Gerontology Commons^™

The Impact Of A Goal-Setting Intervention With Custodial Grandmothers: A Demonstration Project, Julian Montoro-Rodriguez, Bert Hayslip

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

The increasing number of grandparents raising grandchildren underscores the need to provide assistance to grandparent caregivers in terms of training them not only to refresh intergenerational skills, but also developing appropriate and effective strategies associated with the setting of personally meaningful goals for themselves. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a socio-cognitive pilot demonstration program to improve the health and social psychological outcomes for grandmothers raising grandchildren using the theory of Selection, Optimization and Compensation (Freund & Baltes, 1998).

Sixteen grandmothers raising a grandchild under the age of 18 without the assistance of that child’s …

Lexington For All Ages: A Community Needs Assessment, Sue Berger, Jan Mutchler, Nidya Velasco Roldán, Ceara Somerville, Rebecca Mailman, Caitlin Coyle

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

The Lexington for All Ages initiative is meant to ensure that Lexington is and remains a place where older adults can comfortably and safely age in place. 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 Lexington Department of Human Services, to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Lexington’s residents age 50 and older. Structured around livability principles embedded in the World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Community framework, the Lexington for All Ages initiative considers physical infrastructure as well …

Living Below The Line: Economic Insecurity And Older Americans, Insecurity In The States 2019, Jan Mutchler, Yang Li, Nidya Velasco Roldán

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

New estimates from the 2019 Elder Index^TM suggest that half of older adults living alone, and 23% of older adults living in two-elder households, lack the financial resources required to pay for basic needs. The Gerontology Institute compares the 2019 household incomes for adults age 65 and above living in one- and two-person households to the 2019 Elder Index for each state and Washington, DC to calculate Elder Economic Insecurity Rates (EEIRs), the percentage of independent older adults age 65 or older living in households with annual incomes that do not support economic security. The EEIRs allow state and …

Living Below The Line: Economic Insecurity And Older Americans, Insecurity In Massachusetts 2019, Jan Mutchler, Yang Li, Nidya Velasco Roldán

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

New estimates from the 2019 Elder Index^TM reveal that in Massachusetts, more than six out of ten older adults living alone, and three out of ten living in two-person households, cannot afford the basic necessities of life such as food, housing, and health care. The Gerontology Institute compares household incomes for adults age 65 and above living in one- and two-person households to the 2019 Elder Index for Massachusetts to calculate Elder Economic Insecurity Rates (EEIRs), the percentage of independent older adults age 65 or older living in households with annual incomes that do not support economic security. The …

Post-Acquisition Processing Confounds In Brain Volumetric Quantification Of White Matter Hyperintensities, Ahmed A. Bahrani, Omar M. Al-Janabi, Erin L. Abner, Shoshana H. Bardach, Richard J. Kryscio, Donna M. Wilcock, Charles D. Smith, Gregory A. Jicha

Neurology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Disparate research sites using identical or near-identical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition techniques often produce results that demonstrate significant variability regarding volumetric quantification of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in the aging population. The sources of such variability have not previously been fully explored.

NEW METHOD: 3D FLAIR sequences from a group of randomly selected aged subjects were analyzed to identify sources-of-variability in post-acquisition processing that can be problematic when comparing WMH volumetric data across disparate sites. The methods developed focused on standardizing post-acquisition protocol processing methods to develop a protocol with less than 0.5% inter-rater variance.

RESULTS: A series …

4th Annual Social Gerontology Conference Program, Center For Social Gerontology, Georgia Southern University

Center for Social Gerontology Community Conference (2017-2022)

Conference Program

Hospitalization-Associated Change In Gait Speed And Risk Of Functional Limitations For Older Adults, Wei Duan-Porter, Tien N. Vo, Kristen Ullman, Lisa Langsetmo, Elsa S. Strotmeyer, Brent C. Taylor, Adam J. Santanasto, Peggy M. Cawthon, Anne B. Newman, Eleanor M. Simonsick, Teresa M. Waters, Kristine E. Ensrud

Health Management and Policy Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Hospitalization-associated functional decline is a common problem for older adults, but it is unclear how hospitalizations affect physical performance measures such as gait speed. We sought to determine hospitalization-associated change in gait speed and likelihood of new limitations in mobility and activities of daily living (ADLs).

