scholarly journals SHAPE: A Healthy Aging Community Project Designed Based on the Salutogenic Theory

Author(s):  
Betsy Seah ◽  
Wenru Wang

AbstractSalutogenesis introduces a paradigm that requires a perceptual change towards what creates health and how health can be facilitated. Removing the lens of pathogenesis, aging is an achievement to be embraced and older people are valued as assets for their wealth of experiences, resources, skills and knowledge. From the perspectives of older adults, the concept of healthy aging is multidimensional, comprising bio-psycho-social-spiritual health. Evidence shows that sense of coherence via resistance resources promotes health outcomes among older adults. However, very few works have attempted to operationalise the salutogenic theory to promote healthy aging among older community dwellers. This chapter provides a detailed description of the Salutogenic Healthy Aging Program Embracement (SHAPE) intervention for senior-only household dwellers. SHAPE represents an application of the salutogenic concepts: sense of coherence and resistance resources. SHAPE is an integrative person-centric multi-dimensional health resource program that employs an asset-based insight-oriented approach. Illustration of examples in which how the salutogenic concepts were operationalised in developing the SHAPE intervention approach, its content, activities and the conduction of the intervention are presented.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcello Ienca ◽  
Christophe Schneble ◽  
Reto Kressig ◽  
Tenzin Wangmo

Abstract BackgroundDigital health technologies are being increasingly developed with the aim of allowing older adults to maintain functional independence throughout the old age, a process known as healthy ageing. Such digital health technologies for healthy ageing are expected to mitigate the socio-economic effects of population ageing and improve the quality of life of older people. However, little is known regarding the views and needs of older people regarding these technologies. AimThe aim of this study is to explore the views, needs and perceptions of community-dwelling older adults regarding the use of digital health technologies for healthy ageing. MethodFace-to-face, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with community-dwelling older adults (median age 79.6 years). The interview process involved both abstract reflections and practical demonstrations. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed according to inductive content analysis. ResultsThree main themes and twelve sub-themes emerged. The three main themes revolved around the following thematic areas: favorable views and perceptions on technology-assisted living, usability evaluations and ethical considerations. ConclusionsOur study reveals a generally positive attitude towards digital health technologies as participants believed digital tools could positively contribute to improving their overall wellbeing, especially if designed in a patient-centered manner. Safety concerns and ethical issues related to privacy, empowerment and lack of human contact also emerged as key considerations.


2022 ◽  
pp. 185-199
Author(s):  
Maria Koelen ◽  
Monica Eriksson

AbstractIn this chapter, the authors consider the meanings of the concepts of healthy ageing, ageing well, salutogenic ageing and reciprocity between the sense of coherence (SOC) and ageing processes. They discuss how the community can provide resources to strengthen older adults’ SOC, perceived well-being and quality of life. Quoting ‘It’s not how old we are; it’s how we are old’, the authors illuminate critical differences in understanding healthy ageing by professionals, researchers and older people themselves.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 951-951
Author(s):  
Alison Phinney ◽  
Frances Affleck

Abstract Nursing education tends to focus on complex clinical issues affecting older adults who are acutely ill or in long-term care. This creates challenges for educators wanting to expose students to a greater range of experience, including realities of healthy aging. Opportunities to do things differently were presented when an established undergraduate nursing course on complex aging care underwent significant adjustment in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the course was condensed and moved online and clinical sites closed, invitations were extended to community-dwelling older people who wanted to “help teach nursing students about aging”. The response was overwhelming; over nine days, 118 people (ages 65-94) volunteered to be mentors. Through weekly online/ phone conversations, each person guided their assigned student to learn about diverse experiences of aging. Post-survey results showed the impact of these conversations. Over 90% of mentors felt they had contributed in a meaningful way to student learning and would do it again and recommend it to others. 85% of students felt it was a meaningful experience, offering comments like: “I am more mindful of my assumptions now” and “I learned to approach interactions with older adults as a collaboration; we have so much to give each other”. These results provide a needed counterpoint to the predominant COVID discourse of older people as “isolated, helpless, and needy”. Students came to understand that older people were also “engaged, active, and contributing” and identified how this had changed their view of aging. Implications for nursing education are explored.


