Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity International University, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-128).

The purpose of this study was to determine the oral health status and treatment needs of elderly persons living in residential institutions in Melbourne. A total of 175 elderly persons aged 65 years and over were selected from 20 hostels located within a 10 km radius of the Melbourne GPO. A two stage field design was used to collect data. First, subjects were interviewed using a standard questionnaire, then clinical examinations were performed using a fiber optic light, plane mouth mirror, dental probe and periodontal probe. Coronal caries (DMFT), root caries (R-DF), periodontal status (CPITN), denture status, and treatment needs were assessed. The mean age of the subjects was 83.7 (sd 7.2) years. Eighty per cent were female and 20% were male.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2004. / Title from title page screen (viewed Feb. 10, 2005). Thesis advisor: James J. Neutens. Document formatted into pages (x, 154 p.). Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-128).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 133-136).

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity International University, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-128).

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity International University, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-128).

Social care and health services for older people in Cambridgeshire have been integrated since April 2004. This study examines the effect of the integration programme on service users. Previous research into health and social care integrations predominantly centre on process issues and pay much less attention to outcomes. No study has evaluated the impact of fully-integrated care services for the whole user group of older people. Theory-led programmatic approach was used in this study. Multi-method data collection and analysis were employed to uncover and examine the causal links, the contextual conditions, the implementation process, causal mechanisms, and intended and achieved outcomes of the integration programme. This study reveals an improvement in the physical functioning of one in three occupational equipment users; a rise in the level of satisfaction of 85% of occupational health and 82% of physiotherapy users; older people with complex problems and high-level needs were able to be helped to live at home; and waiting time for both assessment and for services within two weeks and four weeks were below the national achievement and the ministerial targets. It also reveals a lack of change outcomes in social care, and service users’ low level of satisfaction with social care services, which appear to be associated with the privatisation of long-term social care and the predominant aim in social work of achieving maintenance and prevention outcomes. The integration programme’s goals—unifying the care system, easier and simpler access to services and a single and quick assessment—were not fully reached, mainly because of users’ low awareness of the integration, incompatible ICT systems and lack of funding. This study contributes to knowledge on how the total integration in Cambridgeshire has benefited users and how theory-led programmatic approach can be used in this area and in the study of this kind of complex social programme.

Thesis (M.G.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Sociology and Gerontology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-51).

Thesis (M.G.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Sociology and Gerontology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-50).

This ethnographic nursing home study explores the meaning which residents make of being old and in care. Its primary focus is on the role of social and communicative interactions in maintaining residents’ sense of self. Throughout the thesis I argue that the self is socially constructed, narratively communicated and is continuous throughout the life span. This narrative, relational self is diminished in old age by bereavement and the loss of social networks, and threatened by the loneliness and isolation of the institutional environment. Nonetheless, despite the stripping of relational layers entailed in the loss of the people with whom the younger self was constructed, there is a continuing core of self which, while bending, does not break. I argue that the nursing home can be a site of recovery for this vulnerable, diminished self, offering support and the opportunity to take on new roles and form new relationships, and through these relationships, new layers of self. / Staff are key players in the healing process, and staff-resident relationships important new sources of meaning for the relational self. The ageing, marginalised self is strengthened through empathetic communication which recognises the individual person and the importance of that individual’s life, acknowledges residents’ adult status, and enhances self-esteem by enhancing personal control. For residents, telling their stories and remembering their past lives provides a means of making sense of where and who they are in the present, and of envisaging a future. Consequently, it is vital that residents have opportunities to speak and be heard, and to be recognised and spoken to. These opportunities are sometimes adequately provided by families, friends, church and other visitors and volunteers, but frequently they are not. Staff then become the main source of resident support. / The capacity of individual staff to meet residents’ communication needs is dependent on many factors including the legislative framework and funding of the aged care system, the philosophy of the individual provider organisation (translated into work routines, staffing practices, and the training, mentoring and support available to staff) and the individual personalities and communication skills of staff themselves. Continuity of staffing is a vital factor, with “Know your resident” identified by staff in this study as the most important element in understanding and recognising the needs of residents withcognitive and communicative impairment, and in building relationships which support residents and enhance their autonomy.