Well-being Of Older People Research Articles

Impact of Age Stereotypes on Older Adults’ Cognitive Performance: An Experimental View on Aging Consumers

The “contamination hypothesis” (Rothermund and Brandtstädter, 2003; Levy, 2003) assumes that negative external stereotypes significantly influence the cognitive and functional well-being of older people. Negative stereotypes also play an important role in consumer decision-making and responses to sales talks. Two surveys in home environments, using a snowball-system, with subjects randomly assigned to the different conditions in a 2x2-design (age stereotype x time pressure, study 1: n=151, Mage=65, study 2: n=122, Mage=68) show that older consumers, primed with negative age stereotypes, are less effective in correctly evaluating the value-for-money-ratios of different offers), especially when they perceive time pressure (=moderator). Self-efficacy is identified as a significant mediator, explaining the impact of stereotypes on performance. Contamination via “talking down” to older consumers also occurs in sales talks. In a “vignette” experiment, patronizing (vs. neutral) communication impairs the cognitive performance (measured via recall of information) of older consumers (n=86, Mage=69,) and leads to dissatisfaction.

Thermal Personalities of Older People in South Australia: A Personas-Based Approach to Develop Thermal Comfort Guidelines.

An important consideration for future age-friendly cities is that older people are able to live in housing appropriate for their needs. While thermal comfort in the home is vital for the health and well-being of older people, there are currently few guidelines about how to achieve this. This study is part of a research project that aims to improve the thermal environment of housing for older Australians by investigating the thermal comfort of older people living independently in South Australia and developing thermal comfort guidelines for people ageing-in-place. This paper describes the approach fundamental for developing the guidelines, using data from the study participants’ and the concept of personas to develop a number of discrete “thermal personalities”. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) was implemented to analyse the features of research participants, resulting in six distinct clusters. Quantitative and qualitative data from earlier stages of the project were then used to develop the thermal personalities of each cluster. The thermal personalities represent different approaches to achieving thermal comfort, taking into account a wide range of factors including personal characteristics, ideas, beliefs and knowledge, house type, and location. Basing the guidelines on thermal personalities highlights the heterogeneity of older people and the context-dependent nature of thermal comfort in the home and will make the guidelines more user-friendly and useful.

Maintaining and Supporting Seniors' Wellbeing through Foreign Language Learning: Psycholinguistics of Second Language Acquisition in Older Age.

This study concerns aspects of positive psychology connected to foreign language learning (FLL) in an older healthy generation. The positive psychology perspective stresses the positive aspects of improved wellbeing in participants who engage in various activities, particularly mental and brain-training practices. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore older people’s subjective feelings connected to their FLL as one of the crucial ways to improve their quality of life (QoL). The objective of the research was to determine the subjective satisfaction level of the participants of a second language (L2) acquisition course. The research sample (experimental group) consisted of 105 respondents who were Czech citizens and 55+ years old. Two control groups were set up. The first (young control) consisted of 102 young adults (university students), also Czech citizens, aged between 19 and 23 years. The second control group (elderly control) consisted of 102 subjects older than 55 years, similar in age to the experimental group. A standardized online questionnaire survey was the principal research method, identical both for the experimental and control groups. The findings clearly showed that language training significantly improved the subjective positive feelings and wellbeing of the older participants, regardless of their objective progress in FLL itself. These results stood in opposition to the young control group and were different from the elderly control group. The results revealed that FLL is an effective tool for enhancing the overall wellbeing of older people, which was shown in their expression of their feelings of happiness, satisfaction, and positive motivation to learn an L2. In addition, FLL objectively affected their mental health in a positive way and expanded their social networks. Moreover, FLL was a meaningful activity for them, despite the weak objective learning outcomes due to the decline of cognitive functions, helping them find their general purpose of life, as well as life motivation as expressed in the survey. These findings are crucial, as it has already been proven that wellbeing is directly connected with good health and longevity. Therefore, national governments and all stakeholders dealing with the present issue of the aging population should pay undivided attention to the enhancement of older people’s wellbeing by all possible intervention approaches, including FLL. There is limited research into the issue and the findings of this investigation could be an impetus for further research into the topic from the perspectives of cognitive science, psychology, and psycholinguistics.

