Late-Life Psychotherapy: Challenges and Opportunities to Enhance Well-Being in the Oldest Old

Abstract Participation in meaningful activities may be particularly important for late life well-being. We examined associations of moment to moment variability in meaningful activity engagement with positive and negative affect in the daily lives of oldest-old adults. Moderating effects of conscientiousness on meaning-affect associations were also examined considering recent theorising that late life declines in conscientiousness could reflect adaptive self-regulatory processes. Participants were 73 adults aged 84 and above from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging Daily Life Time-Sampling (ADuLTS) study, who provided self-report data on activity engagement (including ratings of meaning and degree of challenge associated with activities) and affect on five occasions per day over seven days. Within-person variability in meaningful activity engagement was associated with positive and negative affect; however, these associations were conditional upon the extent to which activities were rated as challenging. Specifically, positive affect tended to be lower on occasions when activities were rated as less meaningful, but also more challenging. Similarly, negative affect was rated as lower on occasions when activities were regarded as more meaningful, and at the same time less challenging. Participants who were higher in conscientiousness reported higher overall positive affect, and associations of higher conscientiousness with lower momentary negative affect were evident on occasions when activities were rated as more challenging. Engagement in meaningful activity is associated with higher positive, and lower negative affect in late life, with these associations dependent on the extent to which activities are challenging. Findings are discussed in the context of self-regulatory perspectives on adaptation.

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Challenges and opportunities for the affective sciences.

10.31234/osf.io/ftmde ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew S. Fox ◽

Regina Lapate ◽

Alexander J. Shackman ◽

Richard J Davidson

Keyword(s):

Well Being ◽

Human Condition ◽

Emotional States ◽

Quarter Century ◽

Core Feature ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

The Mind ◽

The Impact ◽

Improved Methods ◽

Health And Well Being

Emotion is a core feature of the human condition, with profound consequences for health, wealth, and wellbeing. Over the past quarter-century, improved methods for manipulating and measuring different features of emotion have yielded steady advances in our scientific understanding emotional states, traits, and disorders. Yet, it is clear that most of the work remains undone. Here, we highlight key challenges facing the field of affective sciences. Addressing these challenges will provide critical opportunities not just for understanding the mind, but also for increasing the impact of the affective sciences on public health and well-being.

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Revolutionizing Mental Health with Social Media

The Oxford Handbook of Networked Communication ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190460518.013.13 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 259-284

Author(s):

Munmun De Choudhury

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Well Being ◽

Linguistic Expression ◽

Ethical Considerations ◽

Self Disclosure ◽

Vulnerable Communities ◽

Tailored Interventions ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms have emerged as rich repositories of information relating to people’s activities, emotions, and linguistic expression. This chapter highlights how these data may be harnessed to reason about human mental and psychological well-being. It also discusses the emergent role of social media in providing a platform of self-disclosure and support to distressed and vulnerable communities. It reflects on how this new line of research bears potential for informing the design of timely and tailored interventions, provisions for improved personal and societal well-being assessment, privacy and ethical considerations, and the challenges and opportunities of the increasing ubiquity of social media.

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Dyads in Dementia Care: An International Perspective on Research Challenges and Opportunities

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2731 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 757-757

Author(s):

Marie Boltz ◽

Karin Wolf-Ostermann ◽

Katie Maslow

Keyword(s):

Daily Practice ◽

Well Being ◽

International Perspective ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Research Approach ◽

Ethical Challenges ◽

Research Strategies ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Informal Carers

