Mediating effect of social support on the relationship between older adults’ use of social media and their quality-of-life

Author(s):  
Su-Jung Nam
2021 ◽  
pp. 089443932110329
Author(s):  
Paul Dodemaide ◽  
Mark Merolli ◽  
Nicole Hill ◽  
Lynette Joubert

There is a growing body of literature exploring the general population’s use of social media for assistance in dealing with stigmatized health issues. This study presents novel research examining the relationship between social media use and young adults. It utilizes a therapeutic affordance (TA) framework. Quantitative results from this study are complemented by qualitative data. The relationships between distinct social media and their TA (a–b) are presented to highlight their potential to impact positively on social and emotional well-being outcomes. Evidence includes broad support for “connection,” “narration,” and “collaboration” TAs in this context and the relationship between the use of distinct social media and perceived quality of life (QOL) outcomes (a–c). TA provides an appropriate and valuable theoretical framework which is useful for the development of an evidence-base from the analysis of young adult’s social media usage. An analysis of the association between social media and their QOL outcomes is presented according to the TA relationship pathway (a–c–b). The adoption of a TA framework enables a nuanced analysis of significant associations between specific social media, TA, and improved QOL outcomes. This study demonstrates the significant association between social media and perceived QOL outcomes in young adults.


Author(s):  
Christina N. Marsack-Topolewski

This study sought to explore the mediating effect of informal social support on the relationship between caregiver burden and quality of life among compound and noncompound caregivers. Parents ( N = 320) completed a web-based survey aimed to examine effects of caring for an adult child with autism spectrum disorder. Results of the mediation analysis suggested that informal social support partially mediated the relationship between caregiver burden and quality of life for both groups. Informal social support appears to be more impactful for noncompound caregivers compared with compound caregivers based on a greater reduction in explained variance. These results highlight the importance of informal social support as caregivers juggle ongoing challenges to provide care to one or more care recipients.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Lima ◽  
Lurdes Teixeira ◽  
Raquel Esteves ◽  
Fátima Ribeiro ◽  
Ana Teixeira ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Study older adults’ quality of life is becoming increasingly important in the assessment, quality improvement and allocation of health and social care service. The purpose of this study was to enhance knowledge on the relationship between modifiable (psychological variables) and non-modifiable variables (sociodemographic), and quality of life in elderly, regarding psychological and social variables in Portuguese context.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, including 604 older adults from general community. 63.6% of the sample was composed by female gender with a mean age of 71.6(SD=4.81). Participants completed the following instruments: Barthel Index to assess functionality; Satisfaction with Social Support Scale to assess social support; The Spiritual and Religious Attitudes in Dealing with Illness to assess spirituality and Short Form Health Survey 36, to assess mental and physical quality of life.Results: A path analysis model was performed where the presence of a chronic disease, age and functionality has a direct effect on physical quality of life and spirituality had a direct effect on mental quality of life. Social support mediated the relationship between functionality and mental quality of life, and in turn, functionality mediated the relationship between age and physical quality of life.Conclusions: Results reinforce the effect of age and chronic disease as non-modifiable variables as well as functionality, spirituality and satisfaction with social support as modifiable variables, in the quality of life of older people. Social support, health and education programs in the community should be promoted in order to improve quality of life in this population. Strategies to promote functionality and enhance the social support network, especially in the elder with chronic illness, should be a priority.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 301-301
Author(s):  
Shelia Cotten

