The scientific conference “Making Social Health the Priority of Health Care Services” was held at the Chinggis Hotel on December 7. On this occasion, O.Saranchuluun from the Department of Health Social Sciences of the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences gave a speech on the topic “Emotional stability of the elderly and some factors that determine it” and presented the results of a survey. This survey was carried out by talking to 304 elders. In specific, 162 elders from Ulaanbaatar City and 142 elders from the provinces participated in the survey. O.Saranchuluun noted, “The elders of the Khangai region had more positive attitudes than elders from the Gobi regions. We do not notice or measure the happy moments in our lives. We don’t have a standard of happiness anymore. Happy moments are inseparable from the concept of happiness.”
According to a survey conducted among the world’s population, Mongolia ranked 68th out of 146 countries in the 2022 World Happiness Report. One out of every 10 people in our country is an elder. Research on the elderly population is increasingly focused on negative health indicators. Among them, positive emotions or happiness are directly related to individual health. The sample survey was organized in three regions including Gobi, Khangai and the capital city. Survey data were collected before the pandemic, from October 2016 to April 2017. When conducting the research, coefficients were calculated using the average index of happy, worried, and depressed feelings. Elders living in the Khangai region were very emotional people. By gender, grandmothers are highly emotional. However, the psychological balance of the grandfathers was relatively stable. It has been proven that emotional and psychological indicators, in turn, affect a person’s blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and physical health. Many studies show the conclusion that maintaining and managing emotional balance is beneficial for a healthy and long life.
O.Saranchuluun also said, “How often do grandparents dress up just because they want to meet their friends? Are they happier when they meet their friends than during Tsagaan Sar? Our research shows that the circle of elders’ friends has a direct effect on their emotional well-being.” Helping others makes grandfathers feel better. Volunteering increased grandparents’ happiness. The emotional balance of the elders, who felt lonely, was declining. The emotions of the elders who received technical vocational education in their youth were optimistic and psychologically stable. In other words, being able to make something with their hands is a factor that keeps the spirits of the elders high.
She then said, “Let’s do quality social activities aimed at the elderly population to make them happy and grateful. Let’s give the elderly people the opportunity to do volunteer work for a long time. Tsagaan Sar celebration will not fill long-term memories. Activities that make the elderly feel what they can do. It was seen that action is needed. We need to think about whether your grandmother, grandfather, or parents are lonely. By supporting the mood, it will directly affect their health, education, and social relations. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to subjectivity.”