METHODS: We used longitudinal data over 5 years from the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study, a prospective cohort of black and white community-dwelling men and women, aged 70-79 years, who had no limitations in mobility (difficulty walking 1/4 mile or climbing 10 steps) or ADLs (transferring, bathing, dressing, and eating) at baseline. …

Sex And Senesce: A Exploration Of Aging Women’S Sexual Selves, Cordray Mccann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The sexual lives of women over the age of 50 are often forgotten from just about every medium. This research hopes to uncover how aging women interpret their current sexual selves, sexual histories, and changing bodies. In thinking about this, four women were interviewed about their life stories surrounded love, passion, and sex. Each of these women told brave accounts of their lives and through their narratives, we were able to draw theoretical conclusions about bodily shame, age performativity, and prescribed stereotypical roles. These four stories, told individually as to support each woman's personal narrative are vastly different yet intersect …

Swampscott For All Ages: A Community Needs Assessment, Caitlin Coyle, Jan Mutchler, Nidya Velasco, Sue Berger, Rebecca Mailman

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

By the year 2030, 35% of Swampscott residents will be age 60 and older. In response to this demographic shift as well as in response to the desire of most residents to remain living in their community, the resident leaders of Swampscott, with support of the Town, have embarked on the journey to become a more age friendly community. They call themselves the Swampscott for All Ages Committee. The Swampscott for All Ages initiative is meant to ensure that Swampscott is and remains a place where older adults can comfortably and safely age in place. It is a resident-led committee …

Modal Sosial Bonding Dalam Pengembangan Kampung Wisatakreatif Dago Pojok Kota Bandung, Provinsi Jawa Barat, Alfrojems Alfrojems, Triyanti Anugrahin

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

The development of a tourism village has become one of the primaries in community development, especially in rural areas, carried out either by the government or other parties. This is an effort to alleviate poverty in rural areas which is currently an area with a reasonably large amount of poverty with 15.15 million people. But the process of this development provides a dilemma and question about how the process can develop bondsin the community itself that are relevant to the context of bonding social capital. This article aims to explore information about how Dago Pojok creative tourism village community develops …

Hambatan Serikat Pekerja Dalam Penyelesaianpermasalahan Hubungan Industrial, Fitriyah Fitriyah, Rakha Gusti Wardhana

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

Although labore unions can help their members in solving problems related to industrial relations, it still takes a long time due to the lack of it’s ability to negotiate with companies. This can be seen in the process of resolving layoffs and work status at PT X which took 4 years, from 2013 to 2016 to reach an agreement. This research aims to describe the obstacles faced by labor unions in conducting negotiations and the efforts they have made to improve their capabilities. This research is a qualitative descriptive study and using purposive sampling techniques to selected the informant and …

Hubungan Tingkat Work-Life Balance Terhadap Tingkatkepuasan Kerja Karyawan Organisasi Pelayanankemanusiaan, Karyawan Yayasan Plan Internationalindonesia, Iga Larasati, Ety Rahayu

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

This undergraduate thesis discusses about the correlation of work-life balance to job satisfaction among Yayasan Plan International Indonesia’s Employees. This research is a quantitative research with descriptive design. This research is background by the importance of employee’s satisfaction in the Human Service Organization’s setting. Meanwhile, the research about employee’s job satisfaction among Human Service Organization is still rare. The result of this research shows that there’s a very weak correlation between the level work-life balance to the level of job satisfaction among Yayasan Plan International Indonesia’s Employees. This can be caused by the difference in characteristic between HSO and company. …

Strategi Bertahan Hidup Nelayan-Nelayan Kecil Desa Batu Ampar,Kecamatan Palmatak, Kabupaten Anambas, Lutfiana Nur Azizah, Triyanti Anugrahini