Understanding the Well-Being of Older Chinese Immigrants in Relation to Green Spaces: A Gold Coast Study (Australia).

In recognition of the aging population and the importance of health-supporting urban environments, including urban green spaces, to maintain well-being, scholars and policymakers have increasingly investigated the associations between urban green spaces and the well-being of older people. However, few studies specifically investigate minority older groups such as those with diverse cultural backgrounds, and many studies often ignore the design attributes of green spaces which may contribute to the well-being of those in such groups. In order to address these gaps, this paper explores how green spaces influence the well-being of older Chinese immigrants. This case study analyzes how older Chinese immigrants interact with green spaces on the Gold Coast, Australia, and adopts the value of place as a conceptual framework to understand the relationship. Two qualitative methods, namely, in-depth interviews and travel diaries, were used to collect data. The results show that parks, as a place, play a crucial role in older Chinese immigrants’ ability to undertake outdoor activities. The relationship between green spaces and well-being can be classified into two themes. The first theme is concerned with how older Chinese immigrants perceive and experience green spaces. This finding indicates that green spaces can fulfill their values of keeping healthy, maintaining active lifestyles, and being social, all of which benefit well-being. The second theme relates to daily activities undertaken within green spaces. Issues of accessibility and personal preferences regarding activities complicate the relationship between green spaces and well-being. Good accessibility to green spaces is congruent with older Chinese immigrants’ values of being physically active, while difficulties in conducting preferred activities counteract these values which then generate negative perceptions of green spaces. Overall, there is great potential for understanding how personal values can inform the design of inclusive green spaces for minority or less mobile groups.

Risk factors for self-reported cataract symptoms, diagnosis, and surgery uptake among older adults in India: Findings from the WHO SAGE data

ABSTRACT Visual impairments have a substantial impact on the well-being of older people, but their impact among older adults in low- and middle-income countries is under-researched. We examined risk factors for self-reported cataract symptoms, diagnosis, and surgery uptake in India. Cross-sectional data from the nationally representative WHO SAGE data (2007–2008) for India were analysed. We focused on a sub-sample of 6558 adults aged 50+, applying descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Nearly 1-in-5 respondents self-reported diagnosed cataracts, more than three-fifths (62%; n = 3879) reported cataract symptoms, and over half (51.8%) underwent surgery. Increasing age, self-reported diabetes, arthritis, low visual acuity, and moderate or severe vision problems were factors associated with self-reported diagnosed cataracts. Odds of cataract symptoms were higher with increasing age and among those with self-reported arthritis, depressive symptoms, low visual acuity, and with moderate or severe vision problems. Odds of cataract surgery were also higher with increasing age, self-reported diabetes, depressive symptoms, and among those with low visual acuity. A public health approach of behavioural modification, well-structured national outreach eye care services, and inclusion of local basic eye care services are recommended.

A technológia használatának segítő tényezői idős korban

Az idősödő társadalmakban egyre jelentősebb kérdés, hogy milyen módon lehet segíteni az idősödés folyamatát, hogyan lehet az idősödő emberek életminőségét fenntartani. Az idősek életminőségének javításában – sok más mellett – a technológiai innovációk is nagy szerepet játszhatnak. A cikk célja, hogy megvizsgálja azokat a tényezőket, amelyek elősegíthetik az idős emberek számára a technológia, jelen esetben az internet használatát, és rámutasson, mire kell figyelni, hogy ők is élvezhessék az internet nyújtotta előnyöket. A kutatás során 60 év fölötti internethasználókat kerestünk meg kérdőíves megkérdezéssel annak érdekében, hogy azonosítani lehessen azokat a változókat, amelyek támogatják, vagy éppen akadályozzák az internet használatát. Az eredmények alapján elmondható, hogy az „akadálymentesített” és elérhető internet kiemelkedően fontos az internet elfogadásában és hosszú távú használatában. Ezen kívül előmozdítja az elfogadást, ha az idős használó felfedezi, hogy az internet segítheti a társas kapcsolatok fenntartásában és egyfajta szórakozási lehetőséget is biztosít számára.

