Role and function: Aspects of quality of life of older people in rural Bangladesh

The aim of this study is to explore the meaning of quality of life (QoL) for elderly people in a rural community in Bangladesh. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews with 11 elderly persons aged 63–86 years. Interview data were analysed using content analysis to determine the conceptual meaning of elderly peoples' experiences of QoL. Two major themes emerged from the data as being of utmost importance in QoL of elderly people in rural Bangladesh. These were: (i) having a role in the family and the community and (ii) being functional, both physically and economically. Results also showed that elderly people in rural Bangladesh prioritise being healthy, having a good social network, social support and a secure financial situation in order to have good QoL. This study is a step towards a better understanding of QoL experienced by the elderly people themselves in a rural Bangladeshi context.     

Intergenerational Interaction Between Institutionalised Older Persons and Biologically Unrelated University Students

ABSTRACT

Most studies on older persons focus mainly on what the aged can no longer do and on the impact that this has on the community and specifically on their carers. In contrast to this, this research focused on the value of friendship between older persons living in a retirement home and students whom they did not know prior to their interaction in the project. Friendship, in this instance, is viewed as a multidimensional facet of social support. Participatory action research was used to describe the relationship between the students and the older persons, and the illustrative method, as a qualitative research method, was used to analyse the data, obtained from students' reports, observations and interviews. The results are used to propose guidelines for the transfer to other contexts of the intergenerational involvement of biologically unrelated students     

Frailty in self-neglecting older adults: A secondary analysis

ABSTRACT

Self-neglect (SN) and frailty in older adults is associated with increased disability and mortality. Despite these commonalities, there have been no studies objectively assessing frailty in older adults who SN. This secondary analysis classified frailty in N = 37 older adults with Adult Protective Services validated SN using the Fried Frailty Phenotype (FFP) of weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, activity level, and walking speed. Overall, 3% were classified as robust, 62% as prefrail, and 35% as frail. Most (72%) were overweight/obese, with clinically significant decreases in activity level (60%) and walking speed (97%). Compared to the original FFP population, older adults who SN exhibit important differences in frailty phenotypes, and finding that the largest percentage of older adults who SN were prefrail may indicate a critical opportunity for intervening in this population to reduce future functional decline and mortality.     

Letter From the Editors

ABSTRACT

In this article we explore older persons’ definitions of and explanations for elder abuse in the Netherlands by means of interviews with older persons. A qualitative study was conducted based on semistructured interviews with 35 older persons who had no experience with abuse. Our findings show that older persons participating in our study define elder abuse foremost as physical violence that is performed intentionally. The study participants explain elder abuse as a result of the dependency and vulnerability of older persons, of changing norms and values, and of changes in the position of older persons in society, which result in disrespect toward older persons and a lack of social control and responsibility. The older persons’ explanations for the occurrence of abuse mainly focus on societal changes; older persons seem to regard elder abuse primarily as a societal problem. This understanding of, and explanation for, elder abuse may influence their detection and reporting behavior, as they may tend to acknowledge only severe cases of intentional physical violence that leave clear and therefore physically detectable evidence.     

The contextual and social locations of older women's experiences of disability and decline

Understandings of disability and decline within health and social care seem to focus mainly on the bodies and function of older persons. However, the way that older people's experiences of disability and decline are fixed into rigid functional classifications such as ‘frailty’ are problematic. Drawing on the narratives of twelve diverse older English-speaking women in Montreal, Canada, I will argue that older women's experiences are more connected with the contexts within which they experience disability and decline, and the social locations they bring to these experiences, than the functional limitations of their bodies. Older women's stories – particularly those related to the home and the bus – reveal the clash between dominant understandings of ‘frailty’ and older women's contextual and social experiences of disability and decline; expose tensions within health and social care practices; and highlight the potential which exists in both context and social location.     

Social capital and intimate partnership in later life: A gendered perspective on 60+ year-old Israelis

The gendered meaning of the repartnering process and the social capital mechanisms that facilitate it were examined by means of in-depth interviews with 32 Israelis 60 years and older. Two central themes emerged from the interviews. The first theme relates to the interviewees’ gendered perceptions of the change in their social capital between partnering relationships. The second theme concerns respondents’ recognition of the new partnership as social capital. These themes reflect the gendered dynamics in the use of social capital for repartnering in old age. The study also illustrates the complexity of ‘social capital’ as a concept and addresses its relevance for the elders’ well being.     

