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.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
Development of the Alternative Methodology
- Further methodological developments have been carried out to refine and apply the alternative approach that does not rely on log-ratios. This method enables the construction of a coefficient matrix without requiring excessive aggregation of activities or extensive zero imputation, thus better aligning with the project’s objectives. The matrix of estimated coefficients, along with confidence intervals, has been produced and is intended for implementation within the APP.
Collaboration on APP Development
- A meeting with the company that will develop the APP on SOCIAL ACTIVITIES:
- January 30th: During the meeting, the matrix output was presented and explained. The final version of the questionnaire was discussed. The company agreed to attempt its implementation. A follow-up meeting will be scheduled based on the feedback received.
Participation to conferences/abstract submission:
Papers in Preparation
- “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)
Joint paper with a focus on the association between purposeful activities and perceived life satisfaction in later life.
Authors: Erika Borella (University of Padua), Alessandra Buja (University of Padua), Annalisa Donno (University of Padua), Martina Salierno (University of Padua), Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua)
- 1st International Conference of the Sustainable Ageing EAPS Working Group –
Padova, September, 2025
A long abstract accepted:
- “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)
- IES Innovation & Society: Statistics and Data Science for Evaluation and Quality – Brixen 2025
A long abstract accepted:
- “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). To be published in the book of Proceedings.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
Collaboration on APP development
- A follow-up meeting is scheduled for July. The company will present their progress and discuss the users side validation of the app.
Conference abstract acceptance
- AgeIt 2nd General Meeting: two papers accepted for oral presentation:
“How time allocation shapes life satisfaction in old age: a compositional approach”
"How time is spent matters: activities, solitudes and loneliness among older adults
Participation to conferences
- Age it kick off meeting, Padova 13-14 Maggio. Oral presentation Task 2.1. Intermediate research results and the advancement in the development of the app were presented.
- Pop days 2025: Italian association for Population studies. Cagliari 4-6giugno. Two papers presented:
- How time allocation shapes life satisfaction in old age: a compositional approach”How time allocation shapes life satisfaction in old age: a compositional approach”
- “Being alone without feeling lonely? The unmet desire for company among older italians”
- AHL NAPOLI One health-AgeIt synergies, Napoli June 2025 poster presentation
- "How time allocation shapes life satisfaction in old age: a compositional approach”
- IES INNOVATION SOCIETIES: Statistics and data science for Evaluation and Quality. Brixen June 2025
- "Is Time Well Spent in Later Life? Understanding life satisfaction through daily time Reallocation across activities"
Working papers
-paper on the relationship between LS and daily time allocation in older adults with a compositional approach
-the relationship between productive engagement and well being in later life: gender perspectives from Italy
Publications
-Salierno M, Donno A, Tanturri ML, “Is Time Well Spent in later life? Understanding Life satisfaction through daily time Reallocation across activities” in Proceedings of IES Innovation Societies: Statistics and Data science for evaluation and quality. Brixen 2025. pp.1232-1239 ISBN 9788854958494
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
- The following activities were carried out during this period:
- The output generated by the algorithm based on the relative shift model (the coefficient matrix) was reviewed and approved by the Umana Analytics development team, who deemed it suitable for integration into the application.
- Several meetings were held with the Umana Analytics development team to define and discuss the next phases of the project:
- July 25th, 2025: Positive feedback was received on the coefficient matrix resulting from the implementation of the proposed algorithm. The Umana team also presented the main functionalities of the application, and a follow-up meeting was scheduled to examine its operational aspects in greater detail.
In parallel, two main research streams were developed over the reporting period:
- One line of work continued focusing on applying traditional CoDA methods to aggregated categories of activities, with the aim of addressing a significant gap in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, a compositional approach has not yet been applied in Italy within a social science framework using time-use data in relation to life satisfaction, particularly in the context of active ageing.
- The second research direction was further developed, specifically targeting productive activities, with the objective of assessing their individual and combined effects on life satisfaction among older adults. Beyond the simple correlation between life satisfaction and productive activities, issues of selection bias were also addressed through a propensity score matching approach and the use of two-step Heckman models.
DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION OF RESULTS
Working papers & papers under review
- “The Relationship Between Productive Engagement and Well-Being in Later Life: Gender Perspectives from Italy”. Alessandra Buja (University of Padua), Annalisa Donno (University of Padua), Martina Salierno (University of Padua), Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua) – Paper examining the impact of purpose-driven activities (such as paid work, volunteering, and caregiving) on life satisfaction and overall well-being in older Italian adults.
Submitted to BMC Health – Special Issue “Promoting health equity among aging adults” and currently under review.
- “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) – Working paper focusing on the application of traditional Compositional Data Analysis (CoDA) to time-use data and life satisfaction in older adults.
Participation at conferences
The following conference presentations took place in the reporting period:
- 1 st International Conference of the Sustainable Ageing EAPS Working Group, Padova, September 11-12th, 2025. Oral presentation within the Contributed Session: “Work, social participation and leisure”. “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).
- 30th International Population Conference (IPC 2025) organized by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population– Brisbane (Australia),
Oral presentation: Tanturri M.L. , Donno A.“Being Alone without Feeling Lonely? The Unmet Desire for Company among Older Italians” in Session 137 - Intergenerational Relations and Wellbeing among Older Adults
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
- The following activities were carried out during this period:
1. One meeting were held with the Umana Analytics development team to define and discuss the final phases of the APP project:
- October 17th, 2025: The discussion focused on the latest updates to the application, with particular attention to the personalized recommendation system, notification mechanisms, and social matching features. Several key points were identified for further development, including the moderation of user interactions, the integration of local events through collaboration with municipal entities, and the opportunity to conduct usability testing
- On 15 January, Humana Analytics informed us by email that the app was currently in beta and is still awaiting approval on the Google Play Store. In order to show us the app in its entirety, with all its features clearly visible, they announced that they would be sending a tablet to each group, so as to allow for a clearer and more comprehensive experience during the activities. Unfortunately, neither we nor any other members of the WP2 team involved ever received the aforementioned tablet. This causes a delay in verifying the correct functioning of the app.
2. All team members worked to contribute to disseminate our papers in international seminars and in particular in the final Age-meetings preparing two oral presentations.
3. All team members worked also for finalizing papers to submit to international journals. In particular we worked to revise and re-submit a joint paper to a special Issue of BMC Public Policy and to submit a paper to Social Indicator Research.
DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION OF RESULTS
Publications
Sella, E., Carbone, E., Domenicucci, R., Tanturri, M. L., Paoli, A., & Borella, E. (2025). Examining subjective views of the aging process in older adults: A systematic review following the COSMIN methodology. BMC Geriatrics, 25(1), 897. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-025-06472-w
Papers submitted
- “The Relationship Between Productive Engagement and Well-Being in Later Life: Gender Perspectives from Italy”. Alessandra Buja (University of Padua), Annalisa Donno (University of Padua), Martina Salierno (University of Padua), Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua) – Paper examining the impact of purpose-driven activities (such as paid work, volunteering, and caregiving) on life satisfaction and overall well-being in older Italian adults.
Revised and resubmitted to BMC Health – Special Issue “Promoting health equity among aging adults” and currently under review.
Beyond Being Active: Daily Time Reallocation Between Domains of Activities and Life Satisfaction in Older Age. A Compositional Analysis, Martina Salierno (University of Padua), Annalisa Donno (University of Padua) and Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua) – Working paper focusing on the application of traditional Compositional Data Analysis (CoDA) to time-use data and life satisfaction in older adults. Submitted to Social Indicator Research.
Participation at conferences
The following conference presentations took place in the reporting period:
- 2nd General Meeting of AGE-IT Naples, October 29 to 31, 2025.
Oral presentation: “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)
- 2nd General Meeting of AGE-IT Naples, October 29 to 31, 2025.
Oral presentation: How Time Is Spent Matters: Activities, Solitude and Loneliness Among Older Adults, Annalisa Donno (University of Padua) and Maria Letizia Tanturri (University of Padua)
Paper accepted to conference
- European Population Conference 2026, Bologna 3-6 June 2026, The Relationship between Productive Engagement and Well-Being in Later Life: Gender Perspectives from Italy • Annalisa Donno , University of Padova; Martina Salierno, University of Padova; Maria Letizia Tanturri, University of Padova; Alessandra Buja, University of Padova; Erika Borella, University of Padova. Accepted for a Flash Session presentation, Session 42 Flash Session Work, Family Roles and Social Participation in Later Life