Psychosocial Interventions For Older Adults Research Articles

Non-clinically trained facilitators' experiences of remote psychosocial interventions for older adults with memory loss and their family carers.

Dementia is the seventh leading cause of global mortality, with cases increasing. Psychosocial interventions might help prevent dementia and improve quality of life. Although it is cost-effective for non-clinically trained staff to deliver these, concerns are raised and little is known about the resulting impact on staff, especially for remote interventions. To explore how non-clinically trained facilitators experienced delivering remote, one-to-one and group-based psychosocial interventions with older adults with memory loss and their family carers, under training and supervision. We conducted a secondary thematic analysis of interviews with non-clinically trained facilitators, employed by universities, the National Health Service and third-sector organisations, who facilitated either of two manualised interventions: the APPLE-Tree group dementia prevention for people with mild memory loss or the NIDUS-Family one-to-one dyadic intervention for people living with dementia and their family carers. The overarching theme of building confidence in developing therapeutic relationships was explained with subthemes that described the roles of positioning expertise (subtheme 1), developing clinical skills (subtheme 2), peer support (subtheme 3) in enabling this process and remote delivery as a potential barrier to it (subtheme 4). Non-clinically trained facilitators can have positive experiences delivering remote psychosocial interventions with older adults. Differences in life experience could compound initial fears of being 'in at the deep end' and 'exposed' as lacking expertise. Fears were allayed by experiencing positive therapeutic relationships and outcomes, and by growing confidence. For this to happen, appropriate training and supervision is needed, alongside accounting for the challenges of remote delivery.

Novel Research Approaches to Improve Outcomes among People Aging with Serious Mental Illnesses

There is a growing need to improve health outcomes among people aging with schizophrenia due to the rapidly increasing population and unique health challenges. Middle-aged and older people with schizophrenia have unique needs compared to first-episode or clinical high-risk populations and often do not garner the same benefits from interventions developed and tested for younger and less chronic populations. The cumulative effects of neuroleptic medications, lifestyle factors such as smoking and sedentary behaviors, and longstanding cognitive deficits impact outcomes in this group.In this session, Ellen Lee, MD will present on her work in sleep disorders in middle-aged and older adults with schizophrenia - focusing on the impact of sleep-disordered breathing among this group. She will examine the relationships of sleep with psychopathology, functioning, physical health, and cognition.Tarek K. Rajji. MD will present on recent advances in psychosocial interventions for older adults with SMI, in particular on cognitive and social skills training for older adults with schizophrenia, aged 60 or above. He will also discuss potential predictors, moderators, and mediators for this training impact on these older adults functioning. Last, he will present on the possibility of combining this training with other interventions to optimize its impact.Karen L. Fortuna, PhD, LICSW. will present on the Collaborative Design for Recovery and Health (the “Collaborative”) as a hub for people with a SMI to partner with engineers, scientists, caregivers, policymakers and payer systems to develop and empirically test groundbreaking technologies designed to extend the lifespan of people with SMI, including (1) PeerTECH (i.e., a smartphone/tablet application that is designed to support certified peer support specialists in delivering peer support enhanced by peer-led evidence-based practices that support whole health), (2) MayaMind (i.e., a smartphone/tablet application that includes artificial intelligence designed to identify schizophrenia up to ten years before the onset of symptoms, thus, allowing for early intervention to offset progression); and (3) Supporting Older Adults Remotely (SOAR; i.e., a Medicaid reimbursable endorsement to certify peer support specialists as “Certified Older Adults Peer Support Specialists” to use the SOAR app to support successful aging among other older adults).Carl Cohen, MD will moderate and lead a discussion of how to translate these research findings to clinical applications and potential future directions of their work.

A systematic review of psychosocial interventions for older adults living with HIV

ABSTRACT The rapidly growing segment of older adults living with HIV faces unique set of psychosocial challenges that may differ from their younger counterparts. The objective of this review is to systematically examine current published literature on interventions designed to improve the psychosocial wellbeing of older adults living with HIV. A pre-specified search strategy was applied to four databases: PubMed, CINAHL Plus with Text, PsycINFO, and Health Source. Authors reviewed published studies on psychosocial interventions for older adults with HIV and reported psychosocial variables as primary outcomes of the interventions. The final review included nine intervention studies. Psychosocial outcomes measured across multiple studies included depression, quality of life, social support, cognitive functioning, and coping skills. Some studies also measured physical activity, HIV-related discrimination, lack of affordable housing, and access to substance abuse treatment. Our study suggests a paucity of psychosocial intervention research on adults aging with HIV. This review suggests that most psychosocial interventions had small to moderate effects in improving the psychosocial wellbeing of older people living with HIV. Findings highlight the need for clinical, community, and home-based interventions to ensure that individuals can achieve a higher quality of life while aging with HIV.