Physical activity in people age 80 years and older as a means of counteracting disability, balanced in relation to frailty

The aim of this study was to describe experiences of physical activity, perceived meaning, and the importance of and motives and barriers for participation in physical activity in people 80 years of age and older. A qualitative design with focus-group methodology was used. The sample consisted of 20 community-living people age 80-91 yr. Data analyses revealed 4 themes: physical activity as a part of everything else in life, joie de vivre, fear of disease and dependence, and perceptions of frailty. Our results suggest that physical activity was not seen as a separate activity but rather as a part of activities often rated as more important than the physical activity itself. Thus, when designing physical activity interventions for elderly people, health care providers should consider including time for social interaction and possibilities to be outdoors. Moreover, assessment of physical activity levels among elderly people should include the physical activity in everyday activities.     

Policies for older volunteers: A study of Germany and Italy, 1990–2008

Older people increase their well-being and contribute to the community when they volunteer. Therefore, policy-makers sometimes consider supporting older volunteers. However, they reach different conclusions on whether they should introduce policies for older volunteers, and on what policy would be the most suitable. This article studies how policies for older volunteers emerged in Germany and Italy, both countries having one of the oldest populations in the world. It explores the political discourse on older volunteers, and how this discourse translates into policies. To do this, the article presents data collected in expert interviews and document analysis. Findings show that German policy-makers stress the contribution of volunteering to older people's well-being and have introduced policies for older volunteers. Italian policy-makers, in contrast, frame older volunteers as social service providers and have decided not to single out specific age groups in their policies for volunteers. Moreover, the policies are influenced by the policy-makers' perceptions and path-dependencies, meaning policies and institutions that were introduced in the past. These findings suggest that whether or not policies for older volunteers emerge depends less on the characteristics of the older population and more on the society and its political traditions.     

Exercise and health in frail elderly people: a review of randomized controlled trials

Frailty is a physiological syndrome that increases the risk of poor health. Although some research has been conducted to study the benefits of physical exercise in frail elderly populations, different operational definitions of frailty have been used, and this makes the studies difficult to compare. The present review was aimed at examining the influence of exercise on health in frail older adults. Studies using randomized controlled trials that administered an exercise program to a frail elderly population and that had an operational definition of frailty were selected from publications between January 2000 and October 2008. Information about the study population, frailty criteria, exercise program, principles of exercise training, randomization procedures, main and secondary outcome measures, study follow-up, and control group characteristics was taken from these studies, and the results from a final sample of 28 articles are discussed. Exercise training seems to be a safe and effective tool for promoting and maintaining optimal health levels in a wide variety of vulnerable older adults. However, the lack of studies on a well-defined frail older adult sample with selection procedures based on current knowledge in this field does not allow us, at the present time, to conclude that exercise influences health in this population. Further research is needed to confirm the benefits of exercise on health in frail older adults. The study population must be selected based on current knowledge in the area of frailty, and the design of the exercise program must be based on principles of training.     

Assessment of frailty syndrome using Edmonton frailty scale in Polish elderly sample

The aim of the study was to assess the incidence and severity of the frailty syndrome assessed with the Edmonton Frailty Scale. This is a cross-sectional study conducted among 382 patients (236 men and 146 women, mean age 71.9?years). The Edmonton Frailty Scale was administered during the patient’s admission to the hospital. The Polish adaptation was performed using the standard methodology. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the whole Edmonton Frailty Scale was 0.709. The mean correlation between positions and the overall result was r?=?0.180. There were no statistically significant differences between women and men in the area of Edmonton Frailty Scale mean score (p?70?years than for those?<70?years (p?相似文献   

Problem Gambling and the Circumstances Facing Older People

Local gambling venues are an important contemporary context for older people's gambling in many parts of the world typically being more accessible to this segment of the population than traditional, centralised gambling venues, such as casinos. This study, undertaken in South East Queensland, analyses older people's electronic gaming machine (EGM) behaviour and motivations, specifically in the context of licensed social and recreational clubs-a popular local gambling venue in many parts of Australia. The study gathered data via a postal survey of 80 managers of licensed clubs, interviews with Gambling Help services and a survey of 414 people aged 60+ who regularly play EGMs, self-administered on site at local clubs. The analysis undertaken suggests that certain age-related circumstances of older people-such as being without a partner, having a disability that impacts on everyday activities, having a low annual income, and no longer participating in the workforce-are associated with higher overall levels of motivation for playing EGMs and greater reliance on EGMs to meet social, recreational and mental health needs. Over a quarter of the older people surveyed (27%) reported drawing on their savings to fund their EGM gambling. Certain categories of older people, including those who were without a partner and those with a disability, were more likely to report drawing on their savings to fund EGM play and betting more than they could afford to lose, pointing to age-related vulnerabilities older people may experience to the negative impacts of gambling given the greater likelihood of their dependency on smaller, fixed incomes. The explanatory contribution of a range of demographic and motivational variables on problem/moderate risk gambling status was computed via a logistic regression model. Younger age (60-69), male gender, single marital status and being motivated to play EGMs to experience excitement and to win money all emerged as significant predictors in the model.     

