Education For Older Adults Research Articles

Effectiveness of the teach-back method for improving the health literacy of senior citizens in nursing homes.

To explore the effectiveness of the teach-back method for improving the health literacy of older adults in nursing homes in Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang, China. Among the 27 registered nursing homes, 10 were selected randomly by size and divided into the intervention and control groups. A total of 127 older adults in the intervention group and 136 in the control group met the inclusion criteria. The intervention and control groups were educated by using the teach-back and traditional methods, respectively, in this 6 month study. The Chinese Citizen Health Literacy Questionnaire was used to evaluate the effects of the interventions. Pre-intervention, the health literacy level of the cohorts was relatively low. Postintervention, the total health literacy score of the intervention group increased, while the total health literacy score of the control group had increased to a lesser extent. The total and four-dimension scores of the two groups were statistically significant. The intergroup difference in the two groups, and the intervention group's total health literacy score and each dimension score were higher than in the control group; these differences were statistically significant . The teach-back method can improve the health literacy level of older adults through short-term educational intervention. The teach-back method should be adopted by more healthcare providers and applied to improve the health literacy education of older adults.

A multicomponent intervention for the management of chronic pain in older adults: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundStudies have shown that physical interventions and psychological methods based on the cognitive behavioral approach are efficacious in alleviating pain and that combining both tends to yield more benefits than either intervention alone. In view of the aging population with chronic pain and the lack of evidence-based pain management programs locally, we developed a multicomponent intervention incorporating physical exercise and cognitive behavioral techniques and examined its long-term effects against treatment as usual (i.e., pain education) in older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain in Hong Kong.Methods/designWe are conducting a double-blind, cluster-randomized controlled trial. A sample of 160 participants aged ≥ 60 years will be recruited from social centers or outpatient clinics and will be randomized on the basis of center/clinic to either the multicomponent intervention or the pain education program. Both interventions consist of ten weekly sessions of 90 minutes each. The primary outcome is pain intensity, and the secondary outcomes include pain interference, pain persistence, pain self-efficacy, pain coping, pain catastrophizing cognitions, health-related quality of life, depressive symptoms, and hip and knee muscle strength. All outcome measures will be collected at baseline, postintervention, and at 3 and 6 months follow-up. Intention-to-treat analysis will be performed using mixed-effects regression to see whether the multicomponent intervention alleviates pain intensity and associated outcomes over and above the effects of pain education (i.e., a treatment × time intervention effect).DiscussionBecause the activities included in the multicomponent intervention were carefully selected for ready implementation by allied health professionals in general, the results of this study, if positive, will make available an efficacious, nonpharmacological pain management program that can be widely adopted in clinical and social service settings and will hence improve older people’s access to pain management services.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-IIR-16008387. Registered on 28 April 2016.

Is the level of education associated with transitions between care settings in older adults near the end of life? A nationwide, retrospective cohort study

Background: End-of-life transitions between care settings can be burdensome for older adults and their relatives. Aim: To analyze the association between the level of education of older adults and their likelihood to experience care transitions during the final months before death. Design: Nationwide, retrospective cohort study using register data. Setting/participants: Older adults (⩾65 years) who died in Sweden in 2013 (n = 75,722). Place of death was the primary outcome. Institutionalization and multiple hospital admissions during the final months of life were defined as secondary outcomes. The decedents’ level of education (primary, secondary, or tertiary education) was considered as the main exposure. Multivariable analyses were stratified by living arrangement and adjusted for sex, age at time of death, illness trajectory, and number of chronic diseases. Results: Among community-dwellers, older adults with tertiary education were more likely to die in hospitals than those with primary education (55.6% vs 49.9%; odds ratio (OR) = 1.21, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.14–1.28), but less likely to be institutionalized during the final month before death (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.76–0.91). Decedents with higher education had greater odds of remaining hospitalized continuously during their final 2 weeks of life (OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.02–1.22). Among older adults living in nursing homes, we found no association between the decedents’ level of education and their likelihood to be hospitalized or to die in hospitals. Conclusion: Compared with those who completed only primary education, individuals with higher educational attainment were more likely to live at home until the end of life, but also more likely to be hospitalized and die in hospitals.

