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Falls in older people are currently considered as a serious worldwide public health problem. One of the main reason of the fall is reduced capacity for quick adaptation to changing conditions. Fall is always caused by a complex interaction of external and internal factors. Falls often cause injury to the elderly, requiring long-term, complex and expensive treatment. In the cause that a fall does not cause an injury, mobility is reduced because of fear from fall too. Health care facilities, nursing homes and other facilities dealing with prevention of falls. An international network Prevention of Falls Network Europe (ProFaNe) is focused on fall prevention and on improving postural stability. ProFaNe created a diagnostic instrument tool Falls efficacy Scale – International (FES-I) to assess fear of falling among seniors. Diagnostic tool has been successfully translated into several languages using the methodology of Ten Step Translation Protocol. The authors present a valid translations of Falls Efficacy Scale – International for use in the Czech Republic.
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This article aims to sum up a responses by volunteers of the intervention mobility program for elderly population and their views on their own relationship with physical exercise and a sport. It explores the questions about their own physical activity throughout their life and their motivation for joining this program. Also it describes their feelings about the excise, a relations with other clients of this program and their other activities apart from this program.
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The study deals with the investigation of functional condition of seniors’ muscular system at the age of 60 and more. The research was performed with an intentionally selected file of seniors in which a physical activity was regularly stimulated. The functional condition of muscular apparatus was investigated according to Janda test (2004) and the following motoric changes were evaluated with the help of Friedman test and objective relevance. On the basis of the recorded data in accordance to previous proved findings we can state that an adequate physical intervention has a high importance for adjustment of tested motoric stereotypes, restoring physiological length of tested muscles and muscles with a tendency to shortening, and restoring strength of tested muscles and muscles with tendency to weakening.
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The purpose of this research is to determine the influence of level of education to the self-sufficiency and mobility in seniors, and to map the prevalence of disability and mobility limitations in both elderly men and women. For this study we compiled a random selection of people over 75 years. They were tested with the “Get up and go“ test to assess their habitual mobility and by using the Barthel index, we set their level of dependence in ADL (activities of daily living). Through a personality questionnaire, we obtained personal data on the subjects.
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This article presents partial results, based on the lifestyle of seniors with a focus on the particular determinants (with focus on sport activities), which belong to key social factors of the quality of life of seniors. Survey respondents were seniors from Liptovsky Mikulas city. A questionnaire was used to detect primary indicators of quality of life and lifestyle of seniors. The findings significantly showed that physical education and sport activity play an important role in maintaining social contacts, bonds, health and independence, which are particularly specific in that age of seniors from different points of view.
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This paper summarises the knowledge about transition from the third age to what is called the fourth age. The study understands ageing as an embodied process and explores the meanings that are attached to the body in the narratives of older persons who have acquired impairment in later life and are receiving care. Because the onset of impairment and infirmity marks a point of transition, the study considers the bodily aspects of the ageing process as key elements, despite this being highly problematic in current social gerontology. The authors call for a complex approach to understanding the meanings of the body in the transitions into old age and drawing on their own study based on three repeated interviews with ten older adults conducted over the course of one year (8 women, mean age = 83.8 years), they explore the meanings that are attached to the body in the context of receiving care. Their analysis of the personal accounts and narratives of everyday activities from the participants in their study revealed that embodiment in action is the main topic through which participants experienced their everydayness. The meanings of embodiment in action are shaped and reconstructed on three dimensions that capture important processes of embodiment in action: the sensing of the body (the Body as an Organiser of Activities), anticipation of the body (the Body as an Uncertain Companion), and the managing of the body (the Body as Work to Be Done). The findings offer insights into the processes of transitions in old age, in which the emotional, social, and behavioural aspects of embodiment in action, rather than age, play the key role. The study further highlights that the meanings of the body are complex, highly relevant, and should not be overlooked within the organisational practice of social and health care.
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Review of: Jasminka Zloković i Anita Zovko: Gerontologija. Izazovi i perspektive, Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada, Sveučilište u Rijeci, Filozofski fakultet, Zagreb, 2020., 295 str.
