Geriatrics Commons^™

Consumer Perspectives On Quality In Adult Day Care, Amy Leventhal Stern, Francis G. Caro

Gerontology Institute Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to gain insight into the quality of care and services provided through adult day care from the user’s perspective. Design and Methods: The project utilized 13 focus groups to explore aspects associated with user needs, preferences, and satisfaction with adult day care centers. Results: Focus group participants described aspects of adult day care that are important in delivering quality care, program features that are effective, and key areas in need of improvement. Ensuring the safety of clients; having caring, friendly, and compassionate staff available to provide one-on-one attention; engaging clients in stimulating activities; …

Back To The Future: The Future Of Long-Term Care In Massachusetts, Deborah H. Thomson, John J. Ford

Gerontology Institute Publications

The state of Massachusetts, like the rest of the United States, is facing an approaching crisis in long-term care. Over the next few decades the number of Massachusetts residents age 65 and older will soar. As these numbers increase, so will the need for long-term care.

Massachusetts is ill prepared to provide the services that will be needed. Our current system of health care benefits leaves many elders with gaps in coverage. Those individuals who need long-term services often impoverish themselves and their spouses before the state pays for their care. Others languish on waiting lists to receive services. Our …

Long-Term Care: Informed By Research, Francis G. Caro

Gerontology Institute Publications

Health services research has contributed to health policy and service developments that have led to major improvements in the quality of long-term care in the United States. This policy brief highlights a few areas in which publicly and privately funded research has informed the long-term care field.

Trends. Geropsychology And Global Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses how to evaluate whether national leaders, as senior citizens, can be considered the best and brightest, and the possible role for cognitive stimulation.

Seniors Count Follow-Up Study, Nina M. Silverstein, Heather Connors, May Jawad

Gerontology Institute Publications

Seniors Count is an ongoing outreach initiative under the direction of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino with the leadership and support of Joyce Williams, Boston's Commissioner on Affairs of the Elderly. The program's purpose is to "identify and reach out to those members of the city's elderly population who live in private housing arrangements and help provide them with the information and services they [may] need" (Boston Commission on Affairs of the Elderly, 2002). Since the program's inception in 1999, it has reached over 5,500 community-dwelling elders in the City of Boston (Boston Commission on Affairs of the Elderly, 2002). …

Transportation: A Crucial Issue For Adult Day Care In Vermont, Francis G. Caro, Regula H. Robnett, Jennifer Higgins

Gerontology Institute Publications

Transportation arrangements are an integral but fragile element in the effectiveness of adult day care services in Vermont and nationwide. Almost by definition, adult day center participants generally cannot drive due to cognitive and/or physical limitations. Since adult day care services are congregate in nature and serve community-residing elders, this long-term care option is feasible only when there are arrangements to transport elders to and from service centers. Transportation is therefore a major issue for adult day care services.

The aim of this report is to call attention to transportation issues in adult day care services in Vermont. The report …

Working Paper: Elders In Massachusetts Prefer Paid Caregivers, Francis G. Caro

Gerontology Institute Publications

Older Massachusetts residents would rather have paid professionals provide their long-term care than their own children, according to a recent UMass Poll of 461 Massachusetts residents.

What Is The Relationship Between Activity, Social Support And Health-Related Quality Of Life In People Who Are Sixty Years Of Age And Older?, Jaqueline Ebbott

Theses : Honours

Over one third of individuals aged sixty years and older have health conditions which limit their ability to live an independent and active life. With the older Australian population increasing, the prevention of functional decline and preservation of wellbeing in this age group has become a major clinical focus in gerontology research. Therefore an important goal of health professionals is to identify behavioural factors which encourage wellbeing and quality of life in this age group. The purpose of the present study was to explore the importance of physical activity passive activity (activities such as craft, reading and board games) and …

Toward Improved Support For Research On Delivery Of Home- And Community-Based Long-Term Care, Francis G. Caro

Gerontology Institute Publications

Stronger and more consistent support is needed for research on long-term care. A greater investment in research will strengthen the ability of public and private organizations to provide effective and efficient assistance to people with disabilities and their informal caregivers. This paper provides a rationale for stronger research funding for the field and outlines several options to strengthen research.

