Gerontology Commons^™

Home Alone: The Effects Of Out-Migration On Niuean Elders’ Living Arrangements And Social Supports, Judith C. Barker

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Study Of Activities Of Daily Living Levels Of Catholic Nuns In A Motherhouse Nursing Home And Mainstream Women In A Community Nursing Home, Betty Ann Ray Duke

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Betty Ann Ray Duke on August 31, 1994

The Effects Of Organizational Culture On Quality Of Life For Older Veterans, Michelle Diane Stone

Dissertations

The organizational culture in a Veteran's Administration Medical Center (VAMC) was described using triangulated methods which included both secondary quantitative survey data, and internal documentary data sources. The initial survey data collected, from staff and elder veterans revealed an overall positive perception from both samples regarding the quality of life for elder veterans living on extended care wards. The study investigated the extent to which the VAMC's organizational culture affected these perceptions of quality of life.

Documentary data were collected from a variety of VAMC sources regarding behaviors, ideologies, leadership trends, mechanisms of control, and the formal organizational structure. A …

Lounge Chair Criteria For The Elderly, Edna M. I. Bosco

Masters Theses

This study investigated relationships between lounge chair design, functional positioning and comfort for the elderly. Thirty-five elderly residents from two local congregate living residences were assessed utilizing lounge chairs located at the residence. Measurements of the chairs were taken, coded and compared to specific norms established by Harris and Mayfield (1983b). Measurements consisted of armrest dimensions, seat depth and height, seat slope, and backrest dimensions. Each chair was scored based on the number of recommended standards for comfort met in the Harris and Mayfield research (1983b).

Frequency counts were taken and descriptive data collected and analyzed to determine relationships between …

Cognitive Disability Theory As A Basis For Activity Analysis For Elderly Persons With Dementia, Deborah S. Kaeser

Masters Theses

Allen's (1985) Cognitive Disability approach provides a guideline for modifying the cognitive demands of an activity to match the abilities of an individual. Thirty older adults with a mean age of 78.1 years and a diagnosis indicating an irreversible dementia were selected for the study. A counterbalanced design was used to compare the performance of 15 individuals with a Level Three cognitive ability and 15 individuals with a Level Four cognitive ability on two tiling craft activities: one with Level Three cognitive demands and one with Level Four cognitive demands. Analysis of variance indicated a significant interaction between cognitive level …

Medicare Supplemental Insurance: Today's Crisis, Health Care For All, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gerontology Institute Publications

The purpose of health insurance is to spread risk. The system works under the assumption that, at any given point in time, only a percentage of the people in a given group will be sick. Regardless of health status, all members of the group will be paying premiums in order to cover the cost of care for those who need it.

As a group, however, seniors represent a high-risk population. They are more likely than younger people to need health care services and tend to require longer hospital stays. Yet, while their expenses are greater, their financial resources are generally …

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 …

The Duration Of Tinnitus In An Aging Population, Mary Engel

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the perceived severity of chronic tinnitus in a geriatric population increased, decreased, or remained constant with the passage of time. A questionnaire was designed to ascertain the subjects' perceived severity at time of onset and the perceived severity of their current tinnitus. The subjects were asked to rate their past and present tinnitus severity according to how much it bothered them. They were also asked questions pertaining to noise exposure history, hearing aid use, and tinnitus sound parameters for purposes of comparison with other groups previously studied.

Long-Term Care Policy: Where Are We Going?, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Omb Watch

Gerontology Institute Publications

Millions of Americans suffer from physical or mental conditions that make it difficult for them to live fully independent lives. These are the frail elderly, disabled and chronically ill persons of all ages, and many mentally ill or mentally retarded persons. They need help to manage daily activities, whether they live in their own homes or in nursing homes.

Such care can be extremely expensive, since it often must be provided for many years, even a lifetime. Today, those costs are met largely by the individuals themselves or by their families and by public programs for low-income persons.

