Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 6 of 6
Mild cognitive impairment: coping with an uncertain label
- Authors:
- BANNINGH Liesbeth Joosten-Weyn, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23(2), February 2008, pp.148-154.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The recently introduced diagnostic label of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) identifies patients with a cognitive decline that is more pronounced than is usual for a person's age and educational level but does not notably interfere with activities of daily living (ADL). The natural course of the syndrome is uncertain although MCI sufferers have a higher risk of developing dementia. The objective was to investigate how patients fulfilling MCI criteria experience and cope with their cognitive decline with the secondary aim to derive key themes for a prospective MCI support-group programme. Analysis of guided interviews with eight MCI patients revealed four common themes. Changes related to cognitive abilities, mobility, affect, vitality and somatic complaints. Attributions were numerous and concerned aetiologies such as personality traits and overload of information. Consequences were all negative and concerned the patients themselves such as anxiety and loss of self-confidence, others such as feelings of irritation and anger towards others or activities like abandoning leisure activities. Patients applied emotion-oriented, problem-focused and avoidant coping strategies. MCI patients encounter stress-inducing practical, social and psychological difficulties. Based on the current preliminary findings, the key themes for an MCI support-group programme should include the provision of information about the syndrome's causes, course, concomitant symptoms, attributions, social consequences, and available treatments. The impact of receiving an MCI label warrants further investigation.
Delirium and the family caregiver: the need for evidence-based education interventions
- Authors:
- CARBONE Meredith K., GUGLIUCCI Marilyn R.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 55(3), 2015, pp.345-352.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Delirium, an acute confusional state, is experienced by many older adults. Although there is substantial research on risk factors and etiology, the authors hypothesized that there is a lack of information on educating the family caregivers of delirious older patients. A date-specific (2000–2013) literature review of articles, written in English, was conducted in several major databases using keyword searches. This systematic review focused on 2 objectives: (1) investigate published studies on the impact of delirium on the family regarding caring for a loved one; and (2) determine if there are interventions that have provided family caregivers with education and/or coping skills to recognize and/or manage delirium. A systematic elimination provided outcomes that met both objectives. Thirty articles addressed impact on family caregivers (objective 1); only 7 addressed caregiver education regarding the delirious state of a loved one (objective 2). Few studies consider the impact of delirium on family caregivers and even fewer studies focus on how to manage delirium in loved ones. With increased risks to older adult patients, high cost of care, and the preventable nature of delirium, family caregiver education may be an important tactic to improve outcomes for both patient and caregiver. (Edited publisher abstract)
'Oh he was forgettable': construction of self identity through use of communicative coping behaviors in the discourse of persons with cognitive impairments
- Authors:
- SAUNDERS Pamela A., MEDEIROS Kate de, BARTELL Ashley
- Journal article citation:
- Dementia: the International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 10(3), August 2011, pp.341-359.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The focus of this study undertaken in Washington DC was examining and analysing the verbatim linguistic utterances of people with cognitive impairments to describe and compare communicative coping behaviours. The communicative coping behaviours used by individuals with cognitive impairment to present a positive self identity may include memory and health accounts (the way people explain, excuse and/or justify their behaviour) and humour. Two groups of participants aged 65 years and over were recruited: 31 patients with cognitive impairment and 29 patients without cognitive impairment. Clinical encounters between doctors, patients, and third-party companions during routine examinations at the Georgetown University Hospital Neurology Department were observed, recorded and transcribed. The article presents the results of the analysis, with examples from the transcripts, looking at memory accounts, health accounts, and humour exchanges. The results showed that participants with cognitive impairment used more memory accounts than cognitively normal individuals and similar amounts of humour in order to save face and construct a normal identity. The authors note that despite memory impairment, people with cognitive impairments contributed to conversations during their clinical visits and were able to present themselves as productive members of the interaction. They conclude that people with cognitive impairment adapt to their communicative disadvantage and that it is important for doctors and carers to recognise these coping strategies.
Fear, defensive strategies and caring for cognitively impaired family members
- Authors:
- SPENCER Dale, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 62(1), 2019, pp.67-85.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
One topic rarely addressed in the literature on older adults and interpersonal violence is the violence that can be experienced by family carers in relationship with a person living with cognitive impairment. This violence tends to remain hidden and is rarely framed as intimate partner violence. The authors examine how situations of intimidation and violence invoked fear in family carers and how they interpreted and reacted to these circumstances. Interview and diary data were collected from family members who had previously or were currently experiencing some form of aggression in caring for someone with cognitive impairment or dementia. Drawing on discussions of fear and applying the analytic lens of defensive strategies, they explore how these carers responded to situations of intimidation and violence. (Edited publisher abstract)
Emotional distress mediates the relationship between cognitive failures, dysfunctional coping, and life satisfaction in older people living in sheltered housing: a structural equation modelling approach
- Authors:
- LEUNG Phuong, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 34(1), 2019, pp.179-185.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Objectives: Little is known about the relationship between cognitive failures, emotional distress, and life satisfaction in late life. Experiencing cognitive failures is a known risk for declining life satisfaction in older people, although the mechanisms that may explain cognitive failures remain unclear. This study investigated the associations between psychosocial factors, cognitive failures, and coping strategies and their influence on life satisfaction in older people living in sheltered housing. Methods: A total of 204 older people living in sheltered housing in London were recruited (mean age = 75.08 years). We used structural equation modelling path analysis to test several hypotheses based on theories of emotional distress (anxiety and depression) and cognitive failures and their influence on life satisfaction. Results: Self‐reported depressive symptoms (29.5%), anxiety symptoms (33%), and cognitive failures (41%) were common. The final model had a good fit (X2 = 2.67; DF = 2; P = 0.26; NFI = 0.99, CFI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.04); analyses showed that both cognitive failures and dysfunctional coping were significantly associated and exerted a moderate effect on emotional distress. Cognitive failures and dysfunctional coping had an indirect effect on life satisfaction through emotional distress which directly decreased levels of life satisfaction (β = −0.70, P ≤ 0.001). Conclusions: This study found that experiencing emotional distress helped to explain the association and negative effects of cognitive failures and dysfunctional coping on life satisfaction in older people living in sheltered housing. These findings contribute to our understanding of the key mechanisms of experiencing cognitive failures in late life and can help guide future interventions of well‐being in later life. (Edited publisher abstract)
Trajectories of care: spouses coping with changes related to mild cognitive impairment
- Authors:
- ROBERTO Karen A., MCCANN Brandy Renee, BLIESZNER Rosemary
- Journal article citation:
- Dementia: the International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 12(1), 2013, pp.45-62.
- Publisher:
- Sage
While researchers are beginning to address the social consequences of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) little research has tracked how married couples respond to MCI over time as symptoms stabilise or become more severe. The aims of this study were to discover in what ways daily life changes for married couples in which one partner has MCI and how cognitive changes and adjustments in the roles and responsibilities of spousal care partners affect the ways in which they perceive themselves and their marital relationship. The authors examined how 40 older couples in the United States adjusted to daily life after one partner was diagnosed with MCI and how their marital roles and relationship changed over a three- to four-year period. In the majority of dyads (87.5%) the wife was the care partner. All the couples experienced an initial period of transition in coping with MCI where they made adjustments in their daily lives and interactions. Following this period, four trajectories of care emerged depending on the extent of the decline in the partner with MCI and the spouse’s response. The authors conclude that changes associated with MCI affect role identity and have consequences for spousal relationships.