Physical Well-being In Older Adults Research Articles

The association between sibling ambivalence and well-being in older adulthood: The role of sibling gender composition

Family scholarship has documented negative associations between ambivalence and well-being in the context of parent-adult child relationships. As sibling ties remain salient throughout later life, ambivalence experienced in sibling relationships might also be related to older adult well-being. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between sibling ambivalence and both psychological and physical well-being of older adults, as well as differences in these links by sibling gender composition. Data came from 702 older adults (392 women) who were 64.58 years old on average ( SD = 4.51). Structural equation modeling using FIML revealed that participants who felt more ambivalence toward their siblings reported poorer psychological well-being. However, a multiple group analysis showed that this association was only significant for brother-brother pairs. Findings suggest the need to further investigate the implication of sibling ambivalence for psychological well-being in later life, especially for brothers.

Barriers and Facilitators to the Applicability of Adult Daycare Centers in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Study.

Adult daycare centers (ADCs) enable older adults to socialize and enjoy planned group activities while receiving healthcare services. These centers also assist caregivers by empowering them to remain in the workforce. This study aims to explore the challenges in establishing ADCs in Saudi Arabia (SA) from the perspectives of healthcare professionals, healthcare policymakers, older adults, and caregivers. Additionally, this study's objective is to identify the barriers, facilitators, and applicability of ADCs in SA. A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured individual interviews. Inductive and deductive thematic analyses were employed to identify common themes regarding the barriers and facilitators to the applicability of ADCs in SA. Five researchers independently examined the transcripts using inductive analysis. Deductive analysis mapped the themes to Campinha-Bacote's cultural competence model. Data were collected from 46 participants, including caregivers, older adults, healthcare professionals, and healthcare policymakers. The findings highlight that the main facilitators to establishing ADCs in SA are the expected positive impact on the psychological and physical well-being of older adults and their caregivers. Conversely, cost and transportation, in addition to cultural considerations are possible barriers. This study identified the perceived benefits of ADCs for older adults and caregivers from a Saudi societal perspective. Thematic analysis showed that ADC's applicability in SA is possible, with some modifications to fit within the Saudi context. Additional efforts are necessary to promote the concepts and services that ADCs provide for older adults and to encourage support for these centers by non-profit organizations and the government.

Evaluation of an online arts-based platform to support the health and well-being of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to conduct a formative evaluation of the Art Your Service (AYS) arts-based program to determine the program’s potential for improving the social and physical well-being of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design, settings and participantsAn online questionnaire was administered to the AYS members who consented to be invited to participate in the study. Questionnaire items consisted of a Likert scale and open-ended questions delivered using an online platform (SurveyMonkey). Participants provided feedback on their perceptions and experiences of the AYS program, such as its impact on their health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, the benefits and challenges of participating, and any suggestions for program improvement.Outcome measures and analysisQuantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, means with standard deviations), and open-ended questions (qualitative data) were analyzed using content analysis. Outcomes included participant demographics, perceptions about the program, usability (System Usability Scale [SUS]), eHealth literacy (eHealth Literacy Scale), and social isolation (Lubben Social Network Scale; LSNS-6).ResultsProgram participants revealed consistent patterns of their perceptions and experiences about the program, including a high satisfaction rate (95%) and a perceived positive impact on participants’ health and well-being. The program sessions were perceived to be a well-organized, convenient, and safe way to engage with one another socially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program usability was also perceived to be high (SUS mean score 86.2). Participants felt a sense of connectedness and had reduced feelings of social isolation. Most participants (75%) reported that the program improved their physical health.ConclusionsFindings from this formative evaluation study identified key strengths and opportunities to improve the Art Your Service arts-based program, which can be used to help enhance the program’s functioning and long-term sustainability potential.

ADVANCING POSITIVE SOCIAL CONNECTIONS FOR OLDER ADULTS IN SUBSIDIZED HOUSING: A HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACH

Abstract Social isolation is a complex problem that impacts many community-dwelling older adults and has detrimental impacts on mental and physical wellbeing of older adults. This research aims to utilize Human-Centered Design (HCD) to develop and implement tools and design ideas that advance positive social connections of older adults residing in subsidized housing. HCD is a collaborative process used to understand and define social problems, identify opportunities, generate ideas, and design interventions to support positive change. We sought to capture the perspectives and insights from older adults living in two federally subsidized housing communities in Baltimore, Maryland. During a five-month period, we held listening and brainstorming sessions with over 50 residents, service coordinators and members of management. Valuable insights and ideas were recorded during each of these facilitated engagements and synthesized. Through our engagements we identified six themes that influence the social connections of older adults living in subsidized housing: feelings of exclusion, lack of community connections, burdensome transitions to communal living, changes to building policies, and concerns about the physical environment. These themes led to the creation of interventions such as providing physical materials to residents, facilitating cultural inclusion and connections, implementing effective engagement strategies for community coordinators and promoting resident leadership. HCD can be employed to develop tools and innovative opportunities that specifically target and address social isolation in older adults living in subsidized housing. HCD can be utilized to drive changes to policies that impact older adults in subsidized housing leading to social transformations to improve health.

