Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Infusion Model For Including Content On Elders With Chronic Mental Illness In The Curriculum, Nancy Kropf, Sherry Cummings

Nancy P. Kropf

Older people with chronic mental illness (CMI) are experiencing longer life expectancies that parallel those of the general population. Due to their experience of having CMI, these older adults present unique issues that affect service delivery and care provision. Content on this population is often omitted in the curriculum, which leaves students unprepared to practice with these clients. This article proposes an infusion model that can be used in baccalaureate or graduate foundation courses to increase exposure to elders with CMI.

Community Caregiving Partnerships Promoting Alliances To Support Care Providers, Nancy Kropf

Nancy P. Kropf

Although greater numbers of families are providing support to older adults, a lack of comprehensive programming in resource allocation continues to exist at the social policy level. This chapter explores how community care giving partnerships may contribute to a solution.

Factors Affecting Burden Of South Koreans Providing Care To Disabled Older Family Members, Minhong Lee, Eunkyong Yoon, Nancy Kropf

Nancy P. Kropf

This study examined the determinants of caregiving burden among South Koreans who care for their disabled older family members. A sample of 1,000 primary caregivers taken from the Comprehensive Study for Elderly Welfare Policy in Seoul, South Korea was analyzed. Independent variables included the demographic characteristics of caregivers and care recipients, the severity of cognitive impairment among care recipients, care recipients' functional abilities, financial adequacy and caregivers' degree of social support. Hierarchical regression was used to predict the levels of caregivers' burden. Similar to western care providers, South Korean caregivers who were in poor health and who had little informal …

Leisure Activity, Ethnic Preservation, And Cultural Integration Of Older Korean Americans, Nancy Kropf, Eunja Kim, Douglas Kleiber

Nancy P. Kropf

For immigrant groups, leisure activity has the potential both to increase familiarity with a new culture and to preserve cultural history and identity. Using a qualitative case study design, this research analyzed leisure activities of six older Korean Americans to determine both personal and cultural meanings of leisure. From a personal perspective, leisure was used to create two effects for the older adults: Ki-Bun-Chun-Whan, which is the experience of a shift in emotional atmosphere as a result of engaging in activities; and self-development activities, which provide the older adults with opportunities for learning or growth. Cultural meanings of leisure activities …

Healthy Eating And Physical Activity Challenges And Opportunities In After-School Programs: Providers’ Perspectives, Heather Thomas, L. Fellner, Patricia Tucker, Jennifer Irwin

Trish Tucker

The purpose of this study was to understand after-school program providers’ perspectives of (a) current physical activity and nutrition curriculum, practices, and challenges, and (b) necessary modifications, program suggestions or resource needs to improve the healthy eating and active living practices within their after-school program for children aged 6 to 12 years. This qualitative study targeted a sample of nine after-school program providers in London, Ontario. Data was collected via in-depth interviews and a demographic survey between January and April 2009. Strategies to enhance data trustworthiness were incorporated throughout. After-school program providers identified insufficient healthy eating curriculum and requested interactive, …

Caregiving Styles: A Cognitive And Behavioral Typology Associated With Dementia Family Caregiving, Mary Corcoran

Mary A Corcoran

Purpose: An increasing number of elderly individuals

are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and

related disorders (ADRD), many of whom receive

daily caregiving from spouse or adult child. Caregiving

is a “cultural activity,” and as such it is strongly

influenced by sociocultural beliefs about caregiving

and how it should be enacted. Understanding this

thinking–action process has important implications

for future research and service. Reasoned action theory

provides empirical evidence that attitudes and

beliefs, as they are influenced by the social environment,

predict intentions to act. In turn, behavioral

intentions can reliably predict behaviors. This

grounded theory study describes a typology of …

Impact Of Role Discrepancies On Caregiver Burden Among Spouses, Marie Savundranayagam, R. Montgomery

Marie Y Savundranayagam

Using caregiver identity theory, the authors investigated whether role discrepancies mediated the relationships between illness-related stressors (activities of daily living [ADLs] limitations and problem behaviors) and burden (stress, relationship, and objective burden) for spouse caregivers. Participants completed measures of identity standards for spouse and caregiver roles and behaviors, burden, assistance with ADLs, and problem behaviors. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that role discrepancies completely mediated the relationships between ADLs and stress and relationship burden. Although role discrepancies mediated the relationships between problem behaviors and all forms of burden, there were direct relationships between problem behaviors and burden. Finally, participants who …