J. Ageing Longev., Volume 4, Issue 2 (June 2024) – 8 articles

Introduction: Physical activity (PA) and exercise (EX) participation rates have not been increasing among older adults, with many not meeting recommended guidelines. This qualitative descriptive study examined factors influencing engagement in PA within and outside an older adult fitness club context, using self-determination theory (SDT). Methods: Thirty-seven community-dwelling adults 65 years and older participated in focus groups or telephone interviews. Two researchers independently coded and analyzed transcript data inductively and deductively using SDT. Results: Two broad themes, The Spectrum of Motivating Factors and Facilitators and Barriers, and nine sub-themes, Physical Activity and Exercise Brings Me Joy; Meaningful Personal Impetuses; I Get Active with a Little Help from my Spouse and Others; I See Changes and Improvements (Theme 1); I Can Do This; Connections and Sense of Belonging; I Cannot Do This; Setting, Environment, and People Supports; and Pragmatics (Theme 2), emerged from the data. All participants discussed several motivating factors: enjoyment, managing health conditions, being held ‘to account’ by others, opportunities for socialization, and seeing improvements in health and well-being. A lack of supportive environments, knowledgeable staff and suitable settings and programs were cited as barriers by participants who were not older adult fitness club members. Discussion: Factors along the extrinsic to intrinsic regulation continuum facilitated or hindered community-dwelling older adults to engage in and sustain PA within and outside an older adult fitness club context. The findings underscore the need for programs, settings, environments, and related components to be expressly older-adult-tailored to enhance motivation through competence, autonomy, and relatedness support for maximal engagement and participation in PA or EX. Full article

When engaging in a task, individuals may prioritize the task’s results (i.e., the outcome), or they may focus on the task in and of itself (i.e., the process). Previous conceptualizations of outcome and process orientations have focused on population- and context-specific motives rather than people’s general proclivity toward these orientations across diverse tasks. Using a context-generalized outcome and process measure, we examined whether older adults (M_age = 72.8) and younger adults (M_age = 18.0) varied in their outcome and process orientations, and explored how these differences were related to temporal focus. The results indicated that, compared to their younger counterparts, older adults were more process oriented, and focused more on the present. Meanwhile, younger adults were more outcome oriented and focused more on the past and the future compared to older adults. Mediation analyses further revealed that older adults were more present focused due to their heightened process orientation, while younger adults were more past and future focused due to their outcome orientation. The implications of these findings in applied settings such as the workplace, health promotion, and business are discussed. Full article

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease. Cognitive impairments are frequent non-motor symptoms in PD and have a significant impact on everyday life and well-being. Still, rehabilitation services for people with PD predominantly target motor symptoms. Drawing on data from a national Danish survey, this study aimed to determine significant differences among people living with PD with or without perceived cognitive impairments regarding (1) contact with different healthcare professionals, and (2) unmet needs for rehabilitation services. Data were analyzed based on whether the person with PD perceived cognitive impairments or not. Statistically significant differences between results for PD patients with and without cognitive impairments were calculated. Data on 6711 individuals with PD were included in the study. Respondents’ mean age was 73.5 years, and 31% of them were experiencing cognitive impairments. Significantly more people with PD and cognitive impairments were in contact with almost all professionals compared to those without cognitive impairments. However, individuals experiencing cognitive impairments were less often in contact with the professions most experienced in cognitive rehabilitation. Full article

With an ageing global population, healthcare systems confront challenges unique to the elderly. Current care models primarily manage health–illness shifts but frequently miss developmental transitions, particularly for older adults. Meleis’s transition theory offers an underutilized framework to rejuvenate our gerontogeriatric nursing approach. This article aims to articulate and advocate the value of Meleis’s transition theory as a framework for gerontogeriatric nursing, focusing on developmental transitions, thereby seeking a transformative change in the quality of elderly care. The article delves into Meleis’s transition theory’s vital components—transition types, conditions, and nursing therapeutics. It explores how these can be a multifaceted guide for gauging and overseeing ageing’s developmental shifts; adopting this theoretical perspective deepens our comprehension and bears tangible implications. Nurses versed in this theory could appreciate the benefits of a nuanced approach to the elderly, distinguishing it from the conventional biomedical stance. As the demands of an ageing populace grow, the integration of Meleis’s transition theory into nursing practices is not merely beneficial but imperative, setting a new standard for comprehensive and specialized elderly care. Full article