Elder participation in cyberspace: A qualitative analysis of Israeli retirees

As computer networking becomes increasingly important, it is crucial to examine how this technology is used by the older generation. The present inquiry considers the nature and meaning of elder participation in cyberspace and the degree to which computer-mediated communication increases the social capital of older adults. The study compares 10 elder computer participants and 10 nonparticipants by means of open-ended interviews. Three primary themes emerged from the interviews. The first concerns the different conceptions of old age held by the cyber-participants and the nonparticipants, and in particular, differing views on learning capacity in later life. The second is related to the varying conceptions of time in old age, and orientation to the past or to the future. The third theme relates to the way in which the elderly persons involved in the virtual world relate to their computer, attributing human qualities to this new addition to their social network.     

The social and nutritional meaning of food sharing among older rural adults

In most societies, the gift of food conveys social meaning, as well as nutritional sustenance. While food sharing has been widely noted, there has been little focused study of this practice among older adults in the US, who, as a group, are considered nutritionally vulnerable. We completed in-depth interviews with 145 adults (African American, European American, and Native American) aged 70+ years in rural North Carolina. Our objectives are (1) to describe the types of food shared by gender and ethnicity, (2) to identify values and meaning elders associate with giving and receiving food, and (3) to discuss the nutritional and social contribution food sharing makes to the lives of these rural elders. All elders participated in food sharing, as givers, recipients, or both. It is valued by these elders as a way to maintain reciprocity in social relations and to create a feeling of community membership. For older adults, receiving food gifts may augment a diet limited by income and functional status.     

“I'm still raring to go”: Successful aging among lesbian,gay, bisexual,and transgender older adults

While we know that minority status differentiates the experience of aging, little research has been done to examine the ways in which patterns of successful aging may differ in diverse subgroups of older adults. In this exploratory study, we investigated and described experiences of successful aging in a sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Directed by a community-based participatory research process, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 22 LGBT adults, age 60 and older. We took an inductive, grounded theory approach to analyze the taped and transcribed interviews. We coded respondent experiences in four domains: physical health, mental health, emotional state and social engagement. Four gradations of successful aging emerged. Very few in our sample met the bar for “traditional success” characterized by the absence of problems in all four domains of health. Most of the sample was coping to a degree with problems and was categorized in one of two gradations on a continuum of successful aging: “surviving and thriving” and “working at it.” A small number was “ailing”: not coping well with problems. Some of the experiences that respondents described were related to LGBT status; others were related to more general processes of aging. The research suggests that a successful aging framework that is modified to include coping can better describe the experiences of LGBT older adults. The modified conceptual model outlined here may be useful in future research on this population, as well as more broadly for diverse populations of adults, and may be adapted for use in practice to assess and improve health and well-being.     

Experiences from Pagan women: A closer look at croning rituals

In this qualitative study I explore how Pagan women conceptualize aging, more specifically social aging, through the ritual process of being a Pagan and becoming a Crone. The central question of this research revolves around how older women who identify as Pagan experience, understand, and conceptualize their social aging and their role as aging women in American society. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and explore the meaning of aging for women identifying as Pagan. Major emergent themes within the data demonstrate that the croning ritual, a central aspect of Paganism, affirms these women in their process of aging. These women, through the ritual of croning, are able to understand their aging as celebration, maintain a positive sense of self while aging, and reclaim visibility as aging women. These women were able to embed their experiences of aging within a unique and specific cultural framework, a spiritual and foundational framework cultivating a spiritual connection with nature.     

Gambling and the Older Chinese in Canada

In Canada, there is a lack of research on gambling among the older adults from ethnic minority groups, especially the older Chinese. In this study, two research questions were used to examine gambling among the older Chinese: (1) What is the pattern of gambling among the older Chinese in Canada? (2) What are the predictors associated with gambling among the older Chinese in Canada? The data for this study were collected as part of a multi-site study on health and well-being of 2272 older Chinese in Canada. Four main questions related to gambling were used in this study. Among the 2257 participants who answered the questions on gambling, 26.6% of them reported that they gambled. Results of the hierarchical logistic regression analysis showed that being male, having lived in Canada longer, having a higher level of social support, having more service barriers, and having a stronger level of Chinese ethnic identity would increase the probability for an older Chinese to participate in gambling. Conversely, having a post-secondary and above level of education and having a higher level of life satisfaction would reduce one’s probability of gambling. Although city of residency was also significant in predicting gambling, further analysis showed that its effect was actually caused by other factors including services barriers, social support, life satisfaction, Chinese ethnic identity, and education.