Persons in the Nutrition for the Elderly program in Barren River Area Development District in Kentucky and personal care residents at Lakeview Nursing Home, Morgantown, Kentucky, and Glasgow Rest Home, Glasgow, Kentucky participated I this study on a voluntary basis. The population consisted of an intact sample of sixty-eight persons: forty-six personal care residents (PC residents) and twenty-two Nutrition for the Elderly participants (NE participants). The Ne participants and Pc residents were compared to determine which received the best nutritional care. Selected parameters of nutritional assessment were compared for the two groups be means of a t test. The groups were considered to be significantly different at the 0.5 level. The PC residents were found to have significantly higher intakes of energy, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and riboflavin. The NE participants were found to have a significantly higher percent intake of protein. The mean weight of the NE participants was significantly higher than the PC residents. However, the PC residents were found to have a significantly higher mean kcaloric intake. PC residents had a higher mean intake of niacin, vitamin C, and percent intake of fat than the NE participants, but not significantly higher. The NE participants had a slightly higher percent intake of carbohydrate, than the PC residents. However, the difference was not significant. Overall, the findings demonstrate that the PC residents had a higher nutritional intake than the NE participants.

Research has revealed a variety of negative health consequences for older adults who stop driving, and with the "graying of America," this will be a frequently encountered issue for healthcare providers. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are differences in quality of life and depressive symptoms between former drivers who made the decision to stop driving voluntarily and former drivers who made the decision involuntarily (either in a resistant or in a reluctant manner). In this cross-sectional cohort comparison study, community dwelling older adults were asked to complete questionnaires of depression (using the Geriatric Depression Scale), and quality of life (QOL) (using the Short Form Health Survey-36 questionnaire). Descriptive statistics include data for each individual group separately; separate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data to determine if differences in QOL and depression exist between the groups. Results: the small sample (n=18) was predominantly comprised of women (15/18), most were widowed, and the age of participants was 81 years. No differences were detected between the three group means for the GDS, F(2, 15) = .782 (p = .47). Results for the SF-36 revealed differences between the group means in the mental health component summary was F(2,13) = 4.209, (p = .039). Conclusions: There are few differences between involuntary and voluntary former drivers demographics, but differences may exist between involuntary and voluntary former drivers' quality of life.

As muscle function deteriorates with age, the discovery of new ways to enhance the quality of human life by stunting inevitable aging processes, such as sarcopenia, is a subject of great interest to aging populations, to health care professionals and to nutritional companies. β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) enhances muscle strength in humans and attenuates disease-induced and disuse-dependent atrophy in rodents. We investigated the feasibility of utilizing Drosophila as a model organism to study the biological effects of HMB in aging muscle. Using flight ability as an index of muscle function and monitoring the lifespan of flies, we found that normal food supplemented with 10 mg/mL HMB, supplied from eclosion through adulthood, attenuates the age-dependent decline in flight ability and enhances longevity of flies. To further discern the dietary optimization of HMB supplementation, we examined the effect of 10 mg/mL HMB supplementation from the larval stages throughout adulthood under various dietary conditions. As dietary restriction without malnutrition and HMB supplementation independently increase longevity in flies, we investigated the relationship between dietary restriction and HMB supplementation. Flies were subject to non-restricted, reduced yeast (protein), or intermittently cycled feeding regimens, with or without HMB. Both modes of dietary restriction improved flight ability, while only cycling flies on and off food increased lifespan and improved survivorship of the flies. HMB supplementation increased flight ability later in life in all groups, but had differential effects on lifespan; HMB improved the survivorship of females fed a reduced yeast diet, but decreased the survivorship of both non-restricted and intermittently fed flies. This not only suggests that HMB may act via different pathways to influence fly flight and survivorship, but that these mechanisms may differ under various dietary conditions, in different sexes. Because HMB supplemented dietary restriction had different effects on flight ability and survival than dietary restriction alone, HMB likely acts via different mechanisms than dietary restriction. Sex specific effects were found, suggesting that future HMB and dietary restriction studies should make distinctions between effects in males and females. As the flight ability and longevity of D. melanogaster was affected by HMB supplementation under various dietary conditions, future studies may use D. melanogaster as a model organism to explore the effects of HMB on age-related muscle deterioration and to help uncover the biological mechanisms of such observations, as well as potential treatments for age-associated muscle dysfunction and disease.

