Ukážka nami vypracovanej rešerše zahraničnej literatúry
1. Popul Health Manag. 2011 Feb;14 Suppl 1:S45-50.
Effectiveness of health and wellness initiatives for seniors.
Coberley C, Rula EY, Pope JE.
Center for Health Research, Healthways, Inc., Franklin, Tennessee 37067, USA.
Given the increasing prevalence of obesity and lifestyle-related chronic diseases
in the United States and abroad, senior wellness initiatives have emerged as a
means to stem the troubling trends that threaten the well-being and the economy
of many nations. Seniors are an important demographic for such programs because
this age group is growing, both as a proportion of the overall population and as
a contributor to health care cost escalation. The goal of senior wellness
programs is to improve the overall health of seniors through a variety of
approaches, including increased physical activity, better nutrition, smoking
cessation, and support of other healthy behaviors. Outcome metrics of particular
interest are the effects of participation in these programs on health care
utilization and expenditures. This review describes several studies that
demonstrate reduced inpatient admissions and health care costs, as well as
improved health-related quality of life as a direct result of participation in
large-scale senior wellness programs. Programs that effectively engage seniors
in, and change behavior as a direct result of, participation provide strong
evidence that health improvements and decreased health care expenditures can be
achieved. However, solutions to the challenges of broader enrollment and
sustained participation in these programs would increase the impact of their
outcomes and health-related benefits.
PMID: 21323620 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
2. J Music Ther. 2010 Fall;47(3):264-81.
Contributions of music to aging adults’ quality of life.
Solé C, Mercadal-Brotons M, Gallego S, Riera M.
Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona.
The purpose of this study was: (a) To evaluate and to compare the impact of three
music programs (choir, music appreciation and preventive music therapy sessions)
on the quality of life of healthy older adults, and (b) to identify the
motivations and the difficulties that seniors encounter when participating in
activities of this type, in order to come up with recommendations and strategies
for the design of appropriate programs for older adults. A pre-posttest
quasi-experimental design without equivalent control group was used in this
project. The sample included 83 persons over 65 years of age. The data collection
was carried out through an ad hoc questionnaire that included the four aspects of
the construct of quality of life (physical health, subjective health,
psychological well-being and interpersonal relations), a questionnaire on
motivation and another on satisfaction about the program. This questionnaire on
quality of life was administered twice: at the beginning of the programs
(pretest) and at the end (posttest). The results of this study indicate that the
participants perceived improvements in some aspects of their quality of life. In
addition, the main reasons which motivate participation in these musical
activities are to broaden the social network and to acquire new knowledge. The
results are discussed in the light of the challenges of active and satisfactory
aging.
PMID: 21275335 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
3. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2010 Oct 20. [Epub ahead of print]
Gist reasoning training in cognitively normal seniors.
Anand R, Chapman SB, Rackley A, Keebler M, Zientz J, Hart J Jr.
Center for BrainHealth®, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA.
OBJECTIVE: Cognitive impairment is a key factor that threatens functionality and
quality of life in seniors. Given the projection that the population of
individuals 65 years of age and older will double within the next 25 years, a
critical need exists to identify and test effectiveness of protocols that target
higher-order cognitive skills such as gist reasoning to maximize cognitive
capacity in later life.Methods: This study examined the effects of eight hours of
gist reasoning training in 26 cognitively normal seniors between the ages of
64-85 years (M?=?74.23, SD?=?6.67). RESULTS: Findings suggest that top-down
strategy-based gist reasoning training significantly improved abstraction
ability, a skill relevant to everyday life, as well as generalized to untrained
measures of executive function including concept abstraction, cognitive
switching, and verbal fluency. Individuals with lower baseline ability to
abstract gist showed the greatest gain in the target domain trained. CONCLUSIONS:
These findings highlight the potential value of engaging in cognitively
challenging activities that involve gist reasoning, to strengthen and preserve
cognitive capacity with aging. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PMID: 20963768 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
4. Can Rev Sociol. 2009 Nov;46(4):301-18.
Social capital and the care networks of frail seniors.
Keating N, Dosman D.