For many …

Reading Comprehension In Dementia Of The Alzheimer's Type : Factual Versus Inferential, Donna Jensen Graville

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reading comprehension abilities of those with mild and moderate dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) and compare their performance to that of a sample of non-demented elderly. Thirty-eight male subjects were used, 20 non-demented elderly, nine mild DAT and nine moderate DAT. All were administered level B of the NRST. This test contains questions requiring three levels of inference: literal, translational, and high-level inference.

Ellen Rhoads Holmes's Review Of Dorothy Ayers Counts And David R. Counts's Aging And Its Transformations: Moving Toward Death In Pacific Societies, Ellen Rhoads Holmes

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Congruence Between Type Of Activity And Volition And Its Relationship To Life Satisfaction In Nursing Home Residents, David De Noble

Masters Theses

This study examines the relationship between life satisfaction and the volition subsystem of 32 older adults who reside in nursing homes. Specifically, it attempts to measure congruence or the perception of the individual that the inherent characteristics of an activity "fit" his or her sense of personal causation, values and interests. The study examines the relationship between this congruence and life satisfaction.

Results of the study identified positive correlations between congruence and life satisfaction. Correlations between congruence of volition subsystem components and activity were at a statistically significant level (p <.05) for personal causation, values and total volition. Correlations between congruence of volition subsystem components and some specific activities were also found.

Stress Of The Caregiver: Effective Management Of Dementia Patients In Hospital And Community Settings, Ruth E. Dunkle, Michael Nevin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study explores the management problems among elders with dementia and their medical and family caregivers. Twenty-five patients were interviewed as well as professional health care personnel and a family member. Findings indicated that professional assessment facilitates home caregiving but has little bearing on successful coping by the caregiver. Variability of coping relates to the strategy employed.

Effects Of Seating Arrangement On Affective Meanings And Group Interaction In Healthy Senior Citizens, Judith Ann Boughton

Masters Theses

Occupational therapists state that environmental factors (seating arrangements) influence behavior. This ex post facto study examined the effect of peripheral versus central seating arrangement on interaction (verbalizing and looking), affect, and group climate in 41 healthy senior citizens. Nine men and 32 women aged 62 to 83 participated in two collage activities (creative and imitative) in either a parallel/nonsharing group or a project/ sharing group. Seating arrangement was added to an earlier study's independent variables (creative and imitative activities, and sharing and nonsharing groups). Dependent variables consisted of three factors of affective meaning from the Osgood Semantic Differential, evaluation, power, …

Dual-Purpose Activity Versus Single-Purpose Activity In An Institutionalized Geriatric Population, Rita M. Yoder

Masters Theses

The use of purposeful, goal-directed activity has traditionally been a central theme for occupational therapy. In dual-purpose activity the participant has two goals: successful task completion and the making of adaptive responses in the activity process. This study compares the extent to which a dual-purpose activity (stirring for the purpose of exercise and baking cookies) enhances performance in contrast to a single-purpose activity (stirring for the purpose of exercise alone) in an institutionalized geriatric population.

Thirty women between 70 and 92 years of age were randomly assigned to either the single- or dual-purpose activity. Duration, exertion, and discontinuities were measured …

The Impact Of Modernization On The Aged In American Samoa, Ellen C. Rhoads

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Social Work Intervention With The Aged: Toward A Change In The Institutionalized Thought Structure, Shimon S. Gottschalk, Michael Frumkin, Allan V. Kaufman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The social problems associated with aging are viewed as derived from a series of socially defined meanings in the areas of: (1) power/authority,(2) responsibility, (3) productivity/work, (4) dependence/ independence,and (5) knowledge/rationality. A parallel series of alternative meanings is proposed which make possible the creation of alternative institutional forms which hold promise for making contemporary problems substantially obsolete. An era of post-professinalism is envisioned in which helping agents become political activists committed to social change on the cognitive, as well as the material level.

