A bio-psycho-social model of successful aging as shown through the variable “physical activity”

In this article, we present and explain a bio-psycho-social model of successful aging with subjective well-being as a criterion of a successful aging process. We focus on physical activity because it is a crucial behavior. Physical activity can support successful aging in two different ways: first, due to its physiological and cognitive effects, and Second, an older person can enhance subjective well-being (SWB) while being physically active. The model points out that an older person can regulate SWB. To do this, an older person should set and pursue personally and culturally valued goals. The strength of the association between setting a goal and goal pursuance, respectively, and SWB depends on the extent a person is able to satisfy psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness). But, the decision as to which goal will be set and pursued does not belong to the older person exclusively. The bio-psycho-social model explains that the chance to enhance SWB is restricted by personal dispositions (e.g., physiological constitution, psychological factors) and social–structural constraints (e.g., predominant stereotype of aging, facilities especially for target groups). Funding credit: Landesstiftung Baden Württemberg gGmbH [Landesstiftung Foundation]     

积极老龄化框架下老年社会参与的难点及对策

通过对三种老龄观的比较,揭示了积极老龄化的内涵、特点以及实现该战略所需的前提条件,在此基础上,从目前社会发展状况和老年人自身主观状态两个方面分析了我国在推进积极老龄化战略方面的难点,并在认可发展经济是第一推动力的同时提出了两点解决问题的对策,以期能够将积极老龄化战略付诸于社会实践。     

Clinical gait and stepping performance measures in older adults

Problems with ambulation and mobility are frequent problems in older adults. Each year, about one in 100 older adults develops new severe mobility disability. Assessment of abnormal gait constitutes a major component of clinical practice and may lead to fall reduction. Clinicians can benefit from simple gait and mobility assessment tools to be used in busy clinical settings. This review focuses on gait and stepping performance measures that can be used by the busy clinician to assess gait, mobility performance, balance, and falls risk in the older adult.     

Problematic Progress in Asia: Growing Older and Apart

The purpose of this article is to describe the demographic dynamics in 14 Asian countries. The foreseen impacts on economic growth, income disparity, social stability, pension programs, retirement, health care insurance, and labor market are presented. Public policy recommendations are delineated.     

Importance of active listening in treating workers with musculoskeletal disorders

Female assembly workers reporting constant neck and shoulder pain, despite ergonomically acceptable working conditions, were interviewed. As a starting point in the interviews, the patients were asked to describe their general situation at work. Their reports were fed back and discussed with company management in a wider group meeting and resulted in an improvement in their attitudes to those workers. A climate of confidence and well-being was created, which the women experienced as genuine. The workers' report of pains improved dramatically and absence due to musculoskeletal disorders was reduced by more than 90% during the following year.     

Caring by Silence: How (Un)documented Brazilian Migrants Enact Silence as a Care Practice for Aging Parents

ABSTRACT

While existing work on transnational aging and care has largely focused on the substance of transnational communication and what is being said, this article examines what is being ‘silenced’ during transnational exchange. I argue that to better understand aging and intergenerational caregiving we need to pay careful attention to what is not being said during transnational contacts, suggesting that silence and ‘communication voids’ are often formulated and enacted as a care practice. Drawing on ethnographic research with Brazilian migrants in the United States whose aging parents live in Brazil, I illustrate how migrants curate their lives abroad and sieve their lived experiences as an act of care for their aging parents back home. In so doing, I reveal the significance of faith as a coping strategy in the process of silencing and concealing emotions and as a means to fight loneliness, cope with adversity, and protect family exchanges.     

Navigating choices when applying multiple imputation in the presence of multi-level categorical interaction effects

Multiple imputation (MI) is an appealing option for handling missing data. When implementing MI, however, users need to make important decisions to obtain estimates with good statistical properties. One such decision involves the choice of imputation model–the joint modeling (JM) versus fully conditional specification (FCS) approach. Another involves the choice of method to handle interactions. These include imputing the interaction term as any other variable (active imputation), or imputing the main effects and then deriving the interaction (passive imputation). Our study investigates the best approach to perform MI in the presence of interaction effects involving two categorical variables. Such effects warrant special attention as they involve multiple correlated parameters that are handled differently under JM and FCS modeling. Through an extensive simulation study, we compared active, passive and an improved passive approach under FCS, as JM precludes passive imputation. We additionally compared JM and FCS techniques using active imputation. Performance between active and passive imputation was comparable. The improved passive approach proved superior to the other two particularly when the number of parameters corresponding to the interaction was large. JM without rounding and FCS using active imputation were also mostly comparable, with JM outperforming FCS when the number of parameters was large. In a direct comparison of JM active and FCS improved passive, the latter was the clear winner. We recommend improved passive imputation under FCS along with sensitivity analyses to handle multi-level interaction terms.     

欧洲债务危机与中国社会养老保险制度改革——基于公共养老金替代率视角的分析

经济增长缓慢、人口老龄化、社会养老保障财政收支失衡与欧债危机密切相关.欧洲国家刚性的养老金替代率在人口持续老龄化和经济增长缓慢前提下必然导致养老金财政赤字不断扩大,国家财政债务危机不断升级.较高的养老金替代率实际上反映了代际负担的不可持续性,所以合适的养老金替代率的确定无论对世界还是对中国都具有重要意义.有鉴于此,未富先老的中国应该坚持带有生产主义特征的社会养老保障模式,构筑多支柱、多来源的退休金体系,适当降低基础养老金替代率,并构建养老金负担与给付的自动调整机制,从而保障养老金财政的长期平衡和社会保障制度的可持续发展.     

中国城市老人自杀问题分析

文章将在老龄化和城市变迁的背景下审视中国城市老人自杀的问题。笔者对中国自杀数据的整理和分析显示,中国城市老人在千禧年后的自杀率超过2000年之前的年均水平。以往的研究通常将久病厌世和家庭纠纷视为中国城市老人自杀的主要诱因。笔者却认为,相对剥夺感的大小可以强化或缓解这两个导致自杀的驱动力,所以应该在相关的分析中加以重视。为此,本文将集中分析医保的缺乏和城市开发对城市老人自杀问题的影响。