Today's Senior Research Articles

Health care in future community: innovatively discover and respond to the needs of today's seniors.

In the context of the digital economy, the emergence and application of emerging technologies have accelerated the integration of traditional social structures with new technologies, leading to the inception of the "Future Community" as an innovative urban unit. With an aging population's rapid and sustained rise, integrating health care for older adults with modern information technology is gradually moving towards holistic governance. This approach utilizes the Future Community as a medium and aims for quality enhancement and increased efficiency, which instrumentally addresses the diversified health care needs of China's aging era. In this study, we employed a questionnaire survey method that covered 11 communities in Tianjin City to understand better the current status and characteristics of their health care services. The survey results show that the means of community health care for older adults are gradually being upgraded, and the demands are shifting. Then, we arrive at three conclusions: firstly, technological innovation and smart approaches have the potential to positively influence the quality of health care in these communities. Secondly, allocating health care resources within communities can have a salutary effect on the psychological well-being of seniors. Thirdly, actively involving seniors in community life and governance can elevate their self-worth. At last, in conjunction with current challenges, we think that deepening multi-party collaboration, educating specialized talents, and bridging the "digital gap" would be effective ways to establish a future community for seniors.

Mitigating the Risk of Digital Financial Exploitation.

The article by Zhang and colleagues in this issue of The Journal calls attention to an important but underrecognized problem facing today's seniors and their loved ones. The risk of digital financial exploitation, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, has risen considerably in recent years and continues to rise today. Zhang et al. provide a helpful analysis of assessment tools currently available to forensic psychiatrists for the evaluation of financial capacity. Although many of these tools were not originally intended to encompass technologically based transactions, the risks of fraud and scams associated with payment apps, social media, and electronic fund transfers are considerable and growing. Fraudsters frequently target vulnerable older adults, and victims have lost large sums through some of the more prevalent schemes. Several strategies can help to mitigate the risk of severe losses and to increase the likelihood that lost assets can be recovered. Proactive education through increased awareness will prove helpful, but given the growing sophistication of modern digital cons, such as romance scams, increased technological safeguards are warranted in the setting of reduced financial capacity. When losses do occur, there are some resources for recovery and for filing complaints against perpetrators.

May 68 as seen by the elderly

May 68 remains etched in everybody's mind. Fifty years on, many memories remain vivid and those who lived through this turbulent period. Yesterday's adults, today's senior citizens, share their testimonies.

Are Smartphones Ubiquitous?: An in-depth survey of smartphone adoption by seniors

Substantial ongoing research now uses smartphones as a research platform for various studies and interventions. With the aging population becoming a frequent focus of research, an increasing number of studies and projects attempt to develop technological interventions for the elderly population. The extent to which the elderly population (i.e., seniors) adopts and uses smartphones is not clear. Many studies acknowledge that today's seniors are not particularly keen on using smartphones, but in the near future we can expect this trend to change.

STS-inspired design to meet the challenges of modern aging. Welfare technology as a tool to promote user driven innovations or another way to keep older users hostage?

Older technology users and their integration into IT society have been on the research agenda since digitalization took off. Given the attempts to develop user-driven design, it is surprising that the appearance of technologies older people are provided with, or are the target group for, have not progressed. Now another political agenda, coined as “welfare technology”, is being launched in Scandinavia. It is the reminiscent of previous arguments for why demographics, welfare and the need for new business arenas should be prioritized. This paper argues that STS-inspired design can contribute to a paradigm shift that breaks this trend and instead helps to develop proactive technology that meets the needs and demands of today's senior citizens. Two cases illustrate the way the imbalance between technology and older people's influence persists over time. Another three cases with a bearing on design sciences are singled out and discussed: the selection of older subjects; the understanding of the “social” in going from the laboratory to real-life settings; and the “making of meaning” in product development. The conclusions point to the opportunity to bridge the imbalance when introducing welfare technology by introducing STS-inspired reflections on engineering and design.

