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A pre-test, post-test, randomized control study (n=78) was conducted to test whether participation in Stay on Your Feet (SOYF), a falls prevention program for community-dwelling older adults, improved participants’ falls-related self-efficacy and balance. The Activities Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale (Powell & Myers, 1995) was used to measure falls-related self-efficacy and the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test (Podsiadlo & Richardson, 1991) was used to measure balance. Participants in both the intervention and control groups scored at the higher end of the ABC Scale (range 0-100) at baseline (mean 76.78 ± 18.91 and 82.46 ± 18.27 respectively) and at follow-up (mean 75.01 ± 19.51 and 84.10 ± 12.49 respectively), suggesting participants in this study were already fairly confident in their ability to manage daily activities without losing their balance. TUG times at baseline and follow-up testing were low suggesting participants had good balance. The SOYF program did not meet its intended objectives of improving falls-related self-efficacy and balance for participants who received the program. Recommendations for changes to future SOYF programming include targeting older adults with a history of falls or identified falls risk factors. The SOYF program was not effective for this study group; however, it may work for older adults at higher-risk for falls. / Thesis (Master, Nursing) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-27 19:47:26.195

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No description available.

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To date very few studies have examined the difference in driving patterns between winter and non-winter driving and those that have, have primarily used self-report. The purpose of this study was to determine if there were changes in trip distance between winter/non-winter and inclement/non-inclement driving in older adults using a sub-set of Candrive participants. Candrive is a longitudinal study examining the everyday driving patterns and habits of older drivers. Participants were recruited from seven different sites in Canada (Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, and Victoria). In total 279 participants (of which 248 were kept for analyses of City Only Trips) were included for analysis, almost 50% were female, with an average age at enrolment of 77.5 ± 5.2 years. A total of 377,464 trips were taken on 866 different days. It was found that there was a 7% decrease in trip distance during winter when controlling for day and site when examining all trips taken by older drivers. In addition, there was a 1% decrease in trip distance during winter and a 5% increase in trip distance during rain when compared to no precipitation when controlling for precipitation type (or winter respectively), day, and site, when only looking at trips in the city. There was a minimal (albeit significant) change in trip distance associated with both winter and inclement weather conditions, suggesting that older drivers may not be adjusting their driving patterns during these conditions as much as was previously thought based on the self-report literature.

This investigation has examined the demographic and social psychological variables of voluntary association membership, income, self-perceived health, marital status, level of education, and their relationship on' age and happiness. The data were obtained from an interview study based on a probability sample-survey of the adult population of the United States, which was conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). Cross-tabulations were used as the mode of analysis.The study looked at the relationship between independent variable of age and the dependent variable of happiness. In addition, the variables of voluntary association membership, income, self-perceived health, marital status, level of education, and sex were used as controls to ascertain what affect, if any, they might have upon the relationship between age and happiness. Results from the study indicate that happiness varies by age and is also affected by the control variables. The findings also concur with previous research in showing the importance of self-perceived health and level of income as predictors of life satisfaction among the aged.