Digital Commons Network^™

Coming To America: Cohort Students, Community Engagement, Linked Courses In Geography, Gerontology, And English Composition, And A New Sense Of Place, Maggie Bockart, Lauren Deetz, Matthew T. Patton, Lyn M. Holley, Matthew Marx

Conference Proceedings

Our cohort was made up of sixteen University of Nebraska Omaha students that received the Honors Learning Community scholarship. We met together four days a week and studied Gerontology, Geography, and English Composition II in a linked class system. This allowed us to study the differences in elder care around the world due to cultural differences while writing proficient academic papers for all three classes. The skills and perspectives gained in these classes culminated in our Coming to America Project, wherein were corded the story of a refugee elder who migrated to the United States.

Quality Improvement Initiative To Reduce Fall Risk In The Snf, Ramona C. Lancaster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Residents who fall in SNF either sustain significant decline to quality of life or die from their injuries. The average fall costs about $34,000 per incident. On average, 19.8% of residents fall at least once per month. The purpose of this project was to assess, identify, and advance nursing practice to decrease falls by evaluating current facility standard of practice, fall policy, procedures, and protocol. The objective was to create actions that would close the communication gap between clinicians and residents. This project encourages clinicians to intertwine resident feedback and strategies into the plan of care to help reduce fall …

Impact Of Caregiver Depression On Health Of Family Caregivers Of Individuals With Alzheimer's Disease, Poonam Aryal

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examines the health consequences of being a caretaker of someone with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia and is a significant public health problem that will intensify as the population ages. Caring for an individual with Alzheimer’s disease is more stressful than caring for a person with a physical disability; they need increased levels of supervision and personal care as the disease progress. The majority of care is provided at home by family caregivers. Caregivers often help people with Alzheimer’s to manage various issues from activities of daily living to financial management …

Patients With Dementia Are Easily Distracted, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Audrey Depelteau, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, J. V. Lewis, Kathleen Whalen

ETSU Faculty Works

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the middle ground between normal, age-appropriate memory impairment, and dementia. Whereas patients with MCI are able to cope with the memory deficit, those with dementia are not: Their memory impairment and other cognitive deficits are of sufficient magnitude to interfere with the patients’ ability to cope independently with daily activities. In both MCI and dementia, there is evidence of declining cognitive functions from a previously higher level of functioning. In both the conditions, there is also an evidence of dysfunction in one or more cognitive domains. There are two subtypes of MCI depending on whether …

Too Many Choices Confuse Patients With Dementia, Ronald C. Hamdy, J. V. Lewis, Amber Kinser, Audrey Depelteau, Rebecca Copeland, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, Kathleen Whalen

ETSU Faculty Works

Choices are often difficult to make by patients with Alzheimer Dementia. They often become acutely confused when faced with too many options because they are not able to retain in their working memory enough information about the various individual choices available. In this case study, we describe how an essentially simple benign task (choosing a dress to wear) can rapidly escalate and result in a catastrophic outcome. We examine what went wrong in the patient/caregiver interaction and how that potentially catastrophic situation could have been avoided or defused.

Aging And Disability Among Hispanics In The United States: Current Knowledge And Future Directions, Marc A. Garcia, Brian Downer, Michael Crowe, Kyriakos S. Markides

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background and Objectives: Hispanics are the most rapidly aging minority population in the United States. Our objective is to provide a summary of current knowledge regarding disability among Hispanics, and to propose an agenda for future research.

Research Design and Methods: A literature review was conducted to identify major areas of research. A life course perspective and the Hispanic Paradox were used as frameworks for the literature review and for identifying future areas of research.

