Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology最新文献

This study explores the culture of active aging among older adults in the Ekhtiarieh neighborhood of Tehran, using an ethnographic approach. The research addresses four key questions: the common physical activity norms, factors influencing physical activity, cultural norms, and the role of perceived neighborhood in shaping physical activity behaviors among older adults. Ethnographic data were collected through observations, interviews, and document reviews from December 2020 to February 2022. The findings reveal one main themes: Body Culture (including Healthy Bodies, Social Bodies, Retired Bodies and Female Bodies), Affordances (including political, physical, and temporal aspects). The results underscore the interplay between older adults' perceptions of their neighborhood and their physical activity patterns. While the level of physical activity among older adults in Iran is generally low, the cultural context of local communities holds the potential to transform behaviors and social attitudes towards active aging. Key strategies include fostering awareness about the body during activities, addressing social perceptions of aging, leveraging the capacities of older adults, and implementing policies aligned with societal needs. The study's interdisciplinary insights offer valuable implications for sports management professionals and urban planners aiming to enhance active aging in neighborhood environments.

This study examines the multidimensional aspects of quality of life (QoL) among octogenarians in Nigeria, with a view to understanding their levels of satisfaction across different domains. Conducted in four states, namely Osun, Oyo, Imo, and Benue, the research employed a cross-sectional, community-based design to gather primary data from 1,774 octogenarians. The World Health Organisation's pre-designed questionnaire for older individuals was adapted and utilised to capture various dimensions of QoL, including physical, psychological, social, environmental, and spiritual aspects. Findings reveal significant differences in QoL across demographic factors such as sex, religion, marital status, and location. Factors like disability, sex, religion, marital status, and locality were identified as significant determinants impacting octogenarians' QoL in different dimensions. Notably, octogenarians generally reported average to high satisfaction levels across various dimensions of their QoL, particularly in social relationships and environmental conditions. The study underscores the importance of community and interpersonal connections in promoting positive QoL among octogenarians. Furthermore, it highlights the need for personalised approaches to address psychological well-being and spirituality, as these dimensions exhibit varying levels of satisfaction among respondents. Overall, the findings suggest a generally positive QoL among octogenarians in Nigeria, with opportunities for enhancing psychological support and tailoring interventions to individual spiritual needs. This research contributes to understanding the nuanced dynamics of QoL among octogenarians in Nigeria, providing insights for policymakers and healthcare professionals to develop targeted interventions that promote holistic well-being in this age group.

In Nigeria, older adults face numerous challenges that undermine their well-being and overall life satisfaction. These challenges include but are not limited to health challenges due to biological consequences of ageing, ageing stereotypes, abuse, and neglect. This study explored abuse of rural-dwelling older persons within informal caregiving settings, focusing on older adults' perspectives of some caregiving styles adopted by their caregivers. Data were obtained using semi-structured interviews with 16 older adults 60 years and above, in a rural community in Awgu Local Government Area (LGA), Enugu state. The data were analysed thematically. Findings revealed that some abusive behaviours that pass as appropriate caregiving styles include restricted movements, forcing older people to eat or take medications and collecting their money/properties. Most of the sampled older adults were found to have negative perceptions about these caregiving styles, while other participants downplayed them as a regular caregiving pattern. The study recommends that caregivers undergo training on appropriate styles for caring for their older adults in rural Nigeria.

Nigeria's growing population of older adults and limited social security have continued to overstretch the informal care networks. More so, the alterations in the filial value for older adults in Nigeria have further threatened the availability and reliance on informal care arrangements. Exploring the experiences of rural-dwelling older adults on the availability of informal care is crucial in strengthening and sustaining the informal care system. Our study explored the perspective of older adults residing in rural parts of southeast Nigeria on their experiences with informal care. Data was collected using a qualitative phenomenological approach from 10 older adults aged 65 and above through semi-structured interviews. The data collected were coded inductively using NVivo 12 and analysed thematically. The findings of our study show that older adults preferred informal care because it provides a customised approach to care, especially in meeting dietary and medication needs. Issues such as economic hardship, declining filial value for older people, and migration of adult children were found to affect the provision of informal care to older adults in Nigeria. Thus, our study strongly recommends preserving filial values for older adults in Nigeria, improving and strengthening family-oriented care, establishing well-equipped and adequately funded care facilities for older adults in rural communities, and developing comprehensive social security for older adults in Nigeria.

This cross-sectional study aimed to compare the risk and fear of falling in older adults according to their sociodemographic and health profiles. A total of 110 older adults from a Medical Specialties Center in Sapezal, Mato Grosso, Brazil, were assessed using a sociodemographic and health questionnaire, the Timed Up and Go test, and the Falls Efficacy Scale-International. Data were analyzed using appropriate statistical tests (p < 0.05). Higher risk and fear of falling were found among hypertensive individuals, retirees, those not actively employed, and those with a history of falls or near-falls. In contrast, individuals aged 60-70, those who reported good health, and those using one to two medications regularly had lower risk and fear of falling. The findings underscore the multifactorial nature of fall-related risk and fear in older adults and highlight key sociodemographic and health-related influences.

