Gerontology Commons^™

Literature Review: Improving End-Of-Life Care And Creating A Good Death, Erna Smlatic

Honors Program Theses

The need for quality end-of-life care has increased drastically around the world in the last few centuries due to a surge in life expectancy. As people are living much longer, they are developing and succumbing to chronic progressive diseases which can significantly decrease quality of life. But what exactly does it mean to care for the aging population who are nearing death? Defining quality care at the end-of-life is important but also differs for individuals based on a variety of factors including age, culture, and life experiences. End-of-life care does not come as “one size fits all” and it challenges …

Clinical Applications And Feasibility Of Proton Ct And Proton Radiography, Christina Marie Sarosiek

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Proton therapy is a form of radiation treatment for cancer that utilizes the Bragg peak to create conformal high dose regions around the tumor volume. However, the use of x-ray computed tomography (CT) and x-ray radiography for treatment planning and pre-treatment quality assurance procedures improves the achievable effectiveness of proton treatment plans (using proton CT) and the pretreatment verification (using proton radiography). Errors in the conversion from x-ray Hounsfield units (HU) to proton relative stopping powers (RSP) leads to errors in the predicted proton range. To account for the errors, 3.5% margins are included in the treatment plan. This means …

Addressing The Needs Of African American Grandparents: An Intersectionality Perspective, Dorothy Smith-Ruiz, Kendra Jason

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study seeks to demonstrate the intersecting structural and compounding challenges African American custodial grandparents experience collectively, rather than as separate non-competing factors, which has been modeled in prior studies. Using a mixed-method research design, the study explored the challenges faced by African American and white custodial grandparents. These challenges included difficulties attaining different types of support, respite care, and programs for teens and special needs grandchildren. Results showed that caregiving challenges among African Americans were more pervasive than their White counterparts. These findings have significant implications for the development of intervention programs for custodial African American grandmothers and their …

The Importance Of Understanding Functionality In Home- And Community-Based Care And The Impact On Costs As America Ages, Shannon Stanley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States is on a trajectory to reach 20% of citizens aged 65 and over by 2030. This hyper-aging population affects the costs of healthcare, but it is not adequately represented in current U.S. models. Studies indicate other hyper-aged nations have experienced this increase and implemented long-term care measures to counter the increase in aging populations and costs with system responsiveness. This study examined the role of Medicaid home -and community- based service (HCBS) contributions in states that have the fastest-aging populations. Using the established framework and data collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the study looked …

Socio-Ecological Predictors Of Social Connection Among Older Adults, Georganna Amateau

Theses and Dissertations

Decades of research has established an unequivocal link between states of social connection and health status. Lack of social connection, whether construed as social isolation or loneliness, negatively influences health and is highly associated with cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, fall risk, and premature death. Despite extensive research on social isolation and loneliness, evidence relative to the broader construct of social connection suffers. Few studies inform practice standards for community-based organizations. This study aimed to develop a multidimensional, continuous composite variable of social connection and use the composite variable to examine predictors with a socio-ecological lens.

A secondary data analysis …

2021 Community-Based Care: Resident And Community Characteristics Report On Assisted Living, Residential Care, And Memory Care Communities, Ozcan Tunalilar, Paula Carder, Sheryl Elliott, Jason Z. Kyler-Yano, Sarah Dys, Minju Kim, Diana Cater, Ellis Jourdan Hews

Institute on Aging Publications

This report summarizes findings from the 7th annual study of Oregon assisted living (AL) and residential care (RC) facilities, including memory care (MC) communities. The purpose of this report is to inform Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), providers, consumers, and other interested parties about this sector of long-term services and supports (LTSS) and ensure data-informed policy decisions. The report contains information about various resident and community characteristics, including capacity and supply, resident demographics and health services use, and community services, policies, fees, and staffing. These data were collected between winter 2020 and spring 2021. This report constitutes the first …

Evaluation Of The Livewell Method: Final Report, Paula Carder, Serena Hasworth, Diana Cater