Results: Four research areas were identified: (1) Ethnic disparities in disability; (2) Heterogeneity of the U.S. older Hispanic population; (3) Risk factors for disability; and …

Initial Findings Of A Medicare Annual Wellness Visit Program, Hesper B. Nowatzki

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the emphasis of benefits on preventive health, many older adults are not receiving the recommended age specific, evidence based screenings and vaccinations. The Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) is designed to address modifiable risk factors with aging adults and close gaps in care not captured in routine office visits. Although a free Medicare benefit to patients, and a reimbursable service to health care providers, participation in the AWV is low nationwide. The purpose of the project is to introduce an AWV program to a rural health clinic in Northwest Illinois that has a population consisting of over 25% of …

Cairing4carlisle: A Community Health Needs Assessment, Caitlin Coyle

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

Caring4Carlisle (C4C) is a community initiative aimed at addressing the social, emotional, spiritual and physical health of Carlisle residents. Community Health Network Areas (CHNAs) were created by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in 1992. There are 27 CHNAs in the Commonwealth, and Carlisle belongs to CHNA 15. In July of 2016, Carlisle was awarded a planning grant ($20,000) from CHNA 15 to engage in a community needs assessment process with the intention of identifying priority community health needs to be addressed in Carlisle.

The Carlisle Board of Health served as the lead Town Department with the Gleason Public Library, …

‘Why I Sent My Child Away’: Culturally Structured Motivations For Long-Distance Parenting, Deepa Srivastava, Maria Rosario De Guzman

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Although long-distance parenting is often depicted as a response to crisis (e.g., economic) or other stressful life events, it is sometimes undertaken in various culturally normative situations. This current study explores the motivations of South Asian Indian immigrant parents for sending their young children to India to live temporarily with their grandparents. This qualitative study involves in-depth interviews with first generation immigrant parents about their experiences and motivations for sending their children to India. Analysis of the data revealed five themes, namely, (a) contextual and daily challenges in caring for their children in the United States, (b) parents’ concern around …

The Socio-Political And Economic Causes Of Natural Disasters, Nicole Southard

CMC Senior Theses

To effectively prevent and mitigate the outbreak of natural disasters is a more pressing issue in the twenty-first century than ever before. The frequency and cost of natural disasters is rising globally, most especially in developing countries where the most severe effects of climate change are felt. However, while climate change is indeed a strong force impacting the severity of contemporary catastrophes, it is not directly responsible for the exorbitant cost of the damage and suffering incurred from natural disasters -- both financially and in terms of human life. Rather, the true root causes of natural disasters lie within the …

No-Place, New Places: Death And Its Rituals In Urban Asia, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In many Asian cities, particularly those that confront increasing land scarcity, the conversion from burial to cremation has been encouraged by state agencies in the last several decades. From Hong Kong to Seoul to Singapore, planning agencies have sought to reduce the use of space for the dead, in order to release land for the use of the living. More secular guiding principles regarding efficient land use in these cities had originally come up against the symbolic values invested in burial spaces, resulting in conflicts between different value systems. In more recent years, however, the shift to cremation and columbaria …

The Unfolding Of Lgbt Lives: Key Events Associated With Health And Well-Being In Later Life, Anna M. Muraco, Karen I. Fredriksen-Goldsen, Amanda E. B. Bryan, Sarah Jen, Jayn Goldsen, Hyun-Jun Kim

Sociology Faculty Works

Purpose of the study: Life events are associated with the health and well-being of older adults. Using the Health Equity Promotion Model, this article explores historical and environmental context as it frames life experiences and adaptation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults.

Design and methods: This was the largest study to date of LGBT older adults to identify life events related to identity development, work, and kin relationships and their associations with health and quality of life (QOL). Using latent profile analysis (LPA), clusters of life events were identified and associations between life event clusters were tested. …

Who Says I Do: The Changing Context Of Marriage And Health And Quality Of Life For Lgbt Midlife And Older Adults, Anna M. Muraco, Jayn Goldsen, Amanda E. B. Bryan, Hyun-Jun Kim, Sarah Jen, Karen I. Fredriksen-Goldsen

Sociology Faculty Works

Purpose of the study: Until recently, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) adults were excluded from full participation in civil marriage. The purpose of this study is to examine how legal marriage and relationship status are associated with health-promoting and at-risk factors, health, and quality of life of LGBT adults aged 50 and older.

