Browsing by Subject "older adults"
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Item Design for the Frail Old: Environmental and Perceptual Influences on Corridor Walking Behaviors of Assisted Living Residents(2010-10-12) Lu, ZhipengRegular walking has several physical and psychological benefits for frail older people. However, many residents in long-term care facilities are too sedentary to achieve these benefits. Indoor walking appears to be a feasible way to promote active living among these residents and yet, there is little research that has been done in this regard. The researcher conducted two studies in Central Texas to explore how corridor design features influenced indoor walking behaviors among assisted living residents. In the first study, the researcher carried out six focus groups with 50 assisted living residents, discussing how they perceived the indoor corridor as "walkable." Residents reported that a walkable corridor should be safe, comfortable, and having beautiful/interesting things to see. In the second study, the researcher further examined the relationship between the built environment and walking behaviors among 326 residents from 18 facilities in a major city of Texas. The results indicated that 'perceived looped corridor' and 'number of stories' were significantly associated with residents' frequencies of indoor recreational walking. In addition, the availability and quality of sitting space around mailbox areas influenced the number of "walking to mailbox" trips. This research provides empirical evidence to develop activity-friendly facility design guidelines, and to create environmental interventions to facilitate active lifestyles among long-term care residents.Item Growing minds: evaluating the effects of gardening on quality of life and obesity in older adults(2009-05-15) Lillard, Aime Jo SommerfeldOlder adults represent a growing part of the population of the United States. Due to decreased physical activity, dietary changes, and alterations in metabolic rate this population is susceptible to an increased rate of diseases. The generation entering older adulthood is one which welcomed fast food and meal replacement foods allowing them to adapt to a more sedentary lifestyle and to need programs of preventative health. The Nutrition and Life Satisfaction Survey was used to investigate gardening as a preventative health intervention for older adults. This instrument was used to compare older (age 50+) gardeners and nongardeners on their perceptions of personal life satisfaction, nutrition, health, and gardening habits. The instrument was posted online at the Aggie Horticulture website in spring 2005. Respondents differentiated themselves as gardeners or nongardeners by responding positively or negatively to the question ?Do you garden?? Then, they completed the questionnaire about their quality of life andhealth status and, for gardeners, their gardening habits. Results indicated that gardeners had more desirable responses: Overall quality of life scores were higher for gardeners compared to nongardeners, and four individual quality of life statements yielded more positive answers by gardeners. Additionally, gardeners reported a higher consumption of total fruits and vegetables, including herbs, and of vegetables only including herbs. Personal reports of physical activity and of perceived health were higher among gardeners. Females were more likely than males to garden and spend a higher percentage of their budget on fruits and vegetables. Higher consumption of fruits and vegetables and higher levels of physical activity result in healthier lifestyles and, in turn, can increase quality of life.Item Health Status and Health Literacy in Older Adults(2014-08-04) Fulton, Daphne SaxonThis study aimed to examine the relationship between health literacy and the health status of older adults. The first section of the study consisted of a comprehensive literature review of prior research regarding cognitive, health, and behavioral factors associated with functional health literacy in older adults. Factors in older adults that influence health literacy include: demographics, including age, race, socioeconomic status, and education; cognitive abilities; health and disease knowledge; health beliefs including mistrust of traditional and nontraditional medicine; reading levels; communication skills; social support; healthcare access; preventive care behaviors; and hospitalizations. The second section of the study involved a comprehensive review of instruments testing health literacy. Most instruments testing health literacy revolve around medical term recognition and are based on clinical experiences and not on the practical application of using health knowledge to maintain and improve one?s health. Instruments examined include the REALM, REALM-R, TOFHLA, S-TOFHLA, MART, NVS, DAHL, SAHLSA, OHLI, and screening questions. The most widely used instrument at this time is the S-TOFHLA and most of the newer instruments use it as the standard when testing their validity. The third section of this study used primary data to examine health literacy, patient activation and health status in older adults. The study participants were older adults (n=533) recruited from senior centers, aging programs, and churches in southeast Texas between 2010 and 2012. Participants completed a survey regarding demographics and health status, functional health literacy and the shortened Patient Activation Measure. Using multivariate linear regression, health literacy was related to mental health (?