Background and objectives:  Refugees face unique migration challenges resulting from life threatening situations which compel them to migrate and often result in psychological distress experienced before, and during migration. Because of this, the experience of aging out-of-place may be particularly challenging for refugees and may compromise their ability to adapt to new countries. However, minimal research exists on the experiences of aging refugees who entered the country as adults. Little is known about predictors of quality of life among aging refugees. The present study investigates the direct associations between sociodemographic factors, social connection, and quality of life among aging refugees. Research Design and Methods. A total of 108 refugees ages 50 years and above from Bhutan, Burundi, and Somalia from an upper Midwestern region of the US completed an in-depth survey assessing well-being and social connection. Results. Hierarchical regression indicated that refugees from Africa (i.e., Burundi and Somalia), reported lower quality of life compared to refugees from Bhutan. Older individuals and females reported lower quality of life. However, quality of life was not associated with marital status and length of residence. In terms of social connection, greater social integration and lower loneliness were significantly associated with higher quality of life. Discussion and Implications. This study highlights unique findings for aging refugees, including cultural variations within refugee groups. Implications suggest distinct considerations for best supporting aging refugees' well-being.

Māori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand. Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) was initially developed in the UK, lacking in Māori cultural content and values. Cultural adaptation is needed to ensure Māori with dementia can benefit from this evidence-based treatment. This paper reports the outcome of a project aimed to adapt CST for Māori. We followed the five phases of international guidelines using the formative method for adapting CST to other cultures, including a critical cultural examination of the 18 CST principles. We piloted two CST-Māori programmes and collected pre- and post-outcome measures using the RUDAS and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. Written qualitative feedback was sought from participants and their family at the end of the CST-Māori programme. A total of 15 Māori (female: 53.3%) participated in the two programmes. Their mean age was 75.9 years (SD = 6.6) and mean baseline RUDAS scores was 17.7 (SD = 2.3). There was a statistically significant improvement in cognition (RUDAS: pre = 17.7, post = 19.4, p = 0.003) and in the WHOQOL subscales of physical (pre = 75.9, post = 88.5, p = 0.003), psychological (pre = 72.7, post = 81.3, p = 0.024) and environment (pre-80.6, post = 88.0, p = 0.006). Written feedback confirmed the acceptability of this culturally adapted programme by Māori living with dementia and their whanau (families). CST was successfully adapted for Māori with dementia. It is a culturally acceptable cognitive intervention and preliminary data confirmed the effectiveness of CST-Māori in improving cognition and quality of life.

The convergence of population ageing with urbanisation is one of the key challenges to European societies. Italy is at the forefront of this trend, as 24.1% of its population is aged 65 or above, and nearly 72% of its total population lives in urban areas. Given Italy's demographic scenario, it is important to design age-friendly policies on the national and local levels. The paper contributes to the research of this topic through a technique for analysing citywide assessment data on age-friendliness. Our study presents the process of validation for the Italian older population of a standardised tool: the Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Questionnaire. The study was conducted in three Italian cities (n = 1,213) on a representative sample of older people who were asked to rate their life in the city, following the dimensions considered essential for a community's age-friendliness by the World Health Organization. Four typologies were differentiated in the analysis, resulting in different views of older adults on their experience of living in the city, showing that people's socioeconomic status and their health situation play a role in shaping their perceptions of age-friendliness. The results highlight the importance of standardised tools for effective social policies for age-friendly cities.

Leisure is essential to support quality of life following retirement. In India, there is limited research on the leisure participation of older adults. In collective cultures such as India, family members may also influence older adults' leisure participation. Therefore, the present study aimed to understand the experiences and perspectives of Indian older adults and their family members regarding leisure participation following retirement. The present study used an interpretative phenomenological approach with in-depth interviews. The participants were eight dyads of older adults and their family members residing in Mumbai, an Indian metropolis. The findings suggest that older adults described activities that gave them satisfaction as leisure, such as preretirement hobbies, work-related activities, volunteering, and activities for and with family, including household chores. The study also identified personal, familial, and contextual factors influencing older adults' leisure participation. The findings of this study can inform the provision of contextually relevant interventions to support meaningful leisure participation in older adults and healthy aging.

Ageism, a systematic process of discriminatory behavior toward older adults, can have negative consequences for patients. The aim of this study was to investigate ageism in providing nursing care and its attributed factors in hospitals of Kashan/Iran in 2023. A sample of 300 nurses were randomly recruited to this cross-sectional study, and completed the questionnaire of ageism in nursing care and its attributed factors. Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman's correlation and multivariate linear regression analysis statistical tests were used for data analysis. Participants had a mean age of 35.2 ± 8.47 years, with 218 (72.7%) being female. The mean ageism score was 41 ± 8.9 (range: 26-70), indicating relatively low age-based discrimination. However, 90 nurses (30%) expressed reluctance to care for older adult patients. Ageism scores showed significant relationships with gender, type of ward, interest in geriatric nursing, accompanying elderly relatives in the hospital, the relationship with grandparents, age, and work experience. Multivariate regression revealed that attributed factors could explain 12.3% of the variance in ageism scores, with only gender and type of ward having a significant relationship. Although the ageism score was low, a considerable percentage of nurses expressed discriminatory views toward older adult patients. Preventing ageism in nursing care remains a challenge for healthcare services.