Design and methods: We utilized weighted survey data from Aging with Pride: National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender Study (NHAS) participants who resided in states with legalized same-sex marriage in 2014 (N = 1,821). Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine differences by relationship status (legally married, …

Social Network Types And Mental Health Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Older Adults, Anna M. Muraco, Hyun-Jun Kim, Karen I. Fredriksen-Goldsen, Amanda E. B. Bryan

Sociology Faculty Works

Purpose of the study: This study was designed to identify social network types among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults and examine the relationship between social network type and mental health.

Design and methods: We analyzed the 2014 survey data of LGBT adults aged 50 and older (N = 2,450) from Aging with Pride: National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender Study. Latent profile analyses were conducted to identify clusters of social network ties based on 11 indicators. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the association between social network types and mental health.

Results: We found five social network …

A Labor Of Love: Women's Perspectives On Gender And Identity In Informal Caregiving, Kirby O'Hara Hurd

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The elderly population (adults 65 and over) is larger than at any time in history, thanks to improved access to healthcare, advances in medical technology, and health services focused on addressing the needs of aging adults. However, support for this growing population remains insufficient; the costs of in-home and residential care are high, and consequently, family members often become providers of informal, unpaid care. Presently, there is inadequate literature regarding the academic study of family members providing informal caregiving, especially from a perspective that emphasizes sociological principles and theories. Existing studies of the family caregiver phenomenon show that middle-aged adult …

When ‘Places’ Include Pets: Broadening The Scope Of Relational Approaches To Promoting Aging-In-Place, Ann M. Toohey, Jennifer A. Hewson, Cindy L. Adams, Melanie J. Rock

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Aging-in-place is a well-established concept, but discussions rarely consider that many older adults live with pets. In a ‘pet-friendly’ city, we conducted semi-structured interviews to explore perspectives of community-based social support agencies that promote aging-in-place, and those of animal welfare agencies. Applying a relational ecology theoretical framework, we found that pets may contribute to feeling socially- situated, yet may also exacerbate constraints on autonomy experienced by some older adults. Pet-related considerations at times led to discretionary acts of more-than-human solidarity, but also created paradoxical situations for service-providers, impacting their efforts to assist older adults. A shortage of pet-friendly affordable housing …

The Impact Of Perceived Mental Illness Stigma On Caregivers’ Desire To Relinquish Care, Tyler R. Corson

Theses and Dissertations

Caregiving can be stressful, and older adults’ health and well-being may be impacted by the roles and responsibilities they assume as caregivers for persons with serious mental illness (SMI). This study is the first to apply the Stress Process Model of Caregiving (SPM) in an attempt to understand how mental illness stigma influences caregiver outcomes, specifically their desire to relinquish care. The intent of this study was to call attention to care relinquishment as an under-studied stress process outcome and to explore stress factors, with a focus on mental illness stigma, that contribute to SMI caregivers’ desire to relinquish care. …

Age Of Migration Life Expectancy With Functional Limitations And Morbidity Among Mexican Americans, Marc A. Garcia, Luis M. Valderrama-Hinds, Chi-Tsun Chiu, Miriam S. Mutambudzi, Nai-Wei Chen, Mukaila Raji

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The U.S. Mexican American population enjoys longer life expectancies relative to other racial/ethnic groups but is disproportionately affected by chronic conditions and functional limitations. Studying the impact of heterogeneity in age, time and other characteristics of migration among older Mexican Americans can inform our understanding of health disparities and health care needs in later-life. This research employed 20 years of data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly to assess the proportion of life spent with functional limitations and one or more morbidity (by age of migration and gender) in the United States Mexican American …

Period And Cohort Changes In Americans’ Support For Marijuana Legalization: Convergence And Divergence Across Social Groups, Philip Schwadel, Christopher G. Ellison