Uso de equipamentos de monitoramento da saúde por idosos no ambiente doméstico

INTRODUÇÃO: O envelhecimento da população aumenta a demanda por cuidados de saúde e o progresso nesta área tem sido ampliado com as novas tecnologias de cuidado. A população brasileira tem incorporado equipamentos de monitoramento à saúde de uso doméstico e estes podem auxiliar o sujeito se este for adequadamente instrumentalizado para o uso. OBJETIVO: Identificar os aparelhos de monitoramento da saúde que são frequentemente utilizados por idosos em ambiente doméstico, descrevendo as dificuldades apresentadas na utilização destes equipamentos. MÉTODO: Trata-se de estudo exploratório, analítico e transversal. A coleta de dados incluiu um questionário socioeconômico, Escala de Lawton & Brody para avaliação da capacidade funcional e um questionário para classificação do uso de equipamentos eletrônicos por idosos. Para a análise dos dados, foi utilizado o método de estatística descritiva. RESULTADOS: Participaram do estudo 185 idosos ativos, sendo 78,4% mulheres. Do total dos participantes, 53% eram casados e 31,9% possuíam ensino superior completo. Quanto aos problemas de saúde e uso de dispositivos, 48,5% relataram ter hipertensão arterial sistêmica e 25,3%, diabetes; 38,4% relataram possuir o aferidor de pressão arterial digital, 14% o medidor de glicemia e 15,7% o porta-comprimidos. Entre as dificuldades, estavam o manuseio do aferidor de pressão e do medidor de glicemia, a falta de conhecimento na interpretação e gravação dos resultados no aparelho e, por não confiarem nos resultados, os idosos referiram preferir recorrer ao auxílio de um profissional qualificado. CONCLUSÃO: As dificuldades de uso apontadas podem estar associadas ao fato de os idosos de hoje pertencerem a uma geração que não teve contato com estes dispositivos quando mais jovens, pela falta de treinamento para uso e pela falta de conhecimentos para gerenciar os resultados.

Baby Boomers and Seniors: Understanding Their Leisure Values Enhances Programs

As 76 million baby boomers march into retirement, a world of leisure activities will present itself. The purpose of this study was to explore what tomorrow's seniors (those born between 1946 and 1964) compared to today's seniors (those born before 1946) are searching for in terms of community recreation program preferences as perceived by their value structure. Results indicate significance between these two groups. Three steps are presented as guidelines for programming success for the professional. The baby boom generation needs to be fully understood in terms of their leisure values in order to make responsible future decisions regarding facilities, programs, and services.

Edward D. Churchill as a Combat Consultant

In World War II, Edward D. Churchill volunteered as a combat consultant. In this role, he mentored many junior surgeons and challenged the Army leadership to treat hemorrhagic shock with blood rather than plasma. These lessons have continued relevance for today's Senior Visiting Surgeons and our military medical corps.

Alt werden und jung bleiben — Die Region München als Lebensmittelpunkt zukünftiger Senioren?

The article starts from the assumption that the current generation of 50-plus, due to differences in structural conditions and biographical background, differs considerably from today's senior citizens in terms of capabilities and expectations. This circumstance is discussed with regard to its consequences for the development of the Munich metropolitan area. Based on qualitative interviews, the current living conditions, future conceptions of life, and visions of aging of this cohort are presented. The conclusion is drawn that these future senior citizens represent increasing demand for inexpensive housing, while having little need for infrastructure designed to suit the special needs of the elderly in the near future. In the case of this cohort, demand for such facilities will set in at a much later point in time. However, whenever the need does arise, a larger group will have to be accommodated.

Make Way for the Next Generation: Junior Faculty Are Moving In

Universities across the United States and Europe are increasingly reshaping recruitment policies in order to attract and retain more junior faculty. Replacing the old sink or swim attitude is a desire to provide a more supportive and nurturing environment. Driving the new trend are several factors, including a concern that many of today's senior faculty are approaching retirement age and will need to be replaced, and a desire to have faculty that more closely reflect the gender and ethnic diversity of the population they serve.

Nurse training during world war two

Summary The previous article in this series considered some of the major characters in nursing and the military background to orthopaedic and trauma care. Nurses have always cared for military personnel and victims of war in the field of conflict, and continue to do so today. However, the world wars of the last century created large numbers of casualties globally. The 1939–1945 war in particular brought war into the lives of ordinary people within the UK, particularly in industrialised cities. Those whom experienced this era are today's senior citizens, many we see requiring surgery on our orthopaedic and trauma wards. In the following article, Lois Barr reflects on life as a student nurse in Glasgow during these perilous times.

