Journal of Applied Gerontology最新文献

Many individuals who reside in permanent residential aged care (RAC) have a diagnosis of dementia, with the majority experiencing a communication disorder. Existing literature has placed an emphasis on the need for staff to undertake communication partner training. This study aimed to investigate the preferences of RAC staff, and their perceived barriers and facilitators to workplace training. Through an exploratory cross-sectional online survey, a sample of RAC workers in Australia were recruited (n = 104). Descriptive statistics revealed that the majority of participants preferred training to be delivered face to face and being paid for participation. Through content analysis of open-ended questions, seven categories were identified regarding perceived barriers and facilitators for communication partner training in the workplace. These included staff shortages, time pressures, remuneration and training delivery method, and quality of the educators. Additionally, management attitudes were pertinent. These findings may inform the development and outcomes of future communication partner training in RAC.

The objective of this study was to understand barriers to healthcare and social service utilization among older adults residing in rural areas who use drugs. A cross-sectional survey of persons who use opioids or inject drugs in rural counties with high overdose rates across ten states was conducted. For this analysis, participants were restricted to only the 375 individuals aged 50 and older. They were asked about barriers to utilizing healthcare and social services. Multivariate analyses were conducted. The most common barriers were a lack of transportation and a fear of stigma. The average number of barriers was 2.53. Those who were either uninsured or homeless endorsed 37% more barriers. For every five-year increase in age, the number of barriers reduced by 15%. Efforts to reduce these barriers may include expanding eligibility for transportation and housing services and leveraging trusted community members to broker linkages to providers to overcome stigma.

Housing solutions for older adults aim at providing a safe environment to live in. The construction is heavily based on aspects of physical safety, often disregarding the social aspects of feeling safe. The older adults themselves are looking for a living environment that supports their individual capacities and social networks. The living environment can contribute to their physical, social, and emotional safety by providing accessible housing and spaces for community building. Interviews with older adults who had recently lived through a building fire highlighted the importance of the community in daily life, in emergency as well as in recovery from hazards. The results show that community building is related to access to common-use spaces and daily interaction with neighbors. The shared spaces in the immediate surroundings can enhance community cohesion and generate peer support. The common-use spaces and public facilities in urban environment have a significant role in emergencies and in the process of recovery from adversities.

While mobile technology is rapidly evolving, it remains a challenge for some older adults to use smartphones worldwide. To address this issue through tailored skill training and product design, this study developed a questionnaire to assess the smartphone proficiency of older adults. The Smartphone Proficiency Questionnaire for Chinese Older Adults (SPQ-COA) assessed proficiency based on 30 up-to-date tasks (e.g., mobile payment), that covered common operations in daily life of Chinese older adults. The questionnaire was distributed to 452 older adults (age ≥60), as well as 100 young adults (age: 18-30) as a control group. The questionnaire performed well in terms of reliability, difficulty, and discrimination. Among older adults, higher scores were associated with lower age, longer daily use duration, more years of use, higher monthly income, and higher education level, further validating the questionnaire. Overall, the SPQ-COA is a valid tool for evaluating Chinese older adults' smartphone usage skills.

Subjective aging in older adults is associated with a decline in basic activities of daily living (bADL), although this is less well studied with increasing age cohorts by their healthcare resources (HCR) and healthcare access (HCA) controlling for sociodemographics. We aimed to address this gap in knowledge by analyzing the National Health and Aging Trends round 11 data set on 3303 older adults aged 70 to above 90, comprising 42% male and 58% female by age cohort (middle-old -70-79, n = 1409; older-old -80-89, n = 1432, oldest-old- 90 plus, n = 462). Results of mediation-moderation analysis show the subjective aging whole model comprising subjective cognitive decline, HCR, HCA, and sociodemographic to predict a decline in bADL with increasing age to be higher among the older-old age (80-89) compared to the middle-old age (70-79) or oldest-old (90 years +) cohorts. These findings suggest a "doughnut" effect by which the older-old age cohort of 80-89 may be coping less well with their bADL, while the oldest-old may have adapted to functional loss in their everyday living and/or comprises adults who may have passed a mortality selection despite a more significant burden of comorbidity.

