Gerontology Commons^™

2016 Elder Economic Security Standard Index™ For Boston, Yang Li, Ping Xu, Jan Mutchler, Center For Social And Demographic Research On Aging, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

The Elder Economic Security Standard^TM Index (Elder Index) is a measure of the cost of living for older adults age 65 or older living independently in today's economy. The Elder Index defines economic security as the income level at which elders are able to cover basic and necessary living expenses and age in their homes, without relying on benefit programs, loans or gifts. The Elder Index defines an “economic security gap” as having incomes between the Federal Poverty Line and the Elder Index. Older adults living “in the gap” have incomes too high to qualify for many means-tested public …

Living Below The Line: Economic Insecurity And Older Americans, Gender Disparities In Insecurity, 2016, Jan Mutchler, Yang Li, Ping Xu

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

New estimates from the 2016 Elder Economic Security Standard^TM Index highlight the high risk of economic insecurity experienced by older adults, a risk that is especially high for older women living alone. The Gerontology Institute compares the 2016 household incomes for adults age 65 and above living in one- and two-person households to the 2016 Elder Economic Security Standard^TM 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 …

Living Below The Line: Economic Insecurity And Older Americans, Age Disparities In Insecurity, 2016, Jan Mutchler, Yang Li, Ping Xu

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

New estimates from the 2016 Elder Economic Security Standard^TM Index highlight the high risk of economic insecurity experienced by older adults, a risk that is especially high for the oldest seniors. The Gerontology Institute compares the 2016 household incomes for adults age 65 and above living in one- and two-person households to the 2016 Elder Economic Security Standard^TM 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 …

What Does Successful Aging Mean? Lay Perception Of Successful Aging Among Elderly Singaporeans, Qiushi Feng, Paulin Tay Straughan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Objectives: We explore the culturally specific meaning of successful aging in Singapore, an ethnically diverse city-state in Asia. We aim to investigate lay perceptions of successful aging among the elderly individuals in Singapore and further examine variations of these perceptions. Methods: We applied a mixed-method research design. Firstly, we conducted qualitative interviews with 49 elderly respondents, generating 12 main subjective components of successful aging. Next, we did a national survey with a sample of 1,540 local residents aged 50 to 69 years, in which respondents were asked to evaluate the importance of each subjective component of successful aging. We used …

Family Support For Older Persons In Thailand: Challenges And Opportunities, John Knodel, Bussarawan Puk Teerawichitchainan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Population aging and the wellbeing of older persons are major emerging challenges for families, communities, and government in Thailand as in much of Asia. Traditionally, support and care for the elderly are met within the family. Adult children are important providers of material support as well as other forms of assistance to their older-age parents. The state and communities typically provide limited care services for the older population. Currently, Thailand is facing demographic and socioeconomic changes that pose significant challenges for the roles that family members, especially adult children, play in providing support for the elderly. This paper empirically examines …

Needs Assessment For Belchertown Council On Aging, Jan Mutchler, Caitlin Coyle, Ceara Somerville

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the Belchertown Council on Aging, to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Belchertown’s mature population. The focus of this report is on two broad cohorts of Belchertown residents—those aged 60 and older, referred to here as “seniors” or “older adults,” and those age 50-59, who will be aging into the “senior” age range over the coming decade. The contents of this report are meant to inform the Town of Belchertown, …

The Use Of Physical Restraints In Long-Term Care In Spain: A Multi-Center Cross-Sectional Study, Gabriel J. Estévez-Guerra, Emilio Fariña-López, Eduardo Núñez-González, Manuel Gandoy-Crego, Fernando Calvo-Francés, Elizabeth Capezuti

Publications and Research

Background: Physical restraint is a procedure used frequently in long-term care. It is a controversial practice because its use is associated with numerous complications and also affects freedom and individual autonomy. The objective of this study was to examine the use of physical restraint of long-term care residents with the ability to move voluntarily.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional observational and correlational multi-center study. Nine centers agreed to participate. Of the 1,200 people present at the time of data collection, those without voluntary movement or in the facility for less than a month were excluded. Thus, the final sample was …

Sociology Between The Gaps Volume 2 (2015 - 2016)

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

No abstract provided.

Community: Eclipsed Or Resurgent?, Mary Lou Mayo

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

The locus of community has been identified with the small town. With urbanization and industrialization, a shift occurred to spatially unbounded networks which are relationally defined and can be found in multiple contexts. The importance of community has long been recognized for both the individual and the society. Intentional communities represent attempts to create it. Examples include communes in the past, cohousing, gated communities, ecovillages and neighbornets. New Urbanist design attempts to create community through architecture and land use patterns, increasing the potential for people to come into contact with one another. The success of these efforts remains ambiguous. The …

A Systems Approach To The Problem Of Falls In Old Age, Patrick A. Dillon

Theses and Dissertations--Gerontology

The problem of falls in old age is enormously costly and disruptive for the older individual, others, and society, and its severity is likely to intensify as our population ages. This dissertation takes a systems-oriented approach toward the falls problem and is presented in two parts. The first part critically develops a new approach to the problem of falls. The second part describes an empirical study that applies this new approach in a pragmatic manner.

Conventional fall prevention strategies employ a reductionist approach to the problem of falls. This approach is questioned because it corresponds poorly to the holistic nature …

How Financial Resources Affect Older Adults' Social Life, Hyunsook Kang, Lisa Mize, Jennifer Newquist

School of Human Sciences Research Showcase

No abstract provided.