Institute on Aging Publications

The LiveWell Method uses a practice-based framework to improve the quality of life for people living and working in long-term care settings, including assisted living and memory care. It is designed to improve teamwork, communication, and morale by helping staff organize, track, measure, and improve daily operations. This evaluation is informed by the LiveWell Method’s “bottom-up and top enabled” approach, which engages and empowers direct care staff and administrators to create a more democratic and transparent workplace. In addition, the evaluation included questions to assess LiveWell’s core values, such as creating care innovations, nurturing dignity, creating community, and honoring elders, …

Cellphone Laws And Teens' Calling While Driving: Analysis Of Repeated Cross-Sectional Surveys In 2013, 2015, 2017, And 2019, Li Li, Caitlin N. Pope, Rebecca R. Andridge, Julie K. Bower, Guoqing Hu, Motao Zhu

Graduate Center for Gerontology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Distracted driving among teens is a public health and safety concern. Most states in the U.S. have sought to restrict cellphone use while driving by enacting laws. This study examines the difference in prevalence of self-reported calling while driving (CWD) between states with different cellphone bans.

METHODS: Demographics and CWD data were extracted from state Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS) from 14 states in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019. The state YRBS is conducted every 2 years with a representative sample of 9th through 12th grade students attending public school. States were grouped by type of cellphone law(s): no …

Baby Boomers In Technology-Rich Environments: Using Piaac To Study The Association Of Workplace Learning With Technology Competency, Julie M. Galliart

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A skill gap in Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments (PS-TRE) between U.S. Baby Boomers and younger generations has been documented in previous studies using the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) Survey of Adult Skills (Rampey et al., 2016). Bringing this generation of workers up to speed in this competency area is important because older workers are a growing segment of the U.S. workforce with 13 million employees expected to be age 65 or older by 2024 (Toossi & Torpey, 2017). Workplace learning may be a solution, but few studies in adult learning document outcomes of training …

Dietary Regulation Of Successful Aging, Aubree L. Hawley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current growth of the older population is unprecedented in U.S. history. Chronic disease and functional limitation commonly develop prior to old age, leading to prolonged physical disability and decreased well-being. The development of chronic disease and loss of independence is associated with lean body mass (LBM) loss and fat mass gain beginning in middle age. Therefore, it is important to identify modifiable factors to mitigate deleterious shifts in body composition to promote successful aging (SA). The concept of SA is associated with longevity, the absence of disease and disability, and subjective components of well-being, however, an operational definition has …

Staying Connected: The Importance Of Social Integration On The Well-Being Of Older Adults, Paulin T. Straughan, Vincent Chua, Stephen Hoskins, Frosch Quek

ROSA Research Briefs

It has been about a year since COVID-19 first emerged and reshaped the daily lives of people around the globe, including Singaporeans. Since moving past the circuit breaker in June, Singapore has gradually re-opened and relaxed its restrictions in different phases. As Singapore prepares for Phase 3- the final and least restrictive phase, it is important to examine how Singaporeans have coped and responded with the circuit breaker (7 April 2020) and its gradual easing of restriction in Phase 1 (2nd June 2020) and Phase 2 (19 June 2020), and identify the groups which have fallen through the gaps in …

Envisioning An Age Friendly Stoneham, Caitlin Coyle, Mary Krebs

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

Tucked between two major highways, about nine miles from Boston, the Town of Stoneham is currently home to more than 22, 000 residents, 27% of which are age 60 and older. According to projections created by the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts, a trend toward an older population in Stoneham is expected in future decades. Donahue Institute vintage projections suggest that by 2035, more than one out of each three Stoneham’s residents will be age 60 or older—28% of the town’s population will be between the ages of 60 and 79, with an additional 10% age 80 and …

Aging Strong For All: Examining Aging Equity In The City Of Boston, Jan Mutchler, Caitlin Coyle, Nidya Velasco Roldán, Paul Watanabe, Cedric Woods, Lorna Rivera, Quito Swan, Elena Stone, Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

The experience of being and becoming older differs substantially based on one’s race, ethnicity, and gender. In the City of Boston, it has never been more critical to strategically pursue greater equity in the aging experience of residents. According to data from the US Census Bureau, the number of Boston residents aged 60 or older increased by more than a third just since 2010 and persons of color now make up half of Boston’s older adults. As well, stakeholders share a growing recognition of the powerful ways in which inequity, racism and discrimination shape health outcomes and the aging experience, …

