid work among Italian couples of different generations using Structural Equation Models, at the European Population Conference (Edinburgh, June 13-15)
- Abstract accepted by the IUSSP International Population Conference, Brisbane, July 2025, Annalisa Donno (University of Padua), Tiziana Nazio (Sociologist at University of Turin) and Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua) “Being alone, without feeling lonely? The unmet desire for company among older Italians”.
- Annalisa Donno (University of Padua) & Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua), “The unequal division of domestic work in Italian couples of different generations: does the adherence to traditional value still matter”, oral presentation, International Time Use Association Conference, Corfù, October 2024
- Annalisa Donno (University of Padua) and Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua), “Isolation or Independence? Investigating Older Adults’ Loneliness in Italy”, Meeing Age-it, Padua, October 22-23rd.
- Martina Salierno (University of Padua), Annalisa Donno (University of Padua) and Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua), “Active Lifestyle and Social Engagement for Successful Aging: A Statistical Analysis of Time Use Data”, Meeting Age-it, Padua, October 22-23rd.