Digital Commons Network^™

Aging In Hull: A Community Needs Assessment, Caitlin Coyle, Beth Rouleau

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the Hull Council on Aging. The goals of this project were to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Hull’s residents age 55 or older. The contents of this report are meant to inform the Town of Hull, the Hull Council on Aging and Senior Center, and organizations that work with and on behalf of older residents of Hull for the purposes of planning and coordination of services. The report will …

Aging In Hull: A Community Needs Assessment, Caitlin Coyle, Beth Rouleau

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the Hull Council on Aging. The goals of this project were to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Hull’s residents age 55 or older. The contents of this report are meant to inform the Town of Hull, the Hull Council on Aging and Senior Center, and organizations that work with and on behalf of older residents of Hull for the purposes of planning and coordination of services. The report will …

Most Home-Delivered Meal Recipients With Dementia Receive Support From Friends And Family, But More Social Activity Is Needed, Claire Pendergrast

Population Health Research Brief Series

Home-delivered meal programs reduce hunger and food insecurity, promote socialization, and improve health and wellbeing for older adults. Regular social support from home-delivered meal drivers, alongside social support from friends and family, may be key to preventing isolation and improving health for older adults with dementia. This research brief shows that home-delivered meal recipients with dementia receive significant support from friends and family, but 83% would like more social activity. To better support older adults with dementia and family caregivers, aging services providers should expand virtual and dementia-friendly social engagement programming.

Gender Role Ideology And Implications For Well-Being Among Older Adults In Singapore, Nadya Haifan, Erra Natalia Sayri, Micah Tan, Mindy Eiko Tadai

ROSA Research Briefs

Gender role ideology, referring to the attitudes that individuals hold with respect to the social roles that different genders should adopt, have been suggested to affect the mental well-being (e.g., Paul & Moser, 2009; Sweeting, 2014) and marital satisfaction (e.g., Amato et al., 2007; Davis & Greenstein, 2009) of individuals. Despite this, gender role ideology and the impact they may have on well-being is understudied among older adults in Singapore. Given this, the current report provides a brief examination of gender role ideology among older adults in Singapore. This includes the following: 1. The demographic distribution of gender role ideology …

Collective Cognitive Capital, Emily R. D. Murphy

William & Mary Law Review

This Article calls for a new project for law and neuroscience. It outlines a structural, not individual, application of brain and behavioral science that is aligned with the general goal of basic science research: improving the lives of citizens with a better understanding of the human experience. It asks brain and behavioral science to move explicitly into public policy territory, and specifically onto ground more traditionally occupied by economists—but in ways the project of “behavioral economics” has not yet ventured. Put simply, policy analysts should focus on brains—“collective cognitive capital”—with the same intensity with which they focus on money, rights, …

Information Trust And Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Amongst Middle-Aged And Older Adults In Singapore: A Latent Class Analysis Approach, Micah Tan, Paulin Tay Straughan, Grace Cheong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Rationale: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy presents significant challenges for public health. Objective: Vaccine hesitancy among middle-aged and older adults has been a significant barrier in Singapore’s battle against COVID-19. We hypothesize that the trust middle-aged and older adults place in various sources of information influences vaccine hesitancy, and that distinct typologies of trust can be identified to better inform targeted health communication efforts. Method: Data from a nationally representative panel survey of Singaporeans aged 56–75 (N = 6094) was utilized. Modules fielded in August and November 2020, and June 2021 were analyzed, assessing social networks, trust in sources of information, and …

An Intergenerational Playgroup In An Australian Residential Aged-Care Setting: A Qualitative Case Study, Gabrielle B. Rosa Hernandez, Carolyn M. Murray, Mandy Stanley

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Intergenerational programs are emerging within the aged-care context as they provide a unique opportunity for older adults living with or without cognitive impairments to connect with children. One type of intergenerational program is an ‘intergenerational playgroup’ which creates opportunities for children to develop their skills, parents to create a local peer support network and provides older adults at risk of isolation with vital community interaction. The objective of this research was to evaluate an intergenerational playgroup taking place weekly within a residential aged-care setting. A qualitative case study research design was used to perform five observation sessions and semi-structured in-depth …

Quality Of Life In Nursing Homes: A Theoretical And Empirical Review, Gina Aalgaard Kelly

Great Plains Sociologist

Quality of life is a complex and multi-dimensional notion which individuals and their families try to attain. This paper provides an overview of quality of life literature guided by Lawton’s (1983: 351) “Four Sectors of the Good Life”.” This model of organization demonstrates a multidimensional conceptual view of quality of life in which theoretical and empirical domains were recognized in the literature. Parameters used to understand quality of life and how it is studied provide the framework of the review, specifically in the nursing home setting. Quality of life is of growing importance because people are living longer and population …