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The ageing phenomenon of the 21 St Century has led to an increased need of public policies to protect the rights of the older population. An example is the Law of the Rights of Older Persons, a Brazilian legislation. Some countries still lack this kind of legislation, which may cause more vulnerability among this population. The exercise of interpersonal rights in daily life requires recognition of general and specific duties, beyond the competence to exercise them. Considering that the first step in the exercise of rights is to recognize them, the goals of this descriptive study are: (a) presenting some exploratory and inferential data on the recognition of rights, from the responses of 60 elderly (30 Brazilian and 30 Portuguese) to an eight-item questionnaire regarding to the Law for the Rights of Older Persons, (b) discussing the importance of the elderly rights in the Brazilian and Portuguese contexts. In general, the Brazilian sample presented higher scores than the Portuguese sample for the recognition of three rights (priority assistance, free issuing of documents, reserved parking spaces) which might be related to the existence of a legislation in Brazil but not in Portugal. Both groups reported higher scores only of awareness of rights, medium scores for exercising rights and low scores for discrimination of unrespected rights and for mobilization of feelings of justice, which points to possible difficulties to claim for their rights. These findings may indicate that age-specific legislation is a necessary but not sufficient condition to prevent violence against the older persons. We discuss the importance of research and psychosocial interventions to promote the necessary skills for the older persons claim and defend their rights.
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The proportion of older people is increasing. During the years lived with disease and functional mobility loss, ensuring their well-being becomes a challenge for society. In addition to health, well-being in old age depends on various circumstances of an individual’s personal life. While contact with family members from a distance or irregular contact may be sufficient for satisfying the need for communication and may alleviate loneliness, it cannot replace the assistance that being present can provide. The difficulties or disadvantages are associated with some types of living arrangements. Therefore, patterns of living arrangements for older people are of key importance in studies of their well-being. The demographic characteristics vary by country but differences are expected to be less between societies experiencing a similar path in development. Since the last decade of the 20th century, rapid changes have brought Eastern Europe closer to the more developed areas of Europe, both in economic and social terms. The patterns of living arrangements for older people in Estonia compared to people of similar age in Belgium show some signs of convergence, the latter being considered representative of Western Europe. The studied period for Estonia includes the transition period from the Soviet regime to the current situation. Accordingly, we address the question of whether this transition accounts for some specific features in Estonia, compared with Belgian trends. We find rather different patterns in the distribution of older people’s living arrangements in the two countries but similar trends in the changes indicating convergence between the two countries.
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Intergenerational learning can be informal as well as non-formal. In the former case, it takes place inside and outside the family. In the latter case, however, it takes the form of various intergenerational educational programs. This research concerns the informal dimension of intergenerational learning. The main goal was to recognise the position from which older adults direct their message to other genera-tions, identify its scope and strength, and what distinguishes the intergenerational message in late adulthood. The present study follows the constructionist paradigm and is based on grounded theory methodology. The semi-structured interview tech-nique was used to collect the data. The empirical material was 37 recorded interviews with people over seventy (21 women and 16 men). The selection of cases had a theo-retical character, which means they were chosen based on current analytical findings. The analysis results showed that the older adults direct their message to different generations from two qualitatively different positions – significant others and tradi-tional authorities. In the case of significant others, the scope of the message is small, but the power of its impact is immense. The message formulated from the position of traditional authorities has a relatively low scope and power of impact. The results of the research show that intergenerational learning can occur in both directions – from the older to the younger generation and from the younger to the older generation. On the other hand, the phenomenon of impregnation or closure to intergenerational transmission by people of different generations is firmly documented. What appears in the message of older people and is somewhat unusual in the earlier stages of life are statements about a universal message to an anonymous and impersonal recipient.
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The main aim of the paper is to analyse the impact of household wealth (real estate, financial and other assets), income, age, education and gender on the saving for retirement behaviour of Lithuanian households. The wealth of households is one of the possible guarantees to ensure welfare in old age or another “force majeure” situation. Both non-financial and financial assets can be the saving instruments or factors influencing saving behaviour. The paper presents how much and what kind of assets Lithuanian households have accumulated and what level of income and financial ability to save they have. The research is based on the data from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). Data analysis reveals income and education is the most influential factors of retirement saving behaviour, households’ wealth has a positive and negative impact on retirement saving behaviour.
