Effects of 12 weeks of Nordic Walking and XCO Walking training on the endurance capacity of older adults

Background

Several studies have already examined the positive effects of various forms of endurance training in patient groups and in healthy adults up to 60 years old. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of Nordic Walking (NW) and XCO Walking (XCO) training on endurance capacity in healthy older adults, aged 60 years and older.

Methods

Twenty-three older participants (mean age: 69.9 ± 5.4 years) were randomly assigned to either the NW group or the XCO group. All participants were measured before and after the 12 weeks of endurance training (2 sessions/week) to examine oxygen uptake (VO₂) and energy consumption during an outdoor field test. In addition, heart rates were recorded and lactate samples were collected.

Results

NW mainly demonstrated some significant (p < 0.05) decreases in heart rate, lactate concentration at lower to moderate walking speeds, whereas XCO Walking revealed significant (p < 0.05) decreases in lactate concentration and VO₂ at low to higher walking speeds.

Conclusions

NW as well as XCO training increase the efficiency of the cardio-vascular system in older subjects. Both training approaches are suitable options for endurance training, which may serve to counteract age- and inactivity-related decreases in cardio-vascular functioning as well as aid in maintaining overall performance in older adults.

     

Experiential Wellbeing Data from the American Time Use Survey: Comparisons with Other Methods and Analytic Illustrations with Age and Income

There has been a recent upsurge of interest in self-reported measures of wellbeing by official statisticians and by researchers in the social sciences. This paper considers data from a wellbeing supplement to the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which parsed the previous day into episodes. Respondents provided ratings of five experiential wellbeing adjectives (happiness, stress, tiredness, sadness, and pain) for each of three randomly selected episodes. Because the ATUS wellbeing module has not received very much attention, in this paper we provide the reader with details about the features of these data and our approach to analyzing the data (e.g., weighting considerations), and then illustrate the applicability of these data to current issues. Specifically, we examine the association of age and income with all of the experiential wellbeing adjective in the ATUS. Results from the ATUS wellbeing module were broadly consistent with earlier findings on age, but did not confirm all earlier findings between income and wellbeing. We conclude that the ATUS, with its measurement of time use, specific activities, and hedonic experience in a nationally representative survey, offers a unique opportunity to incorporate time use into the burgeoning field of wellbeing research.     

Book Review: A Watched Pot: How We Experience Time. By Flaherty,Michael G. New York: New York University Press, 1999, 230 pages,paperback, ISBN: 0814726879

Qualitative Sociology -     

Political Exhortation, Patient Expectation and Professional Execution: Perspectives on the Consumerization of Health Care

A central theme underpinning the reform of public-sector services in western economies since the 1980s has been the emphasis on reorienting service provision around the user. Public-sector organizations have been forced to reappraise the design of the service delivery process, in particular the service encounter, to take account of the resultant changes in service users' expectations. Such focus on the service user has fundamental implications for public-sector professionals, specifically challenging the dominance of service professionals in the design and delivery of services. Based on a survey of patient attitudes towards service provision in the National Health Service in Scotland (NHSiS) and in-depth interviews with senior hospital clinicians and managers, the paper critically examines the reaction of both patients and professionals to politically driven initiatives to reorientate the delivery of health-care services. Specifically the paper explores the emerging perspectives of both patients and professionals towards the consumerization of health care and the changing nature of the relationship between patients and professionals within a publicly funded health-care system.     

Risk perceptions and ethical public health policy: MMR vaccination in the UK

This paper is concerned with how public health policy makers should respond to the public’s perception of risks. I suggest that we can think of this issue in terms of two different models of responding to the public’s view of such perceived risks. The first model I will call the “public perception” view (PP view) and the second the “public good” view (PG view). The PP view suggests that the public’s perception of any risks is so important that public health policies should be formulated in direct response to knowledge about them. I will consider two possible ethical arguments that might be offered in support of such a view: the first argument is an “autonomy” argument and the second a “consequences” argument. I suggest there are serious problems with both arguments. I then outline an alternative model of public health policy formation that I call the “public good” or PG model. This model focuses on drawing distinctions between the clinical and the public health context, and argues that most of public health policy is primarily concerned with the creation and maintenance of various public goods. This latter fact means that the PP model is inappropriate for public health policy formation.

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Zusammenfassung  Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich damit, wie Entscheidungsträger in der Gesundheitspolitik der Wahrnehmung von Risiken in der Öffentlichkeit begegnen sollten. Mein Vorschlag ist hier, diese Frage im Rahmen zweier verschiedener Modelle der Reaktion auf die öffentliche Sichtweise solcher wahrgenommender Risiken zu betrachten. Das erste Modell bezeichne ich als die Perspektive der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung (“PP (Public Perception)-Modell”), das zweite als die Perspektive des öffentlichen Nutzens (“PG (Public Good)-Modell”). Nach dem PP-Modell sind allgemeine Risikowahrnehmungen von solcher Wichtigkeit, dass Gesundheitspolitiken als direkte Reaktion auf das Wissen über solche Wahrnehmungen zu formulieren wären. Ich betrachte zwei mögliche ethische Argumente, die zur Stützung dieses Standpunkts angeführt werden könnten, das erste ein “Autonomieargument”, das zweite ein “Folgenargument”. Ich zeige auf, dass beide Argumente mit ernsten Schwierigkeiten behaftet sind. Dann skizziere ich ein Alternativmodell zur Gestaltung öffentlicher Gesundheitspolitik, das so genannte PG-Modell, in dem der öffentliche Nutzen im Vordergrund steht. Dieses Modell konzentriert sich auf die Unterschiede zwischen Fragen des klinischen Gesundheitswesens einerseits und solchen der öffentlichen oder Volksgesundheit. Das Argument lautet dann, dass es in der Politik zur öffentlichen Gesundheit weitgehend und in erster Linie um die Schaffung und Erhaltung verschiedener öffentlicher Güter geht, was allerdings bedeutet, dass das PP-Modell für die Politikformulierung zur öffentlichen Gesundheit ungeeignet ist.

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Résumé  Le présent article s’interroge sur la manière dont les décideurs dans le domaine de la politique de santé publique devraient répondre à la perception des risques par l’opinion publique. Je suggère que nous réfléchissions sur ce thème dans le cadre de deux modèles différents de réaction à la vision de l’opinion publique des risques ainsi perçus. J’appelle le premier modèle le point de vue de la perception publique (point de vue PP (Public Perception)), et le deuxième le point de vue de l’intérêt public (point de vue PG (Public Good)). Le modèle PP suggère que la perception publique des risques revêt une telle importance que les politiques de santé publique devraient être formulées en réponse directe à ce qu’on en sait. Prenons deux arguments éthiques possibles pour étayer ce point de vue : le premier argument est un argument ≪ d’autonomie ≫ et le second un argument ≪ de conséquences ≫. Je montre que ces deux arguments posent de sérieuses difficultés. J’esquisse ensuite un modèle alternatif pour l’élaboration de politiques de santé publique, le modèle PG ou ≪ d‘intérêt public ≫. Ce modèle se concentre sur les différences entre l’aspect hospitalier de la santé et son aspect public, et argue que la politique de santé publique porte essentiellement sur la création et la préservation de biens publics. Ceci signifie que le modèle PP ne convient pas à l’élaboration d‘une politique de santé publique.

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Hope and despair: making sense of politics in the twenty-first century

Books reviewed in this article: Books Reviewed: J. Dunn 2000 The Cunning of Unreason: Making Sense of Politics R. D. Putnam 2000 Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community B. Parekh 2000 Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory J. Drysek 2000 Deliberative Democracy and Beyond