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

Common problems faced by fishermen include the limited availability of fish resources, due to over fishing, climate change and the instability of fish selling prices. This condition is also experienced by small fishermen in Batu Ampar Village who carry out traditional fishing activities on the high seas. Facing the limitations of accessible fish resources and the uncertainty of the climate, they made various efforts so that they could survive. The purpose of this study was to describe the survival strategies of small fishermen in Batu Ampar Village in dealing with the problems faced while they were at sea. This research …

Penyandang Disabilitas Di Indonesia:Perkembangan Istilah Dan Definisi, Dini Widinarsih

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

Riset menunjukkan keterkaitan erat antara pemahaman publik tentang disabilitas dan penyandang disabilitas dengan perilaku diskriminatif yang mereka alami dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Pemahaman umum masyarakat di dunia, termasuk Indonesia, tentang penyandang disabilitas masih cenderung negatif. Pemahaman negatif itu karena masyarakat umumnya mendefinisikan dan memperlakukan penyandang disabilitas berdasarkan pada pola pikir yang didominasi oleh konsep kenormalan yang berimplikasi pada stigmatisasi dan diskriminasi terhadap para penyandang disabilitas. Hal itu, termasuk di Indonesia terutama disebabkan masih terbatasnya diseminasi informasi dan edukasi resmi dari pemerintahan atau otoritas terkait serta hasil kajian ilmiah tentang disabilitas dan penyandang disabilitas. Artikel ini bertujuan mendeskripsikan kajian literatur terkait pemahaman …

La Ciudad Versus El Campo: La Calidad De Vida De Los Adultos Mayores Aymara Entre Arica Y Putre, Clare Rogowski

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The elderly population in Chile is increasing rapidly. In indigenous villages in the interior of Chile, like Putre, the younger generation is leaving to pursue education and employment opportunities in cities, in this case Arica. In many cases no one stays to take care of the elders. As the elderly begin to grow older and require greater support, the younger generation seeks to move their family members to the city so that they can care for them. While this provides for greater connection to family and access to medical care for the elderly relatives, the elderly loses their connection to …

Paws For Thought: The Importance Of Dogs In A Seniors Social Intervention, Elisa Maria Concetta Papotto, Jessica Lee Oliva Dr

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

As Australia faces an aging population with an unprecedented life expectancy, it is the community’s obligation to ensure seniors are offered resources to support their well-being. Studies investigating loneliness in aged-care facilities attest to the therapeutic properties of dogs for residents’ sense of well-being. Consequently, this study aimed to ascertain the effectiveness of a community-based dog lover’s initiative for the self-management of well-being among senior citizens. Our qualitative research investigated whether community gatherings including dogs would produce greater feelings of subjective well-being among senior citizens compared to community gatherings without dogs. A conventional content analysis provided support for the supposition …

A Silent Epidemic With No Voice: Alzheimer's Education In An African American Midwest Community, Sandra D. Fields

Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease is a growing crisis in this country, particularly in the African American community. Despite this awareness by the health care community and educational programs offered about the disease, a deficit in research assessing the impact of these programs exists. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to analyze the key criterion relative to the educational programs about Alzheimer’s offered by local organizations and the impact they have on a Midwest African American community.

According to research regarding Alzheimer’s disease, African Americans continue to go undiagnosed and untreated. The literature review in this study explores the synergy of three …

Decline In Telomere Length By Age And Effect Modification By Gender, Allostatic Load And Comorbidities In National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2002), Saruna Ghimire, Carl V. Hill, Francisco S. Sy, Rachelle Rodriguez

School of Public Health Faculty Research

Background: This study aims to assess the decline in telomere length (TL) with age and evaluate effect modification by gender, chronic stress, and comorbidity in a representative sample of the US population. Methods: Cross-sectional data on 7826 adults with a TL measurement, were included from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, years 1999–2002. The population rate of decline in TL across 10-year age categories was estimated using crude and adjusted regression. Results: In an adjusted model, the population rate of decline in TL with age was consistent and linear for only three age categories: 20–29 (β = -0.0172, 95% …

Life Satisfaction And Healthcare Utilization Among Immigrants To The United States, Merritt Christian Rachel Harrelson

