Social capital affects the health of older people more strongly than that of younger people

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 853-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHANNA MUCKENHUBER ◽  
WILLIBALD J. STRONEGGER ◽  
WOLFGANG FREIDL
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Older People ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Quality Of Life Inventory ◽  
Younger Men ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Informal Social Capital

ABSTRACTThe study examines whether social capital affects health of older people more strongly than it affects health of younger individuals. Following Pierre Bourdieu's concept, social capital has been analysed on a cognitive dimension, distinguishing between institutional and informal social capital. The analysis is based on the data of the Austrian Health Interview Survey 2006–07 with a representative sample of 15,575 people. Multivariate linear regression models were calculated. Measures of health and social capital were operationalised by indices based on the quality of life inventory of the World Health Organization, the WHOQOL-Brief questionnaire. The analysis has shown institutional social capital to be significantly more important for health of older people (60 years or older) than for younger people. There is a gender difference in the interaction between informal social capital and age in their association with psychological health. In contrast to the sub-sample of women, the psychological health of older men is more strongly affected by a lack of informal social capital than that of younger men. Institutional social capital is of special importance for the health of older people. Therefore health-promotion activities for older people should include activities to strengthen their social capital.

scholarly journals Nurses’ Knowledge and Anxiety Levels toward COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-363
Author(s):  
Fatmah Alsharif
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
As Stress ◽  
Health Organization

Background: In the battle against the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, medical care staff, especially nurses, are at a higher risk of encountering psychological health issues and distress, such as stress, tension, burdensome indications, and, most importantly, fear. They are also at higher risk of becoming infected and transmitting this virus. In Saudi Arabia, it was noticed that the healthcare workforce suffered from anxiety, and that this more evident in women than men. Objective: This study aimed to assess the knowledge of nurses regarding COVID-19 and the level of anxiety toward the COVID-19 outbreak in the current pandemic situation. Design: A cross-sectional design was used and a validated self-administered online questionnaire with a set of questions related to COVID-19 was distributed to 87 participating nurses. Results: The results showed that more than half of the nurses (71.90%) had an adequate and good knowledge about the causes, transmission, symptoms, treatment, and death rate of COVID-19. The main sources of information for the nurses were social media (51.7%) and the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health (36.8%). Conclusions: The results allowed the conclusion that, though the nurses had satisfactory knowledge about COVID-19, more than 50% of them experienced mental health issues such as anxiety. To address this, along with providing more knowledge about COVID-19, nurses should be supported in managing their anxiety.

scholarly journals Active Aging in ASEAN Countries: Influences from Age-Friendly Environments, Lifestyles, and Socio-Demographic Factors

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8290
Author(s):  
Sariyamon Tiraphat ◽  
Vijj Kasemsup ◽  
Doungjai Buntup ◽  
Murallitharan Munisamy ◽  
Thang Huu Nguyen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
World Health ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Active Aging ◽  
Older Population ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Health Organization

Active aging is a challenging issue to promote older population health; still, there is little clarity on research investigating the determinants of active aging in developing countries. Therefore, this research aimed to examine the factors associated with the active aging of the older populations in ASEAN’s low and middle-income countries by focusing on Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. The study is a cross-sectional quantitative research study using multi-stage cluster sampling to randomize the sample. The sample consists of 2031 older people aged 55 years and over, including 510 Thai, 537 Malaysian, 487 Myanmar, and 497 Vietnamese. We collected a quantitative questionnaire of age-friendly environmental scale and active aging scale based on the World Health Organization (WHO) concept. The predictors of active aging include age-friendly environments, lifestyles, and socioeconomic factors; the data are analyzed by using multiple logistic regression. After adjusting for other factors, we found that older people living in a community with higher levels of age-friendly environments are 5.52 times more active than those in lower levels of age-friendly environments. Moreover, the older population with healthy lifestyles such as good dietary intake and high physical activity will be 4.93 times more active than those with unhealthy lifestyles. Additionally, older adults with partners, higher education, and aged between 55 and 64 years will be 1.70, 2.61, and 1.63 times more active than those with separate/divorce/widow, primary education, and age at 75 years or higher, respectively. Our results contribute considerable evidence for ASEAN policy-making to promote active aging in this region.