Ethnicity And Leisure In Later Life, Hyunsook Kang, Gina Fe G. Causin

School of Human Sciences Research Showcase

No abstract provided.

Taking Action For Social Change, Singapore Management University

Research@SMU: Connecting the Dots

Research at the SMU Lien Centre for Social Innovation is helping to better understand and respond to the needs of vulnerable communities in Singapore.

See the papers:

• Elderly population in Singapore: Understanding social, physical and financial needs
• Single-parent families in Singapore: Understanding the challenges of finances, housing and time poverty
• People with physical disabilities in Singapore: Understanding disabling factors in caregiving, education, employment and finances
• A handbook on inequality, poverty and unmet social needs in Singapore

Consumers' Perceptions Of Voluntary And Involuntary Deconsumption: An Exploratory Sequential Scale Development Study, Kranti K. Dugar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory sequential mixed methods study of scale development was conducted among baby boomers in the United States to render conceptual clarity to the concepts of voluntary and involuntary deconsumption, to explore deconsumption behavior under the tenets of the attribution theory of motivation, and to examine the components, structures, uses, and measurement properties of scales of voluntary and involuntary deconsumption. It was also an attempt to reiterate the importance of the baby boomer segment(s) for marketing practitioners based on growth, economic viability, and the power of influence, and to establish a deep understanding of the deconsumption processes, which could enable …

Reliability And Validity Of The Hd-Pro-Triadtm, A Health-Related Quality Of Life Measure Designed To Assess The Symptom Triad Of Huntington's Disease., Nicholas R Boileau, Julie C Stout, Janes S Paulsen, David Cella, Michael K Mccormack, Martha A Nance, Samuel Frank, Jin-Shei Lai, Noelle E Carlozzi

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

BACKGROUND: Huntington's disease (HD), is a neurodegenerative disorder that is associated with cognitive, behavioral, and motor impairments that diminish health related quality of life (HRQOL). The HD-PRO-TRIADTM is a quality of life measure that assesses health concerns specific to individuals with HD. Preliminary psychometric characterization was limited to a convenience sample of HD participants who completed measures at home so clinician-ratings were unavailable.

OBJECTIVES: The current study evaluates the reliability and validity of the HD-PRO-TRIADTM in a well-characterized sample of individuals with HD.

METHODS: Four-hundred and eighty-two individuals with HD (n = 192 prodromal, n = 193 early, and n …

A Comparison Of Physical Nursing Home Environment For Older Adults And Their Families, Phatt Thaitrong

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Globally, aging populations and increases in chronic diseases mean that more people will need long-term care in the next decade. Providing appropriate care to meet the needs of older adults and their families is a key consideration. This move to create a home-like environment in nursing homes has become extensive this past decade. Having an appropriate atmosphere where residents feel like they belong can help elderly people to age healthfully. This systematic literature analysis will address older adult residents' and their families' needs for nursing home physical environments and identify key elements of the physical nursing home environment for older …

Healthy Aging In The North: Sociocultural Influences On Diet And Physical Activity Among Older Adults In Anchorage, Alaska, Britteny M. Howell

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

Increasing rates of overweight, obesity, and related cardiovascular diseases among older adults in the United States present unique public health challenges. Cross-cultural research has shown marked variation in health across the world’s elder populations because aging is a biological process rooted in sociocultural context. The sociocultural environment contributes to complex negotiations of food and physical activity patterns for older adults. It is well established in the literature that urban residents report low levels of physical activity and have easy access to fast food outlets, which tend to be concentrated in lower-income neighborhoods. I utilize a biocultural framework, integrating nutritional anthropology …

Investigation Of Sandwich Generation Caregiver Perceptions And Factors Of Caregiving Strain, Samantha Marie Young

Masters Theses

The Sandwich Generation caregiver is responsible for caring for their children and parents simultaneously (Miller, 1981). In this study, stressors, burdens, and strains were analyzed in relation to caregiver demographics and the following variables: caregiving relationship quality, caregiving roles, communication, and resources (time and finances). The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that contribute to perceived strains in Sandwich Generation caregivers. The Sandwich Generation Caregiver Survey was distributed through social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn), email, listservs, and word of mouth through a nonprobability snowball approach (Creswell, 2012). The researcher used frequency counts, percentages, and mean …

The Association Of Comorbid Chronic Physical Conditions And Psychological Illness With Health Care Utilization In Middle-Aged And Older People, Allison Houston

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Abstract

Viral Suppression Among Older Persons Living With Diagnosed Hiv Infection (Plwdhi) With Multimorbidity : The Role Of Healthcare Setting, Health Literacy, And Health Knowledge (Mmp 2009-2014), Doris Ogechukwu Maduka

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

For persons living with diagnosed HIV infection (PLWDHI) 50 years of age and older, in addition to living with diagnosed HIV infection, they are also at risk for age-related chronic conditions. Optimal management of these conditions in addition to HIV is needed if they hope to achieve positive health outcomes such as achieving durable viral suppression, which is the goal for persons receiving HIV treatment. For these patients, having adequate health related information, and the ability to access and navigate the healthcare system, would help them stay engaged and maintain adherence to HIV care. Factors that have been found to …