= ?.191, p<.000) and number of days of limited physical activities (?= ?.123, p=.019); patient activation was related to overall general self-reported health status (?= ?.234, p<.000) and number of days of limited physical activity (?= ?.159, p<.001); and the interaction was related to poor physical health ?= ?.994, p<.000). The only statistically significant relationship with the interaction of the two was with the number of days of limited physical activity. Health literacy is related to the health status of older adults but better instruments are needed to more accurately assess levels of functional health literacy, especially in older adults. Patient activation is also related to the health status of older adults but the only statically significant relationship between the interaction of patient activation and health literacy was with the number of days of limited physical activity.Item Hospital depressive symptoms and ADL disability in older adults: A longitudinal analysis of course and associations(2010-04-26) Carrie Ann Ciro; Glenn V. Ostir; Yong-Fang Kuo; Kenneth Ottenbacher; Carl Granger; Beatriz AbreuDepressive symptoms and disability in activities of daily living (ADL) often increase in older adults during hospitalization and for many persist post-discharge. However, little is known about the psychological and functional response of older adults admitted to an Acute Care for Elders (ACE) unit. Questions remain about the association between depressive symptoms and ADL disability and factors that moderate these associations are unknown. Objectives of this study were to investigate: 1) change in depressive symptoms and ADL function from hospital to 3 month follow-up; 2) the association between depressive symptoms in hospital and ADL function 3 months post-discharge; and 3) moderators of the depression-ADL association.\r\n A tri-ethnic (white, black and Hispanic) sample of 403 older adults within an ACE database contributed subjective and objective information related to depressive symptoms, clinical variables and activity/participation measures across two time frames, admission and three months post discharge. A large minority reported high depressive symptoms in hospital and over half reported ADL disability. Across both assessment periods, risk factors for having high depressive symptoms were being unmarried and having any level of ADL disability. Conversely, risk factors for ADL disability were pain and depressive symptoms. At 3 months post discharge, the recovery rate from depression and incident ADL disability was high. Positive change in depression was significantly associated with positive change in ADL status. Increasing severity of hospital depression was associated with increased odds of ADL disability at the 3 month follow-up. Neither gender, marital status, pain nor medical history moderated this relationship. \r\n This study indicates that while older adults experience higher depressive symptoms and ADL disability while hospitalized, resolution of symptoms occur for many. This research contributes to the literature by extending our knowledge of the course and associations between depressive symptoms and ADL disability in hospitalized, older adults. Future research which focuses on interventions to minimize depressive symptoms and ADL disability is warranted. \r\nItem Patterns and predictors of mental health service use and serious mental illness among community-dwelling elderly(Texas A&M University, 2006-10-30) Karlin, Bradley EricOlder adults have historically utilized mental health services at substantially low rates. Unfortunately, though professional, policy, and other recent developments portend an increase in service use, there has been scant empirical attention devoted to the current or recent utilization of mental health treatment by the elderly, and almost nothing is known about the correlates of mental health need and service use among older adults. Accordingly, the present study examined patterns of serious mental illness (SMI), specific mental health syndromes, and service use among older (65+) and younger (18- 64) adults throughout the United States, and the extent to which various factors predict mental health need and the use and magnitude of mental health treatment. In addition, the study examined factors related to unmet need, as well as age group differences in perceived benefit from treatment. The findings reveal that older adults were three times less likely than their younger counterparts to receive any outpatient mental health treatment. Only 2.5% of older individuals utilized any outpatient mental health service in the past year, versus 7.0% of younger adults. The results indicate that the low rate of utilization by older adults may be partly a function of limited subjective mental health need. Prevalence estimates for SMI and all specific mental health syndromes, with the exception of