Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-06T17:07:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CRISTINA BRUST.pdf: 1148189 bytes, checksum: 4c679b5c7a4fd2aa51d98dbc0f7178ff (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-03-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The objective of this research is to present the implementation of the Active Aging exercise program in Health Centers (HC) and its influence in the functional aptitudes of the paticipant aged women. The research was carried through in four HC of Florianópolis (Córrego Grande, Rio Tavares, Saco Grande and Estreito Polyclinic), participants of the Aged Health program, which develops the Active Aging exercise program. This study is characterized as the descriptive type and was divided in two stages. In the first one the implementation of the program was investigated. The collection of this stage was carried ugh by means of interviews and questionnaires where took part in the sample the HC doctor, nurse and some other employee (receptionist, administrative assistant,...) of each participant HC, the teachers/trainees and the aged women who participate in the exercise program since its beginning, in July of 2006. The qualitative method for content analysis was used for the data analysis. In a second stage the functional aptitude of the aged women was evaluated through the Battery of Tests of the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance AAHPERD, which is composed of five motor tests that evaluate components of the functional aptitude. The sample was composed of aged women who participate in the exercise program since its beginning, in July of 2006, and who took part in the collections of July/2006, December/2006, March/2007 and July/2007. The data was organized in the Microsoft Excel program and analyzed in the statistical program SPSS 13.0 for Windows. For the results analysis a MANOVA with a reliable interval of 95% was used. It was evidenced that the program had an influence on the physical aptitudes (F(15)= 9,311; p<0,001), acting with a general effect of 49% (&#951;²=0,49). Through comparison analyses of the main effects, it was evidenced that the variables that contributed the most for such were coordination, aerobic resistance and upper body strength. However, for the aptitudes flexibility and agility, no significant difference was observed. For the city in study, to evaluate the implementation of an exercise program for aged, in a model of attention to the promotion of the population life quality is necessary, because to subsidize researches with data based on significant experiences that can favor the improvement of this strategy also contributes for the rising of new intervention proposals, aiming to integrate them to the community demands. / O objetivo desta pesquisa é descrever a implementação do programa de ginástica Idoso Ativo nos Centros de Saúde (CS) e sua influência nas aptidões funcionais das idosas participantes. A pesquisa foi realizada em quatro CS de Florianópolis (Córrego Grande, Rio Tavares, Saco Grande e Policlínica do Estreito), participantes do programa Saúde do Idoso, o qual desenvolve o programa de ginástica Idoso Ativo. Este estudo é caracterizado do tipo descritivo e foi dividido em duas etapas. Na primeira foi investigada a implementação do programa. A coleta desta etapa foi realizada por meio de entrevistas e questionários onde fizeram parte da amostra o médico responsável pelo CS, enfermeiro e algum outro funcionário (recepcionista, auxiliar administrativo,...) de cada CS participante, as professoras/estagiárias e as idosas que participam do programa de ginástica desde o seu início, no mês de julho de 2006. Utilizou-se o método qualitativo de análise de conteúdo para a análise dos dados. Na segunda etapa foi avaliada a aptidão funcional das idosas através da Bateria de Testes da American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance AAHPERD, a qual é composta por cinco testes motores que avaliam componentes da aptidão funcional. A amostra foi composta pelas idosas que participam do programa de ginástica desde o seu início, no mês de julho de 2006, e que realizaram as coletas em julho/2006, dezembro/2006, março/2007 e julho/2007. Os dados foram organizados no programa Microsoft Excel e analisados no programa estatístico SPSS 13.0 for Windows. Para a análise dos resultados encontrados foi utilizada uma MANOVA com intervalo de confiança de 95%. Constatou-se que o programa influenciou nas aptidões físicas (F(15)= 9,311; p<0,001), agindo com um efeito geral de 49% (&#951;²0,49). Através de análises de comparação dos efeitos principais, constatou-se que as variáveis que mais contribuíram para tal foram a coordenação, resistência aeróbica e a força dos membros superiores. Contudo, para as aptidões flexibilidade e agilidade, não se observou diferença significativa. Para o município em estudo, avaliar a implementação de um programa de ginástica para idosos, num modelo de atenção na promoção da qualidade de vida da população se faz necessário, pois subsidiar pesquisas com dados baseados em experiências significativas que possam favorecer o aperfeiçoamento desta estratégia contribui também para a iniciativa de novas propostas de intervenção, visando integrá-las às demandas da comunidade.