Abstract Dementia poses a societal challenge that is life-changing not only for persons with dementia (PWD) but also for family members and friends (informal carers) directly involved in the care arrangement. Informal carers (IC) have typically poorer outcomes in terms of well-being, quality of life (QoL), health status, and use of health care resources. Dyads of PWD and IC living with dementia are characterized by strong reciprocal relationships and complex living contexts. Therefore, research should investigate home based dementia caregiving from a dyadic perspective to yield interventions that support the PWD, the IC, and the unit as a whole. However, it is an ongoing challenge to investigate dyadic needs and preferences in daily practice and develop effective interventions. Challenges are related to incomplete understanding of dyadic characteristics, attitudes and beliefs within the dyad, as well as how to adapt research approach to engage and retain the dyad in research. This international symposium will therefore address these issues. The first presentation will describe a typology of dementia care dyad characteristics and needs in Germany. The second presentation will examine the challenges and opportunities associated with recruiting and retaining dementia dyads. The third presentation will explore ethical challenges posed in communication with dyads and possible solutions for the researcher. The final presentation reports on the Meeting Centre Support Program as an example of an effective psychosocial intervention employing research strategies that transcend cultural barriers. Our discussant, Katie Maslow, will synthesize the presentations and lead a discussion of future directions for policy and practice.

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Internal and External Resources of the Lifestyle Leaders

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2073 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 612-612

Author(s):

Martina Raue ◽

Lisa D’Ambrosio ◽

Taylor Patskanick ◽

John Rudnik ◽

Adam Felts ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Health ◽

Significant Role ◽

Oldest Old ◽

Well Being ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Financial Resources ◽

External Resources ◽

Resource Decline ◽

New Challenges

Abstract With older age, people experience declines in resources and face new challenges. The goal of this study was to understand how resource decline affects the oldest olds’ well-being, but also to learn who they trust and where they go for advice in areas such as health, finances, and technology. This sample of 30 participants between the ages of 85 and 95 was generally resource-rich, scoring highest on self-esteem and optimism and lowest on mastery. Self-esteem and optimism correlated with financial resources, indicating a significant role of finances in this rather wealthy sample. Well-being was predicted by self-esteem and physical health. Presumably, their high levels of self-esteem compensate for the loss of other resources among the oldest old. The majority of lifestyle leaders trust in other people, and while friends and family are very important sources of advice, searching online was equally often mentioned as a source when looking for advice.

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Being useful among persons aged over 65: social representations from a cross-sectional European study

Aging Clinical and Experimental Research ◽

10.1007/s40520-020-01767-x ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Paul de Boissieu ◽

Serge Guerin ◽

Véronique Suissa ◽

Fiona Ecarnot ◽

Aude Letty ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Representations ◽

Oldest Old ◽

Educational Status ◽

Well Being ◽

European Countries ◽

City Size ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Socially Isolated ◽

Quota Sampling

Abstract Background There is a compelling need to prepare our societies and healthcare systems to deal with the oncoming wave of population ageing. The majority of older persons maintain a desire to be valued and useful members of society and of their social networks. Aims We sought to investigate the perception of usefulness among persons aged 65 years and over in four European countries. Methods We performed a cross-sectional survey with a representative sample of individuals aged 65 years or older from the population of retired persons (including recently retired persons and oldest-old individuals) from 4 European countries selected using quota sampling. In February 2016, an internet questionnaire was sent to all selected individuals. The characteristics used for the quota sampling method were sex, age, socio-professional category, region, city size, number of persons in household, autonomy, marital status, place of residence, income and educational status. The questionnaire contained 57 questions. Sociodemographic characteristics were recorded. Responses were analysed with principal components analysis (PCA). Results A total of 4025 persons participated; 51% were males, and 70% were aged 65–75 years. PCA identified six classes of individuals, of which two classes (Classes 2 and 3) were characterized by more socially isolated individuals with little or no sense of usefulness, low self-esteem and a poor sense of well-being. These two classes accounted for almost 20% of the population. Younger and more autonomous classes reported a more salient sense of usefulness. Conclusions The loss of the sense of usefulness is associated with dissatisfaction with life and a loss of pleasure, and persons with profiles corresponding to Classes 2 and 3 should, therefore, be targeted for interventions aimed at restoring social links.

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Distinctive late-life challenges: Implications for coping and well-being.