Социальное самочувствие пожилых людей в период режима самоизоляции

the article presents the results of the author’s research carried out within the framework of the scientific project “Transforming the social well-being of war veterans in the context of Russian transformations at the regional level”, analyzing the social well-being of older people during the period of the introduction of the forced self-isolation regime due to the danger of the spread of coronavirus infection. The role of state and public social organizations in mitigating the consequences of forced self-isolation of older people is revealed.

Global scientific research on social participation of older people from 2000 to 2019: A bibliometric analysis.

BackgroundSocial participation is an indicator of successful ageing and important determinant of health outcomes. As more studies have been conducted on social participation of older people, a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of the current literature will contribute to a better understanding of the main and novel issues and improve existing geriatric care services in this domain. However, limited bibliometric analysis was employed in this research field. Therefore, we conducted this study to investigate the research trend and quantitatively and comprehensively characterise the landscapes of publications on social participation of older people via bibliometric analysis methods.MethodsData were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection in January 2020. CiteSpace 5.5.R2 and VOSviewer software packages were used to generate knowledge maps and analyse the publication outputs, countries/regions, institutions, journals, research hot spots and research frontiers.ResultsA total of 7,029 publications between 2000 and 2019 were retrieved, and the publication number per year continues to increase. The United States held a leading position in this research field, and Duke University was the most productive institution. Co‐cited reference cluster analysis and keyword co‐occurrence analysis showed that research hot spots contained factors of healthy ageing, quality of life, psychological problems and health status, especially dementia, function (including cognitive function) and frailty. Burst detection of keywords revealed that social participation, social support, instrumental activity, frailty and loneliness have been new research frontiers since 2015.ConclusionsBy analysing publications over the past 20 years, we found publication trends and characteristics in this field. These findings will hopefully provide new insight into the scientific landscapes and further directions in the study of social participation of older people.Implications for PracticeSocial participation is strongly associated with physical and psychological problems and the well‐being of older people. Related professionals, such as social workers, psychologists, nurses and many other health care practitioners, should raise widespread awareness and concern over research hot spots and frontiers on this topic to promote research knowledge translation and adoption into the practice of caring for older people.

Psychological factors of fear of crime: an empirical study of older people in Lucknow, India

Purpose The incidents of elder victimisation and cases of victimisation, in general, are increasing fast in the society. These incidents have had negative impact on the sense of well-being and way of life of the older people. Therefore, fear of crime is being considered as a most concerning psycho-social problem amongst the older people in contemporary time. The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of crime rate on the well-being of the older people and examine the linkage between psychological factors and fear of crime amongst the older people. Design/methodology/approach The present study is based on the mixed method approach and an exploratory research designed applied to conduct the study. The field survey has been done from October 2012 to January 2013 on a sample of 220 older people of rural and urban areas of Lucknow in the state of Uttar Pradesh through purposive sampling. For the study, researcher has interviewed 137 male older people and 83 female older people through interview schedules and case studies. The data have been analysed through descriptive and narrative analysis. Findings The study finds that those older people have direct or indirect experience of victimisation, they have anxiety and feel insecurity that someone can victimise them. The study also finds that the happiness of older people is more affected due to anxiety and phobia and have higher level of feeling of fear of crime in their neighbourhood and home. The study also finds whenever anti-social elements are active in the neighbourhood and they commit crimes, fear of crime and anxiety grasp the older people to a large extent causing a fracture in their psychological well-being. Originality/value This work is the original work of researcher. This paper is related to the researcher’s PhD dissertation work. This paper talks about how the psychological well-being of older people affects due to nature of crime in neighbourhood, phobia of crime and anxiety due to criminal activities.