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This research investigated the influence of the normal aging process on truly photopic achromatic and chromatic retinal increment threshold over an extensive range of colored targets. It was found that for both achromatic and chromatic retinal thresholds there is a significant correlation between advancing age and the stimulus luminance intensity at threshold across the visible spectrum. This correlation is greater for the short wavelength range than for both the middle and the long wavelength ranges (r² (achromatic)= 0.43; r²(chromatic) = 0.49. In addition, a small exploratory study was completed which examined the role of prereceptoral changes in these age-related differences in color vision function. Results from this preliminary study (Experiment II) support the supposition that prereceptoral factors cannot account for all of the age-related losses that are seen in visual function, particularly in the middle and long wavelength ranges of the visible spectrum. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Many mid-life daughters are primary caregivers to their elderly mothers. However, in most research studies daughters have been grouped with other caregivers; thus, the daughters' experiences have not been specifically identified. Without this information nurses will be unable to adequately assist mid-life caregiving daughters to attain their optimal levels of health. The phenomenological research method was the methodology used to elicit the experiences of the mid-life daughters. The phenomenological method was congruent with the feminist perspective -- the conceptual framework -- which guided the study. The feminist perspective elucidated the importance of eliciting not only the visible caregiving experiences of the mid-life daughters, but also their internal experiences -- their feelings -- and the meanings they gave to their experiences. The researcher recruited subjects for the study through a daughters-of-aging-parents program which was held at the Women's Resource Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. In order to collect the data, the researcher interviewed the subjects. Congruent with the phenomenological method, data collection and data analysis ran concurrently throughout the study. The conclusions that the researcher drew from the findings of this study include the following: at the start of a caregiving daughter-mother relationship, a daughter is very responsive to the needs of her mother; when a daughter realizes that she is self-sacrificing herself in order to care for her mother, she becomes less responsive to her mother's needs and focuses, instead, on caring for herself; a daughter who is able to identify her own needs and then act on them Is able to care for her mother and herself in a manner that meets both their needs; a daughter experiences a number of emotions while providing care for her mother; a daughter uses the logical process of working towards healthy differentiation in order to counterbalance her emotional reactivity, and a daughter who successfully counterbalances her emotions with logic discovers her basic self and becomes an entity distinct from, yet interdependent with, her mother. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

The purpose of this research was to model the growth and yield of bottomland hardwood forests of the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley and to explain the economic tradeoffs of even- and uneven-aged management. The US Forest Service (USFS) Forest Vegetation Simulator was used to model growth and yield for four different bottomland hardwood forest types using USFS inventory data. Even- and uneven-aged management scenarios were optimized for timber revenue maximization using the Land Expectation Value formula. Analyses suggested that growth and yield of even-aged and uneven-aged management approaches differ in terms of end products and harvesting time. The even-aged management scenarios performed better over the uneven-aged management scenarios with few exceptions; however, the magnitude of the economic tradeoff depended upon initial stand conditions and required rates of return. These analyses will allow landowners to understand how much economic gain or loss they may realize by adopting an alternative management.

This article explores homeless individuals' experiences of satisfaction with health care, and explores the interrelationship among experiences of being homeless, health perceptions of participants, and experiences of satisfaction with health care. It presents the findings of a phenomenological study that was conducted using participants selected from five sites in one southeastern state. Participant interviews were conducted at a nurse-managed primary health care clinic for homeless, at a night time soup-kitchen, and at three private, not-for-profit, homeless shelters in two different towns. The study was part of a larger study designed to develop and validate a reliable measure of client satisfaction with primary health care among homeless individuals. Face-to-face in-depth interviews with 17 homeless individuals were conducted, with the semistructured interview constituting the primary data source. Common themes were identified and the interrelationship of theme clusters was explored. Analysis of the data yielded five distinct themes that represent the lived experiences of satisfaction with health care. These themes were mediated and directly informed by five themes of homelessness and three themes of health identified in the shared experiences of the participants. The themes identified suggest that satisfaction with health care for homeless persons differs from currently identified dimensions of satisfaction with care, and that some aspects of homelessness are seen by participants as positive and health promoting.