Psychology and Aging ◽

10.1037/0882-7974.12.2.288 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 288-295 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

Kristen C. Kling ◽

Marsha Mailick Seltzer ◽

Carol D. Ryff

Keyword(s):

Late Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Life Challenges

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The Norwegian Case of School Reform, External Quality Control, and the Call for Democratic Practice

10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1680 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ann Elisabeth Gunnulfsen ◽

Eivind Larsen

Keyword(s):

School Reform ◽

Performance Indicators ◽

International Student ◽

Student Assessment ◽

Well Being ◽

Monitoring And Control ◽

International Student Assessment ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Norwegian Education ◽

Prejudice And Discrimination

Traditionally, the Norwegian education system has been built on equality and democracy as core values, but the disappointing results in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) introduced the perception of a “crisis in education” and increased the occurrence of national reform initiatives. New assessment policies with an emphasis on performance measurement and emerging accountability practices have characterized the transition processes over the last decade. With increasing focus on monitoring based on performance indicators, there is a risk that the purpose of promoting democracy in schools will be downplayed by instrumental and managerial regulations. However, the Norwegian school reform of curriculum renewal in 2020 also highlights democracy and participation as separate interdisciplinary themes and includes a concrete elaboration of this topic, which strongly emphasizes that schools should promote democratic values and attitudes as a counterweight to prejudice and discrimination. To obtain more knowledge about how school professionals deal with possible tensions and dilemmas in their work with the contemporary reform, it is important to unpack the interplay between managerial accountability based on performance indicators and identify how educators legitimize their work on promoting democracy in schools. To capture the dynamic nature of educational leadership and the daily subtle negotiation, a micropolitical perspective and theory on democratic agency were used to analyze theoretical and empirical material from two larger studies focusing on certain aspects of school reforms in Norwegian lower secondary schools. The findings suggest that educational professionals respond to the policy of inclusion through negotiating and translating tensions between equalizing students’ life chances and being subjected to collective monitoring and control. The findings also illuminate stories characterized by a predominantly individualistic interpretation of the democratic purpose of education and the challenges and opportunities involved in balancing academic achievement with students’ well-being.

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The concept of revelation in terms of the evolution of consciousness

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v72i4.3430 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 72 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Klaus Nürnberger

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary Process ◽

Religious Tradition ◽

Well Being ◽

Big Bang ◽

Evolutionary Trajectory ◽

Evolution Of Consciousness ◽

Realist Approach ◽

Creative Power ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Social Environmental

Following Paul’s injunction in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 we have to ‘become scientists’ to a scientifically informed audience. While theology cannot agree with the naturalist denial of transcendence, it can adopt the experiential-realist approach typical for the sciences in its description of the Christian faith as an immanent part of cosmic evolution, albeit at a higher level of emergence. The article begins with my understanding of evolutionary theory (big bang cosmology, entropy, emergence, neural networks as infrastructure of consciousness, evolution and differentiation, sequences of past, present and future, contingency etc.) It then describes God consciousness as the intuition, perception or conceptualisation of the transcendent Source and Destiny of experienced reality and locates God consciousness in the evolutionary process. Biblical God consciousness displays two distinct characteristics: God’s creative power is experienced in reality, while God’s benevolent intentionality is proclaimed on the basis of a religious tradition. The evolutionary trajectory of biblical God consciousness, culminating in the Christ-event, is sketched and the God consciousness of Jesus is deduced from its religious embeddedness, its social-environmental relationships and its religious impact. Implications of an experiential-realist approach are (1) a dynamic, rather than ontological Christology and (2) the cosmic significance of the sacrifice of God in Christ. On this basis revelation is described first in experiential-realist and then in theological terms. The tension between the experience of God’s creative power and the proclamation of God’s benevolence leads to a dynamic, rather than ontological rendering of the Trinity. Finally, traditional eschatological assumptions are reconceptualised as God’s dynamic vision of comprehensive well-being operating like a horizon that moves on as we approach it and displays ever new vistas, challenges and opportunities.

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