scholarly journals Good Self-Rated Health as an Indicator of Personal Capability in Old Age

2022 ◽  
pp. 51-63
Author(s):  
Hanna Falk Erhag
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Symptom Experience ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Health And Illness ◽  
Simple Question ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual

AbstractSelf-rated health, or self-assessed health, is based on asking individuals to evaluate their general health status on a four- or five-point scale, with response options ranging from ‘very good’ to ‘very poor’. This simple question has been one of the most frequently used health indicators for decades. In nursing research, the voices, interpretations and understanding of humans, as well as their ability to shape their experiences, are studied through the collection and analysis of primarily qualitative materials that are subjective and narrative in nature. However, knowledge about subjective experiences of health and illness, situated and filtered through the life-world of the individual, can also be sought using other approaches. The aim of this chapter is twofold. Firstly, it aims to outline perspectives on how epidemiology and population-based studies of self-rated health as an indicator of subjective experiences can generate new evidence to solve nursing problems and expand nursing knowledge. Secondly, based on the hypothesis that there is an association between good self-rated health and a person’s capability to master the gains and losses of late life, the chapter also aims to describe how personal capability can be operationalised as self-rated health, given that this seemingly simple question delegates to the individual the task of synthesising, in a single evaluation, the many dimensions that make up the complex concept of health and wellbeing in old age. Although a person’s capabilities are dependent on a large variety of factors, at the individual level, symptom experience, chronic illnesses and functional disability are paramount. Therefore, in this chapter, the focus will be on self-rated health as an indicator of personal capability in the fourth age – the period of late life characterised by illness, frailty, impairment and dependence on others. To study self-rated health during this period of life is especially interesting in that the discrepancy between subjective and objective health seems to increase with age, and older olds tend to rate their health as better than younger olds given the same level of disease and functioning.

Re-embodiment and Rehabilitation

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-81
Author(s):  
Keri Chiveralls
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Ordinary Experience ◽  
Identity Reconstruction ◽  
Health And Illness ◽  
The Individual

This article examines the process of rehabilitation through Wendy Seymour's concept of re-embodiment and Pierre Bourdieu's concept of habitus. It argues that rehabilitation practitioners need to focus not only on the damaged body of the patient, but also on the patient's subjective experiences of health and illness and the wider social context in which they occur. The process of disembodiment caused by periods of injury or sickness creates a rupture in the ordinary experience of the individual in society. In doing so, it renders both the individual habitus and ordinary societal conceptions problematic. Individuals must then embark on a process of transformation or identity reconstruction, whereby they again come to understand themselves as “healthy”. As rehabilitation workers are likely to work closely with people over an extended period of time, they are in an excellent position to consider the person not just as an objective patient, but as a person or subject influenced by many overlapping social forces and relationships that have an impact upon their reconstitution of identity, their rehabilitation and re-embodiment. Thus, rehabilitation as re-embodiment offers an opportunity for both the patient and practitioner to reconsider themselves and their place in society, and in doing so, to effect social change both within themselves and society at large.

A new partner as a resource for social support

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbjörn Bildtgård ◽  
Peter Öberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Practical Support ◽  
The Individual

This chapter investigates the gains of repartnering in old age. What can a new intimate relationship offer the individual who repartners in later life and are these rewards different in later life than earlier in life? The chapter starts with a brief presentation of two theoretical perspectives that have been used to understand the reasons for late-life repartnering: rational choice theory and functionalism. It continues by detailing different kinds of social support that a new relationship can offer the individual – companionate, emotional and practical support.

Commentary on “Disability but not social support predicts cognitive deterioration in late-life depression”

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 705-706
Author(s):  
Christina Bryant
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Signs And Symptoms ◽  
Cognitive Deterioration ◽  
Late Life Depression ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Clinical Signs And Symptoms ◽  
The Individual

It is well established that depression is common in late life and associated with a range of consequences for the individual and those close to them. These consequences include higher use of health services and declines in functional ability (Luppa et al., 2007), not to mention negative subjective experiences, such as reduced engagement with, and enjoyment of day-to-day activities. Depression in late life is a heterogeneous condition made more complex by the links between depression, cognitive decline and dementia. The “Vascular Depression Hypothesis” suggests that a subset of late life depressive disorders are caused by cerebrovascular disease (Taylor, 2014), but questions about the relationships between depression and cognitive decline remain unanswered. The paper chosen as the paper of the month in this issue of International Psychogeriatrics addresses one of these questions, namely, whether we can identify clinical signs and symptoms that predict cognitive decline in individuals diagnosed with depression. This question is of great clinical relevance, as not all patients and clinicians will have access to the neuroimaging or detailed neuropsychological assessment that could cast light on risk for cognitive deterioration.

