Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
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Looking to the changes
- Author:
- GEORGE Mike
- Journal article citation:
- Care and Health Magazine, 57, 2004, pp.19-20.
- Publisher:
- Care and Health
Looks at the findings of a new report by the Audit Commission and the Better Government for Older People Programme (BGOP). The report calls for radical overhaul in the way health and social care services view older people so that their voices can be heard.
The onset and alleviation of learned helplessness in older hospitalised people
- Author:
- FAULKNER M.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 5(4), November 2001, pp.379-386.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This study was to investigate the relevance of learned helplessness (LH) and learned mastery (LM) theories in the respective development of dependence and independence in older hospitalised people. In stage I, meal-related responses of patient participants were automatically completed by a researcher during two consecutive mealtime events (LH induction). LH effects were then assessed by evaluating participant performance during a controllable meal-task and a non-meal-related psychomotor task. In stage II, "helpless" participants were then given an expectation of future control over the mealtime event followed by two further meals during which the researcher provided no active assistance (LM induction). Participants exposed to the LH inducing strategy demonstrated LH effects within both the meal and psychomotor tasks. These effects were alleviated through exposing participants to the LM inducing intervention. Concludes that exposing older hospitalised people to uncontrollable or disempowering circumstances may potentially lead them to develop a LH induced dependence. This may be alleviated by increasing patient's expectation of control leading to the development of LM.
LinkAge Plus: capacity building: enabling and empowering older people as independent and active citizens
- Authors:
- WILLIS Martin, DALZIEL Robert
- Publisher:
- Great Britain. Department for Work and Pensions
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 74p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
This reports on research that set out to examine the extent to which LinkAge Plus (LAP) has been a tool for capacity building. A wide range of initiatives were created across the eight LAP pilot sites. The report analyses how they can contribute to an overall framework for effective capacity building. Contents include: capacity building: theory, research and policy; better use of existing services which increases number and range of older people benefiting from improved outcomes; development of new services creating different outcomes for older people.
Caractéristiques organisationnaelles et occupation du temps des personnes âgées vivant en résidences privées
- Authors:
- MALTAIS Danielle, DELISLE Marc-Andre
- Journal article citation:
- Canadian Social Work Review, 21(1), 2004, pp.39-66.
- Publisher:
- Canadian Association for Social Work Education
This article presents the results of a research study on how senior citizens in private residences occupy their time. Interviews were conducted with 41 practitioners and 238 senior citizens living in non-profit private residences for seniors who are independent or experiencing a slight loss of independence. The data gathered show that three of the four organizational characteristics studies were associated with the type of activities in which residents engaged (passive activities versus activities requiring an expenditure of energy) and the context in which they were carried out (alone of with others), This being the case for activities carried out during weekdays and evenings as well as during the daytime on weekends. The three characteristics were: senior citizens' decision-making power with regard to managing and organizing support services and organizing social and leisure activities; the establishment's level of tolerance for the physical disabilities and behaviours of seniors; and the extent to which practitioners were willing to have seniors involved in decision-making. The results of the study suggest that social practitioners should promote independence for those living in these types of residences by allowing them to participate more fully in the decisions that concern them and to control their environment and how they occupy their time. [Article in French].
The heart of the home - but how are kitchens used?
- Author:
- GRESHAM Meredith
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Dementia Care, 7(2), March 1999, pp.20-23.
- Publisher:
- Hawker
In Australia kitchens are now considered essential facilities at low care residential dementia centres. The aim is to make a unit more homely. Reports on a survey of ten facilities in Sydney to find out how the kitchens are actually used.
A personal advocacy model for serving older adults
- Authors:
- HYDUK Christine A., MOXLEY David
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 28(4), 1997, pp.75-90.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Examines the feasibility of enriching traditional advocacy to further enhance empowerment of older adults. The proposed process provides the community-based older adult with the opportunity to actively participate in overcoming environmental barriers and maintaining their independence. Personal advocacy is defined and linked to the empowerment perspective. Presents proposed programme for older adults using the strategy and identifies implications for gerontological social work practice.
