Explaining Social Well-being in the Perspective of Retired Men of the Armed Forces: A Qualitative Content Analysis

Introduction: The social well-being is a dimension of individual health which is neglected in medical sciences. It has a significant effect on the quality of life and health. Thus, this study was conducted aiming at explaining social well-being from the perspective of the retired men of the armed forces. Method: This is a qualitative content analysis. The nine retired men of the armed forces participated in this study. The sampling started and proceeded purposefully until the saturation of the data. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview. The data analysis was conducted using the directed content analysis approach of Hsieh and Shannon (2005) using MAXQDA v.11 software. Results: Data analysis led to the extraction of 400 initial codes in six generic categories, including social integration, social acceptance, social contribution, social actualization and social coherence and financial well-being. Conclusion: This study showed that the dimensions of Keyes social well-being theory were confirmed in the Iranian retired men of the armed forces. Considering the socio-economic changes, the financial well-being dimension can be justified which was added to the present study.