Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
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A winter's tale
- Author:
- POWNALL Mark
- Journal article citation:
- Community Practitioner, 71(12), December 1998, pp.401-402.
- Publisher:
- Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association
The onset of winter brings familiar tales of elderly people at risk of illness and death from cold temperatures. The author asks why the winter months are so dangerous for the UK's elderly population when in other, colder countries no such problems occur.
The process of managing the dietary regimen in elderly people with diabetes
- Author:
- ALBRIGHT Judith
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 2(1), January 1994, pp.41-52.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Describes a study of the dietary habits of overweight elderly people with Type II diabetes; a social psychological process which identifies strategies used to adhere to a weight loss dietary regimen is described.
Mental and physical health practices of older people : a guide for health professionals
- Authors:
- BRODY Elaine M., et al
- Publisher:
- Springer
- Publication year:
- 1985
- Pagination:
- 272p., tables, bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- New York
Public health and prevention: acting to make longer lives healthier
- Authors:
- ALESSI Charles, RASHBROOK Elaine
- Journal article citation:
- Working with Older People, 20(2), 2016, pp.110-120.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline the action that can be taken to ensure longer and healthier lives. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on the relevant recommendations set out by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to delay or prevent the onset of ill health in later years, followed by a number of recommended approaches to promote healthy behaviours in older adults as well as those in midlife. Findings: There is a clear need for public health and the prevention agenda to help ensure that later years are not just longer, but healthier. Practical implications: The paper identifies how, when and where the health risks associated with the majority of years lost to ill health can be addressed, and advocates the importance of taking an asset-based approach to promoting good health in older people. Originality/value: The paper is a comprehensive review of the key public health actions that can be taken to ensure longer and healthier lives. (Publisher abstract)
Toward an understanding of late life suicidal behavior: the role of lifespan developmental theory
- Authors:
- FISKE Amy, O'RILEY Alisa
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 20(2), 2016, pp.123-130.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: Suicidal behaviour in late life differs in important ways from suicidal behaviour that occurs earlier in the lifespan, suggesting the possibility of developmental differences in the aetiology of suicidal behaviour. This paper presents a conceptual framework for using lifespan developmental theory to better understand late life suicidal behaviour. Results: The paper argues that the motivational theory of lifespan development, which focuses on control, is particularly relevant to late life suicide. This theory posits that opportunities to exert control over important aspects of one's life diminish in late life as a result of declines in physical functioning and other factors, and that successful ageing is associated with adaptive regulation of this developmental change. Although continued striving to meet goals is normative throughout the lifespan, most individuals also increase the use of compensatory strategies in old age or when faced with a decline in functioning. It is proposed that individuals who do not adapt to developmental changes by altering their strategies for exerting control will be at risk for suicidal behaviour in late life. This paper reviews evidence that supports the importance of control with respect to suicidal outcomes in older adults, as well as findings regarding specific types of control strategies that may be related to suicide risk in older adults with health-related limitations. Conclusion: Although suicidal behaviour is not a normal part of ageing, the application of lifespan developmental theory may be useful in understanding and potentially preventing suicide among older adults. (Edited publisher abstract)
Factors associated with perceived health in older adult Irish population
- Authors:
- BURKE Kate E., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 16(3), April 2012, pp.288-295.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Perceived health status or self-reported health is a reliable indicator of overall health status and is a widely used measure in health and aging surveys. Self-reported health declines with age and is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, poor mental health and functional outcomes and health care utilisation. The aim of this study was to investigate how older people perceive their health and the physical, psychological and social factors that influence and potentially predict such perceptions. The participants were 492 community-dwelling older people with a mean age of 72.5 years living in Dublin. The participants underwent a comprehensive assessment using standardised measures of medical morbidity, personality, functional status, depression, anxiety, perceived stress, cognition, loneliness and social support. Analysis of the findings revealed that self-rated health is best predicted by instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), Charlson Co-morbidity Index (CCI), extraversion and perceived stress. The effects of cognition and social support from friends on self-rated health were found to be mediated by elements of these identified factors. The article concludes that self-rated health is not simply the absence of physical illness but is also strongly influenced by the degree of functional impairment, personality factors and the level of stress experienced by the older person.