REMIND – a novel “Music‐Movement‐Mind” intervention for the prevention of dementia

AbstractBackgroundLifestyle‐based motor, sensory and cognitive enrichment can target several health risk factors in the older populations by improving psychosocial, cognitive and physical (dys)function1,2. Based on these findings, we developed a novel intervention called REMIND (An Envi r onmental E nrich m ent I ntervention to Preve n t D ementia) for the promotion of healthy aging. REMIND uses dance movement therapy (DMT) and Tango Sistema Dinzel© to integrate enriching activities based on music, movement and mind into a multimodal program.ObjectiveTo present the REMIND program and feasibility check of the telehealth adaptation.MethodsThe intervention was developed and manualized in collaboration with neuropsychologists, neuroscientists and DMT specialists. Several modes of training are employed throughout the program, consisting of the three core components “Music, Movement, and Mind”. These core components are practiced simultaneously using facilitator‐guided exercises, each consisting of motor, sensory, cognitive, emotional, and social stimulations with increasing complexity. As such REMIND enables multimodal enrichment with the goal to improve cognitive and mental health of older adults by activating beneficial brain plasticity. The adaptation of the program into the telehealth setting was assessed qualitatively in four online expert sessions for feasibility.ResultsThe REMIND program is published as an open access manual (doi.org/10.30819/5504) targeting the older population3. Through the simultaneous combination of motor (Movement), sensory (Music), and mental (Mind) stimulations, REMIND promotes enrichment of the body and mind. In the telehealth setting, the multimodal exercises are best practiced via an interactive video‐conference platform, adapted to the needs of older people, using small groups (n = 4‐8) and guidance of a trained facilitator. Break‐out groups, feedback rounds, and joined participation of family members are used to enhance and sustain inter‐personal contact and positive learning experiences in the digital environment. Supplementary on‐site sessions can facilitate social integration and participation.ConclusionThe REMIND program provides a low‐threshold prevention and early intervention tool that is accessible to the target group and health care system. Adaptation to the telehealth setting is cost‐effective, adaptable to individual needs and can be integrated into everyday life. A proof‐of‐concept study will evaluate feasibility and effectiveness of the REMIND program to promote psychosocial, cognitive and physical wellbeing in older adults.

Leisure and Rural Elders: China’s Leisure Education Programmes Under the Rural Revitalization Strategy

The World Leisure Organisation’s Charter for Leisure outlines the right to adequate time for rest and for the pursuit of leisure activity. The right to leisure time and to participate in the cultural life of the community are significant for the wellbeing of a person. Leisure time refers to the remaining disposable time after completing various social responsibilities such as labour and professional activities, mainly used for entertainment, rest, and to meet spiritual and cultural needs. For older adults, mastering their leisure time is an important component of their lifestyle. However, the current situation is that doing household chores and helping the next generation take care of their children occupy a large part of their leisure time. Older adults’ decline in leisure activity participation is related to occurrence of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, with the acceleration of the aging population in the world, monitoring the participation level of older adults in leisure activities and timely intervention has become an urgent task. China has an aging population, with the rural elderly population growing faster than the urban one. Data from the seventh national census in 2021 show that the proportion of people aged 60 and 65 and above in rural areas has reached 23.81 percent and 17.72 percent respectively, which are 7.99 and 6.61 percentage higher than the corresponding figure in urban areas. With the migration of young people to urban areas, rural older adults are left alone causing serious social concerns. Through the Healthy China initiative, many proactive policy initiatives are formulated for the older adults. Initiation of policies to improve the mental and physical well-being of older adults especially in the rural areas show the significance China attaches to solve the challenges faced by rural elders. Since leisure directly determines the happiness of the people, the Chinese government is increasingly attaching importance to leisure education for the people, and paying attention to adult leisure education in rural areas has become an important part of the rural revitalization strategy. Promoting rural adults’ leisure is significant for creating an environment for them to live happily in their later years. This complements the rural revitalization strategy to construct a beautiful countryside. In this backdrop, this paper discusses the various aspects of aging and leisure of rural elders and how it is integrated into the rural revitalization strategy of China. Even though China has rightly identified the problem of rural elder adults’ need for leisure activities, the paper argues that integrating rural elderly leisure with rural revitalization strategy has opened a new path of development for rural China.