Dignity, well-being and identity: a qualitative study of older people's interpretations of how healthcare workers speak to them.

The initial interaction between an older person and a nurse, and how the older person interprets this interaction, is important and sometimes overlooked. Evidence suggests that the way healthcare workers speak to older people can negatively affect older people's well-being. To interview community-dwelling older people aged ≥65 years who had recently held a conversation with a healthcare worker and to understand the meanings older people attributed to these conversations. Ten community-dwelling older people were recruited and interviewed. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative analysis was informed by narrative methods. Participants freely and readily interpreted their conversations with healthcare workers in terms of the values and attitudes conveyed. Their preferences for forms of address ranged from formal to informal. They were sensitive to a range of contextual factors shaping the use of language. While they were generally tolerant of forms of address that did not match their personal preferences, some inferred disrespect from the unthinking use of first names and some resented assumptions being made based on age. Nurses are encouraged to be skilful and sensitive when speaking to older people. It is advisable to follow older people's preferences regarding forms of address, as these are important markers of dignity and respect.

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Health and Wellbeing of Older People: A Comprehensive Review.

The pandemic is unavoidable; in addition to increased morbidity and mortality, they profoundly affect people and economies at every level. The negative effects of pandemics are more severe in marginalized populations such as older adults who have higher risks of acquiring infection, more disease-related complications, and increased risks of death. Furthermore, older people are affected by policy decisions and containment measures taken during pandemics. With rapid patient turnover and overwhelmed health care facilities, this older population may not receive proper medical care. In addition to poor clinical outcomes, such measures have profound negative effects on the mental health of older populations.

Ageing, Health, Loneliness and Wellbeing

Older people experience high rates of depression and suicide, yet they make a positive net contribution to the economy through activities such as employment, volunteering, and looking after grandchildren. The wellbeing of older people is therefore important not only on moral but also economic grounds. To understand which policies will facilitate the overall wellbeing, we use Australian data to explore the determinants of wellbeing and loneliness of natives and migrants in the 65–85 age group, taking into account the extent to which social networks contribute to the wellbeing and possible reduction in loneliness. Results show that social networks have a strong positive effect on wellbeing and a strong effect in reducing loneliness among both natives and migrants. The positive effect of social networks is stronger for females than males.

Assessing the impact of Social Networking Site use on older people's loneliness and social isolation. A randomized controlled trial: The Aging in a Networked Society-Social Experiment Study (ANS-SE)

IntroductionAn ageing society poses unprecedented challenges to societies. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), including Social Networking Sites (SNSs), may contribute to contrast loneliness and social isolation in old age. Despite of the potentialities of SNSs, there is only a handful of studies assessing the causal relationship of SNS use and older people's well-being. This paper aims to provide further evidence on the design of randomised controlled trials exploring the causal impact of SNS use on loneliness and social isolation in old age. Methods and analysisThe Aging in a Networked Society-Social Experiment Study (ANS-SE) is a randomised controlled trial conducted on people aged 75 and over residing in a town located in the Milan area (Italy) aiming to assess the impact of SNS use on loneliness and social isolation (i.e. the primary outcomes of this study). The study is constituted of two stages, i.e. the baseline and the follow up. The experiment is structured into one treatment group and two control groups; the interventions are the attendance to a course on SNS use (T1) and lifestyle education and brain functioning (C1). The inactive control group (C) is constituted of a waiting list. We will perform bivariate and regression analysis. Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the Ethic Committee of the University of Milano Bicocca (prot. 431/2019) and was registered at Clinical Trials.gov (NCT04242628). Written consent was obtained from all respondents. Results from the study will be discussed with the local community and stakeholders, presented in national and international conferences and published in leading peer-review journals. The consent forms, the anonymised dataset, and the relevant statistical codes will be deposited with the Italian Unidata archive, also in charge of releasing the data to the public, upon a short embargo period.