Geriatrics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Aida Muntsant ◽  
Paula Ramírez-Boix ◽  
Rocío Leal-Campanario ◽  
Francisco Javier Alcaín ◽  
Lydia Giménez-Llort

Ageism can be seen as systematic stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination of people because of their age. For a long time, society has accepted negative stereotypes as a norm. When referring to older adults, the United Nations Global Report on Ageism warns about a severe impact. The Intergenerational Study for a Healthy Aging, a questionnaire about believes, stereotypes, and knowledge about older people and grandparents, was administered to 326 Spanish biology and medical students. Here we report the results of stereotype analysis through adjective qualification of the youth and older people performed before the survey. Content analysis of two open questions about metacognition at the end of the survey is also presented. The results show that: (1) The questionnaire promoted metacognition; (2) Positive metacognition toward grandparents was higher than for the general old population; (3) Most participants were not conscious about ageism; (4) Gender was a key factor—male students were more ageist than females; (5) The feeling of guilt was higher in the questionnaire about older people; (6) The metacognition exercise elicited thoughts and, in few cases, the need to take action to tackle ageism. In conclusion, both activities promoted active thoughts about older people vs. grandparents and helped participants realize unconscious ageism—specifically toward the older population—serving as an awareness activity that may help tackle ageism.


Pained ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 207-208
Author(s):  
Michael D. Stein ◽  
Sandro Galea

This chapter studies four new realities which need to be considered in addressing the needs of the aging population. First, healthy aging is the ultimate example of prevention in action. To age in a healthy way, we have to prevent disease from taking hold, suggesting a redoubled effort in preventing some of the conditions—such as obesity and substance use—that result in unhealthy older life. Second, we must take steps such as creating more accessible built environments, and ensuring older adults have volunteer opportunities, to make sure populations remain integrated in communities as they age. Third, we must close health gaps that exist among aging populations. These include gaps created by race, LGBTQ status, and socioeconomic status. Finally, we need to intensify our efforts to tackle the health challenges that older people face, such as Alzheimer’s disease.


Author(s):  
An-Sofie Smetcoren ◽  
Liesbeth De Donder ◽  
Daan Duppen ◽  
Nico De Witte ◽  
Olivia Vanmechelen ◽  
...  

Chapter 6 addresses the question of how an age-friendly urban environment can support frail older people to ‘age in place’. To address this issue, the chapter presents findings from a study which assessed the value of an ‘Active Caring Community’ project in supporting frail older adults living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Brussels, Belgium. The project was aimed at creating a community which supports the process of ageing in place; where residents of the community know and help each other; where meeting opportunities are developed; and where individuals and their informal caregivers receive care and support from motivated professionals. The authors highlight the importance of the social dimension of the environment, and discuss a range of related opportunities and constraints which may affect older people’s frailty.


2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A R M Saifuddin Ekram ◽  
Joanne Ryan ◽  
Sara Espinoza ◽  
Anne Newman ◽  
Anne Murray ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Frailty is gaining importance as a predictor of disability and mortality in aged adults, and becoming frail poses a challenge for healthy aging. We investigated the prevalence and factors associated with pre-frail and frail status in a large study cohort of community-dwelling healthy older adults from Australia and the United States. Methods A total of 19,114 individuals (87% Australian and 56% women) aged 65 years or older enrolled in a primary prevention clinical trial were evaluated. Frailty status was classified using the modified Fried phenotype criteria comprising exhaustion, body mass index, grip strength, gait speed and physical activity. Prevalence and factors associated with frailty status (e.g., demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors) were reported using descriptive statistics along with a logistic regression model. Results At baseline, 39.0% (95% CI: 38.3, 39.7) of older trial participants were pre-frail and 2.2% (95% CI: 2.0, 2.4) were frail, respectively. Women were more likely to be frail (65.1% vs. 36.9%) and prefrail (58.0% vs. 42.0%) than men. Lower levels of education (<12 years), living alone, ethnic minorities, current smoking and past alcohol use were some of the factors which were common among frail or prefrail. Conclusions Despite being a relatively healthy cohort, more than one-third of the older trial participants were pre-frail, which was more prevalent among specific subgroups of individuals. This study emphasizes the high burden of the prefrailty status even among a healthy cohort of community-dwelling older people. Key messages The burden of prefrailty is high, even among a healthy cohort of older people in the communities.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hee won Chueh ◽  
Hye Lim Jung ◽  
Ye Jee Shim ◽  
Hyoung Soo Choi ◽  
Jin Yeong Han