Department of Ecology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
norah.keating@ualberta.ca
Social capital has been a key framework in conceptualizing the place of social
ties in quality of life. Families have not been among groups of interest in
social capital research. Yet within the context of research and public policy on
aging, the contemporary discourse on families and care is congruent with social
capital assumptions. In this paper, we draw on social capital literature to frame
our understanding of the social capital inherent in families of frail older
adults, and hypothesize their abilities to benefit family members. Data are drawn
from Statistics Canada 2002 General Social Survey on Aging and Social Support.
PMID: 20481408 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
5. Prev Chronic Dis. 2010 Jan;7(1):A21. Epub 2010 Jan 15.
Garnering partnerships to bridge gaps among mental health, health care, and
public health.
Freeman E, Presley-Cantrell L, Edwards VJ, White-Cooper S, Thompson KS, Sturgis
S, Croft JB.
Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Augusta, Maine, USA.
Integrating mental health and public health chronic disease programs requires
partnerships at all government levels. Four examples illustrate this approach: 1)
a federal partnership to implement mental health and mental illness modules in
the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; 2) a state partnership to improve
diabetes health outcomes for people with mental illness; 3) a community-level
example of a partnership with local aging and disability agencies to modify a
home health service to reduce depression and improve quality of life among
isolated, chronically ill seniors; and 4) a second community-level example of a
partnership to promote depression screening and management and secure coverage in
primary care settings. Integration of mental health and chronic disease public
health programs is a challenging but essential and achievable task in protecting
Americans’ health.
PMCID: PMC2811516
PMID: 20040236 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
7. Ann Acad Med Stetin. 2007;53(1):98-103; discussion 103.
Pensioners’ quality of life in social care houses.
Fraczak B, Stawska B.
Zakład Protetyki Stomatologicznej Pomorskiej Akademii Medycznej w Szczecinie al.
Powstańców Wlkp. 72, 70-111 Szczecin.
BACKGROUND: Elderly people need special and complex dental care. They have the
right to a dignified life and for the dental care. In elderly the need for social
and family support grows. However, many seniors live their last stages of life in
the Social Care Houses. Governmental institutions fail to provide full support to
seniors since almost the entire psychosocial domain is neglected. Social Care
Houses, despite having the word “home” in its name, are only institutions
providing the patients with nursing care. The aim of the work was to study the
quality of life and psychosocial status in residents of Social Care Houses.
MATERIAL: The study enrolled 135 individuals aged from 66 to 87 years.
RESULTS: It was found that the quality of life in residents of Social Care Houses
was low and their psychosocial status was poor. Majority of the studied
individuals did not like their life so far. They were overwhelmed by the feeling
of tiredness, loneliness and fear about tomorrow. Despite feeling lonely the
residents of Social Care Houses showed strong tendency towards isolation. Low
psychical and physical activity influenced negatively the psychosocial status of
the seniors. It seems that psychotherapists should be the staff members in the
Social Care Houses.
CONCLUSIONS: 1. The quality of pensioners’ life in Social Care Houses does not
offer happy existence to them. 2. The pensioners’ psychosocial state is poor in
Social Care Houses. 3. It seems that Social Care Houses should employ
psychotherapists.
PMID: 18561619 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
8. Can J Aging. 2008 Spring;27(1):69-79.
Can canadian seniors on public pensions afford a nutritious diet?
Green RJ, Williams PL, Johnson CS, Blum I.
This study examined whether Canada’s public pensions (Old Age Security and Canada
Pension Plan) provided adequate income for seniors living in Nova Scotia in 2005
to afford a basic nutritious diet. Monthly incomes were compared to essential
monthly expenses for four household scenarios: (a) married couple, 80 years and
78 years, in urban Nova Scotia; (b) single male, 77 years in rural Nova Scotia;
(c) a couple, 70 years and 65 years, in rural Nova Scotia; (d) widowed female, 85
years, in urban Nova Scotia. The monthly food costs for the four households were
CAN$313.32, $193.83, $316.71, and $150.89, respectively. Results showed that both
single-member households lacked the necessary funds for a nutritious diet, while
living with a partner seemed to protect against inadequate financial resources.
These findings illustrate the need to improve Canada’s retirement systems to
ensure all seniors have adequate financial resources to meet their basic
needs-including nutritious food-prevent chronic disease, and ultimately improve
quality of life.
PMID: 18492638 [PubMed – in process]