Respiratory epidemics and older people.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been particularly severe on older people. Past coronavirus epidemics namely Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome have also been severe on older people. These epidemics lasted for only a limited period, however, and have proven short lived in the memories of both the public and public health systems. No lessons were learnt to mitigate the impact of future epidemics of such nature, on older people. This complacency we feel has claimed the lives of many older people during the current COVID-19 global epidemic. The nature of risks associated with acquiring infections and associated mortality among older people in respiratory epidemic situations are varied and of serious concern. Our commentary identifies demographic, biological, behavioural, social and healthcare-related determinants, which increase the vulnerability of older people to respiratory epidemics. We acknowledge that these determinants will likely vary between older people in high- and low-middle income countries. Notwithstanding these variations, we call for urgent action to mitigate the impact of epidemics on older people and preserve their health and dignity. Intersectoral programmes that recognise the special needs of older people and in unique contexts such as care homes must be developed and implemented, with the full participation and agreement of older people. COVID-19 has created upheaval, challenging humanity and threatening the lives, rights, and well-being of older people. We must ensure that we remain an age-friendly society and make the world a better place for all including older people.

Well-being of Older People (WOOP): Quantitative validation of a new outcome measure for use in economic evaluations.

There is a need for comprehensive measures to evaluate the benefits of health and social care services for older people. The newly developed Well-being of Older People measure (WOOP) aims to capture all aspects that older people find important to their well-being. This study explores the validity and test-retest reliability of the WOOP. Between December 2017 and January 2018, an online survey was used to retrieve data from 1113 people aged 65 years and older in the Netherlands. Regression analyses on Cantril's Ladder scores were conducted to explore the relative importance of the items of the WOOP. Dimensionality was checked using exploratory factor analysis. Convergent and discriminant validity were investigated by relating the WOOP to several measures of health and well-being. Test-retest reliability was examined using data from 269 respondents that participated in a second online survey, distributed one week after the first. The items of the WOOP were significantly associated with Cantril's Ladder scores. When regressed simultaneously this was still true for all but the 'social contacts' item and one level of the 'acceptance and resilience' item. The dimensionality analysis revealed three factors, of which two included items of the WOOP and the EQ-5D-5L and the third only items of the WOOP. The WOOP correlated moderately to highly with physical health, and (very) highly with (mental) health and well-being measures. The test-retest reliability in terms of ICC was high, whereas the kappa for the items was fair to good, except for two items. Overall, the WOOP seems to capture aspects relevant to the well-being of older people adequately, and the results of first validity and reliability tests were satisfactory. Before the WOOP can be used in economic evaluations, further validation in a variety of health and social care settings is recommended, and utility weights need to be determined.

Sex with robots: A not-so-niche market for disabled and older persons

AbstractIn this article, we present our experiences from research into the healthy ageing and well-being of older people and we report on our personal opinions of robots that may help the elderly to have sex and to cope with isolation and loneliness. However, and while there is a growing industry for sex robots and other sex toys and gadgets, there is also a growing concern about the ethics of such an industry. As is the case with pornography, the concept of sex robots may be criticized, yet it has deep roots in human civilization, with erotic depictions that date back to the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Ages. So the need for an artefact that would offer sexually relevant functionality is not new at all. But what might be new and worrying is the potential for using artificial intelligence in sex robots in ways that might cause a repositioning of our entire value system. Such a threat is not related to the proliferation of sex robots per se but to the use of robots in general and in a variety of other fields of application.

A systematic review of ethical and legal issues in elder care.

