Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
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Searching for elder abuse: a systematic review of database citations
- Author:
- ERLINGSSON Christen L.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 19(3/4), 2007, pp.59-78.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This review consists of a mapping exercise based on searches of the databases PubMed, CNAHL and PsycINFO using the term elder abuse. A total of 2,418 unique references was retrieved. Using manifest content analysis, non-research material (1,986 references) was sorted by type, and research references (34 dissertations, 398 published papers) were categorised. Research material most often: investigated prevalence, typology and definitions of elder abuse; used a quantitative methodology; had first author affiliations to medicine, nursing or social sciences; and sampled populations of professionals, personnel, cases or charts. Of the 324 countries of origin, the USA was the most frequent. Overall, elder abuse research shows a lack of diversity, still limited use of qualitative methods, limited involvement of older people and family members, and minimal research from developing countries. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).
Community-based treatment of late life depression: an expert panel-informed literature review
- Authors:
- FREDERICK John T., et al
- Journal article citation:
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 33(3), September 2007, pp.222-249.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This systematic review employed an expert panel to assess the quality of studies and make judgements on the effectiveness of those interventions for which sufficient data were available. Adequate data existed for depression care management, group and individual psychotherapy for depression, psychotherapy targeting mental health, psychotherapy for carers, education and skills training (to manage health problems besides depression, and for carers), geriatric health evaluation and management, exercise, and physical rehabilitation and occupational therapy. Depression care management was rated as effective; education and skills training, geriatric health evaluation and management, and physical rehabilitation and occupational therapy were rated as ineffective; and the remaining interventions received mixed ratings. Several interventions lacked sufficient data for assessment because of limited numbers of studies and/or poor study quality. The authors stress that some interventions found to be of mixed effectiveness (or even ineffective) may have a part to play in a multifaceted approach to the treatment of depression in later life.
Multifactorial and functional mobility assessment tools for fall risk among older adults in community, home-support, long-term and acute care settings
- Authors:
- SCOTT Vicky, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Age and Ageing, 36(2), 2007, pp.130-139.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This review focuses on studies that use prospective validation in examining the predictive value of fall assessment tools applied to people over 65. Thirty four studies reporting the testing of thirty eight tools are included, and cover community settings (14 studies, 23 tools); acute settings (12 studies, 8 tools); long term care (6 studies, 10 tools); and home support (4 studies, 4 tools). Eleven of the tools are multifactorial assessment tools covering a wide range of fall risk factors, and 27 are functional mobility assessment tools involving measures of physical activity related to gait, strength or balance. A number of tools were found to have moderate to good validity and reliability but few have been tested more than once, or in more than one setting. Thus no single tool can be recommended for implementation in all settings or with all sub-populations.
Social support and adjustment to caring for elder family members: a multi-study analysis
- Authors:
- SMERGLIA Virginia L., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 11(2), March 2007, pp.205-217.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This multi-study analysis systematically examines research findings on relationships between social support and caregiver adjustment to discover whether informal support helps family caregivers. Caring for older relatives is an ongoing stressful life course event and role. Informal social support is often used as a predictor of caregiver adjustment outcomes. It is widely believed to enhance adjustment. Yet the varied research results do not necessarily support this belief. A computer-generated literature search of social sciences and medical databases produced thirty-five caregiving articles, published in refereed journals, which meet study parameters. A coding form was developed to categorize social support and adjustment variables for cross-tabular analyses. The findings show most relationships (61%) between social support and caregiver adjustment are not positively significant. Of the minority of positively significant relationships, neither perceived (available) nor received support is more important and neither instrumental nor socioemotional support is more likely to aid adjustment. Researchers and health care professionals need to explore the negative impact of social support and attributes of caregiver-care recipient relationships.
Prognostic factors of disability of older people: a systematic review
- Authors:
- TAS Umit, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of General Practice, 57(537), April 2007, pp.319-323.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of General Practitioners
This study aims to review and summarise the evidence on the influence of sociodemographic, lifestyle, and (bio)medical variables on the course of prevalent disability and transition rates to different outcome categories in community-dwelling older people. Articles were identified through searches of PubMed, EMBASE, and PsycINFO databases and reference lists of relevant articles. Prospective population studies that assessed disability at baseline and reported on associations between potential prognostic variables and disability were included. Methodological quality of studies was assessed by standardised criteria, after which relevant data were extracted. A synthesis of the available evidence was carried out. Nine cohort studies reported transition rates and eight cohort studies presented multivariate analyses on prognostic factors. There was some heterogeneity among studies in definition and assessment of disability. There is moderate to strong evidence that higher age, cognitive impairment, vision impairment, and poor self-rated health are prognostic factors of disability. Prognostic factors, partly modifiable, are identified that should be taken into account in targeting treatment and care for older people with disabilities. Further conceptual and methodological standardisation is required in order to enable a meta-analysis and obtain higher levels of evidence.
