Tallinn University Social Work Institute doctoral student Jing Wu defended her PhD thesis entitled European Older Adults’ Well-Being and Suicide in the Societal and Family Context in auditorium M-213 (Mare building of Tallinn University) on Wednesday, 16 April at 12:00. The supervisors of the thesis were Professor Airi Värnik, Tallinn University, and Kairi Kasearu, research fellow, University of Tartu. The opponents of the thesis were Pia Solin, National Institute of Health and Welfare in Finland, and Kai Saks, associate professor, University of Tartu. The thesis can be found in E-Ait, the repository of Tallinn University Academic Library.
Jing Wu studied suicide and well-being among older adults in Europe. The results of her study showed that in 22 countries studied as a whole, there was an inverse relationship between suicide rates among older adults and subjective well-being indicators (e.g. subjective physical health, subjective mental health, life satisfaction, and happiness, etc.). Under the challenges of demographic ageing, the contributions of both state and family are important to the well-being of older adults in Europe. The results of the present thesis should give social policy makers and social work practitioners and researchers a deeper understanding of not only social but also family factors associated with older adults’ well-being in Europe from the perspective of comparative ageing research.
Jing Wu started to take interest in the field of mental health and suicide prevention almost ten years ago in China. After obtaining her master degree in social work from City University of Hong Kong, she came to Estonia to pursue her academic dream. Jing Wu will continue her scientific road related to well-being, mental health promotion, and suicide prevention, especially to older adults – this very important age group – in the future.