Geriatrics Commons^™

Path Tortuosity In Everyday Movements Of Elderly Persons Increases Fall Prediction Beyond Knowledge Of Fall History, Medication Use, And Standardized Gait And Balance Assessments., William D. Kearns Phd, James L. Fozard Phd, Marion Becker Rn/Phd, Jan M. Jasiewicz Phd, Jeffrey D. Craighead Phd, Lori Holtsclaw Ba, Charles Dion Ma

William D. Kearns, PhD

Abstract Objectives: We hypothesized that variability in voluntary movement paths of assisted living facility (ALF) residents would be greater in the week preceding a fall compared with residents who did not fall. Design: Prospective, observational study using telesurveillance technology. Setting: Two ALFs. Participants: The sample consisted of 69 older ALF residents (53 female) aged 76.9 (SD=11.9 years). Measurement: Daytime movement in ALF common use areas was automatically tracked using a commercially available ultra-wideband radio real-time location sensor network with a spatial resolution of approximately 20 cm. Movement path variability (tortuosity) was gauged using fractal dimension (fractal D). A logistic regressionwas …

Ministry Of Memories: Keys To Pastoral Care Of Non-Cognitive Persons, Reginald Corfield

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This work is intended to examine and study the theological and moral reasons to provide pastoral care to persons who have limited or no cognition. Dementia, Alzheimer's, certain other medical conditions and the aging process cause a loss of brain function that affects memory, thinking, behavior and judgment. Most Clergy wrestle with the fact as to whether there is any purpose in ministering to such persons especially when there is no verbal or non-verbal response. This paper involves surveys, research, collection of historical and biblical data and medical science to evaluate the disease process and explore ways in which to …

Useful Field Of View Predicts Driving In The Presence Of Distracters, Joanne M. Wood, Alex Chaparro, Philippe Lacherez, Louise Hickson

Publications

Purpose. The Useful Field of View (UFOV®) test has been shown to be highly effective in predicting crash risk among older adults. An important question which we examined in this study is whether this association is due to the ability of the UFOV to predict difficulties in attention-demanding driving situations that involve either visual or auditory distracters.

Methods. Participants included 92 community-living adults (mean age 73.6 +- 5.4 years; range 65– 88 years) who completed all three subtests of the UFOV involving assessment of visual processing speed (subtest 1), divided attention (subtest 2), and selective attention (subtest 3); driving safety …