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What keeps them going, and what gets them back? Older adults’ beliefs about physical activity maintenance
- Authors:
- HUFFMAN Mary Katherine, AMIREAULT Steve
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 61(3), 2021, pp.392-402.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Background and Objectives: The overall purpose of this article was to investigate beliefs related to physical activity maintenance among adults aged 60 years or older. Research Design and Methods: Study 1 identified modal, salient behavioral, normative, and control beliefs using a free-response format. Study 2 was designed to gain a deeper understanding about these beliefs through in-depth semistructured interviews. Results: Findings indicate that perceived physical and emotional benefits, scheduling and having a physical activity routine, social support, and features of indoor and outdoor locations are facilitating of maintenance. Some beliefs appear more relevant to sustained engagement in physical activity, while others may be more helpful for reengagement after 1 week of inactivity. Discussion and Implications: This investigation raises new hypotheses for future research and provides insight for the use and adaptation of behavior change strategies that are potentially more acceptable and effective for the promotion of physical activity maintenance for older adults. (Edited publisher abstract)
Generation Z undergraduate social work students’ knowledge of and attitudes toward older persons: implications for professional training
- Authors:
- GEYER Stephan, LOUW Liebie
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 63(1-2), 2020, pp.92-113.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Appropriate gerontological social work services are, amongst others, dependent on social workers’ knowledge of and attitudes toward older persons. The current cohort of students, known as Generation Z, are global citizens. This study determined and described South African undergraduate social work students’ knowledge of and attitudes toward older persons. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken with B Social Work students (N = 395) at two universities. Data collection included the three scales of Palmore’s First Facts of Aging Quiz in multiple-choice format (1996) and four scales of Fraboni’s Scale of Agism (1990). Age and five categorical factors were considered to determine their simultaneous impact on each of the seven scales/subscales of the two instruments by performing multi-way ANOVA models. An unexpected finding was that the factor ‘completed a course in gerontology’ did not have any impact on any scale. Year level of study, area of childhood residence and consideration to work exclusively with older persons after graduation simultaneously impacted respondents’ ‘overall attitude’ toward older persons. Two factors (i.e., year level of study and area of childhood residence) mutually impacted respondents’ ‘overall knowledge’ of aging. Recommendations for the training of Generation Z students are offered concerning course content and pedagogical interventions. (Publisher abstract)
The social-political challenges behind the wish to die in older people who consider their lives to be completed and no longer worth living
- Authors:
- WIJNGAARDEN Els van, GOOSSENSEN Anne, LEGET Carlo
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 28(4), 2018, pp.419-429.
- Publisher:
- Sage
In the Netherlands, physician-assisted dying has been legalised since 2002. Currently, an increasing number of Dutch citizens are in favour of a more relaxed interpretation of the law. Based on an ethos of self-determination and autonomy, there is a strong political lobby for the legal right to assisted dying when life is considered to be completed and no longer worth living. Building on previous empirical research, this article provides a critical ethical reflection upon this social issue. In the first part, we discuss the following question: what is the lived experience of older people who consider their lives to be completed and no longer worth living? The authors describe the reported loss of a sense of autonomy, dignity and independence in the lives of these older people. In the second part, from an ethics of care stance, the authors analyse the emerging social and political challenges behind the wish to die. Empirically grounded, it is arugued that the debate on ‘completed life in old age’ should primarily focus not on the question of whether or not to legitimise a self-directed death but on how to build an inclusive society where people may feel less unneeded, useless and marginalized. (Edited publisher abstract)
Mentalization in dementia care: an autoethnographic account of a project worker’s experiences
- Authors:
- LUXMOORE Bethany, McEVOY Phil
- Journal article citation:
- Working with Older People, 21(3), 2017, pp.147-156.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: Mentalization is a psychodynamic concept that can help us to understand our emotional responses to others. The purpose of this paper to illustrate how the concept of mentalization may be applied in dementia care. Design/methodology/approach: An autoethnographic account of the author’s experiences (first author), working as a project manager in which the author used the concept of mentalization to pay close attention to how the author’s emotional responses to people with dementia influenced thier communicative interactions. Findings: This paper outlines how the author processed the author’s own internal experiences in both mentalizing and non-mentalizing modes, as the author wrestled with feelings of conscious incompetence. In the non-mentalizing mode, the author was pre-occupied with the author’s own anxieties. The author struggled to relate to or make sense of the experiences of the individuals with advanced dementia that the author engaged with. Moving towards a mentalizing stance helped the author to attune to the embodied experiences of the people with dementia and recognise the reciprocal nature of our communicative interactions. Originality/value: This paper illustrates the role that mentalization may play in developing natural and authentic strategies to support communicative engagement in dementia care. These strategies may be of potential value to family carers. Family carers who can maintain a mentalizing stance may be more able to respond in empathic, person- centred ways to people who are living with dementia. On the other hand, non-mentalizing responses may be a root cause of mis-understanding and emotional disengagement. (Publisher abstract)
Health beliefs of community dwelling older adults in the United Arab Emirates: a qualitative study
- Author:
- CAMPBELL Carol
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing International, 40(1), 2015, pp.13-28.
