No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Older Americans will soon outnumber children and younger adults. In 2022, there were 58 million older adults. By 2050, older adult numbers will grow to 82 million, and by 2060, 100 million. The National Institute on Aging calls for ongoing research on the impact that a historically large aging population will have on health, well-being, and quality of life. A key concern is how to meet needs while decreasing costs associated with institutional long-term care. Most of these elders reside in the community and wish to live in their homes throughout their lives, but they will experience an increased need for age-related healthcare and resources in their rural communities. There is little in the literature about these issues. A qualitative, descriptive, phenomenological study was undertaken to describe the availability of resources for aging in place through the lens of rural community service workers' lived experience and perceptions. The study was underpinned theoretically with Rural Nursing Theory and conceptually by principles of aging in place. Resulting themes included easily vs not easily accessible resources for aging in place, bridges or battles to support aging in place, and big dysfunctional puzzle of fragmented and scattered resources. By focusing on aspects of rural environments and concepts of aging in place, the study describes the contextual differences of rural aging in place, illuminates the reality of rural aging, and highlights the need for cost-effective expansion of age-related resources for rural aging in place.

In comparison with the national U.S. population, African American aged adults are less likely to reside in assisted living facilities (ALFs). At present, little qualitative data exist concerning how African American aged adults perceive living at home as opposed to living in an ALF. Using a phenomenological approach, this study explored how African American aged adults who live at home feel about residing in ALFs. The research questions focused on aged adults' perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes about ALFs and the conditions that may prevent African American aged adults from living in ALFs. A conceptual framework based on the Purnell Model of Cultural Competence was used to interpret study results regarding the cultural beliefs of African American aged adults. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of nine African American adults aged 70 years and older who live at home and have not resided in an ALF. The data was managed through the NVivo 12 Plus program software, which assisted in providing inductive content analysis. The findings in the study revealed that the majority of the participants did not have knowledge about ALFs services however, the participant's attitudes to consider residing in ALFs were positive. There were some trust issues with the participants, indicative of a cultural heritage of beliefs and perceptions, as the participants stipulated they would reside in an ALF with support of family to monitor their care. The research study may contribute to a positive social change for African American aged adults by supporting an increased in knowledge and understanding of ALFs and increase the likelihood of African American aged adults residing in an ALF.

This is a qualitative, interpretive research study of how six senior citizens’ aged 70-85 describe their use and need of Smart home technology for their independent living and welfare. Data was collected through technology probing and interviews. Data analysis was done using a thematic method. The research was underpinned by the theoretical model Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2). The research setting was senior citizens’ living in Care housing rented out by the municipality owned company. The findings show that technology is perceived by the senior citizens’ to be something must be taught and takes effort. Senior housing need to be better designed for its senior tenants. It was also found that if technology is used to ensure safety, fall detection for instance, trust and sufficient support is crucial. The findings suggest it could be difficult to assess your own need and to realize when assistance technology is needed. It also found that the use of technology was perceived as being individual and as something that cannot be treated collectively. It was suggested that health professionals do have some influence on the senior citizen and their use of technology. The findings of this study was compared to previous studies and how it relates to the determinants and moderating factors suggested by the theoretical model UTAUT2.

