Health and wellbeing of older people in Anglo-Australian and Italian-Australian communities: a rural-urban comparison

Objective: The health and wellbeing of urban and rural Anglo- and Italian-Australian residents was compared using five domains which are deemed to influence the outcome 'ageing well'. The five domains included physical and functional status, social supports, material resources, activity and leisure, and mental efficacy. Design: A cross-sectional survey carried out in a two-stage data collection process included a brief telephone interview and face-to-face interview using semistructured schedules with several psychometric measures. Settings: Eastern and Western Melbourne and Mildura, Victoria, Australia. Main outcome measures: Health and wellbeing of urban and rural community-dwelling Anglo- and Italian-Australian men and women aged 50-89 years. Participants: Urban and rural community-dwelling Anglo- and Italian-Australian men and women aged 50-89 years. There were 364 urban Anglo-Australians, 149 rural Anglo-Australians, 190 urban Italian-Australians, and 77 rural Italian-Australians. Results: Urban Anglo-Australian residents reported significantly higher general and emotional health but also reported significantly higher stress levels than their rural counterparts. The rural Italian-Australian residents reported higher resilience and personal control but poorer general and emotional health than the urban residents. Conclusion: If health disparities between urban and rural residents are to be successfully addressed, the link between place of residence, health status and wellbeing must be explored.