Abstract BACKGROUND: Anemia is associated with high morbidity and mortality in older people. However, anemia in older individuals is not fully understood, and national data on the prevalence and characteristics of anemia in Korean older people are lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of anemia in older adults using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) , which is the nation-wide cross-sectional epidemiological study conducted by Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare. METHODS: Data from the total of 62,825 participants of the 2007-2016 KNHANES were merged and analyzed to investigate differences in participant characteristics and potential risk factors for anemia. RESULTS: The prevalence of anemia was higher in the population aged ≥65 years (older adults) than in the younger population. Anemia was also more prevalent among females than among males, but the difference was not statistically significant in people aged >85 years. Being underweight, receiving a social allowance, living alone, and having comorbidities such as hypertension, arthritis, diabetes mellitus (DM), cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, cancer, and chronic renal failure (CRF) were more prevalent in older adults with anemia than in the group without anemia. In the univariate and multivariate analyses, older age, female sex, underweight, and comorbidities including arthritis, DM, CVD, stroke, cancer, and CRF were associated with an increased risk of anemia. Furthermore, the prevalence data were significantly higher in this study than in previous studies. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that age, female sex, underweight, and the presence of comorbidities such as arthritis, DM, CVD, stroke, cancer, and CRF were associated with an increased risk of anemia in Korean older adults. Our findings may be useful in developing interventions and programs aimed at healthy aging. Further study on causal relationships between anemia and other variables in the older population is necessary.


Author(s):  
Estela González ◽  
Carmen Requena ◽  
Paula Álvarez-Merino

Background: The literature favors discussion on socio-spatial conditions at the macro- (city) and micro- (housing) level that promote healthy aging in place. Objectives: (a) Identify the association between physical and social characteristics of the family home and the functional level and quality of life of older people and (b) provide normative data on adequate/inadequate households based on the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) inventory and the Spanish Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (S-IQCODE) test. Methods: In total, 79 healthy older adults completed the HOME inventory and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), S-IQCODE, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10) and ICEpop CAPability measure for Older people (ICECAP-O) tests. A regression model, the effect size and the means of the scores of HOME (adequate/inadequate) test and the cognitive level (optimal/normal) were calculated. Results: The regression model discloses that adequate home scores are associated with cognitive level (odds ratio (OR): 0.955, confidence interval (CI)95%: 0.918–0.955); quality of life (OR: 6.542, CI95%: 1.750–24.457), living with other people (OR: 5.753, CI95%: 1.456–22.733) and level of education (OR: 0.252, CI95%: 0.064–0.991). The normative data between HOME and S-IQCODE scores showed a good adjustment (d = 0.70). Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between the physical environment of the home and personal variables (sociodemographic information, quality of life and cognitive functionality). In addition, from this last variable, the normative data of an adequate/inadequate household for an older person have been established.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 488-488
Author(s):  
A R M Saifuddin Ekram ◽  
Joanne Ryan ◽  
Sara Espinoza ◽  
Anne Murray ◽  
Michael Ernst ◽  
...  

Abstract Frailty is gaining importance as a predictor of disability and mortality in older people, and becoming frail poses a challenge for healthy aging. We investigated the prevalence and factors associated with pre-frail and frail status in a large study cohort of community-dwelling healthy older adults from Australia and the United States. A total of 19,114 individuals (87% Australian and 56% women) aged 65 years or older enrolled in a primary prevention clinical trial were evaluated. Frailty status was classified using the modified Fried phenotype criteria comprising of exhaustion, body mass index, grip strength, gait speed and physical activity. Prevalence and factors associated with frailty status (e.g. demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors) were reported using descriptive statistics along with a logistic regression model. At baseline, 2.3 % (95% CI, 2.1-2.5) of older trial participants were frail and 39.2% (95% CI, 38.5-39.9) were pre-frail, respectively. Women were more likely to be frail (65.1% vs 36.9%) and prefrail (58.0% vs 42.0%) than men. Lower levels of education (<12 years), living alone, ethnic minorities, current smoking and past alcohol use were some of the factors which were common among frail or prefrail. Despite being a relatively healthy cohort, more than one-third of the older trial participants were pre-frail, which was more prevalent among specific subgroups of individuals. This study emphasizes the high burden of the prefrailty status even among an apparently healthy cohort of community-dwelling older people.


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