Background: Although there is significant scholarly interest in defining the concept of successful aging, there are very few small-scale, in-depth qualitative studies examining the lived experience of women over 80 who self-identify as aging successfully. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the lived experience of a small group of community-dwelling Jewish women over 80 in a single county in Northwestern Vermont who self-identify as aging successfully. Approach: This study has a phenomenological approach. Method: Phenomenological interviews were conducted with five women over 80 years of age. Interview content was analyzed, and shared themes were synthesized. Findings: Findings revealed the following shared themes: acknowledgement of extraordinary quality of life events and/or circumstances, extensive and ongoing social involvement with communities and/or individuals, and strong sense of self. Conclusions: The lived experiences of participants who self-identified as aging successfully were characterized by gratitude for the lives they led and continue to lead, extensive and ongoing communal and interpersonal social engagement, and high levels of self-esteem and self-knowledge. Implications for practice: Interventions focused on promoting gratitude, ongoing social engagement, and self-esteem/efficacy may improve individuals' chances of aging successfully; women over 80 respond positively given the opportunity to tell their story, and may benefit from affiliation with a religious community.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) has been associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke, but much of the research had focused on middle-aged populations with, limited prospective, population-based, longitudinal data. In this study, we examined data from an elderly population and described the distribution of CRP concentrations and the prevalence of elevated CRP levels (>3 mg/l), examined the association between CRP levels and incidence of CHD or ischemic stroke, and assessed the potential interaction of CRP with sex or race on the incidence of CHD or ischemic stroke.Methods: Baseline CRP levels were measured in a cohort of 57 13 participants 265 years of age from the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) using a high-sensitivity assay. The cohort included 3859 (68%) subjects free of cardiovascular disease and 1104 (19%) with existing CVD. Data were collected from 1989-1990 or 1992- 1993 to June 30, 1997. SAS 9.10 software was used for analyses and statistical tests included t test, ANOVA, χ2 Kaplan-Meier method, Log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards regression. Results: CRP distribution was highly skewed toward higher values, thus necessitating the use of the median and log transformation of the mean. For all participants, the median of CRP concentrations was 1.92 mg/l; the geometric mean was1.97 mg/l. Thirty percent of participants had CRP values >3 mg/l. Among subjects with prevalent CHD and those free of CHD at baseline the median CRP levels were 2.32 mg/l and 1.75 mg/l, respectively. The prevalence of elevated CRP levels was 36% in participants with baseline CHD and 26% in those free of CHD; it was higher in women than in men (32% vs. 27%, respectively), in blacks than in whites (42% vs. 28%, respectively), in subjects taking versus not taking cardiovascular medicines (35% vs. 22%, respectively). The mean CRP were similar among participants with and without initial statin uses (P = 0.3 155). For CHD participants, 37% of statin users and 36% of nonusers had elevated CRP levels. During 8 years of follow-up, 270 incident CHD events and 245 incident ischemic strokes occurred. Incidence rate of CHD and ischemic stroke was 10.7 and 9.7 per 1000 person-years, respectively. The relative risk (RR) of CHD and ischemic stroke for CRP >3 mg/l compared with P for sex-CRP interaction, 0.7638; P for race-CRP interaction, 0.4428). Similarly, no effect modification was observed by sex and race in the association of CRP with ischemic stroke (P for sex-CRP interaction, 0.1721 ; P for race-CRP interaction, 0.5486). Conclusions: CRP levels were higher among prevalent CHD subjects than among those without CHD. Women, blacks, and CV drug users had elevated CRP levels. Elevated CRP was associated with increased 8-year risk of CHD and ischemic stroke. Neither sex nor race modified the association between CRP and CHD or ischemic stroke. Future studies will be needed to explore new CRP thresholds for the elderly, and to examine if reduction of CRP levels using pharmacological agents reduces the risk of CHD or stroke.

A large percentage of Americans own pets which may impact their health. This study examines pet ownership’s effect on well being in older adults looking at race/ethnicity. A sample of 6,565 older adults (>60) was selected from the Third National Health and Nutrition Survey. Pet owners comprised 28.3% of the sample. The theories of symbolic interaction and social integration were used to examine pet ownership’s effect on physical components of well-being. The descriptive results showed statistically significant differences in age, education, income, and marital status between pet owners and non-pet owners. Pet owners were younger, more educate, higher income and married. Similar results were found for Caucasians, African Americans and Mexican Americans. Logistic regression for the entire sample revealed pet owners were more likely to have a positive self perception of health, normal blood pressure, improved function, less chronic conditions, improved function and more falls. Multiple regression revealed pet owners had more hospital stays, but fewer physician visits and nursing home stays than non-pet owners. When examined by race/ethnicity differences were found between pet owners and non-pet owners that differed from the general sample results. This research revealed that pets overall positively impact their owners’ health but it appears to differ based on race/ethnicity. Further research is needed on pet ownership’s effect on older adults specifically in regards to race.

