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Master of Science / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Carol W. Shanklin / Abstract Aging has become a focal point for several segments of the foodservice industry with the forecasted trends. Due to the link between quality of life and satisfaction with food in this population, many Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) and retirement communities are employing individuals who have experience in the hotel/restaurant industry. The purpose of the study was to assess residents’ overall satisfaction with quality of food and quality of service in Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) and retirement communities when the facility employs a foodservice director or chef with culinary training or expertise. The research compared satisfaction based on types of foodservices provided (restaurants and café/bistros); resident characteristics such as gender and length of time residing at a facility; frequency of interaction with the chef or foodservice director; and meal plan requirement. The study was conducted in the Midwest region and included a convenience sample of Retirement Communities and CCRCs in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. The variables analyzed were quality of food, quality of service, atmosphere, dining venues, meal plans, and frequency of dining with overall satisfaction. Atmosphere, food quality, dining venues, and meal plans significantly influenced overall satisfaction. Residents in facilities that provided more than one dining option had a slightly lower satisfaction ratings compared to the group who had one dining option. Overall satisfaction ratings for meal plan indicated that the respondents were neutral relative to the affect of meal plan and their overall satisfaction. The frequency of dining in one of the venues was positively influenced by meal plan requirements in the facilities. Residents who had lived in the facilities less than two years rated satisfaction higher. The more frequent the chef and foodservice manager interacted with the residents the higher the rate of overall satisfaction. Foodservice directors and administrators in these facilities can use the results to understand what the customers are looking for and how to improve overall services for their residents.

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With the largest U.S. generation in the midst of retirement, the Baby Boomer cohort is vastly changing the senior housing landscape. As the housing market gradually improves and the development of senior housing chases the increasing demand, Baby Boomers are a highly selective cohort with more buying and spending power than their predecessors, are healthier and more active, and are demanding an unconventional modification of alternative senior housing. The “traditional” senior community is outdated and no longer seen as a viable choice for retirement, and new and innovated models have surpassed the old-fashioned establishments. Among the innovative senior community models, the Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) combines a variety of unique residential options and comprehensive services that meet the needs of new and active retirees and aging seniors. Focusing on the Baby Boomer cohort in conjunction with a modified CCRC model, this project examines the current demographic and housing landscape for Baby Boomers and seniors, as well as assesses trending planning techniques and design elements to formulate an ideal senior living prototype for the 234 acre Sinclair Ranch in Chinese Camp, California. In culmination of research, academic literature review, survey analysis, and case study review, key trending planning and design elements have emerged to develop a state-of-the-art CCRC intended to meet market demands and desires of a growing and highly selective senior cohort. Thus, this project concludes with a design Draft Plan for the Sinclair Ranch that captures both the characteristics of an innovative CCRC and the emergent desires stemming from the shifting senior landscape. With key design recommendations and proposed community features, the draft plan is intended to outline and guide the vision of the proposed development for the Sinclair Ranch CCRC.

As one result of the higher expected lifespan and lower fertility rate, an aging society has become an inevitable trend in many countries worldwide. According to the prediction of the newest census outcomes, China will confront an aging society around2022. An aging society requires the development and improvement of the domestic elderly care system to match the increasing caring need for all the aging people in China. This research aims to explore the critical success factors for a typical community-based aging care project – the Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in China from the perspectives of private developers. Based on the theory of the decision-making environment and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), qualitative method (semi-structured interviews) and quantitative method (questionnaire survey) are applied to collect and analyze the potential Critical Success Factors. Twenty-five critical success factors are identified and verified for China’s CCRC projects and categorized into three components. Furthermore, most private developers’ attitudes toward CCRC in China are positive and believe in a bright outlook. The findings might help private developers better understand the decision-making environment of developing and operating a CCRC in China. It may also inspire policymakers with more practical policies for the future development and operation of CCRC projects in China. / Som ett resultat av den högre förväntade livslängden och lägre fertiliteten har ett åldrande samhälle blivit en oundviklig trend i många länder världen över. Enligt förutsägelsen av de senaste folkräkningsresultaten kommer Kina att möta ett åldrande samhälle runt 2022. Ett åldrande samhälle kräver utveckling och förbättring av det inhemska äldreomsorgssystemet för att matcha det ökande omsorgsbehovet för alla åldrande människor i Kina. Denna forskning syftar till att utforska de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna för ett typiskt samhällsbaserat åldrandevårdsprojekt - Fortsatt vårdpensionsgemenskap (CCRC) i Kina ur privata utvecklares perspektiv. Baserat på teorin om beslutsmiljön och teorin om planerat beteende (TPB) tillämpas kvalitativ metod (semistrukturerade intervjuer) och kvantitativ metod (enkätundersökning) för att samla in och analysera potentiella kritiska framgångsfaktorer. Tjugofem kritiska framgångsfaktorer identifieras och verifieras för Kinas CCRC-projekt och kategoriseras i tre komponenter. Dessutom är de flesta privata utvecklares attityder till CCRC i Kina positiva och de tror på goda framtidsutsikter. Resultaten kan hjälpa privata utvecklare att bättre förstå den beslutsfattande miljön för att utveckla och driva ett CCRC i Kina. Det kan också inspirera beslutsfattare till mer praktisk politik för framtida utveckling och drift av CCRC i Kina.