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We cast fresh light on how and why Americans’ views on marijuana legalization shifted between 1973 and 2014. Results from age-period-cohort models show a strong negative effect of age and relatively high levels of support for legalization among baby boom cohorts. Despite the baby boom effect, the large increase in support for marijuana legalization is predominantly a broad, period-based change in the population. Additional analyses demonstrate that differences in support for legalization by education, region, and religion decline, that differences by political party increase, and that differences between whites and African Americans reverse direction. We conclude by discussing the implications …

Contextualization Of Survey Data: What Do We Gain And Does It Matter?, Lindsay R. Wilkinson,, Kenneth F. Ferraro, Blakelee R. Kemp

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey research designs that integrate contextual data have become more prevalent in recent decades, presumably to enable a more refined focus on the person as the unit of analysis and a greater emphasis on interindividual differences due to social forces and contextual conditions. This article reviews varied approaches to contextualizing survey data and examines the value of linking two data sources to respondent information: interviewer ratings and neighborhood information (measured via census tracts). The utility of an integrative approach is illustrated with data from the Health and Retirement Study. The results reveal modest gains by using a contextualized approach but …

Changes In Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults With Multiple Chronic Conditions: Role Of Positive And Negative Social Supports, Sangnam Ahn, Seonghoon Kim, Hongmei Zhang

Research Collection School Of Economics

Depression severely affects older adults in the United States. As part of the social environment, significant social support was suggested to ameliorate depression among older adults. We investigate how varying forms of social support moderate depressive symptomatology among older adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCC). Data were analyzed using a sample of 11,400 adults, aged 65 years or older, from the 2006–2012 Health and Retirement Study. The current study investigated the moderating effects of positive or negative social support from spouse, children, other family, and friends on the association between MCC and depression. A linear mixed model with repeated measures …

Retirement Adequacy Of Mature Workers In Singapore, Rhema Vaithianathan, Stephen Hoskins

Research Collection School Of Economics

In the last decade, the Singapore resident population has grown older with more elderly and fewer younger people. As Singapore Department of Statistics noted, the proportion of residents aged 65 years and over has increased from 9% to 13% over the past ten years. There are now fewer working-age adults to support each resident aged 65 years and over as indicated by the falling resident old-age support ratio from 7.7 in 2007 to 5.1 in 2017. The support ratio is expected to halve to 2.5 by 2030. As Singaporeans are both living and working longer, it is vital for the …

17th Legislative Session, 2017-2019 File, Texas Silver-Haired Legislature

Texas Silver-Haired Legislature

17th Legislative Session 2017-2019 File . The first file in the folder, information on the orientation session, is the primary document on this record and the additional documents inside the file are attached to this record as additional files. See list below for additional files contents.

Towards Active Ageing: A Comparative Study Of Experiences Of Older Ghanaians In Australia And Ghana, Daniel Doh

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Population ageing has become a central feature of the 21st century, as most countries search for economically viable strategies to support and manage their ageing populations to live in a dignified way. In 2002, the World Health Organisation (WHO) proposed the active ageing policy framework to guide countries to develop policies that promote the quality of life for their older people. However, the interpretation and application of the active ageing model in the literature and policy discussions are inconclusive on the most important elements that promote the quality of life of older people. The discussions have largely focused on health …

Unsupervised Monitoring Of An Elderly Person's Activities Of Daily Living Using Kinect Sensors And A Power Meter, Hossein Pazhoumand-Dar

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The need for greater independence amongst the growing population of elderly people has made the concept of “ageing in place” an important area of research. Remote home monitoring strategies help the elderly deal with challenges involved in ageing in place and performing the activities of daily living (ADLs) independently. These monitoring approaches typically involve the use of several sensors, attached to the environment or person, in order to acquire data about the ADLs of the occupant being monitored.