The effects of reminiscence on psychological well-being in older adults: a meta-analysis
- Authors:
- BOHLMEIJER Ernst, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 11(3), May 2007, pp.291-300.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This paper presents the results of a meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness of reminiscence on psychological well-being across different target groups and treatment modalities. Fifteen controlled outcome studies were included. An overall effect size of 0.54 was found, indicating a moderate influence of reminiscence on life-satisfaction and emotional well-being in older adults. Life-review was found to have significantly greater effect on psychological well-being than simple reminiscence. In addition, reminiscence had significantly greater effect on community-dwelling adults than adults living in nursing homes or residential care. Other characteristics of participants or interventions were not found to moderate effects. It is concluded that reminiscence in general, but especially life review, are potentially effective methods for the enhancement of psychological well-being in older adults. However, a replication of effectiveness studies of the well-defined protocols is now warranted.
Interventions to reduce fear of falling in community-living older people: a systematic review
- Authors:
- ZIJLSTRA G. A .R., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 55(4), 2007, pp.603-615.
- Publisher:
- Blackwells Publishing
This review of 19 randomised controlled trials (12 judged to be of higher methodological quality) was conducted according to Cochrane principles and shows the following approaches to be effective in reducing the fear of falling: five fall-related multifactorial interventions (three home- and two group-based); three group-based tai chi programmes; two home-based exercise interventions; and a hip protector intervention. The primary aim of most of these interventions was to reduce falls rather than the fear of falling, and most also succeeded in this respect. The authors conclude that there is limited but fairly consistent evidence in favour of these interventions, and that more high quality, well reported and directly comparable research is needed.
Marital status and mortality in the elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Authors:
- MANZOLI Lamberto, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 64(1), January 2007, pp.77-94.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Although a relationship between marital status and mortality has long been recognized, no summary estimates of the strength of the association are available. A meta-analysis of cohort studies was conducted to produce an overall estimate of the excess mortality associated with being unmarried in aged individuals as well as to evaluate whether and to what degree the effect of marriage differs with respect to gender, geographical/cultural context, type of non-married condition and study methodological quality. All included studies were published after the year 1994, used multivariate analyses and were written in English. Pooling 53 independent comparisons, consisting of more than 250,000 elderly subjects, the overall relative risk (RR) for married versus non-married individuals (including widowed, divorced/separated and never married) was 0.88 (95% Confidence Interval: 0.85–0.91). This estimate did not vary by gender, study quality, or between Europe and North America. Compared to married individuals, the widowed had a RR of death of 1.11 (1.08–1.14), divorced/separated 1.16 (1.09–1.23), never married 1.11 (1.07–1.15). Although some evidence of publication bias was found, the overall estimate of the effect of marriage was robust to several statistical approaches and sensitivity analyses. When the overall meta-analysis was repeated with an extremely conservative approach and including eight non-significant comparisons, which were initially excluded because of data unavailable, the marriage protective influence remained significant, although the effect size was reduced (RR=0.94; 0.92–0.95). Despite some methodological and conceptual limitations, these findings might be important to support health care providers in identifying individuals “at risk” and could be integrated into the current programs of mortality risk estimation for the elderly.
Staff-family relationships in the care of older people: a report on a systematic review
- Authors:
- HAESLER Emily, BAUER Michael, NAY Rhonda
- Journal article citation:
- Research in Nursing and Health, 30(4), August 2007, pp.385-398.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This review considers staff-family relationships in acute, sub-acute, rehabilitation and long term health care settings. The research evidence, both quantitative and qualitative, points to the need to address power and control issues, communication and collaborative approaches to care. Interventions to promote staff-family relationships are more likely to succeed when implemented with accompanying information sharing, education and management support.
Elder mistreatment in the nursing home: a systematic review
- Authors:
- LINDBLOOM Erik J., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 3(4), 2007, pp.610-616.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier (for the American Medical Directors Association)
This systematically conducted scoping review of the literature (mainly, but not exclusively, North American) looks at types of abuse in the nursing home environment (physical, sexual, psychological, neglect, financial abuse), at possible forensic markers of abuse, and at promising preventive interventions. The limited nature of the evidence base, and the need for more research, is emphasised.