- Publisher:
- Springer
- Place of publication:
- New York
There is a paucity of information about the health beliefs that older adults in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hold. This is a serious omission as understanding people’s ideas about health maintenance and disease prevention informs public health policy and practice. Using a qualitative methodology, twenty-three community dwelling adults aged between sixty and eighty years were interviewed. The data were analysed to uncover the meanings of health and health beliefs ascribed by the participants within their narratives. Participant narratives revealed representations of health that were in close alignment with previous research. ‘Health as value’ also emerged as a distinct health belief. Analysis of the interview data identified three superordinate themes labelled ‘Health is what you eat’; ‘Health was better in the past’; and ‘Health is from God’ as factors that participants attributed to their health. The implications for the health care system in the UAE are discussed. As the first study of its kind within the UAE, this study provides a solid base from which future studies exploring health beliefs and social representations of health can build upon. (Edited publisher abstract)
Perceptions of cause and control in people with Alzheimer’s Disease
- Authors:
- MATCHWICK Claire, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 54(2), 2014, pp.268-276.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Purpose of the Study: To explore cause and control illness representations in older adults with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Design and Methods: Six older adults living in the North West of England completed semi-structured interviews that were subject to an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: Three main themes emerged indicating that participants were trying to make sense of their AD by comparing it with their previous experience of physical health illnesses. All participants acknowledged their diagnosis of AD but engaged with it in a graded way because of a lack of tangible diagnostic evidence. Participants developed pragmatic emotional responses to their situation. Implications: One of the main implications of the results is that caution needs to be exercised within clinical practice so that the pragmatic responses of individuals with AD are not pathologised. (Edited publisher abstract)
Attitudes towards mental health services in Hispanic older adults: the role of misconceptions and personal beliefs
- Authors:
- JANG Yuri, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Community Mental Health Journal, 47(2), April 2011, pp.164-170.
- Publisher:
- Springer
Focusing on misconceptions and personal beliefs associated with depression, this study explored predictors of attitudes toward mental health services in a sample of 297 Hispanic older adults living in public housing in the USA. Results from a hierarchical regression analysis showed that negative attitudes towards mental health services were predicted by advanced age, belief that having depression would make family members disappointed, and belief that counselling brings too many bad feelings such as anger and sadness. Findings suggest that interventions designed to promote positive attitudes toward mental health services of older Hispanics should address misconceptions and personal beliefs.
The concept of 'ageing well' in ten Latin American countries
- Authors:
- FERNANDEZ-BALLESTEROS R., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 30(1), January 2010, pp.41-56.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
A review of several studies examining the lay concept of successful ageing and related concepts leads to the conclusion that older people from different cultures appear to agree on most of the components identified in the literature. From the research emerges a multidimensional conceptualisation of ‘successful ageing’ that is described on the basis of physical, emotional, cognitive and social domains, and which coincides with most theoretical and empirical definitions. The main goal of the present research is to study similarities and differences between concepts of ‘successful ageing’ in several Latin American and European countries and in two different age groups, and also to examine whether a similar structure of the lay concept can be found across both continents. The results show minor differences at item levels among countries, continents and age groups, and a similar internal structure across them.
Knowledge about aging and worry in older adults: testing the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty
- Authors:
- NUEVO Roberto, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 13(1), January 2009, pp.135-141.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This Spanish study aims to explore the relationship between knowledge about aging and severity of worry in older adults, and to test the potential mediational role of intolerance of uncertainty. The sample was composed of 120 community-dwelling older adults, with a mean of age of 71.0 years. Mediational analyses and structural equation modelling were used to analyze and compare different models. Greater knowledge about aging was negatively related to both intolerance of uncertainty and worry, and its effect on worry was partially mediated by intolerance of uncertainty. The mediational model obtained an excellent fit to the data and clearly had a better fit than alternative models. These results suggest that a good knowledge of the aging process could help decrease aversive uncertainty and thus reduce the level of worry among older adults. Thus, educational programs to increase knowledge about aging could serve as one preventive strategy for anxiety in old age.
Willingness to use formal long-term care services by Korean elders and their primary caregivers
- Authors:
- KIM Hyungsoo, CHOI Won-Young
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 20(4), 2008, pp.474-492.
- Publisher:
- Routledge
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Logistic regression models were estimated using 2001 national survey data on 1,168 Korean adults aged 65 or older, and their primary caregivers. More than 70% of the older people were female, mostly with very low levels of formal education, and the majority lived with adult children or spouses. The attitudes of both older people and primary caregivers towards care responsibility were the dominant predictor of willingness to use formal long term care services. These attitudes need to be taken into account as policy makers attempt to normalise the use of formal care (home-based or institutional) and reduce the burden on informal carers. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).