LSU Master's Theses

Previous research suggests a relationship between life satisfaction and healthcare utilization or HCU (Habibov & Afandi, 2016; Kim, Park, Sun, Smith, & Peterson, 2014). However, no study was found that examined this relationship among elderly American immigrants. The purpose of this study was to determine whether life satisfaction is linked to HCU for this population. The researcher of the current study applied binary logistic regression to data taken from the Health and Retirement Survey to determine whether changes in life satisfaction could be linked to variance in HCU across seven domains, including hospitalization, overnight nursing home stays, doctors visits, dentist …

Older Adults’ Expectations, And Knowledge Of Oral Health Issues: A Study Of Arkansas Seniors, Virginia Marie Hardgraves

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The life expectancy of the U. S. population is increasing. The advantages of fluoridated water, dental insurance, greater awareness of preventive oral healthcare measures, and more restorative dental services, have helped this generation of adults maintain their teeth into their advanced years. The demand for oral health care services will be greater and more complex that of previous generations. Challenges for the older adult, and the healthcare system providing for them, are complex. Increasing evidence of a link between oral health and overall health underscores the need to promote public health awareness of the need for dental care to be …

Investigation Of The Effect Of Age On Regenerative Outcomes Following Treatment Of Volumetric Muscle Loss Injuries, John Taehwan Kim

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) is a traumatic injury in skeletal muscle resulting in the bulk loss of more than 20% of the muscle’s volume. Included in the bulk loss of muscle is the skeletal muscle niche comprised of nerve bundles, vasculature, local progenitor cells, basal lamina, and muscle fibers, overwhelming innate repair mechanisms. The hallmark of VML injury is the excessive accumulation of non-contractile, fibrotic tissue and permanent functional deficits. Though predominant in the younger demographic, the elderly population is also captured within VML injuries. There are many factors that change with aging in skeletal muscle that may further hinder …

Webinar: Aging In Place: Improving Mobility For Older Adults, Alan Kenneth Delatorre, Ivis Garcia Zambrana, Ja Young Kim

TREC Webinar Series

Aging in place can simply be defined as staying in your home as you age; aging in place concerns include mobility, social activities, safety, accessibility, and long term supports and services in one’s neighborhood and society. In order to facilitate aging in place, organizations in Salt Lake County, Utah and the City of Portland, Oregon, provided home modifications to income-qualified older adults that intended to enable aging in place. Such modifications alter individuals’ life-space mobility – a concept recently used by gerontologists and that we introduced to planners – from within one’s home to the broader community. A unique methodological …

A Poetic Gaze Into Gay Aging, Austin G. Oswald

The Qualitative Report

The shift toward embracing creativity in qualitative research has opened up new possibilities for researchers who seek to represent themselves and their findings in ways that capture the complexities of human life. This case study on gay aging combined life history interviewing with arts-based techniques to explore how one individual made sense of his sexual orientation at a time when gay men were criminalized and pathologized. Using principles from poetic inquiry, interview data were transformed into a short poem that captures the emotional and affective undertones of gay aging. The findings reveal the utility of poetics as both a process …

Neverland: A Critical Autoethnography Of Aging With Cystic Fibrosis, Alexandra Ch Nowakowski

The Qualitative Report

In this autoethnography, I analyze stereotypes and misconceptions about people with cystic fibrosis (CF). I examine these illness representations and their social underpinnings through critical analysis of my journey to conclusive diagnosis with CF after first being tested for the disease in early life, and the events that have followed from that turning point. Using experiential data and prior research, I explore and refute harmful misconceptions about life with CF. I challenge the notion that people with CF never grow old. I also contest the idea that people who receive conclusive diagnoses during adulthood only then transition into patient identities. …

The Aging Of A Young Nation: Population Aging In Singapore, Rahul Malhotra, Andre M. Muller, Su Aw, Gerald Choon Huat Koh, Yin-Leng Theng, Stephen James Hoskins, Chek Hooi Wong, Chunyan Miao, Wee-Shiong Lim, Chetna Malhotra, Angelique Chan

