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Risk time framing for wellbeing in older people: a multi-national appreciative inquiry
- Authors:
- CLARKE Charlotte Laura, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health Training Education and Practice, 13(1), 2018, pp.44-53.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the experience of older people and their sense of developing wellbeing, including consideration of the strategies they employ to respond to perceived risk. Design/methodology/approach: An Appreciative Inquiry study was used, which collected data with 58 participants in focus group and individual interviews. Interviews focused on ways in which older people in South Africa, Australia, Germany and the UK understand and seek to maintain wellbeing. Findings: The changing time horizons of older people lead to perceptions of risk and concerns that embrace societal as well as individual concerns. Often, this leads to a sense of societal responsibility and desire for social change, which is frustrated by a perceived exclusion from participation in society. Social implications: In mental health practice and education, it is imperative to embrace the shift from ageist concerns (with later life viewed as risky and tragic in itself) towards a greater sensitivity for older people’s resilience, the strategies they deploy to maintain this, and their desire for more control and respect for their potential to contribute to society. Originality/value: Variation in time horizons leads to changes in temporal accounting, which may be under-utilised by society. Consequently, societies may not recognise and support the resilience of older people to the detriment of older people as individuals and to the wider society. (Publisher abstract)
Psychological and social resources relate to biomarkers of allostasis in newly admitted nursing home residents
- Authors:
- MEEKS Suzanne, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 20(1), 2016, pp.88-99.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: This paper presents preliminary baseline data from a prospective study of nursing home adaptation that attempts to capture the complexity of residents' adaptive resources by examining psychological, social, and biological variables from a longitudinal conceptual framework. The authors emphasis was on validating an index of allostasis. Method: In a sample of 26 long-term care patients, the authors measured 6 hormone and protein biomarkers to capture the concept of allostasis as an index of physiological resilience, related to other baseline resources, including frailty, hope and optimism, social support, and mental health history, collected via interview with the resident and collaterals. The authors also examined the performance of self-report measures reflecting psychosocial and well-being constructs, given the prevalence of cognitive impairment in nursing homes. Results: The results supported both the psychometric stability of our self-report measures, and the preliminary validity of our index of allostasis. Each biomarker was associated with at least one other resilience resource, suggesting that our choice of biomarkers was appropriate. As a group, the biomarkers showed good correspondence with the majority of other resource variables, and our standardised summation score was also associated with physical, social, and psychological resilience resources, including those reflecting physical and mental health vulnerability as well as positive resources of social support, optimism, and hope. Conclusion: Although these results are based on a small sample, the effect sizes were large enough to confer some confidence in the value of pursuing further research relating biomarkers of allostasis to psychological and physical resources and well-being. (Edited publisher abstract)
Resilience: understanding the interdependence between individuals and communities
- Authors:
- DAVIES Alisha R., et al
- Publisher:
- Public Health Wales
- Publication year:
- 2019
- Pagination:
- 58
- Place of publication:
- Cardiff
Drawing on the results of a literature review, this report brings together evidence on individual and community resilience, and the interdependence between the two. It draws on examples of programmes to strengthen resilience across the life course and in communities, and looks at approaches to measuring change in resilience. The report highlights how people’s sense of wellbeing, how well they cope emotionally, and how they engage socially are the key factors for resilience, which in turn contribute to wider community resilience. Resilient communities can draw on the assets within people, place and wider economic factors. It also finds that resilience is not fixed but changes at different points in peoples' lives. The report highlights a range of activities that improve community and individual resilience, including: encouraging good relationships and connections with others; establishing a healthy family environment and early positive parent-child relationships; promoting good health and mental wellbeing in adulthood, including developing positive relationships and social capital through engaging with the community; and enhancing the resilience of older people though building positive relationships, strengthening social connections and meaningful engagement, alongside enhancing autonomy and independence. It concludes with a summary of the key messages. (Edited publisher abstract)
Brain health and mental well-being: GCBH recommendations on feeling good and functioning well
- Author:
- GLOBAL COUNCIL ON BRAIN HEALTH
- Publisher:
- Global Council on Brain Health
- Publication year:
- 2019
- Pagination:
- 34
- Place of publication:
- Washington, DC
This report from the Global Council on Brain Health aims to provide a greater understanding of the relationship between mental well-being and brain health and provide practical recommendations to help people optimise their mental well-being as they age. It summarises the consensus reached by scientists, health professionals, scholars, and policy experts and describes the major points of discussion that led to their recommendations for men and women age 50 and older. The evidence presented shows that feeling good, functioning well and being able cope with life’s challenges are all related to better brain health as we age. Based on the evidence the Global Council on Brain Health state that: greater mental wellbeing is associated with reduced risk of dementia; it is possible to improve your sense of mental well-being, regardless of age or physical condition; and that relating well to others and having good emotional control are key to mental wellbeing. The findings are also supported by the results of a survey of American adults age 18 and older about their perceptions of their own mental well-being and brain health and the ways adults coped with their life stresses. (Edited publisher abstract)
The anatomy of resilience: toolkit
- Authors:
- BLOOD Imogen, COPEMAN Ian
- Publisher:
- Social Care Wales
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Pagination:
- 24
- Place of publication:
- Cardiff
This toolkit aims to support the social care sector to help older people remain independent in their communities for longer. It is based on the Anatomy of Resilience model, which supports preventative and strength-based ways of working with older people. The model was developed from the findings of research which asked older people what well-being meant to them and what helped them achieve it. The toolkit shows how the model can be used by practitioners, local authorities and health board responsible for planning social care, and commissioners to support older people in the community. It also shows how using a strengths based approach supports the aims of the Social Services and Wellbeing Act. It includes prompts, reflective questions and practical examples to help focus ways of working with older people which identifies and build on their strengths and in a way that supports their wellbeing. It is aimed at practitioners working with older people in the community, and planners and commissioners of care and support services for older people. (Edited publisher abstract)
