Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 2 of 2
A new approach to the qualitative evaluation of functional disability in dementia
- Authors:
- KURZ X., et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18(11), November 2003, pp.1050-1055.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Dementia patients suffer from the progressive deterioration of cognitive and functional abilities. Instrumental disabilities usually appear in the earlier stages of the disease while basic disabilities appear in the more advanced stages. In order to differentiate between mild, moderate and severe patients both instrumental and basic functional disabilities should be taken into account simultaneously. The objective of this study was to find a new method for classifying dementia patients based on their disabilities by using a basic and an instrumental Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale. Functional disability was assessed in a Belgian cohort of dementia patients using the Katz and Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scales. A k-means derived clustering method allocated patients to disability clusters according to their Katz and Lawton scores. In order to validate the classification, we compared socio-demographic, clinical and costs parameters between the groups. The clustering method allocated patients between three clusters: dependent, non-dependent with instrumental functional disability (ND-IFD) and non-dependent. Dependence, as defined by these clusters, significantly correlates with age, residential setting, MMSE, patient's quality of life and costs. This new classification of patients suffering from dementia will provide better understanding of functional disabilities and will complement the evaluation of disease severity based on cognitive function.
Changes In older people's living arrangements in Flanders, 1993-98
- Author:
- AUDENAERT Veerle
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 23(4), July 2003, pp.451-469.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
The living arrangements of older people are changing. An analysis of official registration data (1993-1998) in Flanders, Belgium, shows that while the number of single person households has been increasing, the proportion of people aged 75 or more years living alone has been falling and the proportion living with a spouse or partner increasing. No less than one third of the older people who lived alone in 1993 sustain a one-person household into very old age. It was also found that those who are widowed at a very advanced age change house or move very quickly, women to a greater extent and at younger ages than men. The principal destinations are residential care homes and, to a lesser extent, child's households. Living alone appears to be a decreasingly acceptable option. Since very old people with a disability appear to have an increasing preference for residential care and a lessening preference for co-residence with relatives, these developments have consequences for both informal family care and public social services. Particular attention needs to be paid to men who live alone as a risk-group, and residential care provision requires expansion.