Are Canadian Seniors Becoming More Active? Empirical Evidence Based on Time-Use Data

In this study, we examine trends in the patterns of time use of seniors in Canada since the 1980s. In particular, we ask whether today's seniors devote more, or less, time to productive activities than 20 years ago. Our inquiry is motivated by the claims that today's seniors are not engaged in ''active aging.'' This study uses data from a series of time-use surveys carried out in Canada since 1981 to empirically test the validity of this claim. Our results suggest that some shift towards active aging has taken place in Canada since the 1980s; however, this shift involves a complex pattern of reallocation of time that varies by gender and age.

Top executive dismissal, ownership and corporate performance

This paper evaluates the empirical relationship between top executive turnover and firm performance. Based on a sample of the 460 largest UK listed companies during the period 1990–1998, we establish an inverse and robust statistical relation between the probability of a management change and a firm's performance: top executives are fired for poor performance. This can result from internal monitoring of management by the board or block share holders. Second, the data indicate that only very poor levels of performance affect significantly the turnover likelihood: corporate performance must fall dramatically to force a senior executive job separation. Third, the likelihood of managerial turnover for poor performance has not changed over time: today's senior managers face the same disciplining effects as those senior managers in earlier years. Finally, there seems to be no evidence that managerial stock ownership, measured as the proportion of ordinary shares owned by top managers, enables them to become entrenched.

Top Executive Dismissal, Ownership and Corporate Performance

This paper evaluates the empirical relationship between top executive turnover and firm performance. Based on a sample of the 460 largest UK listed companies during the period 1990-1998 we establish an inverse and robust statistical relation between the probability of a management change and a firm's performance: top executives are fired for poor performance. This can result from internal monitoring of management by the board or block share holders. Second, the data indicate that only very poor levels of performance affect significantly the turnover likelihood: corporate performance must fall dramatically to force a senior executive job separation. Third, the likelihood of managerial turnover for poor performance has not changed over time: today's senior managers face the same disciplining effects as those senior managers in earlier years. Finally, there seems to be no evidence that managerial stock ownership, measured as the proportion of ordinary shares owned by top managers, enables them to become entrenched.

China's Coming Transformation

Social forces unleashed by China's economic reform over the last 20 years are now driving inexorably toward a fundamental trans formation of Chinese politics. Since the suppression of the 1989 student protests in Tiananmen Square, China's leaders have struggled to maintain the political status quo, even while pursuing rapid economic reform. The result today is a nonadaptive, brittle state that is unable to cope with an increasingly organized, complex, and robust society. Further efforts to resist political change will only squander the benefits of social and economic dynamism, perpetuate the government's costly battle to contain the populace, drive politics toward increasingly tense domestic confrontation, and ultimately threaten the system with collapse. Many of today's senior Chinese officials recognize this dilemma but have powerful personal motivations to resist change. The next gener ation of Chinese leaders, however?set to take office in 2002-3?is both more supportive of reform and less constrained by Tiananmen-era political baggage. These new leaders will likely respond to the dilemma, therefore, by accelerating political liberalization. This does not imply that China will soon become a Western-style democracy. Rather, the coming steps in reform will likely include

Multiple scenario development: Its conceptual and behavioral foundation

AbstractThis paper examines the multiple scenario approach as an important corporate innovation in strategic planning. Using a participant/observer perspective, I examine how scenario planning tries to meet certain methodological, organizational and psychological challenges facing today's senior managers. Three prime characteristics are identified as setting the scenario approach apart from more traditional planning tools: (1) the script or narrative approach, (2) uncertainty across rather than within models, and (3) the decomposition of a complex future into discrete states. After exploring the intellectual roots of scenario planning, I examine such organizational aspects as the need for diversity of views and the importance of simplicity and manageability. Both benefits and obstacles to using scenarios in organizations are identified. Cognitive biases are examined as well, especially the well‐known biases of overconfidence and the conjunction fallacy. Two experiments test the impact of scenarios on people's subjective confidence ranges. Another two experiments test the internal coherence of subjects' beliefs. The psychological benefit of scenario planning appears to tie in the exploitation of one set of biases (e.g., conjunction fallacies) to counteract another (such as overconfidence).