Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
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Life-enhancing dance for elders with dementia
- Author:
- WHYTE Sarah
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Dementia Care, 18(2), March 2010, pp.37-39.
- Publisher:
- Hawker
It is important to promote the well-being of patients with dementia, as it is recognised that progression of the disease can make it hard for sufferers to create their own dimensions of well-being. In order to fulfil the responsibility to promote well-being, the author describes setting up a seated dance group for older women, and wrestles with the challenges of trying to evaluate its benefits. This article, after reviewing the evidence for using dance, considers: maintaining a sense of self through moving our bodies; the dance sessions; the evaluation challenge; and experience in the moment. In conclusion, the author “felt certain that for the 30 minutes out patients were engaged in the seated dance activity, their well-being was enhanced through a positive impact on their feelings of personal worth, agency, social confidence and hope.”
Factors influencing young adults' attitudes and knowledge of late-life sexuality among older women
- Authors:
- ALLEN Rebecca S., PETRO Kathryn N., PHILLIPS Laura L.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 13(2), March 2009, pp.238-245.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Using vignette methodology in an online survey examined older women's health and young adults' general knowledge and attitudes toward aging and sexuality, personal sexual behaviour, religious beliefs and perceived closeness with an older adult on attitudes towards sexual behaviour and perceptions of consent capacity among older women. The health status of older women proved important in determining young adults' acceptance and perception of sexual consent capacity regarding late-life heterosexual/autoerotic and homosexual behaviours. Specifically, young adults expressed lower acceptance and more doubt regarding capacity to consent to sexual expression when the older woman was described as cognitively impaired. Additionally, young adults' personal attitudes toward late-life sexuality, but not knowledge, predicted acceptance toward sexual expression and belief in sexual consent capacity. By gaining an understanding of what influences negative attitudes toward sexuality and beliefs about sexual consent capacity, the stigma associated with sexuality in late life may be reduced.
Behind the scenes: making a fiction film on dementia
- Authors:
- BRUCE Errollyn, CAPSTICK Andrea
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Dementia Care, 14(3), May 2006, pp.27-29.
- Publisher:
- Hawker
A creative film can leave a powerful impression on viewers. The authors describe the making of 'Ex Memoria', a film about an older women with dementia living in a care home. The film aimed for a television audience, but also planned to distribute 3,000 free copies on DVD, with accompanying learning material, to dementia care settings.
Janus at the crossroads: perspectives on long-term care trajectories for older women with dementia in a Canadian context
- Authors:
- CLOUTIER Denise S., PENNING Margaret J.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 57(1), 2017, pp.68-81.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Purpose of the Study: Janus, the two-faced, Roman god of beginnings and transitions, is used as a metaphor to explore our personal narratives and the authors' quantitative research on the experiences of older women with dementia in long-term care (LTC). Two research questions are addressed: (a) How does quantitative data map onto mothers’ experiences? (b) What lessons do mothers’ experiences offer for the care of older women with dementia? Design and Methods: Informed by a life-course perspective, the authors triangulate administrative data on 3,717 women with dementia receiving LTC in British Columbia, Canada, with personal narratives—the stories of mothers who made the transition from home care into residential (nursing home) care. Results: The quantitative data reveal that the home care to residential care transition is the most common LTC trajectory for women with dementia who are most likely to be widowed and living alone in suburban areas. On entry into residential care, they exhibit greater frailty in terms of activities of daily living, cognition, aggression, and incontinence. Personal narrative data on mothers reveal that the relatively straightforward pathways through LTC for women with dementia, are often considerably more complex in a real-world context. Attention is drawn to the public and private services, hospitalisation patterns, and substantial communication gaps experienced by mums and families. Implications: A life-course perspective, and qualitative and quantitative data facilitate understanding the care journeys—health and service trajectories of older women with dementia. (Edited publisher abstract)
Finding meaning in everyday life with dementia: A case study
- Author:
- ROBERTSON Jane M.
- Journal article citation:
- Dementia: the International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 13(4), 2014, pp.525-543.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This paper presents a case study exploring an older woman’s perspective on the quality of her life with dementia. The case study establishes the importance of coherence across the life course in understanding how she evaluates her changed situation in the present compared to the past. The metaphoric description of moving from ‘up there’ to ‘down here’ represents the perceived struggle to maintain a sense of worth despite a marginalised social position. Being able to define self and social identity in ways that preserve a sense of social status is important to find meaning in everyday life. Finding meaning involves looking backwards to sustain continuity with the past and looking forwards to maintain momentum and keep going. A narrative framework is valuable in showing that quality of life is a dimension of meaning associated with maintaining a sense of social worth. (Publisher abstract)
Women only
- Author:
- WELLARD Sarah
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 10.4.03, 2003, pp.34-35.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
Looks at attempts to provide services for women with mental health problems that also include their specific needs, such as child care and female-only wards.