Some key drawbacks associated with many of the ADL monitoring approaches proposed for the elderly living alone need to be addressed. These …

Building Age-Friendly Community: Notes From The Field, Rachel Filinson, Marianne Raimondo, Maureen Maigret

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

Building age-friendly communities is a global as well as a national concern. The purpose of this paper is to explore fundamental tensions underlying the formulation of age-friendly goals and their implementation, based on a review of age-friendly projects and reflections on the journey towards age friendliness in one state (Rhode Island). The authors conducted a comprehensive investigation of the relevant literature on previous age-friendly initiatives, which included case studies of individual projects, meta-analyses of age-friendly work, and educational toolkits for promoting age-friendly community. They also collected original data from ten focus groups with older adults, interviews with key informant service …

Self-Care Among Older Adults With Heart Failure, Sumayya Attaallah, Kay Klymko, Faith Pratt Hopp

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: It is estimated that 5.7 million Americans are living with heart failure (HF) today. Despite the fact that HF is one of the most common reasons people aged 65 years and older are admitted into the hospital, few studies describe the self-care in this older adult population. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to review the current literature on self-care in this population to better understand the influence of selected factors on self-care and health outcomes. Methods: A literature search was completed and resulted in including 28 studies. Results: Multiple factors have been reported as barriers to self-care …

Dna Methylation Signatures Of Chronic Low-Grade Inflammation Are Associated With Complex Diseases, Symen Ligthart, Carola Marzi, Stella Aslibekyan, Michael M. Mendelson, Karen N. Conneely, Toshiko Tanaka, Elena Colicino, Lindsay L. Waite, Roby Joehanes, Weihua Guan, Jennifer A. Brody, Cathy Elks, Riccardo Marioni, Min A. Jhun, Golareh Agha, Jan Bressler, Cavin K. Ward-Caviness, Brian H. Chen, Tianxiao Huan, Kelly Bakulski, Elias L. Salfati, Whi-Empc Investigators, Giovanni Fiorito, Charge Epigenetics Of Coronary Heart Disease, Simone Wahl, Katharina Schramm, Jin Sha, Dena G. Hernandez, Allan C. Just, Jennifer A. Smith, Donna K. Arnett

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Chronic low-grade inflammation reflects a subclinical immune response implicated in the pathogenesis of complex diseases. Identifying genetic loci where DNA methylation is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation may reveal novel pathways or therapeutic targets for inflammation.

Results: We performed a meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) of serum C-reactive protein (CRP), which is a sensitive marker of low-grade inflammation, in a large European population (n = 8863) and trans-ethnic replication in African Americans (n = 4111). We found differential methylation at 218 CpG sites to be associated with CRP (P < 1.15 × 10^–7) in the discovery panel …

Qualitative Health Research Involving Indigenous Peoples: Culturally Appropriate Data Collection Methods, Amy L. Wright, Olive Wahoush, Marilyn Ballantyne, Chelsea Gabel, Susan M. Jack

The Qualitative Report

Historically, health research involving Indigenous peoples has been fraught with problems, including researchers not addressing Indigenous research priorities and then subsequently often failing to utilize culturally appropriate methods. Given this historical precedence, some Indigenous populations may be reluctant to participate in research projects. In response to these concerns, the Government of Canada has developed the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS2): Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada, which stipulates the requirements for research collaborations with Indigenous communities. Utilizing this policy as an ethical standard for research practices, this paper describes, critiques and synthesizes the literature on culturally …

Social Media For Senior Citizens: An Introductory Course, Cheryl Raistrick

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

The Woburn Council on Aging is a municipal, volunteer board appointed by the Mayor of Woburn. The Woburn COA operates the Woburn COA Senior Center as a resource for the community's senior citizen population. The Senior Center provides information, referrals, information, outreach, advocacy, transportation, health screening, nutrition, education, peer support, recreation, volunteer development and intergenerational programming for members of the community. Educational programs on the use of technology are offered monthly at the Woburn COA Senior Center though members have expressed interest in learning more about social media applications and how they can be used to communicate with family and …