Adapting psychosocial interventions for older adults with cancer: A case example of Managing Anxiety from Cancer (MAC)

Adapting psychosocial interventions for older adults with cancer: A case example of Managing Anxiety from Cancer (MAC)

Problem Adaptation Therapy for Pain (PATH-Pain): A Psychosocial Intervention for Older Adults with Chronic Pain and Negative Emotions in Primary Care.

Chronic pain is highly prevalent in older adults, contributes to activity restriction and social isolation, disrupts family and interpersonal relationships, and poses a significant economic burden to society. Negative emotions such as sadness, anxiety, helplessness, and hopelessness are associated with chronic pain and contribute to poor quality of life, impaired interpersonal and social functioning, and increased disability. Psychosocial interventions for older adults with chronic pain have been historically developed for, and are almost exclusively delivered to, cognitively intact patients. Therefore, many older adults with chronic pain and comorbid cognitive deficits have limited treatment options. Our multidisciplinary team developed Problem Adaptation Therapy for Pain in Primary Care (PATH-Pain), a psychosocial intervention for older adults with chronic pain, negative emotions, and a wide range of cognitive functioning, including mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment. In the current article, we describe the principles underlying PATH-Pain, review the steps taken to adapt the original PATH protocol, outline the treatment process, and present a case illustrating its potential value.

Do Intergenerational Activities do any Good for Older Adults Well-Being? A Brief Review

Introduction: With the rapid growth in the oldest old segment of the population across the world, public policy interests tend to be more directed to quality of life than quantity of life for those of advanced age. Although there is a growing body of literature on the effects of psychosocial interventions for older adults, interventions from a crossgenerational viewpoint are under-researched. This article briefly reviews the impacts on the well-being of community dwelling older people of participation in non-kin related intergenerational activities. Method: A literature review was conducted to assess current research regarding intergenerational activities and outcomes among older adults. The search included English-language publications that reported original data from January 1986 to mid-2014. Studies were published in a peer-reviewed journal and without country restriction. Supplementary searched were performed and a narrative synthesis was conducted. Intergenerational interventions involving older people with dementia were excluded. Results: Overall positive benefits from the intergenerational programmes can be seen in terms of improved cognitive functioning, as well as in the emotional and social dimensions of well-being for older adults living in the community. Conclusion: More studies with larger sample sizes and longer-time horizons are needed to confirm the optimal levels of intensity and duration that would maximize the synergistic effects for all participating generations.

Social efficacy in the reintegration of the self

Freud discounted that persons living with schizophrenia could benefit from psychoanalysis because they were incapable of attaining insight. Departing from classical Freudian psychodynamic theory, Heinz Kohut formulated a theory of self psychology to give a prominent place to the development of the self in an interactional field. Using the interactional field, Harry Stack Sullivan applied relational theory in his work with schizophrenics. Now, drawing on Kohut’s theory and Sullivan’s pioneering work, the author retrospectively analyzes the interactional fields and processes observed in her groupwork with older adults with schizophrenia residing in long-term care. Data on psychosocial interventions for older adults with schizophrenia are lacking. This article underscores the need for addressing this gap in the research.

Social efficacy in the reintegration of the self

Freud discounted that persons living with schizophrenia could benefi t from psychoanalysis because they were incapable of attaining insight. Departing from classical Freudian psychodynamic theory, Heinz Kohut formulated a theory of self psychology to give a prominent place to the development of the self in an interactional fi eld. Using the interactional fi eld, Harry Stack Sullivan applied relational theory in his work with schizophrenics. Now, drawing on Kohut’s theory and Sullivan’s pioneering work, the author retrospectively analyzes the interactional fi elds and processes observed in her groupwork with older adults with schizophrenia residing in long-term care. Data on psychosocial interventions for older adults with schizophrenia are lacking. This article underscores the need for addressing this gap in the research.

Chapter 6; HIV/AIDS Treatments

SUMMARY Although fewer people are being diagnosed with AIDS in the U.S. and deaths continue to decline, the number of adults age 50 and older who are living with HIV/AIDS is larger than ever. It is likely that older people will continue to comprise an increasingly larger proportion of individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, reflecting both the ineffective prevention efforts targeting older adults and the highly effective antiretroviral therapies that allow many people to live for significantly longer periods of time. These recent trends have created two distinct populations of older persons with HIV/AIDS: those who were infected later in life and those infected earlier and now aging with HIV disease. Aging with HIV/AIDS presents unique psychosocial challenges that may be exacerbated by the aging process. HIV-related stigma, social support and coping issues and evidence-based psychosocial interventions for older adults with HIV/AIDS are reviewed in this paper and suggestions for future research are discussed.