Journal of Gerontological Social Work最新文献

Past research has shown that LGBTQIA+ mid-life to older adults are more at risk for social isolation and loneliness, which contributes to higher rates of health issues in older adult and LGBTQIA+ communities. In the current study, participants (n = 33) were interviewed about what social health factors impact their communities, which confirmed this past research of Attachments and Social Connections being important in the overall health of this population. Participants noted that specifically a lack of early positive interpersonal attachments to family, a need for more availability of community mentorship, and a lack of positive social connections across the life course impacted health. Participants discussed a solution of more Social Connections to reduce social connection issues. Implications of participant recommendations of personalizing social experiences, making social connections more positive, and creating well intentioned mentoring experiences can lead to more tailored intergenerational programing. Conclusions show that more social connections across the broader LGBTQIA+ community need to be made to instill future growth and hope for LGBTQIA+ communities as they age.

This study explores the loneliness experiences of older men following the loss of a spouse. Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed two themes: "The process of life reorganization among older men following spousal loss" and "reflections of loneliness in the lives of older men following spousal loss." The findings indicate that loneliness after spousal loss is closely intertwined with ideals of hegemonic masculinity, which further exacerbates the challenges in older men's lives. These results suggest the need for gender-sensitive support services for men living alone after the death of their spouse.

Japan is expanding acceptance of foreign care workers as its population ages. This study conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 workers in Japanese care settings and analyzed their experiences qualitatively. Barriers-psychological, situational, and institutional-included difficulties with linguistic and cultural understanding, challenges in acquiring specialized terminology, insufficient career support, and weak daily living support systems. Opportunities included acquiring advanced care knowledge and skills and building trusting relationships with older adults. In building relationships with older adults across cultures, professional expertise was embodied beyond awareness and enhanced care quality. Findings suggest institutional and workplace reforms to leverage workers' strengths.

Planning for discharge is common among nursing-home residents who enter the facility for a short-term rehabilitative stay. More challenging is community discharge among long-stay residents who have been in a nursing-home beyond the Medicare funded rehabilitation period. The current manuscript describes an analysis of interviews conducted with 42 nursing-home discharge planners in the context of a statewide policy to promote nursing-home to community discharge among long-stay residents. Identified themes from the analysis include a focus on newly admitted residents, starting early, multi-disciplinary planning, lack of available community services, financial concerns, and balancing resident safety with the desire to return home.

Abuse against older adults is an under-researched pathway to older adult homelessness. This paper fills a gap through a secondary data analysis of qualitative interviews with five providers and 10 clients from a homeless shelter serving older adults fleeing abuse. Drawing on a feminist ethics of care framework, we explored the role of care in participants' experiences of shelter life and what aging in the right place meant to them, identifying three themes: 1) cultivating trust and relationship-building between providers and clients; 2) caregiving, mutual care, and collective care among clients; and 3) lack of care and processes of repair.

The Chinese population of older adults is the largest in the world and growing rapidly. Faith-based nursing homes are key players in the provision of care to the most vulnerable aging groups, including adults with dementia. Yet, little is known about the challenges administrators of these facilities encounter. The present study addresses this knowledge gap by identifying the primary stressors administrators of faith-based nursing home experience and the strategies they deploy to cope with the challenges. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 administrators located in 14 Chinese provinces. The findings indicate the two most prominent stressors are: managing residents with dementia, and procuring sufficient staff, followed by financial pressures, dealing with governmental regulations, and interacting with difficult family members. The most common coping strategy was operationalizing spiritual practices (e.g. prayer), followed by addressing the cited stressors (e.g. recruiting staff continuously) and using personalized strategies (e.g. walking in nature). The mean level of salience assigned to spiritual coping was 9.43 (SD = 1.40) on the 0-10 scale, indicating spirituality was a critical resource for most respondents. The findings underscore the importance of supporting administrators' spirituality to help mitigate burnout and maintain a high level of functioning in the face of significant challenges.

This study aims to explore articulations of gender identity, sexuality, and LGBTI perspectives in national as well as local dementia care policies and guidelines in Sweden. The analysis of the documents is influenced by Bacchi's WPR-approach. The analysis illustrates how there is a general silence on gender identity, sexuality, and LGBTI perspectives in policy. LGBTI perspectives tend to be addressed separately from people with dementia and most often present as potential grounds for discrimination. LGBTI people with dementia appear to be non-existent, and gender identity and sexuality irrelevant to dementia care and person-centered approaches, and by extension irrelevant to personhood.

Loneliness affects many older adults. As part of the "Telephone Angel" project, telephone partnerships between volunteers and older adults affected by loneliness were designed to counteract experiencing loneliness. Volunteers (100 ≤ N ≤ 114) and older adults who are (22 ≤ N ≤ 45) and who are not (25 ≤ N ≤ 71) part of the project were surveyed twice. Concerning loneliness, telephone partnerships increased the sense of community (d = .38). Older adults' life satisfaction increased (d = .46) as well. Stigmatization increased between the survey periods for those inside and outside the project (.21 ≤ d ≤ .35).

This study examined the longitudinal associations and mechanisms between Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) disability and depression among middle-aged and older adults. Using data from three waves (2015, 2018, 2020) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), a cross-lagged model was employed. It revealed that IADL disability predicted depression, with life satisfaction as a mediator. Social participation trajectory moderated these longitudinal associations, with a higher trajectory reducing negative effects of IADL disability on depression by enhancing life satisfaction. The findings suggest that promoting social participation to improve life satisfaction may help prevent depression associated with IADL disability.

Empowerment is a central paradigm in the care for older people. Social work requires measuring instruments to be able to meaningfully justify its efforts and interventions. This study aims at the validation of the Psychological Empowerment Scale for Older People, a measuring instrument build on this operationalization. The PESOP was administered to a large sample and completed by 398 older people in the Netherlands. The results provided evidence for a single-factor scale consisting of 17 items, with strong reliability and validity scores. The PESOP provides social work with a tool by which to measure the empowerment of older service users.