Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Octo- And Nonagenarians' Outlook On Life And Death When Living With An Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator: A Cross-Sectional Survey, Ingela Thylén, Debra K. Moser, Anna Strömberg

Nursing Faculty Publications

Background: Elderly individuals are increasingly represented among patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD), but data describing life with an ICD are scarse among octo- and nonagenarians. Moreover, few studies have reported those elderly patients’ perspective on timly discussions concerning what shock deactivation involves, preferences on battery replacement, and their attitudes about turning off the ICD nearing end-of-life. Consequently, the aim of the study was to describe outlooks on life and death in octo- and nonagenarian ICD-recipients.

Methods: Participants were identified via the Swedish Pacemaker- and ICD-registry, with 229 octo- and nonagenarians (82.0 ± 2.2 years, 12% female) completing the survey …

Intergenerational Adult Day Services Needs Assessment Project Final Report, University Of Maine School Of Social Work, Eastern Area Agency On Aging, University Of Maine Center On Aging

Maine Center on Aging Research and Evaluation

Focus group research conducted in the Greater Bangor, Maine area in 2016 identified respite services and intergenerational programming as important factors for supporting a more livable community.

This report outlines findings from a 2018 needs assessment of adult day services (ADS), funded by Maine Health Access Foundation. The needs assessment utilized a survey of local caregivers (N=84) and key informant interviews (N=10) with staff at Maine adult day service programs or service providers that could utilize adult day services for their clients.

Key survey findings indicate that lack of financial resources (identified by 20% of the survey sample), and lack …

Using Virtual Reality In Medical Education To Teach Empathy, Elizabeth Dyer, Barbara Swartzlander, Marilyn R. Gugliucci

Library Services Faculty Publications

Objective: The project adopted technology that teaches medical and other health professions students to be empathetic with older adults, through virtual reality (VR) software that allows them to simulate being a patient with age-related diseases, and to familiarize medical students with information resources related to the health of older adults.

Methods: The project uses an application that creates immersive VR experiences for training of the workforce for aging services. Users experience age-related conditions such as macular degeneration and high-frequency hearing loss from the patient’s perspective. Librarians and faculty partner to integrate the experience into the curriculum, and students go to …

Older Adults' Health Care Utilization A Year After Experiencing Fear Or Distress From Hurricane Sandy, Laura P Sands, Yimeng Xie, Rachel Pruchno, Allison Heid, Yili Hong

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether self-reports of disaster-related psychological distress predict older adults' health care utilization during the year after Hurricane Sandy, which hit New Jersey on October 29, 2012.

METHODS: Respondents were from the ORANJ BOWL Study, a random-digit dialed sample from New Jersey recruited from 2006 to 2008. Medicare hospital, emergency department (ED) and outpatient claims data from 2012 and 2013 were matched to 1607 people age 65 and older in 2012 who responded to follow-up surveys conducted from July 2013 to July 2015 to determine their hurricane-related experiences.

RESULTS: In total, 7% (107) of respondents reported they experienced …

Life Review In Aging: A Primer, Thomas M. Meuser

Social Work Faculty Publications

Humans are narrative beings. We understand and speak of ourselves and the events of our lives in the context of stories. The stories we tell are influenced by our lived experiences, the quality of our memories (what’s recalled and forgotten), relationships, personality styles, values, accomplishments, regrets, spiritual beliefs, and a host of other factors. Telling our stories from the vantage point of old age is reflective of a maturational process of introspection and discovery called life review.

Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment: A Primer, Thomas M. Meuser

Social Work Faculty Publications

Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment is an integrative approach to diagnosis, treatment and management of older adults that takes the whole person into account. While deficits may be a primary focus, strengths are also considered.

Lgbt Senior Health Disparities: Information Resources To Bridge The Gap, Gregg A. Stevens, Tony Nguyen, Francisco J. Fajardo

Library Faculty Publications

As the senior population in the United States increases, the aging LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) population should also see comparable growth rates. Health care providers and social service organizations will care for more LGBT seniors with special needs beyond the general population of older adults as they are more at risk for certain conditions. This article identifies some specific health disparities and examines several organizations that work to improve LGBT senior health by providing critical health information to LGBT older adults, caregivers, and health care professionals.

Individualized Music Improves Social Interaction Of Women, But Not Men, With Dementia, Emily Farrer, Diana Hilycord

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

Dementia is tragic both for patients with the disease and for their family members. As this neurodegenerative disorder progresses, cognitive functions deteriorate, agitation and aggression increase, and mood worsens (McDermott, Orrell, et al., 2014; Spiro, 2010; Vasionyté & Madison, 2013). Non-pharmacological approaches, such as active music therapy or passive music listening, can be effective in reducing these symptoms. However, no past studies have examined how music listening affects the social interactions of patients with dementia. As such, this study examined whether nursing home residents with dementia are more engaged and interactive if they listen to individually selected music for 15 …

(Video) Barriers To Implementing Advance Care Planning In The Healthcare Setting, Dona Occhipinti, Matias Attene Ramos

GW Research Days 2016 - 2020

Objectives: Current barriers to implementing Advanced Care Planning (ACP) will be examined as applied to the healthcare system.