Lifestyle activity engagement is a modifiable factor for cognitive decline. We aimed to identify lifestyle patterns (LPs) among community-dwelling older adults in the pre-dementia stages and to explore the links between LPs, cognitive function, and individual characteristics. 702 older Chinese adults were recruited. Three LPs were identified by latent class analysis: active aging lifestyle pattern (AALP), leisure lifestyle pattern (LLP), and work-centered lifestyle pattern (WLP). AALP refers to participation in various activities that are meaningful to individuals and benefit their well-being. LLP is the pattern of activities aimed at recreation. WLP refers to the LP where individuals are most likely to engage in work-related activities. However, only AALP is protected against mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Multinomial logistic regression models revealed the differences in individual characteristics among participants with different LPs, indicating the importance of tailored intervention strategies. As a protective factor against MCI, AALP should be highlighted in community-based care.

This study examined how compensatory and enabling domains of an Age-Friendly City (AFC) moderate the relationship between suspected mental health problems and depressive and anxiety symptoms among older adults. Four thousand six hundred and twenty-five Hong Kong Chinese aged ≥60 years completed a telephone survey between April and July 2022, including PHQ-2 and GAD-2. AFC indices sourced from prior territory-wide study. Linear mixed models showed that enabling AFC domains, namely, social participation, respect and social inclusion, and civic participation and employment, alleviated the effects of suspected mental health problems on respondents' depressive and anxiety symptoms (b = -0.40 to -0.56). Three-way interaction models revealed that the protective effects of all compensatory and enabling AFCC domains (b = -1.23 to -6.18), except civic participation and employment, were stronger in old-old (70-79 years) and oldest-old (≥80 years) than young-old (60-69 years). AFCC-based interventions should focus on compensatory and enabling domains to support older adults' mental health.

Background: Research has examined the influence of positive psychological factors including purpose in life (PIL), need for cognition (NFC), and psychological flexibility on behaviors that support brain health (i.e., preserved cognitive functioning and brain structures). However, more research is needed to examine their predictive validity in relation to other important factors in this context including emotional distress and dementia worry. Objective: The current study included 348 older adults who completed self-report measures of PIL, NFC, psychological flexibility, emotional distress, dementia worry, and brain health behavior engagement via Qualtrics. Results: Greater PIL was associated with more engagement in all brain health behaviors while NFC was only associated with more cognitive activity, heart health monitoring, and stress management. Psychological flexibility mediated the association between PIL and engagement. Conclusion: Our findings add evidence to the incremental validity of positive neuropsychological factors on engagement in brain health behaviors. Implications for neuropsychological interventions are discussed.

Aging and caregiving are each risk factors for loneliness, but little is known about loneliness among older caregivers. Using the 2020 California Health Interview Survey (N = 7638), this study examined the relationship between (1) caregiving status and loneliness among older adults; (2) sociodemographic, technology, health, and caregiving characteristics and loneliness among older caregivers; and (3) compared how these variables relate to loneliness among older caregivers of persons with dementia versus non-dementia conditions. Findings revealed that 15% of older caregivers experienced loneliness, with dementia caregiving significantly increasing this likelihood. Immigrant caregivers, frequent internet users, and those with poorer self-reported health were at higher risk of experiencing loneliness. Future interventions, such as online social programs that foster social engagement, must be thoughtfully designed to align with the unique situations of older caregivers.

In this research we identified the training needs of paramedics in Australia regarding elder abuse identification and response. Ten qualitative interviews with paramedics and paramedic educators from each state and territory were conducted between January and March 2024. Participants encountered elder abuse in their professional capacity, often manifesting as neglect although responses were variable, influenced by the jurisdiction, whether the paramedic had specialist training, how much "scene time" was permitted, workload pressures, and if there were clear protocols and guidelines from the ambulance service on how to respond to elder abuse. The existing training was perceived as "patchy" and ad hoc, but participants offered recommendations for training content and preferred training delivery method in detecting and responding to elder abuse. Given population aging and increased use of ambulance services by older people, paramedics have a crucial role to play in elder abuse early detection and referral. This research presents a critical first step in addressing this gap.