Nursing Homes To Medicare Waiver Programs In Vermont, Joseph Murray

New England Journal of Public Policy

This research examines the differences between nursing home residents and those who were able to leave nursing homes with the help of the Medicaid Waiver Program in Vermont. Ninety individuals who reentered the community with the aid of such waivers were compared with a random sample of nursing home residents through the use of the Nursing Home Minimum Data Set. The researchers found divergence in four key areas: cognition, continence, treatment categories, and desire to return to the community. Typically, those who left nursing homes for the community were cognitively intact, had moderate continence, received rehabilitative or clinically complex treatments, …

Nursing Home Ownership And Public Policy: An Historical Analysis, K. R. Kaffenberger

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

In the early days of the United States, care of the disabled elderly outside the home meant the public almshouse. By the 1920s, private, nonprofit homes for the aged were prevalent. More recently, private, for-profit facilities have grown to dominate the field.

For-profit ownership has been controversial. Underlying the controversy is the concern that quality might be lowered in order to enhance profit.

This study asks why most nursing homes are privately owned and why most privately owned nursing homes are operated for profit. It does so with reference to The Nonprofit Economy, in which Burton Weisbrod describes a …

Grandparents Today: A Demographic Profile, Maximiliane E. Szinovacz

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This article presents a demographic profile of grandparents, using the National Survey of Families and Households. Specific dimensions of grandparenthood addressed include grandparents' survival, the timing of grandparenthood, grandparents' involvement in other roles, surrogate parenting, and stepgrandparents. The data indicate considerable heterogeneity among grandparents of different genders and races or ethnicities. They also suggest modifications in previous descriptions of modern grandparenthood.

Neuroprotective Action Of Cycloheximide Involves Induction Of Bcl-2 And Antioxidant Pathways, Katsutoshi Furukawa, Steven Estus, Weiming Fu, Robert J. Mark, Mark P. Mattson

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

The ability of the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide (CHX) to prevent neuronal death in different paradigms has been interpreted to indicate that the cell death process requires synthesis of “killer” proteins. On the other hand, data indicate that neurotrophic factors protect neurons in the same death paradigms by inducing expression of neuroprotective gene products. We now provide evidence that in embryonic rat hippocampal cell cultures, CHX protects neurons against oxidative insults by a mechanism involving induction of neuroprotective gene products including the antiapoptotic gene bcl-2 and antioxidant enzymes. Neuronal survival after exposure to glutamate, FeSO₄, and amyloid β-peptide …

The Role Of Social Support Networks In The Independent Functioning Of Elderly Persons, Maree Gabbedy

Theses : Honours

There is conclusive evidence which highlights the importance of physical and mental health in the ability of elderly persons to function within society, and elderly persons who require services to maintain their independence, are assumed to have lower levels of functioning than persons who do not apply for, or require assistance. Individuals, however, are rarely totally independent, as most people are involved in social networks, where the reciprocal exchange of money, emotional support, goods and services are exchanged with friends family and neighbours. This study, examined the role of social support networks in the independent functioning of the elderly, in …

Update - June 1994, Loma Linda University Center For Christian Bioethics

Update

In this issue:

-- Can America Afford the Booming Elderly Population?
-- The Booming Elderly Population: The Economic Crunch and Generational Equity
-- Our Burgeoning Elderly Population: Rationing Scarce Resources
-- Medicine and the Aging America: Nurturing and Caring for Older Adults
-- Meet Our AM Students
-- Park Ridge Center Conference: November 3 & 4
-- The New Relatedness for Man and Woman in Christ: A Mirror of the Divine

Book Review, Mitchell M. Simon

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Review of: MARSHALL A. KAPP, ETHICAL ASPECTS OF HEALTH CARE FOR THE ELDERLY: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY. (Greenwood Press 1992). [200 pp.] Number 17 in series, Bibliographies and Indices in Gerontology. Author index; foreword by Erdman B. Palmore, series editor; preface; subject index. LC: 92-17776; ISBN: 0-313-27490-8. [Cloth $45.00. P.O. Box 5007, Westport CT 06881.]

