STRATEGIES TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS IN MACAU: ASSESSMENT ON THE POTENTIALS OF NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT

WITH CONTINUOUS ADVANCEMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY LEADING TO EXTENDED LIFESPANS, A QUESTION ARISES: ARE WE ADEQUATELY PREPARED TO FACE AND ACCEPT DEATH WHEN IT EVENTUALLY COMES? WHAT FACTORS PROMPT US TO PROACTIVELY PLAN OUR END-OF-LIFE ARRANGEMENTS? THESE ARE IMPORTANT ISSUES THAT MERIT UNDERSTANDING AND ATTENTION. THEREFORE, THIS STUDY AIMS TO EXPLORE THE CURRENT STATUS AND RELATED FACTORS BETWEEN LIFE AUTONOMY AND QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG THE ELDERLY IN MACAU. THIS STUDY ADOPTS A MIXED-METHODS APPROACH, PRIMARILY UTILIZING CONVENIENCE SAMPLING AND SNOWBALL SAMPLING. DATA WERE COLLECTED THROUGH BOTH ONLINE AND OFFLINE METHODS USING QUESTIONNAIRES. THE QUESTIONNAIRE CONSISTS OF THREE MAIN SECTIONS: 1) DEMOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF RESPONDENTS, 2) THE GOOD DEATH INVENTORY (GDI), AND 3) THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION QUALITY OF LIFE-BREF TAIWAN VERSION. A TOTAL OF 512 QUESTIONNAIRES WERE COLLECTED, WITH 480 VALID RESPONSES, ACCOUNTING FOR APPROXIMATELY 94% OF THE TOTAL. AMONG THE RESPONDENTS, 61.1% WERE FEMALE, THE MAJORITY HAD PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION, 51.6% WERE MARRIED, BUT ONLY 36.5% LIVED WITH THEIR PARTNERS. NEARLY 60% OF PARTICIPANTS RATED THEIR PHYSICAL CONDITION AS AVERAGE, 60% HAD CHRONIC ILLNESSES, THOUGH THE PREVALENCE OF SEVERE CHRONIC DISEASES WAS LOW. OVER 50% OF PARTICIPANTS HAD NO RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN ANY ELDERLY SERVICES. THE RESULTS SHOW THAT 60% OF PARTICIPANTS EXHIBITED MODERATE OR ABOVE LEVELS OF ATTITUDES TOWARD A GOOD DEATH AND QUALITY OF LIFE. ANALYSIS USING ONE-WAY ANOVA AND T-TESTS REVEALED SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDES TOWARD A GOOD DEATH ACROSS ALL DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES. PARTICIPANTS WHO WERE ""OLDER,"" HAD ""LOWER EDUCATION LEVELS,"" WERE ""SINGLE"" OR ""COHABITING,"" ""LIVED WITH FRIENDS,"" HAD ""NO RELIGIOUS BELIEFS"" OR WERE ""CATHOLIC,"" HAD ""POOR PHYSICAL CONDITION,"" ""DID NOT RECEIVE ELDERLY SERVICES,"" OR PARTICIPATED IN ""ELDERLY DAYCARE CENTERS"" DISPLAYED POORER ATTITUDES TOWARD A GOOD DEATH. ADDITIONALLY, PARTICIPANTS CONSIDERED ""ANTICIPATING FUTURE CONDITIONS,"" ""SEEING DESIRED PEOPLE,"" ""NATURAL DEATH,"" ""LIVING IN A PEACEFUL ENVIRONMENT,"" AND ""INDEPENDENT LIVING"" AS KEY ASPECTS OF A GOOD DEATH. REGARDING QUALITY OF LIFE, DIFFERENCES WERE OBSERVED ACROSS VARIOUS DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES. IN OVERALL QUALITY OF LIFE, PARTICIPANTS WHO WERE ""OLDER,"" ""NEVER EDUCATED,"" ""SINGLE"" OR ""COHABITING,"" ""LIVED WITH FRIENDS,"" HAD ""POOR PHYSICAL CONDITION,"" OR WERE ""USING HOME SUPPORT SERVICES"" REPORTED POORER QUALITY OF LIFE. IN THE PHYSICAL HEALTH DOMAIN, THOSE WHO WERE ""OLDER,"" ""NEVER EDUCATED,"" ""COHABITING,"" HAD ""POOR PHYSICAL CONDITION,"" OR WERE ""USING HOME SUPPORT SERVICES"" HAD LOWER QUALITY OF LIFE. IN THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH DOMAIN, THOSE WHO WERE ""OLDER,"" ""NEVER EDUCATED,"" ""COHABITING,"" ""LIVED WITH FRIENDS,"" WERE ""CATHOLIC,"" HAD ""POOR PHYSICAL CONDITION,"" OR WERE ""USING HOME SUPPORT SERVICES"" HAD POORER QUALITY OF LIFE. IN THE SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS DOMAIN, THOSE WHO WERE ""OLDER,"" ""SINGLE"" OR ""COHABITING,"" ""LIVED WITH FRIENDS,"" HAD ""POOR PHYSICAL CONDITION,"" OR ""DID NOT RECEIVE ELDERLY SERVICES"" HAD POORER QUALITY OF LIFE. IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL DOMAIN, THOSE WHO WERE ""OLDER,"" ""NEVER EDUCATED,"" ""COHABITING,"" ""LIVED WITH FRIENDS,"" HAD ""POOR PHYSICAL CONDITION,"" OR WERE ""USING HOME SUPPORT SERVICES"" HAD POORER QUALITY OF LIFE. ACROSS THE FOUR DOMAINS (EXCLUDING OVERALL QUALITY OF LIFE), PARTICIPANTS SCORED HIGHEST TO LOWEST IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER: PHYSICAL HEALTH > SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS > ENVIRONMENT > PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH, INDICATING THAT PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH WAS THE WEAKEST DOMAIN. A POSITIVE CORRELATION OF VARYING DEGREES WAS FOUND BETWEEN ATTITUDES TOWARD A GOOD DEATH AND DIFFERENT DOMAINS OF QUALITY OF LIFE, MEANING THAT BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH BETTER ATTITUDES TOWARD A GOOD DEATH. HOWEVER, ONLY THE ""ENVIRONMENTAL"" AND ""SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS"" DOMAINS OF QUALITY OF LIFE SHOWED A LINEAR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GOOD DEATH INVENTORY, INDICATING THAT THESE DOMAINS ARE PREDICTIVE OF ATTITUDES TOWARD A GOOD DEATH, THOUGH THEIR EXPLANATORY POWER IS LIMITED.