3 ABSTRACT The theme of my thesis : Use of canisteraphy in the elderly retirement home. The theme: Theme of my thesis was to studying the effect of canisteraphy and its progress on the quality of live senior sof older people living in geriatric facilities. Qualitative study was focused primarily on ganges in sociability and social skills, cognitive area, especially perception of stimulation, memory training, attention and influence on overall to a new environment in a retirement home. Methods : The research had a qualitative charakter, since my direct participation during the theraphy in the retirement home the metod of my research became direct watching the seniors in combination with interwiev. The Results: Using interview and studies, we had introduced the process of canisteraphy and its progress in a retirement home. Results indicated a positive effect especially in the areas of sociability and social skills, cognitive and overall area of adaptation in new environment in a retirement home. Key words : canistheraphy, geriatrics, seniors, retirement home,

Title: Physical activity in facilities for the elderly as a means of self-care and independence Objective: The main objective is to identify through research the possibilities of movement activities of seniors in institutions for the elderly, as a means to their autonomy, self-care and independence of the surrounding area. Senior age brings with it many challenges and constraints, whether physiological or psychological means. According to my research (Morávková 2013), these problems can actually affect by physical activity in both primary and secondary prevention. But the question remains whether seniors have the opportunity to perform physical activity. In my research, I focused on a situation where the senior placed in a facility for the elderly and is therefore totally dependent on the supply of equipment. Methods: The thesis is the first part researches topics of geriatrics and physical prevention of seniors. In the second part I follow research which I addressed to all traced facility for seniors in the Central Region, a total of 49 homes. There I poll examined whether there are controlled hours of physical activity, how they are targeted, whether this benefit seniors exploits and possibly what finances have to spend to participate those hours. Then I processed incoming data and interpreted...

Bakgrund: Svensk statistik tyder på att antalet multisjuka äldre kommer att öka. Hälso- och sjukvårdslagen stadgar att vården skall vara av god kvalitet och tillgodose patienternas behov av trygghet. I dagens samhälle föreligger en risk att äldre människor utsätts för ålderism, vilken kan påverka vårdens kvalitet och orsaka ett lidande för de äldre patienterna. Syfte: Att beskriva äldre patienters upplevelser av vården på en geriatrisk vårdavdelning i Mellansverige. Metod: Latent kvalitativ innehållsanalys av tolv semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultat: Resultatet utgörs av två teman och sju subteman. Temat Upplevelser av att få en god vård beskriver att de äldre patienterna upplevde sig få en vårdande miljö samt att vårdpersonalen fungerade som en hälsoresurs vilket kunde gynna patienternas välbefinnande. Temat belyser att ett gott bemötande och att få bli sedd som en person resulterade i positiva känslor samt att delaktighet och självbestämmande var viktiga faktorer. Temat Upplevelser av att få en bristande vård beskriver att upplevelser av en otrygg omgivning och avsaknad av sjukdomshänsyntagande, bristande bemötande och kunskap samt att inte få en personcentrerad vård resulterade i negativa känslor. Slutsatser: Resultatet visar att det förekommer både positiva och negativa upplevelser av vården på avdelningen. Att de äldre patienterna upplever brister i vården uppmärksammar att det finns en risk för att ålderism existerar och påverkar vårdens kvalitet. Examensarbetet kan tillföra kunskap om och förståelse för hur äldre patienter upplever vården, vilket kan bidra till bättre förutsättningar för en god vårdupplevelse. / Background:  Swedish statistics indicate that there will be an increase in the number of elderly with multiple illnesses. The Health Care Act stipulates that the care provided must be of good quality and meet the patients’ needs for security. In today's society there is a risk that older people are subjected to ageism, which can affect the quality of healthcare and expose the older patients to conditions of suffering. Aim: To describe older patients’ experiences of healthcare at a geriatric ward in central Sweden. Methods: A latent qualitative content analysis of twelve semi-structured interviews. Results: The results consist of two themes and seven subthemes. The theme Experiences of getting good health care describes that when older patients experienced a nurturing environment and the caregivers worked as a health resource, it could benefit the patients’ wellbeing. The theme emphasizes that encountering a good reception and being aknowledged as a person resulted in positive emotions, and that participation in the care process and self-determination were key factors. The theme Experiences of receiving a lack of care describes that the experience of an unsafe environment, actual diseases not being taken into account, lack of treatment and knowledge, as well as being denied person-centered care, resulted in negative emotions. Conclusions: The results indicate that both positive and negative resposnses concerning the care at the ward are experienced. The older patients who experience deficiencies in healthcare, recognize that there is a risk that ageism exists, which may affect the quality of care. The thesis provides knowledge and understanding of how older patients experience healthcare which can contribute to better conditions for the patients, in order for them to experience good healthcare.