Elder-Caregiving Among University Employees: Responsibilities And Needs, Constance L. Coogle, Edward F. Ansello

Virginia Center on Aging Publications

Although many institutions of higher education often house the researchers who study eldercare, few have documented the need for information and services among their estimated 460,000 employees who face the difficult task of effectively balancing work and eldercare responsibilities. Even fewer have established programs to address this need.

Drs. Constance Coogle and Edward Ansello have recently completed an exhaustive survey of VCU employees (N = 11,430) to determine the extent to which they provide care to disabled parents or spouses.[1] A longer, more detailed survey was sent to those who indicated that they were eldercaregivers to measure their perceived …

Ethnicity And Lifetimes: Self Concepts And Situational Contexts Of Ethnic Identity In Late Life, Mark Luborsky, Robert L. Rubinstein

Anthropology Faculty Research Publications

This chapter reports on finding from a study of ethnic older men, aged 65 an older (Jewish, Irish, and Italian) who were widowed from 2 to 8 years after a long-term study. It focuses on life reorganization after the initial bereavement period. It identifies key issues in the process concerning continuity and change in identity reformulation, changes in health and activity patterns, ethnic identity and lingering attachment to the deceased spouse. Ethnicity as a dynamic life course process, shaped by contextual and historical dimensions, and personal meaning processes are highlighted. Supported by NIH# R01-AG005204

An Analysis Of The Attitudes Of Unlicensed Personnel In San Bernardino Metropolitan Area Convalescent Hospitals Toward Their Jobs And The Geriatric Patients, Theodore G. Sneed

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

In American society, convalescent facility residency is a fact of life for many of the aged. Typically, in these geriatric facilities, eighty to ninety percent of primary patient care services are delivered by unlicensed personnel. Unfortunately, this segment of the convalescent facility employee population tends to be transient, underpaid and overworked, and to feel very low esteem for themselves and their jobs. This situation has produced many service abuses and interaction difficulties in the convalescent facilities. Up until the present there has been little attempt on the part of Sociology to study this portion of the employee population in these …

Home Support Services And The Ecology Of Aging, Abraham Monk

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Home support services for the aged are emerging as a primary concern in the Title XX planning proposals put forth by states and localities. This is not surprising when one considers that Title XX guidelines require the setting of priorities among non-cash benefit programs that help insure the individual's self-sufficiency within his or her normal environment.

All services under Title XX must relate to one or more of five objectives for the individual client: economic independence; self care; prevention or remedy of neglect, abuse or other conditions which lead to dependence; intermediate community based care and, as a last resort …

Opinions And Expectations Of Nursing Home Administrators, Jordan I. Kosberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

From a comparative analysis of 214 nursing homes in the Chicago area, it was found that the nursing home field is composed of institutions with great variations in treatment resources available to the residents (Kosberg and Tobin, 1972). While the determination of organizational correlates to the extent of treatment resources was the major objective of the study, an exploration of the attitudes of a sample of nursing home administrators was undertaken in an effort to learn of possible relationships between attitudes and the characteristics of facilities.

There is a commonly-held assumption that not only the academic background of an administrator …

Foster Family Care For The Aged, Donald V. Sekora

Dissertations and Theses

The following was a research practicum instituted as an actual project for the State of Montana Welfare Department between June, 1970, and May, 1971. The project had a two-fold purpose in being conceived: one purpose was to fulfill a graduate school academic requirement; and the second purpose was to fulfill a responsibility to the people of Montana who would eventually gain some benefits from this project. The series of written documents that follow are the description of that project's conception and actualization in six Montana counties. The first part is the project idea and theory; the next two parts consist …