Future Population Shifts In The Great Plains And Their Implications, Richard Rathge

Great Plains Sociologist

The dynamics of population change in the Great Plains are complex and largely hidden. From a regional or even state perspective, one is left with the impression that the area has enjoyed sustained population growth. All 12 states in the region (i.e., Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) increased their population from 1990 to 2000, and the region as a whole expanded by 6.7 million people or 17 percent (Rathge, 2005). In fact, the region’s population has doubled since 1950. However, these aggregate statistics mask a very different reality. Population …

Aging And Disability Services Are Unequally Distributed Across The United States, Claire Pendergrast, Danielle Rhubart

Population Health Research Brief Series

As the U.S. population ages, demand for aging and disability services will increase, but 15% of U.S. counties have no aging and disability services organizations. This brief shows that rural counties and counties with the highest rates of poverty, highest shares of older adults, and highest shares of non-Hispanic Blacks are most likely to be aging and disability services deserts. To support healthy aging across the country, policymakers should invest in aging services infrastructure and should prioritize resources for places that are aging and disability services deserts.

Briefly Noted

Great Plains Sociologist

Culture, Conflict and Children: Transmission of Violence to Children

Danger in the Field: Risk and Ethics in Social Research

Travels Through Crime and Place: Community Building as Crime Control

Robbing Drug Dealers: Violence Beyond the Law

Social Conflicts and Collective Identities

The Paradox of Social Order: Linking Psychology and Sociology

Self, Identity, and Social Movements

Tangled Up in Red, White, and Blue: New Social Movements in America

Flag Burning: Moral Panic and the Criminalization of Protest

Means Without End: Notes on Politics

Old Order Mennonites: Rituals, Beliefs, and Community

The Kibbutz: Awakening From Utopia

The Deathly Embrace: Orientalism and Asian …

Stepmothers' Preparation For Remarriage: Influence On Spouse And Stepchildren Relations, Cindi Penor Ceglian, Donald Arwood, Renee Oscarson, Jason Karsky

Great Plains Sociologist

Role theory suggests that preparation for one's role contributes to clearer guidelines and less ambiguity about role performance, which in turn contribute to unity and stability of family life (Cherlin, 1978). The purpose of this study was to examine if stepmothers preparation for remarriage (observation, reading, educational programs, or talking to their spouses) influenced their relationships with stepchildren and spouses. The results indicate that stepmothers who prepare for remarriage are more involved with their stepchildren, have higher levels of communication with the children's fathers regarding child rearing issues, and have positive relationships with their stepchildren.

Briefly Noted

Great Plains Sociologist

The Globalization of Crime: Understanding Transitional Relationships in Context

Interrogating Social Justice: Politics, Culture and Identity

Criminal Injustice: Racism in the Criminal Justice System

Test of Faith: Hope, Courage and the Prison Experience

The Case for Penal Abolition

Diversity and Justice in Canada

Bad Kids: Race and the Transformation of the Juvenile Court

Gods of the City: Religion and the American Urban Landscape

Conversion, Identity, and Power: The Impact of Christianity on Power Relationships and Social Exchanges

Religion and American Politics: The 2000 Election in Context

Filled With Spirit and Power: Protestant Clergy in Politics

Paranormal Beliefs: A Sociological Introduction …

Book Reviews

Great Plains Sociologist

Karen Heil Borchert, reviewer
Rural Woman Battering and the Justice System: An Ethnography
Neil Websdale

Jerome R. Rosonke, reviewer
The Hutterites: Lives and Images of a Communal People
Paul Cloke and Jo Little, editors

Elizabeth Evenson Williams, reviewer
The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado
Elliott West

Carol Cumber, reviewer
Capital Culture: Gender at Work in the City
Linda McDowell

Don Robertson, reviewer
Who Rules America? Power and Politics in the Year 2000
William Domhoff

Glenda Sehested, reviewer
Formations of Class and Gender: Becoming Respectable
Beverley Skeggs

Annette Prosterman, reviewer
White Men Falling: Race, Gender, and White …

Book Reviews

Great Plains Sociologist

Diane Kayongo-Male, reviewer
Rural Health and Aging Research: Theory, Methods, and Practical Applications
Wilbert M. Gesler, Donna J. Rabiner, and Gordon H. DeFriese, editors

Geoffrey Grant, reviewer
Cutting Into the Meatpacking Line: Workers and Change in the Rural Midwest
Deborah Fink

Jerome R. Rosonke, reviewer
Born Hutterite (video tape)
Black Hat Production

Laura Colmenero, reviewer
Capturing Women: The Manipulation of Cultural Imagery in Canada's Prairie West
Sarah Carter

Ellen Baird, reviewer
American Indian Ethnic Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence of Identity and Culture
Joane Nagel