Introduction: Up to 50% of community-dwelling older adults report living with some chronic pain that interferes with their daily functioning and leads to disabilities. Hence, it is crucial to provide these individuals with strategies to effectively manage pain. An interdisciplinary approach is warranted considering the numerous factors contributing to pain among older adults. Although several studies have been conducted on various interdisciplinary pain self-management programs, little effort has been made to synthesize knowledge about such programs for older adults. Objective: The objective of this review was to synthesize the characteristics and effects of interdisciplinary chronic pain self-management interventions targeting community-dwelling older adults. Methods: A scoping review was conducted following the steps recommended by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and Levac et al. (2010). Keyword searches were performed in MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. Results: Sixty-six articles were included. Most interventions were based on a cognitive-behavioral group approach and used a combination of modalities, including education and training on the use of self-management strategies. The professionals most frequently involved in group interventions were psychologists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists. Several benefits of these programs have been reported concerning pain intensity, independence in daily functioning, mental health, and quality of life. Conclusions: Interdisciplinary chronic pain self-management programs appear promising in guiding clinical and rehabilitation interventions for older adults living with chronic pain. Full article

Demographic changes have led to an increase in older people in prisons. Whereas the rehabilitative process of younger offenders is geared towards their reintegration into the labour market, successful ageing should be a policy aim for older prisoners. This study explores how older incarcerated persons view their ageing. A qualitative study using a written survey with only the single question What does ageing in prison mean to you? was conducted in Bavaria, Germany. A total of 64 prisoners (61 male, 3 female) supplied answers varying in length from a few words to several pages. The thematic analysis revealed that together with health concerns, social relations and everyday activities, the uncertainty of the future was a central focus point for the older adults in prison. The authors propose that a positive vision of the future needs to be included in any model of successful ageing. If successful ageing is used as an aim for older prisoners, more attention needs to be paid to support interventions during and after the release process. Full article

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a mobile app designed to improve chronic disease self-management in patients aged 40 years and older with low health literacy and who had at least one chronic health condition, and to assess the impact of delivering information at different levels of reading difficulty. A randomized controlled trial was completed at two sites. Individuals aged 40 years and older screened for low health literacy who had at least one chronic health condition were randomly assigned to a tailored information multimedia app with text at one of three grade levels. Four primary outcomes were assessed: patient activation, chronic disease self-efficacy, health-related quality of life, and medication adherence. All groups showed overall increases in activation, self-efficacy, and health-related quality of life, but no change in medication adherence. No between-group differences were observed. The mobile app may have been effective in increasing participants’ levels of several psychosocial variables, but this interpretation can only be advanced tentatively in light of the lack of control-experimental group differences. Reading difficulty level was not significantly related to outcomes. Full article

Addressing how employment impacts older adults, including their psychological well-being, we contribute to the study of this topic by examining the association between paid work in community-dwelling older adults and their depressive mood, while considering the extent of their financial pressure. Methods: The data are from the Kashiwa longitudinal cohort study, with a 2014 baseline and a 2016 follow-up. Of the 1308 participants in the 2014 survey, 781 people were included. We conducted binary logistic regression analyses stratified by economic status with regard to the extent of the financial pressure experienced. The independent variable of interest was paid work in 2014, and the dependent variable was the extent of depressive mood (a score of 5 or more on the Geriatric Depression Scale 15) in 2016. Results: Paid work was associated with lower odds of depressive mood among those under financial pressure (odds ratio [OR] 0.46, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 0.26, 0.81), whereas for those financially stable, we did not find an association between paid work and odds of depressive mood (OR 0.99, [95%CI] 0.26, 2.63). Discussion: We evidence that for older adults under financial pressure, employment supports the maintenance of their psychological well-being. We contribute to the literature by understanding when employment is beneficial for older adults, which is important in developing appropriate older adult employment social policies. Full article