Methods: A literature review was performed looking at the current practices of ACP (e.g. filling out advanced directives (AD), Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (MOLST)/ Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST), etc.), physician comfort level with having end-of-life discussion (EOL), successful/unsuccessful interventions to increase ACP/EOL discussions among health care providers (HCP), and the current political environment with respect to physicians’ ability to implement ACP/EOL discussions. Cochrane, Pubmed, and Google Scholar were searched for papers written in English after …

“Older Adults And Their Experiences With Home Care And Assisted Living”, Faith Robinson

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

As the state of Maine and the U.S. population at large continues to age, discussion about future care and living arrangements for older adults has become an increasingly relevant issue. Older adults are often faced with a range of options for housing, including staying in their home in their community while receiving home care services, or moving to an assisted living facility.

Currently a gap in the research exists as to the attitudes, perceptions, and lived experiences of the older adults themselves around these decisions, experiences, and the meaning of “home” in our older years. This study aims to provide …

The Famous Names Discrimination Task As A Biomarker Of Alzheimer's Disease Risk: An Erp Study, Elizabeth Rose Paitel

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Current ERP research emphasizes age- and pathology-related declines in neural processing in the form of attenuated amplitudes and prolonged latencies. Notably, there is a gap in the ERP literature regarding neural processing trajectories in the time between healthy young adulthood and clinical MCI/AD samples. fMRI research, however, has demonstrated periods of increased, compensatory activation in healthy, cognitively intact APOE ɛ4 carriers both during resting state and event-related tasks (Bondi, Houston, Eyler, & Brown, 2005; Evans et al., 2014; Filippini et al., 2009; Rao et al., 2015), consistent with compensatory theories of cognitive aging (Cabeza, 2002; Park & Reuter-Lorenz, 2009; Reuter-Lorenz …

Adult Day Service Providers: Untapped Potential For Care Coordination, Nicole Ruggiano, Ellen L. Brown, Karen L. Fortuna

Nursing & Health Sciences Research Journal

Adult Day Services (ADS) have become increasingly available for community-dwelling older adults who are often experiencing multiple chronic conditions and/or dementia. ADS providers spend a significant amount of time with their clients and offer the opportunity for a wealth of clinical information that can be used by primary care providers and specialists for decision-making about patient care. There are also opportunities for hospitals to coordinate care transitions with ADS providers by involving them with discharge planning with appropriate patients who require post-hospital care. However, ADS providers are often viewed as social service providers, and there is little known about the …

The Role Of Adult Day Services In Supporting The Occupational Participation Of People With Dementia And Their Carers: An Integrative Review, Janice Du Preez, J. L. Millsteed, Ruth Marquis, Janet Richmond

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The increasing numbers of people with dementia places considerable stress on health and aged care services and has resulted in the development of community adult day services. Aim: The aim of this integrative review is to determine the extent to which these services support the occupational participation of people with dementia, and how they impact their primary carers. Method: The mixed-methods appraisal tool (MMAT) was used to identify relevant studies in the period 2011–2016. Results: Nine databases were searched and yielded 16 articles with a variety of research designs for inclusion in the review. Conclusions: Findings …

The Effects Of A Cognitive Training Program For Cognitively Intact Older Adults, Caroline Kinskey

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Cognitive training is a term used to describe programs that provide guided practice on tasks requiring different cognitive abilities such as memory or language. It is assumed that regular practice will improve or maintain functioning in a particular cognitive domain (e.g., memory) and those results will generalize beyond the context of training. Results have been mixed in the existing literature that has evaluated the potential benefits of cognitive training on cognitive and emotional functioning in cognitively intact older adults. This study investigated the effectiveness of a cognitive training program for older adults with no to very minimal cognitive decline. Nine …

A New Measure For End Of Life Planning, Preparation, And Preferences In Huntington Disease: Hdqlife End Of Life Planning, Noelle E Carlozzi, E A Hahn, S A Frank, J S Perlmutter, N D Downing, M K Mccormack, S Barton, M A Nance, S G Schilling, Hdqlife Site Investigators And Coordinators

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

BACKGROUND: Huntington disease is a fatal inherited neurodegenerative disease. Because the end result of Huntington disease is death due to Huntington disease-related causes, there is a need for better understanding and caring for individuals at their end of life.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to develop a new measure to evaluate end of life planning.

DESIGN: We conducted qualitative focus groups, solicited expert input, and completed a literature review to develop a 16-item measure to evaluate important aspects of end of life planning for Huntington disease. Item response theory and differential item functioning analyses were utilized to examine …