Mary Warner, reviewer
Durable Inequality
Charles Tilly

Jack Niemonen, reviewer
Culture of Intolerance: Chauvinism, …

Book Reviews

Great Plains Sociologist

Diane Kayongo-Male, reviewer
People, Land, and Community
Hildegarde Hannum

Elizabeth Evenson Williams, reviewer
Contested Countryside Cultures: Otherness, Marginalisation, and Rurality
Paul Cloke and Jo Little, editors

Janet Kelly Moen, reviewer
Changing Rural Social Systems: Adaptation and Survival
Nan E. Johnson and Ching-li Wang, editors

Carol J. Cumber, reviewer
Rural Employment: An International Perspective
Ray D. Bollman and John M. Bryden, editors

Laura Colmenero, reviewer
Writing the Range: Race, Class, and Culture in the Women's West
Elizabeth Jameson and Susan Armitage, editors

William J. Swart, reviewer
Harvest of Rage: Why Oklahoma City is Only the Beginning
Joel Dyer

Ellen Baird, reviewer …

Assessing Fit Between Informal And Formal Support For Dependent Elderly: How Families Have Managed Elder-Care In North Dakota, Andrew Scott Ziner

Great Plains Sociologist

The South Dakota Eldercare Study was conducted to provide specialized data on caregivers (i.e., a spouse or an adult child) and their dependent elderly relatives based on a probability sample of rural communities throughout the State of South Dakota. Based on the study's data, this paper will document (!) the availability and utilization of health and social services and (2)family caregivers as a resource in the care of elderly relatives. This paper will also discuss how useful the formal service deliver system is in meeting the needs of family members.

Socio-Spatial Disparities In County-Level Availability Of Aging And Disability Services Organizations, Claire Pendergrast, Danielle Rhubart

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Aging and disability services are essential for supporting older adults in living independently in their homes and communities as they age. Applying theoretical perspectives of community gerontology and spatial inequality, we use county-level data (N=3142) from the National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA) and the American Community Survey to explore if and how availability of aging and disability services organizations varies across the rural-urban continuum and across compositional characteristics of counties. Results show that rural counties are significantly more likely to be aging and disability services deserts. Stratified models show that poverty rates and relative shares of non-Hispanic Blacks are positively …

Support From Adult Children And Parental Health In Rural America, Shelley Clark, Elizabeth M. Lawrence, Shannon M. Monnat

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Adult children are a primary source of care for their aging parents. Parents in rural areas, however, live further from their adult children than parents in urban areas, potentially limiting the support they receive and compromising their health and ability to age in place. We use two waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (2013 and 2017) to investigate the relationships among geographic proximity, adult children’s instrumental and financial support, and parental health. Rural parents live further from their adult children and receive less financial support, but they are more likely to receive instrumental assistance. In addition, rural parents …

Rural Population Health And Aging: Introduction To The Special Issue, John J. Green, Shannon M. Monnat, Leif Jensen, Lori Hunter, Martin Sliwinski

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This special issue of the Journal of Rural Social Sciences (JRSS) focuses on rural population health and aging. It showcases the work of scholars from several backgrounds and social science disciplines to advance knowledge in a critical field of investigation. Assembled through an open call for submissions coordinated through the National Institute on Aging (NIA) funded Interdisciplinary Network on Rural Population Health and Aging (INRPHA), the collection of articles helps inform a more nuanced understanding of the factors associated with rural places, which often have different health outcomes and aging patterns than their urban counterparts. The authors achieve this through …

Clinical Geography: A Commentary Response, Jessica M. Finlay, Graham D. Rowles

Graduate Center for Gerontology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

2022 Furman University Faculty Scholarship Reception Program, Kathy Hamlin

Libraries Institutional Records

On February 11, 2020, the Libraries and the Office of the Provost hosted Furman’s fifth Faculty Scholarship Reception. The reception showcased accomplishments from the calendar years 2020 and 2021, highlighting Furman faculty members who have completed a degree, received a grant from an external funding source totaling more than $1,000, and/or published books, book chapters, journal articles, exhibits, recordings, performances, films, or other works.The following faculty provided four-minute presentations on their scholarly or creative works:

• Adi D. Dubash, Assistant Professor of Biology
• Gerry Wuben, Adjunct Processor of Art
• Alyson Farzad-Phillips, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies
• Veronica L. Flores, Assistant Professor …

African-American Lay Pastoral Care Facilitators’ Perspectives On Dementia Caregiver Education And Training, Nik M. Lampe, Nidhi Desai, Tomeka Norton-Brown, Alexandra C. H. Nowakowski, Robert L. Glueckauf

