published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

It is expected that by 2030, nearly 21% of the population will consist of older adults, aged 65 years and older. Those who reach 65 have an average life expectancy of an additional 19 years. Adequate nutrition is essential to health and quality of life, especially for older adults. Congregate and home-delivered meal programs are an ideal setting in which to provide nutrition education for older adults that can lead to increases in successful aging. This cross-sectional study involved development and distribution of a novel survey for nutrition educators working with congregate and home-delivered meal programs. The purpose of this study was to describe the type and frequency of nutrition education provided by nutrition educators at congregate and home-delivered meal sites, whether lessons are behaviorally focused and theory-based, and which educator factors influence theory-based, behaviorally focused nutrition education score. The researcher also sought to examine if education sessions were being evaluated for effectiveness, if malnutrition was playing a role in nutrition education, whether state policies impact nutrition education, and if differences in nutrition education exist between dietetic and non-dietetic health professionals. Dietetic professionals (n = 122) are conducting more theory-based, behaviorally focused nutrition education (TB-BF-NE) than non-dietetic professionals (n = 139) (p < 0.001). A regression analysis showed that the educator factors predicting TB-BF-NE were number of topics taught, group size, length of session, and conducting evaluation (R2 = .518, p < 0.001). State policies on dietetic oversight did not appear to have an impact. Educators reported malnutrition was a major issue for older adults but did not feel they had the tools to screen for or address malnutrition. The most common topics for nutrition education were food safety, healthy eating, and diabetes; the most common delivery method was handouts. Because this is the first study of its kind, further exploration is indicated. Nutrition educators working with congregate and home-delivered meal participants need to be better trained on providing theory-based and behaviorally focused nutrition education, conducting evaluations, and finding materials and evidence-based lessons for older adults. Better training can also help educators implement more interactive lessons that will maintain the attention of the older adults they serve.

The baby boomer generation began turning sixty-five in 2011. Twenty percent of the U.S. population will be over age sixty-five by 2030. Such a rapidly aging population has posed significant challenges to transportation planning and operating agencies since this large number of aging boomers demand dependable transportation access so they can remain independent and age in place. It is crucial to understand, in a timely manner, aging Americans’ travel mode choices, their preferences and perspectives on transportation supports, and communication channels through which they prefer to receive information on existing and new transportation options. My dissertation presents three essays to explore these important and urgent issues. Essay One uses the 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) data to investigate whether the predominant travel preference—favoring private automobiles—hold for different groups of aging Americans. The analyses not only include the commonly used travel mode choice factors, such as socio-demographics, built environment, and transportation attributes; but also include behavioral aspects such as attitudes towards safety, congestion, public transit, and walking environment. Results show no evidence that Americans are giving up driving as they age. Therefore, planning as though baby boomers will give up driving private automobiles as they age is not likely to be successful. Results also imply that although it may not be effective for existing seniors, promoting positive attitudes on certain travel options that were otherwise not preferred by middle-aged boomers (e.g., public transit) could be a useful way to encourage this group of boomers to change their future travel mode choices. Essay Two discusses the design and implementation of my own survey on senior transportation options. A comprehensive survey questionnaire is constructed to target various user groups of senior transportation services, including seniors, caregivers and their elderly dependents, and younger individuals. All these respondents represent current or future customers of senior transportation services. The survey is then successfully implemented via the Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) crowdsourcing platform. Survey data collected from the MTurk platform represents a fairly diversified population; it can capture respondents from different socio-demographic categories, and it shares a similar distribution pattern with the general population data (e.g., U.S. Census) and the large-scale nationwide transportation survey using random sampling method (e.g., NHTS). Essay Three analyzes my MTurk survey data and investigates the impact of behavioral factors derived from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) on travel mode choices among different user groups of senior transportation services. Survey respondents’ preferences on types of senior transportation supports, as well as respondents’ preferable channels from which they want to receive information about senior transportation options, are also examined. Results show attitude factors (e.g., convenience, preference, and independence) in general are perceived as more important drivers for seniors’ mode choices than other aspects of TPB (e.g., social norm, feasibility, and cost). This indicates more attention should be drawn to attitude factors, rather than the traditional concerns such as feasibility and cost, when designing and implementing interventions on senior transportation services. Compared to the extant literature, this dissertation research reveals a more comprehensive set of the factors that affect aging Americans’ travel mode choices. In particular, it highlights the important role of behavioral factors in seniors’ travel model choices. This dissertation research also demonstrates that Amazon MTurk can serve as a valuable crowdsourcing platform for planning related surveys, experiments, and data collections, especially when addressing timely issues such as aging Americans’ travel needs. It generates useful insights for researchers and practitioners to develop effective policy and service interventions to improve senior’s transportation access, and to address transportation challenges along with the rapid population aging process.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Geography / Master / Master of Geographic Information System

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In the Republic of South Africa (and in South West Africa) social pensions are non-contributory and are paid out of state revenue, the funds for the purpose being voted annually by Parliament. With minor exceptions, the pensions are granted subject to a means test: that is, income levels are laid down which fix the maximum allowable income including pension. If the total income exceeds this amount an applicant will not be awarded a pension. When these totals are being calculated a certain sum is permitted, called ‘free income’, which does not affect the amount of pension that may be granted. (This ‘free income’ might be made up of earnings, or interest from investments, or profits from agriculture, etc.)These different figures vary according to the kinds of pension and to the population group. They are revised from time to time. Changes are announced by the Minister of Finance in his budget speech to Parliament and usually become effective some months later when details have been worked out by the departments dealing with the respective population groups. Because the conditions under which pensions are granted are fairly frequently changed, and improved, an application which was not successful one year may well succeed a year or two later. Therefore any applicant whose circumstances may have changed, or who believes that new rules may help his case, is advised to apply again. / Revised Edition

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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