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on meaningful activity engagement in racially and ethnically diverse older adults.

Participation and active engagement in meaningful activities support the emotional and physical well-being of older adults. In 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic altered lives, including the ability to participate in meaningful activities. This study compared meaningful activity engagement before and at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in a nationally representative, diverse sample >65 years between 2015 and 2020. We described the proportions and characteristics of National Health and Aging Trends Study participants and their engagement in four activities: visiting friends or family, attending religious services, participating in clubs/classes/other organized activities, and going out for enjoyment. We used mixed effects logistic regressions to compare probabilities of activity engagement before 2020 and in 2020, adjusting for age, sex, functional status, income, geographic region, anxiety-depression, and transportation issues. Of 6815 participants in 2015, the mean age was 77.7 (7.6) years; 57% of participants were female; 22% were Black, 5% Hispanic, 2% were American Indian, and 1% were Asian; 20% had disability; and median income was $33,000. Participation in all four activities remained consistent between 2015 and 2019 and declined in 2020. Significant differences existed in attending religious services (p < 0.01) and going out for enjoyment (p < 0.001) by race and ethnicity, before and after the start of COVID-19. Black and Hispanic participants experienced the largest decline in attending religious services (-32%, -28%) while Asian and White participants experienced the largest decline in going out for enjoyment (-49%, -56%). Potential quality of life tradeoffs should be considered to a greater extent in future pandemic emergencies.

An unhealthful plant-based diet and circulating hsCRP levels are independently associated with lower physical well-being in older adults

An unhealthful plant-based diet and circulating hsCRP levels are independently associated with lower physical well-being in older adults

OLDER ADULTS SHARE CHALLENGES IN THEIR LIFE STORY: SENSE OF PURPOSE AS A RESOURCE FOR RESILIENCE

Abstract Maintaining a sense of purpose promotes mental and physical well-being in older adults (Musich et al., 2018). Drawing on one’s sense of purpose is thus important for late life resilience. How older adults’ sense of purpose manifests in their everyday lives remains understudied. This study used qualitative methods to amplify older adults’ voices regarding purpose and resilience through analysis of their life stories. This study 1) explored what factors contribute to maintaining purpose in older adulthood, and 2) identified how older adults draw on their purpose during major challenges, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen older men and women (Mage = 79.1; including the young-old, old-old, and oldest-old) participated in semi-structured life story interviews that asked about participants’ individual interpretations of purpose in their lives and their experiences navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Thematic analysis was conducted using established methods (Braun &amp; Clarke, 2012). To address the first research question, analyses revealed that older individuals largely maintain their purpose through engaging in acts of service to others, fostering connections with close others, and actively setting and achieving goals. Regarding the second question, older adults described how drawing on purpose through acts of service and connections with others fostered resilience through the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, older adults’ own expressions of their life stories illuminated how they are guided by purpose. Findings demonstrate the functionality of purpose in late life and how purpose can be practically fostered, specifically within the context of universally challenging experiences such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

