Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

<p>After the Rio United Nations Conference on Enviroment and Development, the need of sustainable development obtained recognition from the vast majority of countries and organization. Human society entered a new development period. More and more people know about sustainable  development. Education for sustainable development is a concern for the world where university can make a  contribution. Students who are the majority in a university, their knowledge, awarenss and action will play an important role to promote sustainable development.  </p><p>The purpose if this thsis is to study if there is any difference in students' knowledge and awareness on sustainable development in university, based on the comparison betweet freshmen and seniors. Through the comparison, this will explore if students' knowledge and awareness is influence  to their action. This thesis does a literature review to understand deeply about sustainable development and explores students' knowledge, awareness and actions of sustainable development through questionnaire. </p><p>The analysis of data from the questionnaire indicates that their knowledge and awareness influences their actions. The freshmen and seniors have difference in knowledge and awareness. Knowledge of students on sustainable development appears to have increased slightly during years study. However, as the knowledge increased, there is not much difference in their knowledge and awareness of sustainable development. Based on the different degree of knowledge and awareness, seniors appear to do better than freshmen in their actions.</p>

After the Rio United Nations Conference on Enviroment and Development, the need of sustainable development obtained recognition from the vast majority of countries and organization. Human society entered a new development period. More and more people know about sustainable  development. Education for sustainable development is a concern for the world where university can make a  contribution. Students who are the majority in a university, their knowledge, awarenss and action will play an important role to promote sustainable development.   The purpose if this thsis is to study if there is any difference in students' knowledge and awareness on sustainable development in university, based on the comparison betweet freshmen and seniors. Through the comparison, this will explore if students' knowledge and awareness is influence  to their action. This thesis does a literature review to understand deeply about sustainable development and explores students' knowledge, awareness and actions of sustainable development through questionnaire.  The analysis of data from the questionnaire indicates that their knowledge and awareness influences their actions. The freshmen and seniors have difference in knowledge and awareness. Knowledge of students on sustainable development appears to have increased slightly during years study. However, as the knowledge increased, there is not much difference in their knowledge and awareness of sustainable development. Based on the different degree of knowledge and awareness, seniors appear to do better than freshmen in their actions.

Millions of vacationers are taking a cruise each year and nearly one-third are senior tourists. There is little attention to this sector in the literature. This qualitative study reveals some of the motivations and satisfactions of ten retired seniors who were recently on a cruise. The interviews were transcribed to capture precise wordings of their motivations and satisfactions and then analyzed by phrases. These were open, then axially coded according to a conceptual theory, into three stages: a pre-cruise stage of planning and expectations, the experiences on board a cruise ship through activities and excursions, and the post-cruise stage of satisfaction. The phrases were selective coded into three themes. The findings reveal that the most important feature of a cruise is interaction within them, with their companions, and with others they may meet. Friends, relatives, and the ship's crew add to this interaction. Second, there is a balance of opportunities and constraints incurred while achieving the goal of a cruise. Third, it was found that there are multiple sources of satisfaction from a cruise. This study provides insight into what cruising means to seniors, the effect of interaction with others, and their internal interactions. The experience of a cruise becomes an event that leaves a memorable impression for years to come.

Millions of vacationers are taking a cruise each year and nearly one-third are senior tourists. There is little attention to this sector in the literature. This qualitative study reveals some of the motivations and satisfactions of ten retired seniors who were recently on a cruise. The interviews were transcribed to capture precise wordings of their motivations and satisfactions and then analyzed by phrases. These were open, then axially coded according to a conceptual theory, into three stages: a pre-cruise stage of planning and expectations, the experiences on board a cruise ship through activities and excursions, and the post-cruise stage of satisfaction. The phrases were selective coded into three themes. The findings reveal that the most important feature of a cruise is interaction within them, with their companions, and with others they may meet. Friends, relatives, and the ship's crew add to this interaction. Second, there is a balance of opportunities and constraints incurred while achieving the goal of a cruise. Third, it was found that there are multiple sources of satisfaction from a cruise. This study provides insight into what cruising means to seniors, the effect of interaction with others, and their internal interactions. The experience of a cruise becomes an event that leaves a memorable impression for years to come.

For the fishing village of Sambro, Nova Scotia, Canada, this project proposes affordable elderly housing, interactive and mixed use spaces where a self-supporting ethos is cultivated among independent and service living accommodations. It reveals the connectors within the project itself and the community at large that will build a healthy, healing, adaptable environment that will not only benefit its residents by actuating the paradigm of ageing as lifestyle, but will also contribute to the unification and physical manifestation of the community.

No description available.

Injurious falls are a common problem among older institutionalized adults, having serious physical, psychological and/or financial consequences for the fallers, their families, and personal care home (PCH) staff (Tideiksaar, 2002). North Eastman Health Association (NEHA) introduced a Fall Management Program into its five PCHs in 2005 in an effort to keep residents active and mobile, while minimizing injuries if they fell. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the Fall Management Program to determine if its goals of increased resident mobility and injury minimization were being met. A quasi-experimental, pre-post, comparison group design triangulating different data sources was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Fall Occurrence Report data were collected from all five NEHA PCHs, and from seven similar PCHs in the Interlake Regional Health Authority (IRHA) that did not have a fall program in place. Administrative data from the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) were also used to provide information about some explanatory variables. Comparisons were made between regional health authorities (RHAs) and over time, from the pre- to post- period. Results indicate that NEHA’s Fall Management Program had some benefits for residents – there was a trend towards an increase in mobility (i.e., a non-significant upward trend in falls) while overall injuries remained stable, and falls resulting in hospitalization decreased significantly. NEHA residents appear to have been protected from an increase in injuries despite an upward trend in falls. Moreover, NEHA’s residents had significantly better outcomes compared to similar residents in the non-program PCHs in IRHA. By the post-period, both RHAs had the same rate of falls, but NEHA had significantly fewer injurious falls and falls resulting in hospitalization than IRHA. This suggests that the non-program PCHs had more difficulty preventing resident injuries than the program PCHs in NEHA.