Avec le vieillissement de la population, le maintien à domicile des personnes âgées est devenu un enjeu majeur pour les pays développés et émergents. Parmi les solutions clés à explorer, les gérontechnologies sont considérées comme des plus prometteuses sans toutefois avoir apporté la preuve de leur efficacité pour l’autonomie domiciliaire, voire même être utilisables et acceptables pour le public visé. Dans ce contexte, une méthodologie de conception centrée-utilisateur a été mise en place pour proposer une plateforme d’assistance domiciliaire multi-tâches et multi-domaines (soutenant à la fois les activités quotidiennes, la sécurité de la personne et de son domicile et le lien social) ciblant un public âgé fragile en perte d’autonomie. Cette plateforme est appelée DomAssist. Sur la base d’une analyse des capacités physiques, cognitives et fonctionnelles en présence (étude 1) et des besoins d’assistance (étude 2) de notre échantillon d’étude, DomAssist a été conçu avec pour originalité une offre de services multi-domaines. En effet, la plateforme s’appuie d’une part sur un système de surveillance d’activités pour délivrer des assistances dites « context-aware » (étude 3) et d’autre part sur un système d’interaction homme-machine unifié et simplifié (étude 4), et ceci tout en promouvant l’auto-détermination (étude 5). Les résultats ont étayé la fiabilité du système de surveillance d’activités, et renforcé le bien-fondé de nos principes de conception concernant le système unifié d’interaction; et le soutien de l’auto-détermination. Notamment un rendu positif concernant l’utilisabilité et l’acceptabilité du système, et un effet bénéfique sur le sentiment de l’autodétermination des utilisateurs âgés ont été obtenus. De là, une dernière étude (étude 6) a évalué les bénéfices apportés après 6 mois d’utilisation de la plateforme, en termes de capacités fonctionnelles des participants fragiles, et de réduction du fardeau de l’aidant. Un effet positif (effet « protecteur » observé par les aidants professionnels) de DomAssist sur le statut fonctionnel des participants équipés (comparé aux contrôles) a été observé ainsi qu’une réduction du fardeau objectif de leur aidant. Au total, les résultats de ce travail pilote sont encourageants et ouvrent de nombreuses perspectives de recherche à fort potentiel d’impact sociétal concernant la problématique du maintien à domicile des personnes âgées / With the increase of life expectancy, aging in place is today a major concern for developed and emerging countries. Among the key solutions to explore, gerontechnologies are seen as the most promising. However, their evidence-based efficacy remains to be demonstrated for independent living or even for their usability and acceptance by the targeted old users. In this context, a user-centered conception methodology has been implemented for designing a multi-task and multi-domain (supporting everyday activities, safety, and social participation) assisted living platform targeting frail older adults with functional decline. This platform is named HomeAssist. Based on an analysis of physical, cognitive and fonctional abilities (study 1) and assistive technology needs (study 2) of our sample, HomeAssist has been designed with the originality of providing multi-domain services. Indeed, HomeAssist proposes an activity monitoring system to provide context-aware assistance (study 3), and a unified human-computer interaction system (study 4); while promoting self-determination (study 5). Results underpined the reliability of our activity monitoring system, and reinforced the rationale of our design principles, concerning the unified interaction system and the self-determination support. Notably, positive outcomes in terms of usability and acceptance of the system, as well as benefits concerning users’ feeling of self-determination have been obtained. From this, a last study (study 6) evaluated the benefits from a six-month use of HomeAssist, on functional abilities of frail older adults and caregiver burden. A positive effect of HomeAssist on functional status was obtained (“protective” effect reported by the professional caregivers), as well as a reduction of objective dimension of caregiver burden. Taken together, the results from these pilot studies are encouraging and open numerous research perspectives with high societal impact concerning the promotion of aging in place.

There has been growing concern over how state and federal governments can support the increasing population of aging Americans and their need for long-term care. Current insurance funding models cover acute hospitalization and skilled care only, leaving unskilled care needs and homemaker services at the full expense of those in need. Time banking allows individuals to exchange or barter time for goods or services without monetary payment. There is insufficient evidence to determine if members believe time banks to be a viable alternative to support aging-in-place care needs. This phenomenological study explored time banking as a potential vehicle for nonskilled health care support to defray health care costs as one ages. Ostrom's co-production theory provided the theoretical foundation for the research questions, which examined the participants' lived experiences with the role time banks played in their decision to age in place. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 Southern California time bank participants, age 50 years or older. Using a Moustakas-modified van Kaam method and a priori coding emergent themes were extracted. Study findings illustrated that time bank participation did support aspects of nonskilled health care needs and provided members with confident options for aging in place. Study findings also indicated a need for continued collaborations between professional and managerial staff in public agencies, including California's Health and Human Services Agency and time bank users in their communities. Reducing health care costs for taxpayers in any government-funded health insurance model benefits positive social change, and nonskilled health care provider time bank initiatives may be a sustainable alternative for those wishing to age in place.

No description available.

No description available.