scholarly journals Disease or function? What matters most for self-rated health in older people depends on age

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 1591-1594
Author(s):  
Viviane S. Straatmann ◽  
Davide L. Vetrano ◽  
Laura Fratiglioni ◽  
Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Walking Speed ◽  
Oldest Old ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
National Study ◽  
Objective Health ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Discriminatory Capacity ◽  
What Matters

Abstract Background Self-rated health (SRH) holistically captures older adults’ health status from the perspective of the individual. Aims To explore the accuracy of five objective health indicators related to diseases, physical function, cognition and disability in discriminating SRH among the youngest and oldest old. Methods We used baseline data from 2196 participants of the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K), Sweden (years 2001–2004). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC) were obtained from logistic regressions adjusted by sex, age and education. Results Among the youngest old, having ≥ 4 chronic diseases showed the highest discriminatory capacity of poor versus good SRH (AUROC: 0.714). Among the oldest old, a walking speed < 1.0 m/s showed the highest discriminatory capacity of poor versus good SRH (AUROC: 0.683), followed by ≥ 1 limitations in IADL (AUROC: 0.664). Conclusion What matters most for SRH in older people depends on age, with walking speed playing a major role among the oldest old.

12-Year Associations of Health with Personality in the Second Half of Life

GeroPsych ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Wettstein ◽  
Benjamin Tauber ◽  
Hans-Werner Wahl ◽  
Claudia Frankenberg
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Sex Education ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Objective Health ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Longitudinal Associations ◽  
Design Analyses

Abstract. We examined longitudinal associations between personality, objective (physician-rated) and self-rated health over 12 years in two German cohorts (midlife cohort, born 1950/52, nT0 = 502; late-life cohort, born 1930/32, nT0 = 500) from the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Adult Development (ILSE). Based on cross-lagged panel design analyses controlling for sex, education, depression, and cognitive abilities, we found that after 12 years better baseline objective health predicted lower Neuroticism and higher Agreeableness, whereas baseline Extraversion and Conscientiousness were positive predictors of later self-rated health. Our findings thus illustrate that the direction of longitudinal personality-health associations is dependent on whether objective or self-rated health is considered, whereas relations do not seem to be considerably different in midlife vs. in old age.

A Handbook to Eddic Poetry: Myths and Legends of Early Scandinavia, ed. Carolyne Larrington, Judy Quinn, and Brittany Schorn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016, xii, 413 pp., 12 b/w ill.

Mediaevistik ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 366-366
Author(s):  
Albrecht Classen
Keyword(s):  
Old Norse ◽  
Entire Volume ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Critical Studies ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Made In ◽  
Scandinavian Literature

Eddic poetry constitutes one of the most important genres in Old Norse or Scandinavian literature and has been studied since the earliest time of modern-day philology. The progress we have made in that field is impressive, considering the many excellent editions and translations, not to mention the countless critical studies in monographs and articles. Nevertheless, there is always a great need to revisit, to summarize, to review, and to digest the knowledge gained so far. The present handbook intends to address all those goals and does so, to spell it out right away, exceedingly well. But in contrast to traditional concepts, the individual contributions constitute fully developed critical article, each with a specialized topic elucidating it as comprehensively as possible, and concluding with a section of notes. Those are kept very brief, but the volume rounds it all off with an inclusive, comprehensive bibliography. And there is also a very useful index at the end. At the beginning, we find, following the table of contents, a list of the contributors, unfortunately without emails, a list of translations and abbreviations of the titles of Eddic poems in the Codex Regius and then elsewhere, and a very insightful and pleasant introduction by Carolyne Larrington. She briefly introduces the genre and then summarizes the essential points made by the individual authors. The entire volume is based on the Eddic Network established by the three editors in 2012, and on two workshops held at St. John’s College, Oxford in 2013 and 2014.