The end of the eighteenth century witnessed an imaginative mass migration as authors wrote about withdrawing from society. This thesis traces the origins of 'Romantic reclusion' in the works of Cowper and Wordsworth, particularly Cowper's poem The Task and Wordsworth's unfinished masterwork The Recluse, which epitomise the tradition. Romantic reclusion differs from 'solitude' and 'retirement' in that its motives were social. Cowper and Wordsworth wrote about withdrawing in order to criticise the increasing commercialism and competition they saw in British society. Both poets imagined seceding into a community of individuals who would care for a shared set of values, envisaging this as a form of non-violent political protest leading to reform. The thesis builds on recent studies of Romantic community, and develops Raymond Williams's cultural criticism, to refute the New Historicist position that Romantic writing elides history. It proceeds by historicising Cowper's and Wordsworth's concepts of reclusion, tracing echoes of their extensive reading about this subject in what they wrote. Romantic reclusion emerges as an artistic attempt to defend the individual against the dehumanising effects of contemporary society. Its aims can be grouped under four interrelated headings-'creative', 'medical', 'political', and 'natural'-which form the basis of the chapter divisions. Chapter One argues that Cowper and Wordsworth both presented Milton as a precedent for their poetic reclusion. They withdrew from literary society and cut themselves off from the diction of eighteenth-century poetry, because they believed that it turned words into luxury items which could only be purchased by the imaginations of a few. Cowper's translations of Madame Guyon and Wordsworth's modernisations of Chaucer both attempted to develop a plain style which would unite a wider, non-hierarchical community of readers. Chapter Two explores the origins of Cowper's reclusion in his spiritual crisis of 1763-5. Beginning with a study of medical books owned by Cowper's doctor, Nathaniel Cotton, it argues that Cotton regarded Cowper's illness as a product of eighteenth-century models of sociability. Both Cowper and Wordsworth employed Robert Burton's concept of 'Honest Melancholy', or sorrow for the state of one's country, to critique social competition and call for new models of community. Chapter Three examines Cowper's and Wordsworth's presentations of reclusion as the best response to the violence of the American and French Revolutions. Drawing on the works of Classical and modern historians, both poets argued that political revolutions would only succeed once individuals learned to renounce self-interest and govern their selfish passions. The 'retired man' becomes the unexpected political hero of The Task, which in turn forms the basis for Wordsworth's conception of The Recluse. Finally, Chapter Four explores Cowper's and Wordsworth's interests in natural theology, arguing that both poets built on the works of writers including Calvin, David Hartley, and Joseph Butler to explain the psychological mechanism by which reclusion in nature could help to reform the mind, eliminating the selfish passions and teaching individuals to live in an active, mutually responsible community.

The onset of dysphagia (swallowing difficulty) is associated with increasing age and the diseases that frequently occur with increasing age. Dysphagia increases the risk of dehydration and malnutrition with subsequent declines in body composition, physical health, and quality of life. The purpose of the present study was to administer a set of valid objective and perceptual measures to document (a) physical health, and (b) nutrition and hydration, relative to (c) swallowing function in 15 self-reported healthy older women in a Continuing Care Retirement Community. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) correlations were identified between perceived physical health, emotional well-being, and reflux symptoms and objective measures of breathing capacity, blood oxygen level, and tongue strength and endurance. The consumption of a regular, unrestricted diet was significantly associated with Eating Duration and Eating Desire on the Swallowing Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL) survey. Objective measures and participants’ responses on the SWAL-QOL identified a subgroup of older adults who were experiencing swallowing difficulties. Results confirm the importance of including both objective and perceptual measures of physical health, nutrition, hydration, and swallowing function in a screening protocol for older adults in residential care to identify those at-risk for developing dysphagia. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Health Professions, Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders

The proportion of adults aged 65 and older in the United States has been increasing steadily for years. Although most would agree that this increased longevity is a remarkable achievement, there is growing concern regarding the resources that will be necessary to provide care and services for this rapidly expanding segment of the population. From a public health perspective, simply increasing longevity is no longer the ultimate outcome sought. A more pertinent goal is increasing the quality of life years, or promoting resilience and successful aging. Strategies that assist adults in delaying the onset of disability or reducing the severity of disabling conditions may serve a vital role in the promotion of resilience and successful aging in older adults. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between religiosity and subjective well-being, commonly identified as a marker of resilience in older adults. In addition, the study sought to determine if that association is mediated by optimism. For this study, subjective well-being was operationalized with measures of depressive symptomatology and life satisfaction. Secondary analyses were conducted on longitudinal data collected for the Florida Retirement Study. Results indicated that religiosity was not significantly associated with future depressive symptomatology, but was significantly associated with future life satisfaction. Dispositional optimism did not mediate the relationships between religiosity and subjective well-being variables.

Thesis (M.G.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Sociology and Gerontology, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-47).

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