OLDER ADULTS SHARE CHALLENGES IN THEIR LIFE STORY: SENSE OF PURPOSE AS A RESOURCE FOR RESILIENCE

Abstract Maintaining a sense of purpose promotes mental and physical well-being in older adults (Musich et al., 2018). Drawing on one’s sense of purpose is thus important for late life resilience. How older adults’ sense of purpose manifests in their everyday lives remains understudied. This study used qualitative methods to amplify older adults’ voices regarding purpose and resilience through analysis of their life stories. This study 1) explored what factors contribute to maintaining purpose in older adulthood, and 2) identified how older adults draw on their purpose during major challenges, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen older men and women (Mage = 79.1; including the young-old, old-old, and oldest-old) participated in semi-structured life story interviews that asked about participants’ individual interpretations of purpose in their lives and their experiences navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Thematic analysis was conducted using established methods (Braun &amp; Clarke, 2012). To address the first research question, analyses revealed that older individuals largely maintain their purpose through engaging in acts of service to others, fostering connections with close others, and actively setting and achieving goals. Regarding the second question, older adults described how drawing on purpose through acts of service and connections with others fostered resilience through the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, older adults’ own expressions of their life stories illuminated how they are guided by purpose. Findings demonstrate the functionality of purpose in late life and how purpose can be practically fostered, specifically within the context of universally challenging experiences such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Physical Activity, Social Support, and Mood in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research shows that increased physical activity is associated with improved mood and reduced symptoms of depression in older adults. Prior research has also found that loneliness and social isolation have a significant impact on the mental and physical well-being of older adults, with higher amounts of social connectedness and social activity associated with more frequent positive mood states. Overall social isolation is increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this could have a large impact on the physical and mental health of older adults. A group of 36 community dwelling older adults (Mean age = 70.5) completed questionnaires measuring physical activity, social activity, and social support, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyses found that perceived social support and average social network size significantly predicted positive mood states (F(2,33)=3.32, p<0.05) accounting for 16.7% of the variance, with a large effect. After adding average number of hours of sedentary activity the model was not significant. Perceived social support was more predictive of positive mood (β=0.32) compared to network size (β=0.17). There was a trend for the same three variables to predict negative mood (F(3,32)=2.76, p=0.06) accounting for 22% of the variance. Sedentary behaviour was the most predictive (t=2.68, p<0.05, β= 0.49). This suggests that perceived social support is most predictive of positive mood, and sedentary behaviour is predictive of negative mood during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Home garden use during COVID-19: Associations with physical and mental wellbeing in older adults

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of people's lives. Lockdown measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have been more stringent for those aged over 70, at highest risk for the disease. Here, we examine whether home garden usage is associated with self-reported mental and physical wellbeing in older adults, during COVID-19 lockdown in Scotland. This study analysed data from 171 individuals (mean age 84 ± 0.5 years) from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 study who completed an online survey approximately two months after lockdown commenced (May/June, 2020), and reported having access to a home garden. The survey also included items on garden activities (gardening, relaxing), frequency of garden usage during lockdown, and measures of self-rated physical health, emotional and mental health, anxiety about COVID-19, and sleep quality. Ordinal regression models were adjusted for sex, living alone, education, occupational social class, anxiety and depressive symptoms, body mass index, and history of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Neither gardening nor relaxing in the garden were associated with health outcomes. However, higher frequency of garden usage during lockdown was associated with better self-rated physical health (P = 0.005), emotional and mental health (P = 0.04), sleep quality (P = 0.03), and a composite health score (P = 0.001), after adjusting for covariates. None of the garden measures were associated with perceived change in physical health, mental and emotional health, or sleep quality, from pre-lockdown levels. The results of the current study provide support for positive health benefits of spending time in a garden—though associations may be bidirectional—and suggest that domestic gardens could be a potential health resource during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Association Pathways Between Neighborhood Greenspaces and the Physical and Mental Health of Older Adults-A Cross-Sectional Study in Guangzhou, China.

According to the United Nations, the proportion of the older population is increasing at a faster rate than all other age groups. Hence, the well-being of older adults is a mounting concern worldwide in the current century. Using a single greenery metric, previous studies linked greenness to residents' well-being. This study aims to extend this field by focusing on the mental and physical well-being of older adults by using remote sensing and streetscape metrics in evaluating neighborhood greenness. We selected 20 residential neighborhoods in Guangzhou City, China as the cross-sectional case study areas. We investigated neighborhood normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) collected using remote sensing images, streetscape greenery, and PM2.5 via field surveys. We assessed the health condition of 972 senior residents selected by multi-stage stratified probability proportionate to population size sampling technique (PPS) using a questionnaire survey. We adopted the structural equation model (SEM) in analyzing the pathways that link neighborhood greenness and the mental and physical health of older adults. We found that neighborhood greenness has a positive association with the physical activity by older adults that is positively linked to their physical health. Moreover, neighborhood greenness is positively related to regular social interactions among older adults that is positively linked to their mental health. These findings are consistent with those of previous studies. However, we obtained new results that were unique to China. We found that neighborhood greenness has no significant direct relationship with the physical and mental health of older adults and that social interactions of low-income senior groups are more substantially related to neighborhood greenness than the other groups. Therefore, community planning should emphasize the development of neighborhood greenness, such as parks and street trees, to provide natural spaces for social interactions and places for physical activities among older residents.

Encouraging exercise in older adults: advice for nurses.

Physical activity is well documented to contribute to better mental and physical wellbeing in older adults. Physical exercise also plays a part in falls prevention, thus reducing fear of injury when exercising. Motivational interviewing to encourage exercise among older adults should be assertive yet kind, with the provision of an appropriately trained staff member, convenient fitness facilities to access and consideration of cost. Facilitators and barriers affect an older person's motivation to engage in physical exercise. Barriers include cost, physical barriers, fear of injury, low motivation, dislike of exercise, locality of the service and more. In this article, the available evidence is examined to discuss the subjects of motivational interviewing, facilitators and barriers to exercise and ways to overcome the latter.