Prediction Of Nocturia In Live Alone Elderly Using Unobtrusive In-Home Sensors, Barry Nuqoba, Hwee-Pink Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Nocturia, or the need to void (or urinate) one or more times in the middle of night time sleeping, represents a significant economic burden for individuals and healthcare systems. Although it can be diagnosed in the hospital, most people tend to regard nocturia as a usual event, resulting in underreported diagnosis and treatment. Data from self-reporting via a voiding diary may be irregular and subjective especially among the elderly due to memory problems. This study aims to detect the presence of nocturia through passive in-home monitoring to inform intervention (e.g., seeking diagnosis and treatment) to improve the physical and mental …

Altruistic Attitudes Among Older Adults: Examining Construct Validity And Measurement Invariance Of A New Scale, Tirth R. Bhatta, Eva Kahana, Nirmala Lekhak, Boaz Kahana, Elizabeth Midlarsky

Sociology Faculty Research

Background and Objectives: Scholarly research has established the role of altruism in facilitating human cooperation and prosocial behaviors and highlighted its contribution to psychological well-being. Given the health significance of altruistic attitudes and orientations, we developed a valid and reliable measure of this construct that is suitable for use with older adults. Research Design and Methods: Based on data from a long-term panel study on adaptation to frailty among older adults (n = 366; mean age = 86 years), we used confirmatory factor analysis to perform construct validation of a five-item Elderly Care Research Center Altruism Scale among older adults …

Harmony Study: Pimavanserin Significantly Reduces Risk Of Relapse Of Dementia-Related Psychosis, Erin P. Foff, Jeffrey L. Cummings, Maria-Eugenia Soto-Martin, Pierre Tariot, Bradley Mcevoy, Srdjan Stankovic

Integrated Health Sciences Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

The Gap Remains: Social Security Benefits Continue To Fall Short Of Covering Basic Cost Of Living For Older Americans, 2015-2020, Jan Mutchler, Yang Li

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

Older Americans rely heavily on Social Security to support an independent lifestyle. Recent estimates suggest that among adults aged 65 years or older, more than half rely on Social Security for at least 50% of their family income, while nearly a quarter depend on Social Security for 90% or more of their family income.

Despite this substantial reliance on Social Security among older adults, Social Security benefits fall short of what is required to cover a basic cost of living across the United States, according to new estimates based on the Elder Index, a county-by-county measure of the income older …

Envisioning An Age-Friendly Norwood, Caitlin Coyle, Beth Rouleau

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

Nestled just outside the I-95 beltway, the Town of Norwood, Massachusetts is a community southwest of Boston that takes pride in the history of residents staying in, or returning to, the community across the lifespan. Projections indicate that by 2035, about one out of three Norwood residents will be age 60 or older—24% of the Town’s population will be between the ages of 60 and 79, with an additional 8% age 80 and older (see Appendix A). The desire to stay and a growing older adult population lends to many multi-generational families within the community, creating a sense of supportive …

New Cultures Of Care? The Spatio-Temporal Modalities Of Home-Based Smart Eldercare Technologies In Singapore, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Increasingly, technology-enabled strategies of eldercare are being developed and deployed to minimize the socio-economic costs of ageing. As part of this shift, home-based ‘smart’ technologies have been embraced as a way of enabling ageing-in-place. Smart technologies flatten space and time, and can increase the reach of caregivers. In this sense, they foreground the emergence of new cultures of care. Through an empirical focus on the triallists of smart eldercare technologies living in a public housing estate in Singapore, this paper considers the ways in which new cultures of care are being formed and negotiated in response to the encroachment of …

Physical Health Impacts Of Grandparenting Children With Disabilities, Ynesse Abdul-Malak, Madonna Harrington Meyer

Population Health Research Brief Series

Although caring for grandchildren with disabilities often brings substantial joy to grandparents, it can adversely impact grandparents' physical health. For many grandparents, caring for their grandchildren makes them feel younger, mostly because they are more physically active and maintain healthier diets.