The purpose of this exploratory study was to operationalize the responses from a sample of the community dwelling older population from Denton County, Texas on disaster preparedness education given by Denton County Health Department (DCHD) personnel. The goals and objectives were drawn from the Texas Public Health and Medical Emergency Management 5-Year Strategic Plan 2012-2016. It was hypothesized that after the disaster preparedness education was received, then comprehension, retention, and application of the information would increase and the goals set forth by the DCHD would be reached. Thirteen sites were used to educate the 224 participants between August 2011 and April 2012. The data were received using a pre-test survey before the training, a post-test immediately after the training, and a follow-up survey call approximately 30 days later. Using Cronbach's alpha, logistic regression and regression analysis through SAS, the data revealed that all DCHD goals were met by this training method and outcome which include the sample population increasing comprehension, retention, and action on the information learned.

This qualitative research study describes the processing and interpretations of "Baby Boomers" in response to fear appeals from two health care reform political advertisements. Research suggests that scholars continue to disagree on the audience's interpretations of fear appeals, based on studies comparing different levels of fear, emotions, and interpretations by specific members of the population. However, little is known about how "Baby Boomers" interpret fear used in health care reform advertising. The method included six focus groups. Thematic analysis revealed five key themes: "Baby Boomers'" processing produced a range of emotions, they demand more facts, the fear expressed was fear of the unknown and fear of change, how do they know who they can trust and what they can believe, and the shared experience of an "us in comparison to them" mentality. Future research should expand upon these themes across a more diverse group of participants, to compare and contrast findings across different generations, or in combination with other methods.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with substantial healthcare utilization costs, resulting in a public health priority. In this study, the relationship between the demographic characteristics of age, gender, and type of health insurance; the presence of comorbidities of older Puerto Rican residents diagnosed with AD; and their healthcare utilization patterns (i.e., medical office and emergency room visits and hospital admissions) was examined using Andersen's behavioral model. Data from the 2013 Puerto Rico Health Study was used in this retrospective cohort design study. All AD cases aged -?¥ 60 years were extracted using systematic random sampling. One-way ANOVA-WELCH, Mann-Whitney U test, and negative binomial regressions determined if there was a relationship between independent and dependent variables. Results indicated a statistically significant relationship between age, gender, health insurance type, and presence of comorbidities factors and healthcare utilization patterns among older Puerto Ricans with AD. From the results, opportunities were identified for further research and changes in professional practices in order to initiate discussions and action plans to improve services coordination for older Puerto Ricans with AD. Findings might impact social change by inspiring modifications to the public health infrastructure. These modifications may lead to enhanced disease management support, promoted social justice, and increased resources to improve healthcare access and quality of care, and overall enhancement of health outcomes, for Puerto Ricans living with AD.

A mobile wallet is a mobile application that is intended to replace leather wallets. With high mobile and Internet penetration and increased life expectancy in developed economies, adoption of mobile wallets by the older population is becoming more important due to new trends. Therefore, this thesis aims to understand and increase adoption of mobile wallets in developed economies by the citizens between the ages of 50 to 75. Based on the mobile payment technology acceptance model (MPTAM) and an extensive literature review, a simplified model is suggested. Three sub-questions (on 1 - social influence, 2 - perceived security, trust and risks, and 3 – perceived ease of use) are proposed for further study, which has been suggested in the literature to have more importance for the targeted demography. An exploratory qualitative study based on in-depth semi-structured interviews was conducted. The findings show that social influence can have direct or indirect effects. Moreover, several factors were identified that seems to have impacts on the degree to which a content can influence people. In addition, perceived trust, security, and risks seem to be the most important impediment for the adoption of mobile wallets, especially for risk-averse people. Furthermore, perceived ease of use can improve the values that mobile wallets may provide. Perceived ease of use is more important for the targeted age group since some of the potential users in this age group has reduced learning and physical abilities. Finally, many implications of the findings and methods to improve the adoption of mobile wallets for the selected demography, i.e. restriction and customization, use of familiar design, use of strong brands, etc. are suggested.