Efeito da Universidade Aberta à Terceira Idade sobre a qualidade de vida do idoso

Resumo A educação na velhice tem como finalidade promover conhecimentos que determinam redimensionamentos para o fomento da qualidade de vida a partir de pressupostos de interdisciplinaridade, participação social e promoção da saúde. Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito do programa Universidade Aberta à Terceira Idade (UATI) na qualidade de vida (QV) de alunos idosos. Para tanto, foram realizadas medidas antes e após a intervenção (no início e término do ano letivo) e comparações com os escores de um grupo que não frequentava a UATI. Os instrumentos usados para coleta de dados foram: Ficha de Caracterização do Participante, Critério de Classificação Econômica Brasil e Escala de Avaliação da Qualidade de Vida (QdV-DA). Todos os dados obtidos foram digitados em um banco no programa Statistical Program for Social Sciences para realização de análises estatísticas não paramétricas. Os dados mostraram que: (a) existe diferença entre os escores totais de QV de idosos alunos da UATI antes e após a intervenção (no início e término do ano letivo) e esta diferença é positiva (Z = - 4,541; p < 0,001); (b) após a participação na UATI, as percepções de QV são mais elevadas quando comparadas ao grupo de indivíduos que não participava do programa (χ2 = 7,448; df = 1; p = 0,006). Os resultados deste estudo apontaram que a participação na UATI é favorável para o fomento das percepções de QV.

Transportation and Aging: An Updated Research Agenda to Advance Safe Mobility among Older Adults Transitioning From Driving to Non-driving.

Engagement in civic, social, and community life plays an important role in health, well-being, and quality of life, and requires individuals to be mobile in their environment. In this article, we review what is currently known about 2 areas relevant to safe mobility for older drivers and identify future research in these areas. Using a framework for transportation and safe mobility, 2 key areas were selected for review: the process of transitioning to non-driving and the maintenance of mobility after driving has ceased. This article serves as a companion to another article that used the same approach to explore safe mobility issues for older adults who are still driving. We found that although there has been progress in supporting transitioning process to non-driving and improving mobility options for older adults following driving cessation, many knowledge gaps still exist. We identified several research topics that would benefit from continued scientific inquiry. In addition, several themes emerged from the review, including the need for: multidisciplinary, community-wide solutions; large-scale, longitudinal studies; improved education and training for older adults and the variety of stakeholders involved in older adult transportation; and the need for programs and interventions that are flexible and responsive to individual needs and situational differences.

Active Aging for L.I.F.E.

Objective: Active aging involves staying engaged in life in a number of ways, including maintaining independence, physical and mental fitness, and social engagement. This investigation highlights Active Aging for L.I.F.E., an intergenerational pilot health initiative developed and implemented in the state of Oklahoma. Subject and Methods: Program participants included college students 18 to 25 years of age (n = 20) and older adults older than 65 years (n = 23) who attended a 4-part speaker series focused on the domains of longevity, independence, fitness, and engagement and participated in a pre-/postsurvey. Results: College-aged students reported greater changes in their perception of an individual's role in the aging process than the older adults, and differences between genders were also identified. This pilot determined that attitudes about active aging can be changed through education for both college-aged students and older adults.

Dangers of Nonprescription Medicines: Educating and Counseling Older Adults.

To provide a review for health care providers regarding appropriate education and counseling for older adults involving commonly used nonprescription medicines with potential for adverse effects, drug-drug interactions, or toxicity when incorrectly selected or overused. A literature search was performed using MEDLINE and PUBMED to locate relevant articles. DAILYMED was used for manufacturer dosage recommendations. Additionally, peer-reviewed textbooks were consulted for evidence-based standards of care. Articles were reviewed and selected for inclusion based on relevance to the subject and accuracy of information provided. Articles chosen were published between March 2008 and December 2016. Additionally, several textbook chapters providing information for nonprescription medicines chosen for evaluation in this review were used. Nonprescription medicines are accessible and widely used by older adults. Polypharmacy and drug duplication are concerns because of negative outcomes. Given the accessibility and knowledge of pharmacists, they are often asked questions regarding nonprescription medicines. Pharmacists have a duty and responsibility to commit to lifelong learning and to provide appropriate education and counseling on the use of nonprescription medicines. This will help decrease overall health care costs and potential negative problems associated with polypharmacy among older adults that include adverse effects, toxicity, and drug-drug interactions.