Ethical and legal issues are increasingly being reported by health caregivers; however, little is known about the nature of these issues in geriatric care. These issues can improve work and care conditions in healthcare, and consequently, the health and welfare of older people. This literature review aims to identify research focusing on ethical and legal issues in geriatric care, in order to give nurses and other health care workers an overview of existing grievances and possible solutions to take care of old patients in a both ethical and legally correct way. Using a systematic approach based on Aveyard, a search of the PubMed, CINAHL, and Ethicshare databases was conducted to find out the articles published on ethical and legal issues in geriatric care. The approval for the study was obtained from UMIT-The Health and Life Sciences University, Austria. Only 50 articles were included for systematic analysis reporting ethical and legal issues in the geriatric care. The results presented in this article showed that the main ethical issues were related to the older people's autonomy, respect for their needs, wishes and values, and respect for their decision-making. The main legal issues were related to patients' rights, advance directives, elderly rights, treatment nutrition dilemma, and autonomy. Further education for professional caregivers, elderly people, and their families is needed on following topics: care planning, directive and living wills, and caregiver-family member relationships to guide and support the elderly people within their decision-making processes and during the end-of-life care.

The relative importance of personal beliefs, meta-stereotypes and societal stereotypes of age for the wellbeing of older people

AbstractNegative images of old age can harm older individuals’ cognitive and physical functioning and health. Yet, older people may be confronted with age stereotypes that are inconsistent with their own personal beliefs. We examine the implications for older people's wellbeing of three distinct elements of age stereotypes: their personal beliefs about their age group, their perception about how others generally perceive older people (i.e.their meta-stereotypes) and the societal age stereotypes that are empirically widely shared in society. Using measures from the Stereotype Content Model and survey data of older people from the United Kingdom (UK) (Study 1, N = 171), we found only partial overlap between older people's personal beliefs and their meta-stereotypes. Personal beliefs were unrelated to wellbeing, but positive meta-stereotypes of older people's competence were linked to higher wellbeing. These findings were largely replicated with a sample of baby-boomers from Switzerland (Study 2, N = 400) controlling for socio-demographics. Study 3 used representative survey data (N = 10,803) across 29 European countries, to test and confirm that the link between positive competence meta-stereotypes and wellbeing can be generalised to different cultures, and that positive warmth meta-stereotypes were an additional predictor. At the country level, societal age stereotypes about competence were positively related to the wellbeing of older people, but only in countries that provide greater opportunities for competence attainment.

Development of the ‘Museum Health and Social Care Service’ to promote the use of arts and cultural activities by health and social care professionals caring for older people

ABSTRACT It is well documented that engagement in arts and cultural activities contributes to improving and maintaining the health and well-being of older people. Despite this, many health and social care professionals do not recognize or accept arts and cultural activities as relevant to their care remit. To address this, a team of 17 individuals comprising older service users, and staff from a range of health and social care, arts, and museum and archive services in North East England worked collaboratively to design and develop the Museum Health and Social Care Service (MHSCS). MHSCS is a resource and training package that reinforces the care and clinical benefits of arts and cultural activities to older people’s health and wellbeing, aimed at supporting health and social care professionals to acknowledge and use these activities as integral to care delivery.

COVID-19 and care homes and nursing homes crisis in Spain: ageism and scarcity of resources

The European Welfare State crisis since 2008 has shown the weakness of these European welfare systems to cope with a health crisis such as COVID-19, which in turn has not guaranteed the rights and wellbeing of older people. This article aims at shading light on the scarcity of resources in Spanish care homes and nursing homes system, while analyzing its integrated care failure and the urgent legislative measures implemented to overcome COVID-19 health crisis. At the same time, this paper advocates for a reflexion on ageist practices, so as to foster a debate on the ‘desisntitucionalization’ process of older adults in Spain. In this COVID-19 context, it has become utmost in implementing an older adults’ policy to guarantee older adults rights as vulnerable population; likewise, which has already been done in respect to laws protecting children rights.