agoraphobia, were markedly lower in the older than the younger cohort. Importantly, though mental health problems appear to be significantly undertreated in older and younger age groups, the study also reveals that those older and younger adults that make it into services typically benefit considerably from treatment. It is hoped that the knowledge yielded by the current study will promote efforts to enhance mental health care access and reduce the long neglected mental health needs of the nation??????s elderly population. Several factors related to mental health need and service use were identified in the study that may assist policy, planning, and outreach efforts aimed at increasing service access.Item The Contribution of Self-discrepancy in the Relationship between Role Loss and Well-being in Older Adults(2011-10-21) Lee, Kylin HaedgeThe purpose of the study is to investigate how older adults adjust to getting older and the losses that come with aging. This study examines how E.T. Higgins's theory of self-discrepancy mediates the relationship between role loss and subjective well-being. Subjective well-being (SWB) is defined as overall life satisfaction, the presence of positive affect and the absence of negative affect. This hypothesis, grounded in both self-discrepancy and life span developmental theory, is that the level of discrepancy between the actual and ideal self mediates the relationship between role losses and mental health. This study examined three models with each investigating how self-discrepancy mediates the relationship between role loss and a different outcome variable for each model: positive affect, negative affect, and satisfaction with life. The sample consisted of adults over the age of 60 living in both community and institutional settings. Several path analyses models were run to examine the tenability of the hypotheses within the three models. This study did not support any of its hypotheses of the indirect and direct effects mediation models with the outcome variables of positive affect, negative affect and satisfaction with life scale. However, it did show support for the self-discrepancy theory. Consistent with the theory, this study showed that those reporting more self-discrepancy reported less satisfaction with life, less positive affect, and more negative affect. This study also showed levels of SWB in non-clinical samples of older adults. This study supported the idea that more self-discrepancy is related to lower levels of SWB. This is important in a clinical setting to know for treatment of older adults suggesting that clinicians help their clients work towards less self-discrepancy and in turn, greater SWB.Item The Influence of Self-Perceptions of Aging on Older Adults' Cognition and Behavior(2014-07-29) Hughes, Matthew LaneHow old one feels, one?s subjective age, has been shown to predict important psychological and health outcomes. However, few studies have demonstrated a relationship between subjective age and cognitive performance. The first aim of this paper was to determine if subjective age is correlated with cognition. Study 1A investigated whether baseline subjective age was correlated with cognitive performance in several laboratory tests. The results found preliminary evidence that subjective age was correlated with several cognitive measures. Bootstrapping revealed several significant correlations between subjective age and cognitive performance. Study 1B investigated whether this effect could be replicated in an online sample. Preliminary results suggested baseline subjective age was related to cognitive performance. Bootstrapping revealed that subjective age was correlated with several cognitive measures, as well as confidence ratings. Study 1C further demonstrated that baseline subjective age was correlated with cognitive performance using data from a nationwide longitudinal study. The second aim of paper was to determine if manipulating subjective age would also affect cognition. Study 2 manipulated subjective age for a group of participants by giving them a memory test; a control group received a vocabulary test. There was evidence that manipulating subjective age affected some cognitive performance, such that higher subjective age was correlated with lower performance. Furthermore, participants who felt older were less confident in their performance for some unfamiliar tasks. The third aim of this paper was to determine whether subjective age could also be decreased, and if so, would this lead to an improvement for cognitive performance. In Study 3, half of the participants received positive feedback following a memory test, while the other half received no feedback after the test. The results suggest that positive feedback may lead to a lower subjective age, although this did not lead to higher cognitive performance. In conclusion, these studies provided strong evidence that subjective age is correlated with cognitive performance. Furthermore, the results suggest that manipulating subjective age can also affect cognitive performance and subjective confidence. Finally, the results support the theory that subjective age is a malleable variable which can be increased or decreased, depending on contextual factors.