Bouncing back: resilience and mastery among HIV-positive older gay and bisexual men
- Authors:
- EMLET Charles A., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 57(Suppl 1), 2017, pp.S40-S49.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Purpose of the Study: Adults with HIV infection are living into old age. This study examines HIV-related factors, adverse conditions, and psychosocial characteristics that are associated with resilience (the ability to bounce back) and mastery (sense of self-efficacy) to determine factors associated with psychological well-being. Design and Methods: 2014 data from the longitudinal study Aging with Pride: National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender Study (NHAS) were analyzed, focusing on a subsample of 335 gay and bisexual older men. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify factors that contributed or detracted from resilience and mastery in the sample recruited from 17 sites from across the United States. Results: Resilience and mastery were independently associated with psychological health-related quality of life. In multivariate analysis, adjusting for demographic characteristics, previous diagnosis of depression was negatively associated with resilience. Time since HIV diagnosis was positively associated with mastery whereas victimization was negatively associated with mastery. Social support and community engagement were positively associated with both resilience and mastery. Implications: Individual and structural-environmental characteristics contributed to resilience and mastery. These findings can be used to develop interventions incorporating an increased understanding of factors that are associated with both resilience and mastery. (Edited publisher abstract)
Promoting reciprocity in old age: a social work challenge
- Author:
- THOMPSON Sue
- Journal article citation:
- Practice: Social Work in Action, 28(5), 2016, pp.341-355.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
In the current context of concern about the affordability of eldercare, and the high profile of outcome-focused practice, reducing the need for care can be seen to assume significance. the author builds on positive links already made between reciprocity and resilience to suggest that the spiritual need to feel valued does not necessarily decrease alongside increasing dependency, but this is not always recognised as key to holistic needs assessment and dignity agendas. Drawing on the meaning-making of service users in the UK and India, and considering these in the context of meaning-making at the level of shared cultural assumptions about old age, it is suggested that promoting opportunities for reciprocity can challenge ageist connotations of ‘uselessness’ by highlighting that even very frail and dependent older people can give as well as receive, and by being better able to thrive spiritually as a consequence, may become more resilient and less dependent on support services. Furthermore, the author suggests that social work professionals are well placed to keep reciprocity on research and practice agendas by championing sociological and service-user perspectives on the importance of reciprocity in the lives of the significantly dependent older people with whom they work. (Edited publisher abstract)
Hearing the voices of older people in Wales: what helps and hinders us as we age? Research report
- Authors:
- BLOOD Imogen, COPEMAN Ian, PANNELL Jenny
- Publisher:
- Social Services Improvement Agency
- Publication year:
- 2016
- Pagination:
- 92
- Place of publication:
- Cardiff
Drawing on interviews and focus groups with 135 older people living in urban and rural areas in Wales this report looks at what helps and what gets in the way of wellbeing for older people and those caring for them. The findings are presented around key themes, and include direct quotations from participants. Themes cover: what matters most to older people and their carers for a 'good life'; relationships and bereavement; the factors that help and hinder older people in achieving well-being, which includes discussion of transport, the home environment, neighbourhood, money, information technology, and the specific challenges that face people from black and minority ethnic communities; perceptions and experiences of social services, the NHS and the voluntary sector. The final chapter looks at learning from the report for a whole system approach to prevention. It looks at what prevention and independence means to older people and their carers and what this means for organisations supporting older people. It concludes by identifying five themes that were important to older people and their carers: choice and control; a strong sense of identity and belonging; coping with worry and uncertainty; planning for change and transitions; and feeling socially connected. It makes suggestions for change to help services adapt to and meet people’s changing needs to support their independence and allow them to continue to participate in their communities. (Edited publisher abstract)
Listening to religious music and mental health in later life
- Authors:
- INOUE Megumi, MOORMAN Sara M.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 55(6), 2015, pp.951-960.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Purpose of the Study: Research has linked several aspects of religion - including service attendance, prayer, meditation, religious coping strategies, congregational support systems, and relations with God, among others - with positive mental health outcomes among older U.S. adults. This study examines a neglected dimension of religious life: listening to religious music. Design and Methods: Two waves of nationally representative data on older U.S. adults were analysed (n = 1,024). Results: Findings suggest that the frequency of listening to religious music is associated with a decrease in death anxiety and increases in life satisfaction, self-esteem, and a sense of control across the 2 waves of data. In addition, the frequency of listening to gospel music (a specific type of religious music) is associated with a decrease in death anxiety and an increase in a sense of control. These associations are similar for different ethnicities, women and men, and low- and high-socioeconomic status individuals. (Edited publisher abstract)
Residential normalcy and the enriched coping repertoires of successfully aging older adults
- Author:
- GOLANT Stephen M.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 55(1), 2015, pp.70-82.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
An earlier theoretical model equated the construct of residential normalcy with older persons positively appraising their residential environments. Failing to achieve congruent places to live, they initiate assimilative (action) or accommodative (mind) coping strategies. This paper theorises that the assimilative coping strategies of older persons depend on their secondary appraisal processes whereby they judge the availability, efficaciousness, and viability of their coping options. Older persons with more enriched coping repertoires are theorised as more resilient, making their own decisions, and with access to more resource-rich objectively defined resilient environments. Successful ageing formulations infrequently examine how residential environmental adaptations of people influence the quality of their lives. Programmatically, the theory emphasises the potential of individual and environmental interventions targeting older persons who are not ageing successfully (Edited publisher abstract)