Digital Commons Network^™

Health Promotion For Older Adults: What Is The Potential?, Linda P. Fried

Center for Policy Research

As a greater number of people reach old age, medicine is challenged to develop new approaches to this population. Health promotion, not just treatment of disease but improving the quality of life for older persons, must play a role. What happens to individuals in terms of health status as they get older, and what are the implications for health care needs? Where should we focus to get the biggest benefits in terms of health promotion? Overall, we have learned a tremendous amount over the last 25 years about the components of health as people get older, and what modifies their …

Update - December 1999, Loma Linda University Center For Christian Bioethics

Update

In this issue:

-- John and Alice Wong establish bioethics endowment
-- Richard Rice receives Templeton Award
-- "Humans" and "Persons" in Christian Bioethics (Commentary)
-- Mechanically Restraining the Ill and Elderly: Ethical Problems and Proposals
-- Clinical Ethics Consultation
-- Learn to minister in the clinical setting

Filling The Geriatric Gap: Is The Health System Prepared For An Aging Population?, Janet Firshein

National Health Policy Forum

This issue brief explores the field of geriatrics, the ways practitioners meet the health care needs of the elderly, training gaps, and the impact of Medicare payment policies on the delivery of health care to older Americans.

Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training, Rita Jablonski, David A. Cifu, Peter A. Boling, Patricia Slattum, A. Leigh Peyton, F. Ellen Netting, Iris A. Parham, Joan B. Wood

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To demonstrate the importance of training health care professionals in inter-disciplinary teamwork and geriatric health issues.

2. To increase one’s knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of the various disciplines involved in interdisciplinary teamwork.

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 …

Reducing Medication Mismanagement In Adult Care Residences, Mary Ann F. Kirkpatrick

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Describe the prevalence of medication mismanagement in adult care facilities in Virginia.

2. Explain the significance of selected medication management errors.

3. Recommend practices to improve medication management task performance in adult care facilities.

State Regulation Of Assisted Living Facilities, Sonya A. Sterbenz

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To define the role of assisted living facilities in the continuum of long-term care options for older adults.

2. To present the various arguments concerning the regulation of the assisted living industry.

The Hidden Age Revolution: Emergent Integration Of All Ages, Matilda White Riley

Center for Policy Research

Over the past 30 years my colleagues and I have been focusing on conceptual and empirical work (the aging and society paradigm) that does not create policies, but can inform them. The most immediate phase of this long cumulative history is leading us now to hidden changes in people's lives and social institutions that herald a new phenomenon world-wide--a phenomenon that may have momentous implications for the policies of the future. We call it "age integration" because it *integrates* older people with others of every age. When I come to the end of my lecture, I hope you will see …

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.

The Changing Economic Circumstances Of The Elderly: Income, Wealth, And Social Security, James P. Smith

Center for Policy Research

How is the economic status of the elderly changing and what are their prospects for the future? My portrait tells us how well off they are on average, but also about the vast disparities that exist among them. This description includes an often neglected measure of their economic well-being--the amount of wealth they control. Amazingly little is known about how much personal wealth older people have and how and what determines its distribution. But the conventional definition of household wealth ignores two critical components of wealth: the expected income flows from pensions and Social Security. For some elderly households, Social …

Locus Of Control And Self-Directed Learning As Predictors Of Well-Being In The Elderly, Deborah Gardner

Theses : Honours

Elderly people who remain mentally and physically active are more likely to be happy than those who do not (George, 1980; Toscland & Sykes, I 977). Demographic factors have usually accounted for only a small amount of the variance in well-being (Diener, 1984 ). Internal control, personal growth and direction in life might have more to do with well-being than demographic or personality factors (Ryff, 1995). This study examined the theoretical relationship between locus of control and self-directed learning readiness in the elderly and the predictability of self reported well-being from an internal locus of control and a self-directed learning …

Negotiating The Healthy Self: A Theory Of Health Behavior In Older Adults, Barbara Schwitz White

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Researchers have identified discrete behaviors of older persons to maintain or improve health and prevent or treat illness. Few have developed theories of health behavior specific to this population. The purpose of this study was to develop a substantive theory to explain how health and illness are integrated into and influence behaviors in the daily lives of community-residing older persons. Using grounded theory design and analysis, 26 participant observations involving 186 individual encounters, and seven semistructured [sic] one-on-one interviews were conducted at two senior centers in urban southern California, between 1992 and 1994.