Potential of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Technologies to Promote Wellbeing in Older Adults

Older adults face significant loss and limitations in terms of mobility, cognitive ability, and socialization. By using augmented reality and virtual reality technologies they have the potential to overcome such loss and limitations, and to eventually improve their quality of life. However, this group is often excluded in augmented reality and virtual reality deployment. Further, limited studies address their challenges when using augmented reality and virtual reality. Therefore, for a critical review of augmented reality and virtual reality for older adults, we developed a framework to evaluate related factors, including physical, social, and psychological wellbeing. Through the critical review, we identified that most augmented reality and virtual reality studies focus on physical wellbeing of older adults but also make substantial efforts to increase their psychological wellbeing. Fun factors that would motivate them are also extensively considered. Further, social isolation continues to be a significant issue for older adults, but the appropriate content to increase their social wellbeing is insufficient, although many commercial products have been developed. The contribution of the present study is to provide a contextual framework and an evaluation framework for the critical review of augmented reality and virtual reality technologies to promote wellbeing in older adults. This study also suggests the augmented reality and virtual reality research direction for studies on this group by identifying the research gap through the critical review process. Lastly, this study investigates design directions of augmented reality and virtual reality for older adults by introducing challenges and design issues that emerged through the critical review.

The interplay of physical and social wellbeing in older adults: investigating the relationship between physical training and social interactions with virtual social environments

Background.Regular physical activity can substantially improve the physical wellbeing of older adults, preventing several chronic diseases and increasing cognitive performance and mood. However, research has shown that older adults are the most sedentary segment of society, spending much of their time seated or inactive. A variety of barriers make it difficult for older adults to maintain an active lifestyle, including logistical difficulties in going to a gym (for some adults, leaving home can be challenging), reduced functional abilities, and lack of motivation. In this paper, we report on the design and evaluation of Gymcentral. A training application running on tablet was designed to allow older adults to follow a personalized home-based exercise program while being remotely assisted by a coach. The objective of the study was to assess if a virtual gym that enables virtual presence and social interaction is more motivating for training than the same virtual gym without social interaction.Methods.A total of 37 adults aged between 65 and 87 years old (28 females and 9 males, mean age = 71, sd = 5.8) followed a personalized home-based strength and balance training plan for eight weeks. The participants performed the exercises autonomously at home using the Gymcentral application. Participants were assigned to two training groups: the Social group used an application with persuasive and social functionalities, while the Control group used a basic version of the service with no persuasive and social features. We further explored the effects of social facilitation, and in particular of virtual social presence, in user participation to training sessions. Outcome measures were adherence, persistence and co-presence rate.Results.Participants in the Social group attended significantly more exercise sessions than the Control group, providing evidence of a better engagement in the training program. Besides the focus on social persuasion measures, the study also confirms that a virtual gym service is effective for supporting individually tailored home-based physical training for older adults. The study also confirms that social facilitation tools motivate users to train together in a virtual fitness environment.Discussion.The study confirms that Gymcentral increases the participation of older adults in physical training compare to a similar version of the application without social and persuasive features. In addition, a significant increase in the co-presence of the Social group indicates that social presence motivates the participants to join training sessions at the same time with the other participants. These results are encouraging, as they motivate further research into using home-based training programs as an opportunity to stay physically and socially active, especially for those who for various reasons are bound to stay at home.

Feasibility of a Yoga Intervention for Enhancing the Mental Well-Being and Physical Functioning of Older Adults Living in the Community

This study assessed the feasibility of a yoga intervention to improve the mental and physical well-being of older adults. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 18 older adults living in a low-income housing complex. Utilizing a classical experimental design, the participants were assigned to either a yoga group or a socialization group; both met twice a week for an hour for four weeks. Results showed that although there is inconclusive evidence to demonstrate that the yoga intervention was superior to the socialization group in improving mental and physical health, yoga could provide some benefit for older adults.

The Nature of Caring in Volunteerism Within Geriatric Settings

Volunteerism within geriatric settings can enhance the emotional, social, and physical well-being of older adults. There are several salient features embodied in the act of caring. These include levels of knowing, patience and courage which subsumes trust and hope. Intrinsic to the concept of genuine caring are the volunteer's abililies to empathize, empower, and engage the geriatric client.