Introduction: Almost all the research on transportation use and travel patterns of older adults has been confined to community-dwelling seniors. This multi-phase project was initiated to gain a better understanding of transportation modalities (including driving) and travel patterns of seniors living in retirement complexes. The current study, Phase IV of the project, focused on residents who were still driving. Previous phases included surveys to determine driving status (Phase I) and general transportation use (Phase II), as well as an in-depth examination of residents 65+ who had recently stopped driving in the past two years (Phase III). Purposes: The primary objective of this study was to examine the actual driving practices of older drivers living in retirement communities, including associations with driver characteristics, perceptions of driving comfort and abilities, indicators of well-being, and extent of activity and group participation inside and outside the villages. This study also examined travel patterns outside the village, in addition to driving themselves. Methods: A convenience sample of 38 drivers (mean age 81.9 ?? 5.6, range 70 to 91, 42% male) from five urban retirement villages located across Southern Ontario (Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Etobicoke and Whitby), were assessed between February and July, 2013. Participant vehicles were equipped with two electronic data logging devices (one with GPS) for two weeks, during which time they also filled out trip logs (for each driving trip) and daily travel diaries (for non-driving trips). Participants also completed questionnaires (background and driving history, activities inside and outside the village) and scales to assess depression, well-being, perceptions of driving comfort and abilities and balance confidence. Interviews were conducted to examine their experiences over the two week period, as well as gather feedback on transportation at the retirement facilities. Results: Overall, the sample was highly educated, reported being in good health and not depressed. They were also considerably older and had a greater proportion of females than most community studies. Driving data were obtained for 32 participants. Participants drove an average of three days a week (range 0.5 to 6.5 days/week), and only eight (32%) drove at night. Consistent with findings on older drivers living in the community, driving trips were most often for shopping and errands (65% of total trip segments), followed by social and entertainment purposes (18%). The sample showed more restricted driving patterns when compared to prior studies with community seniors; driving substantially less at night (trips and distance). Most of the sample (73%) did not drive on days with bad weather. Driving perceptions (particularly night comfort) were significantly (p<0.05) associated to many driving indicators (days driven, trips, stops, duration and night driving indicators). As expected, the number of non-driving trips outside the village increased as the amount of driving decreased. The sample did not take many non-driving trips over the two weeks (3.7 ?? 6.6, range 0 to 29) while some took many trips due to frequent walking trips. Walking (66% of total trips) and being a passenger in a vehicle (29%) were the most common modes of non-driving trips, with public transportation only accounting for less than 1% of all total trips. Non-driving trips were most often for recreational and social reasons, followed by shopping trips. Interviews suggested the sample was starting to think about driving cessation (20/38 or 53%) since moving to the village, where prior to that only one person (2.6%) had thought about it. Conclusions: Compared to community living seniors, older drivers living in retirement complexes are driving less. Services and amenities within the communities appear to be well utilized, which may reduce the need for travel outside the villages. Although use of public transit, taxis, paratransit and the facility bus (for group outings) was minimal, walking was popular for physical activity and going to shopping areas nearby. Participants reported driving less often after moving to the village and a significantly larger proportion thought about driving cessation only after moving. It is possible that living in a retirement residence makes driving less essential and therefore residents are leaving the village less often than someone living in the community. Although the study did not have a sufficient sample to conduct comparisons between village locations, the sample represented five different locations, therefore providing a better depiction of retirement living residents. The next phase of the project will help build on current findings by increasing the sample size and allowing for additional comparisons.

Injurious falls are a common problem among older institutionalized adults, having serious physical, psychological and/or financial consequences for the fallers, their families, and personal care home (PCH) staff (Tideiksaar, 2002). North Eastman Health Association (NEHA) introduced a Fall Management Program into its five PCHs in 2005 in an effort to keep residents active and mobile, while minimizing injuries if they fell. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the Fall Management Program to determine if its goals of increased resident mobility and injury minimization were being met. A quasi-experimental, pre-post, comparison group design triangulating different data sources was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Fall Occurrence Report data were collected from all five NEHA PCHs, and from seven similar PCHs in the Interlake Regional Health Authority (IRHA) that did not have a fall program in place. Administrative data from the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) were also used to provide information about some explanatory variables. Comparisons were made between regional health authorities (RHAs) and over time, from the pre- to post- period. Results indicate that NEHA’s Fall Management Program had some benefits for residents – there was a trend towards an increase in mobility (i.e., a non-significant upward trend in falls) while overall injuries remained stable, and falls resulting in hospitalization decreased significantly. NEHA residents appear to have been protected from an increase in injuries despite an upward trend in falls. Moreover, NEHA’s residents had significantly better outcomes compared to similar residents in the non-program PCHs in IRHA. By the post-period, both RHAs had the same rate of falls, but NEHA had significantly fewer injurious falls and falls resulting in hospitalization than IRHA. This suggests that the non-program PCHs had more difficulty preventing resident injuries than the program PCHs in NEHA.