Individuality and Beyond

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedetta Zavatta
Keyword(s):  
Moral Autonomy ◽  
First Line ◽  
Philosophical Interpretation ◽  
Individual Personality ◽  
The World ◽  
Regulative Ideal ◽  
Personal Library ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

Based on an analysis of the marginal markings and annotations Nietzsche made to the works of Emerson in his personal library, the book offers a philosophical interpretation of the impact on Nietzsche’s thought of his reading of these works, a reading that began when he was a schoolboy and extended to the final years of his conscious life. The many ideas and sources of inspiration that Nietzsche drew from Emerson can be organized in terms of two main lines of thought. The first line leads in the direction of the development of the individual personality, that is, the achievement of critical thinking, moral autonomy, and original self-expression. The second line of thought is the overcoming of individuality: that is to say, the need to transcend one’s own individual—and thus by definition limited—view of the world by continually confronting and engaging with visions different from one’s own and by putting into question and debating one’s own values and certainties. The image of the strong personality that Nietzsche forms thanks to his reading of Emerson ultimately takes on the appearance of a nomadic subject who is continually passing out of themselves—that is to say, abandoning their own positions and convictions—so as to undergo a constant process of evolution. In other words, the formation of the individual personality takes on the form of a regulative ideal: a goal that can never be said to have been definitively and once and for all attained.

Rites of Passage

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Michaels
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Rites Of Passage ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Transformational Process ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
Vulnerable Community ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual

This chapter examines the classical Hindu life-cycle rites, the term saṃskāra and its history, and the main sources (Gṛhyasūtras and Dharma texts). It presents a history of the traditional saṃskāras and variants in local contexts, especially in Nepal. It describes prenatal, birth and childhood, initiation, marriage, old-age, death, and ancestor rituals. Finally, it analyzes the transformational process of these life-cycle rituals in the light of general theories on rites of passage. It proposes, in saṃskāras, man equates himself with the unchangeable and thus seems to counteract the uncertainty of the future, of life and death, since persons are confronted with their finite existence. For evidently every change, whether social or biological, represents a danger for the cohesion of the vulnerable community of the individual and society. These rituals then become an attempt of relegating the effects of nature or of mortality: birth, teething, sexual maturity, reproduction, and dying.

scholarly journals Entangling Lattice-Trapped Bosons with a Free Impurity: Impact on Stationary and Dynamical Properties

Entropy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 290
Author(s):  
Maxim Pyzh ◽  
Kevin Keiler ◽  
Simeon I. Mistakidis ◽  
Peter Schmelcher
Keyword(s):  
Structural Changes ◽  
Many Body ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Entropy Measures ◽  
Particle Level ◽  
The Many ◽  
The One ◽  
Tunneling Dynamics ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Trapped Bosons

We address the interplay of few lattice trapped bosons interacting with an impurity atom in a box potential. For the ground state, a classification is performed based on the fidelity allowing to quantify the susceptibility of the composite system to structural changes due to the intercomponent coupling. We analyze the overall response at the many-body level and contrast it to the single-particle level. By inspecting different entropy measures we capture the degree of entanglement and intraspecies correlations for a wide range of intra- and intercomponent interactions and lattice depths. We also spatially resolve the imprint of the entanglement on the one- and two-body density distributions showcasing that it accelerates the phase separation process or acts against spatial localization for repulsive and attractive intercomponent interactions, respectively. The many-body effects on the tunneling dynamics of the individual components, resulting from their counterflow, are also discussed. The tunneling period of the impurity is very sensitive to the value of the impurity-medium coupling due to its effective dressing by the few-body medium. Our work provides implications for engineering localized structures in correlated impurity settings using species selective optical potentials.

Perceived Stress Predicts Subsequent Self-Reported Problems With Vision and Hearing: Longitudinal Findings From the German Ageing Survey

2021 ◽  
pp. 016402752110273
Author(s):  
Markus Wettstein ◽  
Hans-Werner Wahl ◽  
Vera Heyl
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factor ◽  
Chronic Diseases ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Middle Adulthood ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Demographic Indicators ◽  
German Ageing Survey

Although stress is a risk factor for various diseases in later life, its role for sensory abilities in the second half of life has rarely been empirically addressed. We examined if perceived stress at baseline predicts self-reported difficulties with vision and hearing 3 years later. We also explored whether chronological age is a moderator of associations between stress and sensory difficulties. Our sample was derived from the German Ageing Survey and consisted of n = 5,085 individuals aged 40–95 years ( M = 64.01 years, SD = 10.84 years). Controlling for baseline self-reported sensory functioning, socio-demographic indicators, self-rated health and chronic diseases, greater perceived stress at baseline predicted greater self-reported difficulties with vision and hearing 3 years later. The effect of stress did not vary by age. Our findings suggest that, from middle adulthood to advanced old age, stress is a risk factor for increases in self-perceived problems with vision and hearing.

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