O contexto do envelhecimento dos idosos mais velhos necessita ser considerado em decorrência dos fatores socioeconômicos, políticos e demográficos do país, além do processo de redefinição da família como instituição social. Dessa forma, a pesquisa relacionada aos arranjos domiciliares e a rede de suporte social, vem de encontro com as questões relacionadas ao cuidado do idoso no domicilio, principalmente dos idosos mais velhos. Tratase de um estudo epidemiológico, transversal, que teve por objetivo caracterizar o arranjo domiciliar e a rede de suporte social dos idosos mais velhos residentes na comunidade de Ribeirão Preto, SP, além da sua funcionalidade. A amostra constituiu-se de 147 idosos. Os dados foram coletados em entrevistas domiciliares, utilizando-se identificação e perfil social, o Mapa Mínimo de Relações do Idoso (MMRI) para investigar a rede de suporte, a Medida de Independência Funcional (MIF) e questões sobre os arranjos domiciliares. A idade média das idosas foi de 84,4 anos e dos idosos de 84,1 anos, sendo 63,3% na faixa etária de 80-84 anos, 27,2% na de 85-89 anos e 9,5% na de 90 anos ou mais. Há maior número de idosas viúvas, 91,3% e analfabetas, 83,3%. Do total dos idosos, 41,5% recebem aposentadoria, possuem de um a três salários mínimos (72,1%) e moram em casa própria quitada (74,1%). Os idosos possuem em média 4,08 filhos e residem com 2,8 pessoas. Quanto à funcionalidade, a variação dos escores observados foi igual à variação possível da MIF motora, cognitiva social e total, assim como em seus domínios, com a média das pontuações próxima aos valores máximos possíveis. A maioria dos idosos classificou-se na categoria independência completa/modificada, 81,6% e 15% na dependência mínima. À medida que os idosos se tornam mais velhos se tornam mais dependentes (p < 0, 001). Não foi encontrada significância estatística entre a MIF total e arranjo domiciliar, apesar da tendência de morar sozinho aumentar conforme aumenta a pontuação na MIF. A relação com o suporte social também não foi significativa. Grande parte dos idosos vive com o cônjuge, 26,5% e 14,3% vivem sozinhos. Mais da metade dos domicílios são chefiados pelo próprio idoso, 57,1%. Conforme aumenta a faixa etária diminui o número de idosos que vivem com o cônjuge e aumenta os que vivem com os filhos. Quanto à configuração da rede de suporte social dos idosos, houve predomínio de pessoas no primeiro círculo, isto é, freqüentemente, com ênfase para os filhos e familiares, para todas as funções analisadas. A média do número de amigos e pessoas da comunidade para todos os tipos de apoio foi menor que um, o que reforça a família como protetora e cuidadora dos idosos. / The context of aging of the elder elderly needs to be considered due to the countrys socioeconomic, political and demographic factors, besides the process of redefining family as a social institution. In this way, research regarding the domestic organization and the social support network, meets the questions related to elderly care at home, especially the elder elderly. It is an epidemiologic cross-sectional study, which aimed to characterize the domestic organization and the social support network of the elder elderly living in Ribeirão Preto, SP, as well as its functionality. The sample was made of 147 elderly. Data were collected in interviews at home, using the social identification and profile, the Minimum Map of Elderly Relations (MMRI) to investigate the support network, the Functional Independence Measure (MIF) and questions about the domestic organizations. The average age of female elderly was 84,4 years, and male 84,1 years, 63,3% were in the age group 80-84 years, 27,2% between 85- 89 years and 9,5% were 90 years or more. There is a larger number of old widows (91,3%) and illiterates (83,3%). From the total of the elderly, 41,5% receive pension, earn from one to three minimum wages (72,1%) and live in their own house (74,1%). The elderly have 4,08 children and live with 2,8 people. Regarding functionality, the variation of the observed score was equal the possible variation of motor, social cognitive and total MIF, as well as its domains, with average scoring close to full score. Most elderly people (81,6%) was classified under the complete/modified independence category, and 15% as minimum dependence, as the elderly get older they become more dependent (p < 0, 001). There was no statistic significance between total MIF and domestic organization, despite the increasing tendency to live alone as MIF scoring raises. The relation to social support was not significant either. Great part (26,5%) of the elderly lives with the spouse, and 14,3% live alone. More them half of the domiciles (57,1%) are lead by the elderly itself. As the age group increases the number of elderly living with the spouse decreases, and increases the ones living with sons/daughters. Regarding the elderly social support network configuration, there was prevalence of people in the first circle, that is, frequently with emphasis for children and family, for all off the analyzed functions. The average of the number of friends and people from the community for all kinds of support was lower than one, what reinforces family as protector and caregiver of the elderly.