Informants defined health in terms of physiologic …

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 …

The Lived Experience Of The Aged Care Nurse, Christine Martin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe and interpret the common, shared meanings of the experience of aged care nursing from the perspective of the registered nurse working in a nursing home. There are insufficient registered nurses being attracted into aged care, with resulting difficulties in maintaining regular staffing levels in nursing homes. Previous studies conducted in Australia have predominantly used quantitative research methods to investigate various influences QD the recruitment and retention of aged care nurses. These studies do not take into account the practitioners' perceptions of their experience of aged care nursing. A purposive sample of …

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

Social Security Reform: A Budget Neutral Approach To Reducing Older Women's Disproportional Risk Of Poverty, Richard V. Burkhauser, Timothy M. Smeeding

Center for Policy Research

Perhaps the single greatest achievement of social policy in the United States over the last three decades has been reducing poverty in old age. The transition from work to retirement is no longer economically perilous for the vast majority of older American workers. For most married couples, the risk of falling into poverty even several years after retirement is small. But when one partner of the marriage dies, the survivor faces another much more risky economic transition. The single greatest risk of falling into poverty in old age now comes after the death of a spouse, as the survivor faces …

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 …

Preventative Oral Health Services Provided By Nurses' Aides To Nursing Home Residents, Deborah Lewis Hardy

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

The purposes of this investigation were to identify: 1) what preventive oral health services were provided by nurses' aides to nursing home residents, 2) how frequent preventive oral health services were performed by nurses' aides, 3) who nurses' aides reported abnormal or suspicious findings detected in the resident's mouth, 4) what factors discouraged and encouraged nurses' aides performance of oral health services, and 5) how nurses' aides rated their oral health knowledge of services they performed. The study population was comprised of a random sample of 40 percent of nursing home facilities in southeastern Virginia. A 14-item questionnaire was administered …

Guest Opinion: Human Aging There's Less To It Than We Thought, John W. Rowe

Bridgewater Review

Hearing and memory losses, cognitive decline, easily fractured bones, crankiness and depression are often considered to be inevitable accompaniments of the aging process. Yet many losses which have traditionally been thought of as age determined are, on more careful examination, turning out to be merely age-associated. Many of the declines we associate with being elderly can be explained in terms of lifestyle, habits, diet and other psychosocial factors which are not a necessary part of the aging process

The Effectiveness Of Stimulation Therapy For The Cognitively Impaired Elderly, Sylvia H. Old

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

The effectiveness of stimulation therapy for the cognitively impaired elderly living in an institution was assessed. Residents with varying degrees of cognitive impairment were treated with twenty, thirty-minute daily periods of reality orientation, reminiscence, resocialization, remotivation, and other stimulating therapies and were compared with a control group_ receiving no intervention. Treatment effects were assessed with a variety of instruments reflecting functioning across several domains. Included were ability to perform both basic self-care functions and activities of daily living, cognitive performance, affect, and satisfaction with the care received and the living environment in the nursing home. The experimental group was divided …

How Registered Nurses In Skilled Nursing Facilities Rate The Importance Of And The Frequency Engaged In Specific Nursing Behaviors Related To Their Role, Christine Anne Heine

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

Registered nurses in skilled nursing facilities were surveyed using the Six-Dimension Scale of Nursing Performance to determine: (1) how they rated the importance of specific nursing behaviors related to their role, (2) how they rated the frequency engaged in the same specific nursing behaviors related to their role, and (3) if there was a relationship between how they rated the specific nursing behaviors for importance and frequency. There were five subgroups of nursing behaviors: (a) leadership, (b) nursing process, (c) teaching and collaboration, (d) interpersonal relations and communication, and (e) professional development. Registered nurses rated all of the behaviors as …

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 …

Aging: The Last And Greatest Challenge, Bernard L. Strehler

Henry Ford Hospital Medical Journal

The Edsel B. Ford Memorial Lectures, which are sponsored jointly by the Edsel B. Ford Institute for Medical Research and the Henry Ford Hospital, have been held annually since 1952. The following is an adaptation of Dr. Strehler's lecture before staff doctors and guests, including pathologists, physiologists, biochemists, physicists, biologists and clinicians from Michigan and Ontario.

A Comparative Study Of The 5- And 3-Meal Plans In Six Convalescent Hospitals In San Bernardino County, Donna J. Meek

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

A study comparing the 3- and 5-meal plans of food service, as used in long-stay geriatric units in San Bernardino County, have been compared. Three homes utilizing the 5-meal plan and three utilizing the 3-meal plan, to serve as controls, were chosen. A random sample of ten patients from each home was observed for three days to find the daily average nutrients in the foods served, eaten, and wasted. Also, interviews to compare factual information and attitudes were utilized for sample patients and personnel. The nutritional data was analyzed on the computer.

The results indicated that those on the 5-meal …