Kvinder i klemme (Women in a cleft stick)
- Author:
- THESBJERG Grete
- Journal article citation:
- Nordisk Sosialt Arbeid, 4,, 1995, pp.243-257.
- Publisher:
- Universitetsforlaget AS
There are special expectations of women, especially of wives, to take on caring and nursing tasks when their husbands are suffering from senile dementia. Only a few receive proper diagnosis. The women slip unnoticed into the care task as the illness develops. The women's identity and role as housewife is threatened. They work on the basis of a mother/child model and are oppressed by a sense of powerlessness, insufficiency, and guilty conscience when the care does not have any results. The women are isolated. They give greater priority to the care task than to their own interests, and if the rest of the family and friends do not understand the situation, they stand alone with the task. The assistance offered by the public system is often quite insufficient. The result is two patients instead of one.
Do subjective memory complaints predict falls, fractures and healthcare utilization? A two-year prospective study based on a cohort of older women recruited from primary care
- Authors:
- AL-SARI Usama A., et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32(9), 2017, pp.968-976.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Objective: A proportion of older individuals report subjective memory complaints (SMCs), which can predict the development of cognitive impairment and dementia. Previous studies based on secondary care suggest that SMC is also associated with other adverse health consequences, including falls, fractures and increased healthcare utilization. In this study, the authors aimed to establish whether similar findings are observed in the wider population. Methods: Prospective analysis of the Cohort for Skeletal Health in Bristol and Avon, a population-based cohort recruited from primary care, was carried out. Data were collected by self-completion questionnaire at baseline and 2 years. SMC was assessed at baseline. Fractures, measures of falls, mobility and healthcare utilization were assessed 2 years later. A random 5% subsample of data was validated against electronic general practitioner records. Logistic regression was used to identify independent associations, following adjustment for a range of confounders assessed at baseline. Results: Data were available on 3184 women. Three hundred and fifty participants (11.0%) reported SMC. They were older (73.3 ± 4.5 vs 72.0 ± 4.2 years) and less mobile compared with those not reporting SMC. SMCs at baseline were associated with an increased risk of upper limb fractures over the following 2 years (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.02–2.90). SMCs were also associated with an increased risk of falls (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.41–2.38) and increased healthcare utilization (OR for hospital appointments 2.20, 95% CI 1.26–3.86). No association was observed with bone mineral density at any site. Conclusions: Subjective memory complaints are important markers of adverse health outcomes and should prompt interventions to reduce fractures such as physiotherapy-led fall reduction programmes. (Edited publisher abstract)
Predicting perceived medication-related hassles in dementia family caregivers
- Authors:
- GEORGE Nika R., STEFFEN Ann M.
- Journal article citation:
- Dementia: the International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 16(6), 2017, pp.797-810.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Objective: This study examined predictors of medication administration hassles reported by intergenerational dementia family caregivers. Methods: A sample of 53 women who aided a cognitively impaired older adult with healthcare and who identified as inter-generational caregivers provided self-report medication management and psychosocial data. Results: Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that six independent variables hypothesized for this model, the total number of prescription medications managed by caregivers, educational attainment, care-recipient functional impairment, care-recipient cognitive impairment, caregiver depressive symptomatology, and self-reported feelings of preparedness for the caregiving role together significantly predicted caregiver medication administration hassles scores F(1, 48) = 4.90, p = .032, and accounted for approximately 25% of the variance of self-reported hassles (adjusted R2 = .247). Discussion: Future interventions may reduce medication-related hassles by providing psychoeducation about healthcare, medication management, and strategies for coping with care-related stressors and depressed mood. (Publisher abstract)
What do network members know? Network members as reporters of depression among Caucasian-American and African-American older women
- Authors:
- HELLER Kenneth, VIKEN Richard J., SWINDLE Ralph W.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 17(2), 2013, pp.215-225.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Perceived stigma makes many older adults reluctant to seek help for mental health problems. The authors asked whether family members and friends could be accurate proxy informants. African-American and Caucasian older women (n=153; mean age 75 years) previously screened for depression nominated up to five network members (NMs) two of whom were contacted as informants. NMs completed an informant version of the CES-D, described their closeness to the participant, the extent of the participant's support from family and friends, and their assessment of the participant's typical coping strategies. These reports were used to predict participant CES-D, Hamilton depression scores, and Structured Clinical Interview (SCID) depression diagnoses concurrently and at six-month and one-year intervals. NMs’ estimates of participants CES-D status were highly correlated with participants own CES-D scores, and also predicted Hamilton depression scores and SCID diagnoses concurrently and at six months and one year later. NMs’ ratings of participants’ use of positive coping also predicted depression at six months and one year. The authors conclude that NMs were able to accurately predict depression even one year later. They suggest that future research should test the possibility that NMs might be recruited as allies in encouraging earlier treatment and providing support to older adults through difficult life transitions.