Research Collection School Of Economics

The juxtaposition of a young city-state showing relative maturity as a rapidly aging society suffuses the population aging narrative in Singapore and places the “little red dot” on the spotlight of international aging. We first describe population aging in Singapore, including the characteristic events that shaped this demographic transition. We then detail the health care and socioeconomic ramifications of the rapid and significant shift to an aging society, followed by an overview of the main aging research areas in Singapore, including selected population-based data sets and the main thrust of leading aging research centers/institutes. After presenting established aging policies and …

Life-Space Mobility: How Transportation And Policy Can Support Aging In Place For Older Adults, Ivis Garcia Zambrana, Alan Kenneth Delatorre

TREC Project Briefs

Research on older adults frequently explores the notion of "aging in place"—providing older adults the opportunity to continue to live in their own homes and communities. However one’s ability to stay or leave, particularly in old age, often depends on the built environment. An accessible neighborhood that prioritizes mobility affords the ability to meet basic needs like goods, services, and social activities.

This life-space mobility is rarely applied in the field of urban planning and architecture. A NITC project led by Ivis Garcia Zambrana of the University of Utah and Alan DeLaTorre of Portland State University sought to operationalize this …

Implementing Behavior Analysis And Intervention For Individuals With Cognitive Impairments In Skilled Nursing Facilities: Summary Of Results, Janet S. Hahn, Jonathan C. Baker, Sandra Wagner, Andrea Perez, Minyoung Kim, Sydney Bulock

Center for Gerontology Reports and Publications

Summary of Purpose

The purpose of the project was to provide behavioral consultation and services to aging persons with cognitive impairment at skilled nursing facilities in Michigan. The goal was to use empirically supported non-pharmacological approaches to reduce behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD; wandering, agitation, disruptive vocalizations, etc.) and help slow down or remediate lost skills, reduce the use of medication to manage BPSD, to improve staff knowledge and abilities, and to develop modules that can be adopted and used by other skilled nursing facilities.The project was led by Dr. Janet Hahn, a social gerontologist with extensive experience …

Life-Space Mobility And Aging In Place, Ivis Garcia Zambrana, Alan Kenneth Delatorre, Ja Young Kim, Julianne Reno, Keith Diaz Moore, Jordan Pieper, Jason Wheeler, Nicole Zinnanti, Brenda Jose

TREC Final Reports

Research on older adults explores the notion of “aging in place”—providing older adults the opportunity to continue to occupy familiar surroundings, to live in their own homes and communities. But oftentimes one’s ability to stay or leave, particularly in old age, depends on the built environment. Mobility is the ability to meet the basic needs to access goods, activities, services, and social interactions as they relate to quality of life. Thus, mobility is essential to older adults due to their limited, or gradually reducing, physical and cognitive abilities. In transportation research, mobility is often regarded in terms of travel behavior …

Pilot Study Of Empathy In Bilingual Adults, Libby Moberg

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Empathy is of critical public health importance due to its association with relationship satisfaction and well-being (Davis & Oathout, 1987; Davis, 1983). There is growing evidence that bilingual individuals may have higher levels of empathy (Javor, 2016). One potential mechanism for this relationship is that bilingual individuals tend to have higher levels of executive functioning (Costa et al, 2008), which is linked to higher empathy because individuals are able to more easily adopt others’ perspectives. Previous studies examining this question have largely relied on self-report questionnaires assessing empathy as a general tendency (i.e., trait). No studies have examined differences in …

Exploring The Homeless Persons Perception Of Living In A Long-Term Care Facility, Janice Woods

Dissertations

Objective:The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of homeless persons admitted to a nursing home facility. Originally, the study was to explore their understanding of and their experience with advance health care planning; coincidently, the participants were more open to their experience of living in a long-term care facility.

Method:A convenience sample of 13 participants (12 male, 1 female) at four long-term care facilities in Southern California were interviewed about their perception of advanced health care planning, including the physician’s orders for life sustaining treatment (POLST); a consent form required in all nursing homes. …