Abstract Though a digital divide still exists, older adults are increasingly using a range of information and communication technologies (ICTs) – smartphones, apps, tablets, and computers – to communicate and engage with social ties. This symposium focuses on modalities of interaction – whether online or offline – that older adults use to interact with social ties. The research projects detailed examine the frequency of different interaction modalities, as well as impacts of these interaction modalities on older adults’ perceptions of social support and quality of life. Kadylak and colleagues focus on social robots and how older adults may engage with this evolving technology to improve social engagement and aging in place. Kim and Fingerman investigate whether daily social media use is associated with same-day negative or positive mood in later life. Xie and colleagues examine older adults’ patterns of both online and offline social interaction during COVID-19, and how older adults perceive these interactions. Schuster and Cotten, using a national sample of individuals aged 65 and older, examine whether social media use may be related to a range of quality of life indicators. Each of these studies provides additional insights into the ways through which older adults interact and communicate with social ties, and potential impacts of the different ways through which they interact, which may provide insights into groups seeking to increase social engagement among older adults in general and during times when social isolation may be exacerbated due to societal stressors, such as pandemics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S888-S889
Author(s):  
Sandra Sanchez-Reilly ◽  
Laura M Reilly-Sanchez ◽  
Valeria Restrepo ◽  
Marcos I Restrepo ◽  
Jeanette Ross ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Stroke survivors experience long-term disability also affecting informal caregivers (ICG). With current technology, social media might be the only way for ICG to gain training/access support. What resources are available for ICG of older adults who survived stroke (OASS)? Objective: To identify/analyze types of bilingual social media resources available to ICG of OASS Methods: Facebook data was bilingually collected (Spanish), including most popular groups and pages based on search engines containing terms such as stroke, CVA, caregiver. Similar numbers of groups (35 English vs. 52 Spanish) and pages (32 English vs. 34 Spanish) were analyzed. Data included pages and groups’ information, numbers-of-likes, type-of-organization and resources provided. Results: English-Facebook resources were more popular for pages and groups (3820/2010 vs. 190/7; p<0.001), Spanish resources were present, but with little activity among ICG. Majority of Spanish posts came from experts and English posts related to offering services or raising community awareness. Among both languages, pages provided resources related to social support (81%), improving caregiver skills (35%), advocacy (100%-English vs.56%-Spanish, p<0.001) and research news (84%-English vs.41%-Spanish, p<0.001). For English-ICG, more opportunities for live chats, messaging and inspirational messages were found (22-44% vs.3-9%, p<0.001). Conclusions: ICG of OASS could access Facebook resources to support multiple areas of caregiving including retrieving social support, gaining skills, learning new stroke-science findings and encountering live chats while getting inspired. Some resources are more available to English-ICG. Stroke-supporting organizations must consider using social media as crucial platforms to access bilingual resources and improve quality-of-life for ICG and OASS.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Lima ◽  
Lurdes Teixeira ◽  
Raquel Esteves ◽  
Fátima Ribeiro ◽  
Ana Teixeira ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Study older adults’ quality of life is becoming increasingly important in the assessment, quality improvement and allocation of health and social care service. The purpose of this study was to enhance knowledge on the relationship between modifiable (psychological variables) and non-modifiable variables (sociodemographic), and quality of life in elderly, in order to inform social, health and education policies.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, including 604 older adults from general community. 63.6% of the sample was composed by female gender with a mean age of 71.6(SD=4.81). Participants completed the following instruments: Barthel Index to assess functionality; Satisfaction with Social Support Scale to assess social support; The Spiritual and Religious Attitudes in Dealing with Illness to assess spirituality and Short Form Health Survey 36, to assess mental and physical quality of life.Results: A path analysis model was performed where the presence of a chronic disease, age and functionality has a direct effect on physical quality of life and spirituality had a direct effect on mental quality of life. Social support mediated the relationship between functionality and mental quality of life, and in turn, functionality mediated the relationship between age and physical quality of life.Conclusions: Results reinforce the effect of age and chronic disease as non-modifiable variables as well as functionality, spirituality and satisfaction with social support as modifiable variables, in the quality of life of older people. Social support, health and education programs in the community should be promoted in order to improve quality of life in this population. Strategies to promote functionality and enhance the social support network, especially in the elder with chronic illness, should be a priority. Keywords: Quality of life, Social Support, Functionality, Spirituality.


Author(s):  
Shaila M. Strayhorn ◽  
Nyahne Q. Bergeron ◽  
Desmona C. Strahan ◽  
Dana Villines ◽  
Veronica Fitzpatrick ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 17-17
Author(s):  
Yifan Lou ◽  
Nan Jiang ◽  
Katherine Ornstein

Abstract Background: Quality of life (QoL) during last stage of life has raised expanded interests as an important aspect of person-centered care. Last place of care (LPC), refer to the last place decedents received their formal end-of-life care (EOLC), has been identified as a key indicator of older adults’ end-of-life QoL, but the relationship was understudied. This study explores the association between LPC and end-of-life QoL among American older adults. Methods: Data used seven waves of Last Month of Life data with a total sample of 3068 Medicare decedents in NHATS. Outcome is end-of-life QoL assessed by eleven measures on four domains: pain and symptoms management (SP), quality of healthcare encounter (HE), person-centered care (PC), and overall quality of care (QC). LPC was categorized into home, hospital, nursing home, and residential hospice. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationship with covariates. Results: LPC varied by most demographic characteristics, except immigration status and education. Older adults whose LPC is hospital, compared to those who had home-care, were less likely to have great experiences on HE, PC, and QC. People dying at nursing homes are more likely to receive care meeting their dyspnea and spiritual needs. Residential hospice is negatively related to respected care, clear coordination, and keeping family informed, but are more likely to provide PS and spiritual care. Discussion: Home-based end-of-life care has certain advantages but still has room to improve on SP and religious concerns. Hospitals should keep reforming their service delivery structure to improve patients’ QoL.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (23) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siddharth R ◽  
Dr. Nisha B ◽  
Dr. Timsi Jain ◽  
Dr. Anantha Eashwar ◽  
Dr Ruma Dutta

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