Hearing loss education for older adults in primary care clinics: Benefits of a concise educational brochure

Hearing loss, common in older adults, is associated with negative health outcomes but screening rates in primary care clinics are low and individuals screened or referred often do not follow-through. To address these problems, we worked with 2 primary care clinics to design a simple screening and education protocol for integration into a standard office visit. To assess the effectiveness on the education brochure that was developed, we assessed its impact on individuals age 60 or older who screened positive for possible hearing loss. Ninety-four of 125 screened positive. Seventy-one agreed to participate and were given a brochure along with a brief review of the materials it contained. Of 67 completing follow-up, 23 (34%) sought further testing and 47 (70%) had used the information to enhance communication. A simple educational brochure accompanied by a brief review of its contents may enhance effective use of hearing healthcare services. (147).

The DASH Pilot Project: Developing Community-Based Nutrition Education for Older Adults

ABSTRACTNutrition-related chronic health conditions among older adults are a growing concern. In this study, nutrition education materials were created for use in senior centers by graduate nutrition students. After the materials were presented, focus groups were conducted with participants (n = 62) to obtain feedback on the content and presentation. Findings related to the participant’s knowledge of nutrition-related information, strategies to improve future class sessions, and participant recruitment will be discussed. These findings will be useful to program administrators as they develop nutrition programs for older adults who are vulnerable to nutrition-related health problems.

Association between education and the risk of incident coronary heart disease among middle-aged and older Chinese: the Dongfeng-Tongji Cohort

Educational achievement was related to cardiovascular disease in some western populations, but prospective evidence on the relationship between education and the risk of incident coronary heart disease (CHD) in Asians is scarce. We aimed to explore this association and the potential modifying effect of major CHD risk factors related to education in middle-aged and older Chinese adults. We included 18,551 participants with mean age 62.8 years at baseline between September 2008 and June 2010, and followed the population until October 2013. Cox proportional hazard models and log-binomial regression models were used for multivariate analyses. Compared with participants with low education, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for incident CHD in those with high education was 0.89 (95% CI: 0.80, 0.98). In addition, such inverse association between education and the risk of incident CHD was more evident among individuals who were more than 60 years, physically active, overweight, and hypertension. Besides, decreases in the relative index of inequality with high education versus low education were from 0.83 to 0.76 for hypertension, from 0.85 to 0.82 for diabetes. In conclusion, education was inversely associated with the risk of incident CHD among middle-aged and older Chinese adults.

A Collaboration-Based Spiral Model for Curriculum Development of Older Adult Education

Older Adult Education (OAE), which is considered as an effective way of dealing with social problems caused by aging society, has been widely adopted in many countries. One of the most challenging problem in OAE is curriculum development due to the unique features of OAE, such as the variety of requirements and background of older learners and multiplicity of the objectives of education providers. Fewer studies have been conducted on curriculum development for OAE, compared with those for regular school education. In this paper, we propose a collaboration-based curriculum development model, inspired by value co-creation model in service science. In the proposed model, the role of older learner is emphasized in that education providers collaborate with older learners in curriculum development, as business service providers collaborate with customers for value creation from service science perspective. We study the curriculum development in two representative OAE universities in China to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.

Daily Well-Being Benefits of Physical Activity in Older Adults: Does Time or Type Matter?

There is little debate that maintaining some level of physical activity in later life conveys positive benefits both physically and psychologically. What is less understood is the extent to which the type of activity or the length of time spent doing it matters when it comes to these benefits on the daily level. Here, we investigated (a) whether the presence of daily purposeful exercise (Exercise) or non-exercise physical activity (Activity) is sufficient for experiencing day-level benefits, or if time spent matters, and (b) whether there are differential well-being benefits of Exercise and Activity on the daily level. Older adults (N = 127; aged 60-95, Mage = 79.4) filled out surveys for 14 days, reporting daily Exercise and Activity behaviors as well as Positive and Negative Affect (PA/NA), Perceived Stress (PS), Perceived Health (PH), and Sleep Quality (SQ). Multilevel regression models showed that for purposeful exercise, more time spent was beneficial for PA, NA, and PH, but for PS, only the presence of exercise was important (time did not matter). For non-exercise activity, time did not have as great an influence as presence-doing any form of activity was beneficial for both PA and SQ. Exercise and Activity had largely independent (additive) effects. Results reveal that both purposeful exercise and non-exercise activity convey independent daily well-being benefits, and that for some aspects of daily well-being, duration does matter. Findings can be applied in the development of physical activity education or engagement programs for older adults.