Perceived control in the lives of older adults: the influence of Langer and Rodin’s work on gerontological theory, policy, and practice
- Authors:
- MALLERS Melanie H., CLAVER Maria, LARES Lisa A.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 54(1), 2014, pp.67-74.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
A key concept driving the field of both clinical and applied gerontology is that of personal control. Seminal work conducted in the late 1970s to early 1980s by Ellen Langer and Judith Rodin, who examined the effect of choice and enhanced responsibility on older adults, not only contributed to the discussion of the relevance of control in contemporary theories and practices of aging but also aided in the development of today’s philosophy of how to serve and care for older adults in ways that are passionate, humanistic, and empowering. In their early research, residents at a nursing home were randomly assigned to 2 groups: 1 group was told they could arrange their furniture as they wanted, go where they wanted, spend time with whom they wanted, and so forth and were given a plant to care for; the other group was told that the staff was there to take care of and help them, including watering a plant given to each of them. During this study, and 18 months later, residents who were given control and personal responsibility had improved health; among those for whom control had not changed, a greater proportion had died. Since these original studies, research has continued to support the need for personal control as we age. This paper presents a brief overview of literature informed by Langer and Rodin’s seminal findings, as well as the role of control to theory, policy, and practice. (Publisher abstract)
Specialized housing and rural elders
- Authors:
- BUTLER Sandra S., SHARLAND Donald W.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 42(3/4), 2003, pp.247-263.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
The article begins with an examination of current living arrangements and housing conditions among the elderly in general and for rural elders in particular. The environmental press and empowermentoriented practice models provide readers with a framework for understanding the underlying tension between autonomy and security faced by rural elders and the social workers who assist them. Drawing from in-depth interviews with nine geriatric social workers working with elders in rural housing settings, we explore practice challenges, particular issues related to rurality, and innovative techniques and programmes. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street Binghamton, NY 13904-1580)
Whose empowerment and independence?: a cross-national perspective on ‘cash for care’ schemes
- Author:
- UNGERSON Clare
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 24(2), March 2004, pp.189-212.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Uses qualitative data from a cross-national study of ‘cash for care’ schemes in five European countries (Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) to consider the concepts of empowerment and independence in relation to both care-users and care-givers. Locates the schemes along two axes, one of regulation/non-regulation, the other whether relatives can be paid or not. Each of the schemes has a different impact both on the care relationship and on the labour market for care. In the Netherlands where relatives can be paid, for example, a fully commodified form of informal care emerges; but in Austria and Italy with low regulation, a mix of informal and formal care-givers/workers has emerged with many international migrant workers. In the UK, direct payments allow care-users to employ local care-workers who deliver care for various lengths of time; while in France a credentialised system means that care-work is delivered by qualified workers but for very short intervals. Concludes that none of these schemes have a simple outcome or advantage, and that the contexts in which they occur and the nature of their regulation has to be understood before drawing conclusions about their impact on empowerment and independence on both sides of the care relationship.
Analysis of key decision-making incidents in the life of a nursing home resident
- Authors:
- SHAWLER Celeste, ROWLES Graham D., HIGH Dallas M.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 41(5), October 2001, pp.612-622.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This American study examined change in the decision-making autonomy of a single nursing facility resident. This case analysis was part of a larger 3-year ethnographic investigation of decision-making events in four nursing facilities. In this case analysis, the resident, her daughter, and three staff members closely associated with the resident's care were each interviewed five times over a 15-month period. Analysis of interview transcripts revealed four themes in decision making. Temporal change was evident in a complex scenario regarding room changes. Spatial context reflected the need for predictability and adaptability in decisions using space. Interdependence of decisions and decision makers was most evident with medical treatment and health care decisions. Awareness, being informed, and knowing what was going on was the final theme. Despite having the best interests of the resident in mind, the process of decision making in nursing facilities may contribute to a pattern of gradual withdrawal of decisional autonomy form residents regardless of their ability to make decisions.