Yes / To determine whether or not jugular venous reflux (JVR) is associated with structural brain parenchyma changes in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). 16 AD patients (mean (SD): 81.9 (5.8) years), 33 MCI patients (mean (SD): 81.4 (6.1) years) and 18 healthy elderly controls (mean (SD): 81.5 (3.4) years) underwent duplex ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging scans to quantify structural brain parenchyma changes. Normalized whole brain (WB), gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes were collected, together with CSF volume. JVR was strongly associated with increased normalized WB (p = 0.014) and GM (p = 0.002) volumes across all three subject groups. There was a trend towards increased WB and GM volumes, which was accompanied by decreased CSF volume, in the JVR-positive subjects in both the MCI and AD groups. When the MCI and AD subjects were aggregated together significant increases were observed in both normalized WB (p = 0.009) and GM (p = 0.003) volumes for the JVR-positive group. No corresponding increases were observed for the JVR-positive subjects in the control group. Through receiver operating characteristic analysis of the brain volumetric data it was possible to discriminate between the JVR-positive and negative AD subjects with reasonable accuracy (sensitivity = 71.4%; specificity = 88.9%; p = 0.007). JVR is associated with intracranial structural changes in MCI and AD patients, which result in increased WB and GM volumes. The neuropathology of this unexpected and counterintuitive finding requires further investigation, but may suggest that JVR retrogradely transmits venous hypertension into the brain and leads to brain tissues swelling due to vasogenic edema.

No / Person-centred care (PCC) is recommended when working with patients with neurological difficulties. Despite this, to date there has been no appropriate methodology for assessing or developing PCC in neurorehabilitation settings. Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) is a well-established tool for assessing and developing PCC in dementia settings and the current study investigated the feasibility of applying DCM on an acute neurorehabilitation ward. DCM procedure and coding required minor adaptations for use in this setting and further recommended adaptations were subsequently identified. It was found that the DCM coding system was generally suitable and could identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for development in ward care. Q-methodology identified that staff views endorsed the feasibility of using DCM in neurorehabilitation, with staff reporting that they found DCM useful and relevant to their work. DCM could be further developed for this setting by amendments to the behaviour coding system, concept and coding of person-centred care, and a population-specific manual. DCM is a promising methodology to develop and promote PCC in neurorehabilitation.

No / Most research on partners' experiences of living with a person with MND is questionnaire-based with no qualitative study focusing on the period between diagnosis and end-of-life care. This study aimed to provide an in-depth qualitative exploration of the experience of living with, and caring for, a partner with MND. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight individuals, and transcripts analysed from an interpretative phenomenological perspective. Two main themes were derived. 'Impact on life' included having concern for partner's safety, having social restrictions, being continually tired, struggling with anger and frustration, loss of intimacy and uncertainty around the future; while 'Adjusting to the situation' included trying to be strong, retaining a sense of normality, appreciation of specialist services, adopting a problem-solving approach, living day to day and ability to remain positive. In conclusion, experiences of stress and loss are illustrated in this sample of partners of those with MND, and it is suggested both these aspects should be integrated into understanding of carers' experiences. Carers appear to inhibit their grief in order to appear strong. Greater understanding of the consequences of this would help in providing appropriate emotional support.

No / This article explores how married couples managed their finances and made financial decisions when one spouse had dementia, drawing comparisons with the approaches used prior to the illness. More specifically, the article examines the role of social factors in influencing the involvement of people with dementia in financial management and decision-making, particularly whether a gender dynamic adopted earlier in a marriage similarly influenced a gendered approach following dementia. The research formed part of a larger study of everyday decision-making by couples living with dementia which explored the role of non-cognitive factors in influencing whether people with dementia were involved in decision-making processes. Twenty-one married couples living at home took part; the recently-diagnosed were excluded. Qualitative methods -including participant observation and interviews - were used to examine the couples' fiscal management and decision-making-processes, the perceptions of people with dementia and their spouses about their current financial abilities and whether any support provided by spouse-carers influenced their partners' financial capacity. The fieldwork was undertaken in the North of England between June 2010 and May 2011. Thematic analysis of the data showed that social factors influenced the perceived capacity of people with dementia and the financial practices adopted by the couples. In particular, gender influenced whether people with dementia were involved in financial decisions. The research demonstrated that non-cognitive factors need to be taken into account when assessing and facilitating the capacity of people with dementia. In addition, as people with dementia were somewhat marginalised in decisions about designating financial authority (Lasting Power of Attorney), spouse-carers may need guidance on how to undertake advance care planning and how to support their relatives with dementia in major decision-making, particularly when there are communication difficulties.