Somatic and non-affective symptoms of old age depression: ethnic differences among Chinese, Indians and Malays
- Authors:
- CHUAN SOH Keng, HEOK KUA Ee, PIN NG Tze
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(7), July 2009, pp.723-730.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Somatic and other non-affective symptomatology characterises late life depression and contributes to its under-diagnosis, especially in some ethnic groups. The authors examined variations in non-affective presentation and its health and functional significance across different ethnic groups of Chinese, Malays and Indians. Data were analysed from the National Mental Health Survey for Elderly, a population-based cross-sectional study of older adults aged 60 and above (N = 1092). Compared to the depressed Chinese as the reference group, depressed Malays were more likely to endorse symptoms of appetite decrease, sleep disturbances, disabling pain, psychomotor slowing and anergia, while concurrently reporting poorer general health status and greater role limitations resulting from their mental and emotional problems. These differences were not influenced by anxiety, dementia or physical comorbidity. The authors conclude that they have revealed striking differences in the somatic and non-affective symptomatology of geriatric depression among different Asian ethnic groups. Non-affective symptoms in depression have large health and functional significance and important implications for the diagnosis and management of depression among elderly in primary care.
Effects of caregiver status, coping styles, and social support on the physical health of Korean American caregivers
- Authors:
- KIM Jung-Hyun, KNIGHT Bob G.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 48(3), June 2008, pp.287-299.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This study investigated direct and indirect effects of caregiver status on the physical health of Korean American caregivers in terms of caregiver coping styles and the quantity and the quality of informal social support. Using a sample of 87 caregivers and 87 matched noncaregivers, a path model was analysed, employing both subjective (self-reported general health) and objective (blood pressure and cortisol levels) health indicators. For the intervening variables the path model employed coping styles and two aspects of social support (the quantity of informal social support and the quality of informal social support). The findings supported the association of caregiver status with poor health outcomes among Korean American caregivers. The adverse effects of caregiver status on the physical health of caregivers were reported only with objective health markers (blood pressure and cortisol levels), not with subjective health indicators. The proposed indirect effects of caregiver status were supported only for cortisol levels, through the quality of informal social support. The demonstration of the physical health effects of caregiving in one of the United States fastest growing ethnic groups, and the finding that these physiological effects occur without self-reported poor health, call attention to a potentially serious health problem in an understudied group providing family care to frail older family members.
Perceived social position and health in older adults in Taiwan
- Authors:
- COLLIMNS Amy Love, GOLDMAN Noreen
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 66(3), February 2008, pp.536-544.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
The authors examined whether perceived social position predicted mental and physical health outcomes (depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment, mobility restrictions, and self-assessed health) in a prospective study based on a nationally representative sample of older persons in Taiwan. Cross-sectional and longitudinal models were used to demonstrate the relationship between perceived social position and health, as reported by participants in the Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study in Taiwan (SEBAS). Lower perceived social position predicted declining health beyond what was accounted for by objective indicators of socioeconomic position. As predicted, the effect was substantially reduced for all health outcomes in the presence of controls for baseline health. After including these controls, perceived social position was significantly related only to depressive symptoms. The findings suggest that the strength of the association between perceived social position and health may have been overstated in cross-sectional studies.
A longitudinal study of chronic disease and depressive symptoms in a community sample of older people
- Authors:
- DENT O.F., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 3(4), November 1999, pp.351-357.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Previous research on the association between illness and depression in older people has relied on self-reported diagnoses with their inherent limitations in scope and reliability. This Australian longitudinal study examined the association between depressive symptoms and medically-diagnosed chronic physical and neurodegenerative disease and disability in community-living older people.