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Recenzja: Ewa Zasępa, Monika Misiec, Doświadczając starości. Zdrowie psychiczne osób starszych. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Difin, 2021, s. 233, ISBN: 978-83-8270-029-9.
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In view of the demographic changes and the increasing proportion of elderly people in Poland, it seems important to analyse the institutional participation of seniors in the functioning of local governments (including in terms of their participation in the life of the local community). From the legal point of view, one of the institutional forms of participation/co-determination of senior citizens at the municipal level (according to the Act on Municipal Self-Government) is the council of senior citizens. In practice, however, the insufficient activity of senior citizens’ councils, attempts at their politicization, as well as variations in their activity in different parts of the country, have been observed. The article aims to determine the role of the institution of senior citizens’ councils as a form of social participation and possible changes to the rules of operation, and the legal basis of the institution that could be implemented. To achieve this objective, a non-reactive research method was used, which contained an analysis of the content of legal acts, case law and available statistical data. As a result, the following conclusion was drawn: seniors’ councils appeared to be the weakest form of social participation in local government units. Thus, to strengthen its significance, this institution requires additional legislative changes, such as determining the scope of competence of senior citizens’ councils and clarifying the general composition of the councils.
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The article deals with the issue of social security of seniors in the context of the challenges of contemporary social policy in Poland, implemented at the level of their local residence. This is because one of the categories of people belonging to environmental policy at the local level, next to the integrally understood family, are also seniors in the penultimate and last phase of their lives. They not only have a sense of belonging to the area and place where they live, but also an awareness of social security in a multidimensional local policy. The argumentation highlights three aspects: the challenges of seniors in the local environment, the challenges of local policies stimulated by the increasing number of seniors and the demonstration of local policy strategies towards the older and oldest generation of citizens. Postulates and recommendations were also highlighted.
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The research and scientific discussion in the paper focuses on the category of the sense of career success. In the theoretical part, main assumptions referring to this category are presented: work, the value of work, the sense of career success. They determined the direction of the scientific investigation. The study was conducted within the qualitative paradigm. The research questions were answered using the qualitative interview method. The analysis and interpretation of the data obtained led to conclusions regarding the sample interviewed, as well as recommendations regarding further studies of the categories identified.
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When family is looking after an elderly person, there appear characteristic behaviors of family carers towards the senior. They treat an old man as a child in many aspects of everyday tasks. The presented article concerns the phenomenon of infantilization, which consists in treating seniors as children in various situations. They may related to behaviors towards the old man, among which were distinguished: care, taking care and communication. The article presents a research report presenting this multidimensional phenomenon. It focuses on its analysis in a social perspective.
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The phenomenon of social exclusion is an interdisciplinary issue and its multidimensional view goes beyond poverty, unemployment, and access to various goods and services. It covers also issues related to, for example: breaking social ties, a sense of isolation and dependence on others. The problem of social exclusion affects many social groups, but there are groups that are more sensitive, becoming recipients of the adverse effects of this phenomenon. The elderly are a group particularly vulnerable to the effects of exclusion. The aim of the article is to outline the problem of seniors’ transport exclusion as a dynamically growing phenomenon in rural areas. The article attempts to answer the question of to what extent the surveyed seniors experience an unfavourable communication situation and how limited access to public transportation affects their functioning.
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Educational activities undertaken by seniors are of particular interest to instructorsand researchers in the field of lifelong education. The purpose of the paper is to show howmany seniors participate in various educational programs and undertake formal and informallearning. The paper will also address more specific questions like why seniors want to learn,what motivates them to continue learning, what importance they actually attach to learning.Teachers, instructors and those concerned with the learning needs of older people shouldunderstand how older students differ from younger ones, both in their motivation to learn andin their cognitive abilities. The need to develop educational programs and teaching techniquesdesigned specifically for older adults is extremely urgent, as education and learning play animportant role in successful aging.
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