Geriatrics Commons^™

Low Vision In Older Adults, Jeffrey C. Michaels, Mary D. Bullock

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Understand the epidemiology of visual impairments of older adults.

2. Understand the symptoms of functional loss secondary to visual impairments.

3. Understand the rehabilitative options available for those with vision loss.

4. Understand the multi-disciplinary approach in low vision rehabilitation.

5. Understand the impact of low vision rehabilitation services.

Ethical Concerns In The Care Of Individuals With Alzheimer’S Disease, Jeanne Sorrell

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Identify important ethical concerns in the care of individuals with Alzheimer's Disease.

2. Describe the use of the Fairhill Guidelines as a frame-work for study of ethical issues related to the care of individuals with Alzheimer's Disease.

3. Discuss interventions to assist individuals with dementia and their family members in exploring ethical concerns.

Merging A Divided System: The Need To Integrate Care For Individuals Participating In Both The Medicare And Medicaid Programs, Regina L. Anderson-Cloud

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Identify the underlying premises of the need to integrate care between the Medicare and Medicaid programs for individuals eligible for both insurances.

2. Discuss innovations aimed at assisting older adults with an improved Medicare/Medicaid system.

3. Describe relevant health care concerns related to the current fragmentation of the health care system for older adults who possess both Medicare and Medicaid.

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.

The Elderly And Patient Dumping, George P. Smith Ii

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Cytochalasins Useful In Providing Protection Against Nerve Cell Injury Associated With Neurodegenerative Disorders, Mark P. Mattson

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Patents

The present invention relates to novel therapeutic uses of certain compounds to protect nerve cells from injury and death. The compounds include cytochalasin D and related analogs, and cytochalasin E and related analogs.

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 …

Preventing The Unnecessary Losses Of Alzheimer's Disease, Lin E. Noyes

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To state the importance of early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

2. To describe common concerns of people in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

3. To describe interventions to help people who have recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias.

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.

Medications And Falls, Patricia W. Slattum

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives:

1. To describe potential causes of falls and ways to prevent them.

2. To illustrate how medications can contribute to an increased risk of falls and recommend strategies for reducing this risk.

Patient Dumping: Implications For The Elderly, George P. Smith Ii

Scholarly Articles

Before 1986, the Common Law provided that physicians and hospitals had no duty to admit or treat persons who sought their care except in limited circumstances. Congress enacted The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) to curb this so-called patient-dumping problem. EMTALA provides, essentially, that Medicare-participating hospitals must treat all patients who arrive in emergency conditions.

This article first discusses the patient-dumping problem and how EMTALA has provoked many hospitals to curtail their emergency facilities in order to avoid treating indigent and uninsured patients. The Article then proceeds to analyze the specifics of EMTALA’s main statutory provision, Section …

Sensitizing Students To Functional Limitations In The Elderly: An Aging Simulation, Sherry Allen, Viki Lorraine, Anne Lockett, Carolyn M. Rutledge

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Background and Objectives: Using activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) as a focus, faculty at Eastern Virginia Medical School provide an aging simulation exercise for a mandatory fouth-year clerkship in geriatrics. The specific aims of the simulation are to 1) experience the physical frailties of aging, 2) develop creative problem-solving techniques, 3) identify feelings regarding the experience of functional loss, and 4) develop proactive clinical approaches to the care of the elderly.

Methods: Students are assigned one of four diagnoses (Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, advanced diabetes, or stroke) and are then impaired to simulate …

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.

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 …

Standing Up To Osteoporosis, Robert W. Downs

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To provide basic information about osteoporosis, including risk factors, diagnostic testing, treatment, and prevention.

2. To get you to help us spread the word that osteoporosis can be diagnosed and treated, and that there are things you can do to decrease your future risk for developing osteoporosis.

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 …

American Longevity: Past, Present, And Future, Samuel H. Preston

Center for Policy Research

How long we live, and how long members of our families and social groups live, is extraordinarily important to us. It's not a subject of daily discussion, but it would be if we were threatened with a return to earlier conditions. Unfortunately, the subject of longevity falls between the cracks of academe and has received far less attention than it warrants. We are all aware, at least dimly, that people are living longer than they used to. The numbers are impressive: at the turn of the century, life expectancy at birth in the United States was 48 years; it's now …

Our Hearts Were Once Young And Gay: Health Care Rationing And The Elderly, George P. Smith Ii

Scholarly Articles

Although there exists no rigid guideline delineating society's obligation to provide health care, at a minimum Americans are entitled to an adequate level of care without excessive burdens being placed upon them. Fulfilling this ostensibly simple mandate, however, presents an enormous challenge. The need to allocate limited financial and human resources increasingly clashes with the moral desire to provide health care resources to elder Americans beyond their years of economic productivity. As a result, health care professionals face the difficult task of weighing against society's other priorities the efficiency of distributing limited health care resources to the elderly. This demand …

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.]

Abuse, Neglect And Exploitation In Licensed Facilities - Recognize It - Prevent It - Report It, Maine Department Of Human Services

Maine Collection

Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation In Licensed Facilities - Recognize It - Prevent It - Report It.

Maine Department of Human Services - Bureau of Elder and Adult Services, Augusta, Maine (August 1993).

Contents: Introduction / Signs of Abuse and Neglect / Abuse: Risk Factors / Prevention / Maine's Reporting Law / Investigations of Reports of Abuse, Neglect or Exploitation / Where to Report / Other Relevant Agencies

A Study To Determine The Effects Of Client Participation In Care On Perceived Control/Powerlessness And Morale, Janis Marie Ormond

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

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 …