Growing Old In Changing Micronesia, Leonard Mason

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

The Descriptive Function Of Language: Changes With Age And Pressure To Inform, Eve Susan Liebman

Dissertations and Theses

Currently language is viewed as a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of three interrelated components; content, form and function (Bloom and Lahey, 1978). In recent publications, language function has been referred to as pragmatics (Prutting, 1979). The essence of pragmatic theory is that language is used functionally in social contexts, to accomplish specific types of communication (Wood, 1981). One such communicative function is referred to as the informative function, which occurs when a speaker provides ideas and information to others, as in describing, naming and giving examples {Wood, 1981). It is not clear, however, when children become competent in making specific, clear …

Verbal Fluency Performance Of Normal Elderly Subjects, Molly Secrest

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to measure the verbal fluency of normal gerontologic subjects and to determine the extent of association between verbal fluency score and level of education. Specifically, this investigation sought to determine means, ranges and standard deviations for three groups of subjects: those 61 to 69 years of age, those 70 to 79 years of age, and those 80 years of age and above. In addition, correlations between verbal fluency score, and age, sex, years of education, and order of stimulus presentation were computed.

Informal Support Systems For The Aged: Limitations And Issues, Marjorie Buckholz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The need for community social services to enable older persons to remain in their homes has been well documented (Gold, 1974; Lohman, 1978; Atchley, 1977; Blenkner, 1977). Inspite of a growing service industry and professional corps of helpers, it does not reach the growing numbers of elderly, especially the older-elderly who are most likely to be frail (Gold, 1974; Lohmann, 1978; Heyman and Polansky, 1977). The aged share of the population has grown relative to the younger age group. In 1900, 6.4% of the U. S. population was 60 years or older; in 1975, it had increased to 14.8% (U. …

Preparing Social Work Practitioners To Work With And In Behalf Of Older Adults, Margaret E. Hartford

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Practice in the field of social gerontology is one of the developing frontiers in social work. Now and in the foreseeable future, services with a population that is growing older will be a rapidly expanding field of practice. Many of the programs for older adults are multidisciplinary and demand collaboration among several professions and services. In some instances social work is and will be the central organizing force assuming administrative responsibility. In other instances social workers are collateral with several professions, and in still others social work services are an adjunct to another service profession, such as medicine nursing, urban …

Differential Aspects Of Assessment And Intervention In Social Work Practice With The Elderly And Their Families, Barbara Silverstone

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

So much in our society separates the rest of us from the old that a discussion of the differential aspects of practice with the elderly and their families (many of whom are aging) runs the risk of being redundant as well as a concealed endorsement of the professional biases which afflict us all. The truth of the matter is that important differences do exist between social work practice with the old and with younger generations, differentials which emanate from a sound gerontological knowledge base. Although the similarities far out-weigh the discrepancies, failure to recognize or delineate these differences has resulted …

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 …

Volunteer Support For The Institutionalized Elderly, Harold Zepelin, Janet Stutzman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A neglected topic in discussions of services for the institutionalized elderly seems to be the question of whether the residents of nursing homes are receiving adequate support from volunteers. Undoubtedly, voluntarism is playing an important part in the provision of services and emotional support for the aged population, among them the elderly that are institutionalized. But because of the child-centeredness and youth-orientation of American society, it is possible that work with the elderly may not be attracting volunteers in proportion to the needs of this population. This may be especially true of the elderly in institutions because work with this …

A Confidant's Effect On Institutionalized Elders, Marcia L. Johansen

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Age And Disease Upon Language, Mary Ellen Kelleher

Masters Theses

No abstract provided by author.

Ua68/10/1 Sociological Symposium No. 2 – The Sociology Of The Elderly, Wku Sociology

WKU Administration Documents

Table of Contents:

• Ahsan, S. Reza. The Ecological Distribution of the Elderly in the Florida Counties
• Albrecht, Ruth E. Pre-Retirement Training in the United States
• Beard, Belle Boone. Longevity & Fertility: A Study of Centenarians
• Ellison, David L. Will to Live: A Link Between Social Structure & Health Among the Elderly
• Gray, Robert M. & Josephine M. Kasteler. An Investigation of the Effects of the Involuntary Relocation on the Health of Older Persons
• Guemple, D. Lee. Human Resource Management: The Dilemma of the Aging Eskimo
• Harper, D. Wood Jr. & Joseph M. Garza. Ethnicity, Family Generational Structure & Intergenerational Solidarity …