Health and functionality are main factors promoting well-being across the life course and especially in old age. However, health and functionality are subject to cultural interpretation and are by no means universal in meaning and in their impacts on human lives. Data from Africa, Ireland, the United States, and Hong Kong demonstrate the complexities in the relationships between culture, aging, health, functionality, and well-being. Implications for eldercare in specific contexts of differing wealth, levels of technology, and a political economy of aging are discussed.
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