The Qualitative Report

The African-American Alzheimer’s Caregiver Training and Support Project 2 (ACTS 2) is a faith-integrated, skills-training and support program for distressed African American family caregivers of persons living with dementia across Florida. Caregivers participate in a 12-week, telephone-based, skills-building and support program led by faith community workers (i.e., lay pastoral care facilitators) who provide volunteer services to their denominations. In this case study, we examined facilitators’ perspectives and recommendations for supplementary audiovisual and written training materials to optimize group process and goal-setting skills. Utilizing a qualitative approach, we explored facilitators’ needs, experiences in using current training materials, and recommendations for supplementary …

Retirement Patterns Of Elderly Farm Operators, David Kavanagh, James R. Stewart

Great Plains Sociologist

Gerontological literature abounds with studies of retirement and has successfully refuted many of the prevailing myths and misconceptions about the negative effects that retirement was purported to have upon health, self-esteem and life satisfaction. Atchley (1971) concluded that a large majority of retirees generally expressed satisfaction with retirement. Heidbreder (1972) and Streib and Schneider (1971) also found mostly positive attitudes expressed by professional, white-collar and blue-collar workers and a majority in each occupational group reported that they were pleasantly surprised with their ease of adjustment to retirement. These and other studies, however, relied almost exclusively upon surveys of urban populations. …

Longitudinal And Age-Related Implications Of Primary And Secondary Control For Hedonic And Eudaimonic Well-Being, Masahiro Toyama

Psychology Faculty Research

The longitudinal associations of primary and secondary control with two distinct aspects of happiness including hedonic/subjective and eudaimonic/psychological well-being had not been fully studied. The present study aimed to contribute to the literature by examining these associations and their age differences. Using data from the second and third waves of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS; N = 4963, aged 28 to 84 at baseline), the present study conducted structural equation modeling analyses to examine whether one primary control strategy (persistence in goal striving) and two secondary control strategies (positive reappraisals and lowering aspirations) predicted residualized changes in the …

Older Adult Preparedness For Living With An Endemic Covid-19, Micah Tan, Paulin T. Straughan, Grace Cheong, Wensi Lim, Mindy Eiko Tadai, Nadya Haifan, Dyan Jun Wei See Toh

ROSA Research Briefs

As Singapore holds steady against the current Omicron wave and begins to pave the next steps towards living with COVID-19, we hope that this report will provide our fellow colleagues and stakeholders with valuable insights into the perceptions and experiences of older adults in preparing to live with an endemic COVID-19. To this end, the current report examines several aspects of living with an endemic including whether older adults perceive themselves to be prepared, whether they are willing to adopt certain preventive behaviours, and the level of support they have for living with an endemic COVID-19. Specifically, we look at …

Older Adults' Perceptions Of Government Handling Of Covid-19: Predictors Of Protective Behaviors From Lockdown To Post-Lockdown, Savannah Kiah Hui Siew, Jonathan Louis Chia, Rathi Mahendran, Junhong Yu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Background: Distrust, and more broadly, public perception of government's handling of a crisis, has been a widely studied topic within health crisis research and suggests that these perceptions are significantly associated with the behavior of its citizens. Purpose: To understand which aspects of the public's perception of government handling of the COVID-19 pandemic predicted engagement of protective behaviors among older adults, who are the most vulnerable to COVID-19.Methods: Participants were recruited from an ongoing biopsychosocial study on aging amongst community-dwelling older adults. There were two rounds of data collection, during the national lockdown and post-lockdown. The average length of follow-up …

Older Adults’ Physical Activities And Subjective Well-Being, Mihae Bae, Hyunsook Kang

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

This study examined the relationships between physical activities as health behaviors and subjective well-being in older adults. Data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) survey were used. The NSHAP study sampled persons 57-85 years of age (n=3005). The respondents completed a telephone survey, reporting their background information and social networking characteristics. For data analysis, a two-step hierarchical regression was used in order to identify the associations between the demographic and physical activity factors on subjective perception of well-being in older adults. Our results indicated that, among the demographic, income, education, health status, and participation …

Pdxscholar Annual Report 2021, Karen Bjork, Sherry Buchanan, Bertrand Robinson, Stacey Schlatter

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

This report details the eleventh year of operation for PDXScholar, Portland State University's institutional repository. The report covers the period between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021.

The 2021 report highlights the continued growth of PDXScholar with over 2.7 million (2,704,624) full text downloads.

Usability Of Health-Related Websites By Filipino-American Adults And Nursing Informatics Experts, Kathleen Begonia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Filipino-Americans are an understudied minority group with high prevalence and mortality from chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Facing barriers to care and lack of culturally appropriate health resources, they frequently use the internet to obtain health information. It is unknown whether they perceive health-related websites to be useful or easy to use because there are no published usability studies involving this population. Using the Technology Acceptance Model as a theoretical framework, this study investigated the difference between website design ratings by experts and the perceptions of Filipino-American users to determine if usability guidelines influenced the perceived ease …