Journal of Gerontological Social Work最新文献

COVID-19 continues to have detrimental effects worldwide, especially on vulnerable populations. The burden of mental health concerns and psychological well-being resulting from social isolation and loneliness induced by COVID-19 are increasingly recognized in old age. The aim is to determine the extent of social isolation and loneliness among older adults, the methodologies used, the effect on mental health during COVID-19, and review intervention strategies and lifestyle changes to improve the current situation through the recommendations of the studies included. The articles published on PubMed, ProQuest, and Scopus databases from December 2019 to December 2021 with the following keywords ("Older Adults" "Social Isolation," "Loneliness," "Mental Health," "COVID-19") in English were included. Older adults have faced a serious burden of social isolation and adverse mental health effects during COVID-19. Anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia are the major mental health concerns among older adults worldwide. It is suggested that spousal support and social networks, adaptive organizational change, and a responsive public sector are critical in reducing the obstacles to older adults. COVID-19 resilience among the aging population can be remarkable if adequately cared for with senior-friendly pandemic-related intervention strategies, policies and legislation.

Prior research has demonstrated ways in which community events help to establish age-friendly community initiatives and strengthen their impact. We extend these insights by discussing how the design and implementation of a statewide event - the New Jersey Age-Friendly Virtual Fair - exemplifies this practice theory and extends its applicability beyond local community development toward broader state-level age-friendly ecosystems. We describe how events that are deliberately multi-organizational, multi-sectoral, and multi-level can help to further propel the Age-Friendly Movement toward systems change for aging in community.

This study investigated how older Chinese immigrants in affordable senior housing facilities (ASHs) appraise and cope with anti-Asian discrimination and related stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 26 participants aged over 65, analyzing verbatim transcripts and field notes using thematic analysis. Four major domains were identified: (1) discriminatory experience, (2) appraisals of discrimination stress, (3) coping strategies, and (4) rationales behind coping. Among the participants, 11 (42%) reported experiencing discrimination either personally or by someone they know. Participants' appraisals of discrimination stress varied, and most of them opted for disengagement coping strategies (e.g., avoidance, rationalization) attributing them to health concerns, individual characteristics, environmental and societal factors, and low acculturation. The findings suggest the need for more social and community resources to enhance coping capacity and resilience in this vulnerable population.

The Aid and Attendance (A&A) benefit is a cash entitlement for Veterans who served in the U.S. military to obtain personal care services. Our objective was to identify factors contributing to variation in A&A enrollment across VA Medical Centers (VAMCs). We used VA data to calculate the enrollment rate among older Veterans receiving a VA pension or compensation in 2015, then purposefully sampled social work leaders at 15 VAMCs with the highest (n = 7) and lowest (n = 8) enrollment rates for interviews. All respondents viewed A&A as an important benefit. Participants at high-enrollment sites indicated strong working relationships with Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) with onsite presence and education about A&A facilitate access. Participants at low-enrollment sites indicated they desired education around A&A eligibility criteria and collaboration with VBA/VSOs. VA and non-VA social workers would benefit from education about VBA's benefits, and this requires collaboration with VBA representatives.

The two aims of this study were to: 1) identify the 100 most impactful contributors to English-language gerontological journals, and 2) map their respective disciplinary affiliations to help illuminate the perspectives shaping gerontological discourse. Toward that end, we conducted a secondary data analysis of a publicly available database of the world's leading scientists. After extracting all scientists in the gerontological category, we rank ordered them according to a composite measure of scholarly impact that controls for self-citations and author order while also calculating other bibliometric statistics. Disciplinary affiliations were assigned based upon the Classification of Instructional Programs codes developed by the National Center for Education Statistics at the United States Department of Education. The results reveal the mean contributor to the gerontological literature published 241.15 (SD = 203.95) papers and - after correcting for self-citations - had an h-index of 50.05 (SD = 25.00), and an hm-index 23.67 (SD = 7.50). A diverse array of professional affiliations characterized the contributors with a plurality being located in the health professions category, followed by the biological and biomedical science, and social sciences categories. The results reveal that gerontology is home to some of the world's leading scientists. Leveraging their expertise can help advance the field's collective knowledge development.

Generativity has been increasingly recognized as an important component of healthy aging. Although the desire to be generative is influenced by societal and cultural expectations, the relative influence of its driving factors by retirement status, a significant life-course transition, is underexplored. This study examined how later-life generativity is driven by the interplay between retirement status and financial, human and social capital. An online survey targeting Hong Kong adults aged 45+ was conducted. Linear regression models were stratified by retirement status (working and retired) to examine the effects of financial (income, assets, and financial satisfaction), human (education and health-related measures), and social capitals (productive and social engagement) on generativity. Among those working, higher generativity was associated with financial, human, and social capitals that facilitated material provision. Among those retired, human and social capitals that supported the transmission of knowledge and experience were more important for generativity. For both groups, support from close social networks was the strongest predictor. Different cultural demands, dictated by retirement status, play a crucial role in determining how older adults feel like they can contribute to subsequent generations. These findings can inform policies and programs that seek to support healthy transitions into retirement.

The present study examined older adults' use of digital technology and its relation to perceived well-being before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Three cross-sectional survey data from the European Social Survey (ESS) were employed including ESS8-2016 (n = 10,618, Mean age = 73.59 ± 6.76 years; 54.4% female), ESS9-2018 (n = 13,532, Mean age = 73.85 ± 6.58 years; 55.9% female), and ESS10-2020 (n = 4,894, Mean age = 73.49 ± 6.40 years; 59.0% female). Results showed that there was a tendency to increase Internet use on a daily basis across different European countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Old age, low education, being widowed, and living in a household with more than five household members were salient factors that are correlated with lower levels of Internet use. Internet use was positively associated with happiness and life satisfaction, and negatively associated with poor general health.

This study aimed to understand ambivalent ageism among younger adults during the pandemic by examining whether younger adults' beliefs around COVID-19 and the sources from which they received COVID-19 information were associated with the intensity of their ageism. For this aim, survey data were collected from individuals ages 18 to 44 between July and September 2021. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis revealed that benevolent ageism was more intense than hostile ageism when two subscales of ambivalent ageism-benevolent and hostile-were compared. Hispanic or Latinx respondents showed less intense ambivalent ageism than non-Hispanic and non-Latinx respondents. The respondents' beliefs about safety measures and the prioritization of medical resources were significantly associated with the intensity of their ageism. Receiving COVID-19 information via traditional media and social media was also significantly associated with more intense ageism. These findings indicate that social work advocacy should continue to combat ageism in times of crisis.

Medical assistance in dying (MAID) is available in Canada for competent persons meeting the legal requirements. Extending access to persons lacking decisional capacity is being considered. Social workers may be called upon to accompany these persons through the MAID process. As part of a larger survey, we asked social workers from Quebec whether they would be willing to be involved should advance requests for MAID be legalized. Of the 367 respondents, 291 replied that they would. Using multivariable logistic regression, we identified characteristics that distinguish them from the other social workers surveyed: importance of religious or spiritual beliefs, being born in Canada, having received assisted-death requests from families, professional experiences with MAID, and dreading the prospect of participating in MAID for persons lacking decisional capacity. These findings underline the need for educational interventions that would increase social workers' confidence in providing high-quality care to clients who opt for MAID.