Development and validation of the Attitudes toward Education for Older Adults (AEOA) scale

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to validate a multidimensional measure assessing attitudes toward education for older adults. As the elderly population and the demands of education among older adults have increased, the engagement of social workers in educational settings for older adults has also increased. Therefore, assessing social workers’ attitudes toward education for older adults is critical to better understand the appropriate circumstances for successfully providing and expanding educational programs for older adults. Using a sample of 227 social work students, a multidimensional scale consisting of 38 items was developed by focusing on the three subconstructs of attitudes: cognition, emotion, and behavior. Across various statistical analyses such as the examination of coefficient α and the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), this scale consistently demonstrated strong reliability and validity. This new reliable and valid scale may contribute to the quality of educational programs for older adults by providing for social workers and other helping professionals with an opportunity to examine their attitudes toward educational services for older adults.

International Perspectives on Older Adult Education: Research, Policies and Practice

International Perspectives on Older Adult Education: Research, Policies and Practice

Leisure activities, education, and cognitive impairment in Chinese older adults: a population-based longitudinal study.

We examine the association between leisure-time activities and the risk of developing cognitive impairment among Chinese older people, and further investigate whether the association varies by educational level. This follow-up study included 6,586 participants (aged 79.5 ± 9.8 years, range 65-105 years, 51.7% female) of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey who were aged ≥65 years and were free of cognitive impairment in 2002. Incident cognitive impairment was defined at the 2005 or 2008/2009 survey following an education-based cut-off on the adapted Chinese version of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Participation in cognitive activities (e.g. reading) and non-exercise physical activity (e.g. housework) was assessed by a self-reported scale. Cox proportional hazard models were employed to examine the association of leisure activities with incident cognitive impairment while controlling for age, gender, education, occupation, residence, physical exercise, smoking, drinking, cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, negative well-being, and physical functioning, and baseline MMSE score. During a five-year follow-up, 1,448 participants developed incident cognitive impairment. Overall, a high level of participation in leisure activities was associated with a 41% decreased risk of cognitive impairment compared to low-level engagement in leisure activities after controlling for age, gender, education, and other confounders. Moreover, there was a significant interaction between leisure activity and educational level, such that the beneficial effect of leisure activities on cognitive function was larger in educated elderly than their uneducated counterparts, and only educated elderly benefited from cognitive activities. Late-life leisure activities protect against cognitive impairment among elderly Chinese people, and the protective effects are more profound for educated elderly.

Toward Identifying Mild Cognitive Impairment in Hispanic and African American Adults

Across the breadth of acquired neurogenic communication disorders, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may go undetected, underreported, and untreated. In addition to stigma and distrust of healthcare systems, other barriers contribute to decreased identification, healthcare access, and service utilization for Hispanic and African American adults with MCI. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have significant roles in prevention, education, management, and support of older adults, the population must susceptible to MCI.

Learning about sex in later life: sources of education and older Australian adults

This paper examines the preferred sexuality education sources of older Australian adults in later life. Drawing on findings from qualitative interviews with 30 men and 23 women aged 60 years and older, we consider the sources that participants currently use, or would like to use, in seeking information about sex. Where relevant, we examine participants’ experiences of learning about sex in later life using different sources, and the impact these had on their sexual expression, pleasure and well-being. Preferred sources of information include the Internet, the media, health care providers, books and workshops or discussion groups. A substantial number of participants did not actively seek information on sex. For those who had, these educational endeavours could profoundly shape their sexual practices. As such, learning about sex should be viewed as a lifelong endeavour. Our findings carry important implications for the development and delivery of sexuality education for older adults.

From learners to volunteers: A qualitative study of retirees’ transformative learning in Taiwan

ABSTRACTIn Taiwan, older adults over the age of 65 made up 12.51% of the population in 2015, causing the government to promote older adult education to help achieve active aging. As a result, more elderly people have attended learning activities and applied new skills to volunteering. The researcher conducted focus group interviews with 93 older adults from 13 service learning groups to illuminate this process of transforming from learner to volunteer. The findings are as follows. (a) The retirees and empty-nesters undergo discovery during the learning process in order to become learners. (b) These learners then become volunteers through the support from teachers and key persons, through the desire to share learning outcomes, and through answering the call to serve others. (c) The transformative learning rewarded the older adults with improved physical, spiritual, and mental health, as well as gratitude and a new sense of meaning in life.

Medication Reconciliation and Education for Older Adults: Using the 2015 AGS Beers Criteria as a Guide.

Medication Reconciliation and Education for Older Adults: Using the 2015 AGS Beers Criteria as a Guide.

Medication Reconciliation and Education for Older Adults: Using the 2015 AGS Beers Criteria as a Guide.

Medication Reconciliation and Education for Older Adults: Using the 2015 AGS Beers Criteria as a Guide.