The evolution of rumors on a closed platform during COVID-19 (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Wen-Yi Wang ◽  
Jo-Yu Lan ◽  
Ming-Hung Wang ◽  
Chihhao Yu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Medical Personnel ◽  
Text Messages ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Physical And Psychological Health ◽  
Health Organization

BACKGROUND In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic put the world in crisis on both physical and psychological health. Simultaneously, a myriad of unverified information flowed on social media and online outlets. The situation was so severe that the World Health Organization identified it an infodemic on February 2020. OBJECTIVE We want to study the propagation patterns and textual transformation of COVID-19 related rumors on a closed-platform. METHODS We obtained a dataset of 114 thousand suspicious text messages collected on Taiwan’s most popular instant messaging platform, LINE. We also proposed an algorithm that efficiently cluster text messages into groups, where each group contains text messages within limited difference in content. Each group then represents a rumor and elements in each group is a message about the rumor. RESULTS 114 thousand messages were separated into 937 groups with at least 10 elements. Of the 936 rumors, 44.5% (417) were related to COVID-19. By studying 3 popular false COVID-19 rumors, we identified that key authoritative figures, mostly medical personnel, were often quoted in the messages. Also, rumors resurfaced multiple times after being fact-checked, and the resurfacing pattern were influenced by major societal events and successful content alterations, such as changing whom to quote in a message. CONCLUSIONS To fight infodemic, it is crucial that we first understand why and how a rumor becomes popular. While social media gives rise to unprecedented number of unverified rumors, it also provides a unique opportunity for us to study rumor propagations and the interactions with society. Therefore, we must put more effort in the areas.

Elder Abuse

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Older People ◽  
Elder Abuse ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
World Health ◽  
Private Space ◽  
Positive Treatment ◽  
Justice Model ◽  
Health Organization

Criminological concerns with the victimization of the elderly has developed parallel to, and independently of, the elder abuse debate. Criminologists have traditionally been concerned with the commission of acts against the older person in public as opposed to private space. A further hindrance to criminological enquiry is the practice of defining elder abuse in terms of victim needs, rather than of basic human rights. There has been no neat evolutionary process from positive treatment of the elderly, attributed to some golden age in the past to their increasing present victimization rates globally. Elder victimization is a long way from the simplistic notions of “granny battering.” There is general agreement among scholars that older people regularly suffer victimization in private space—in the household and in care institutions. They regularly experience multiple forms of abuse. One can attribute some of these experiences to major social changes as declining family support for older people diminishes and the proportion of young to old decreases. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that as the global population ages, the number of people aged sixty years and older is estimated to reach 1.2 billion worldwide by 2025. More pointedly, the longevity is also inextricably linked to the maltreatment of the global old. In particular, we have seen offenders apprehended in transgressions against the young, women, and ethnic minorities but have yet to see an active criminal justice response concerned with the experience of elder victimization. The discipline’s reluctance to recognize elder victimization is associated with it commonly being labeled as victimization by intimates, and to be understood through the lenses of psychology and psychiatry rather than through a criminal justice model. Care and individual needs of the elderly have been the traditional focus, rather than social justice, reason, and rights. Justice and rights involve choice and free will. Older people are not simply passive recipients of other people’s actions—they resist their victimization and often fight back. This article is a critical exposition of the sources available on elders abused as part of a larger account of the experience of older people worldwide. In particular, the reader is reminded that this article is limited due to publishing word constraints. Therefore, it provides a balanced, limited overview of the major literature and research available in the Western context. More pointedly, the literature cited here is intended to reflect on recent scholarship considered to have the potential of adding to the debate in criminology and elder victimization. Given that the study of elder abuse is still in its infancy in the discipline of criminology, this article is therefore necessarily interdisciplinary.

scholarly journals Pharmacotherapeutic management of chronic viral hepatitis

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Gabriela Mitea ◽  
Marius Daniel Radu ◽  
Ana Maria Ionescu ◽  
Nicoleta Blebea
Keyword(s):  
Hepatitis B ◽  
Viral Hepatitis ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Chronic Viral Hepatitis ◽  
World Health ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

In infectious diseases, viral hepatitis has an increased incidence, being an important cause of morbidity and mortality, being a "sentinel" indicator of the socio-economic and hygienic-cultural standard of a geographical area. The World Health Organization (WHO) admits the following types of hepatitis viruses: A, B, B + D, C, E, F and G. Among the viral entities recognized by the WHO, a special importance in terms of incidence, evolution over time with the risk of chronicity and the therapeutic options are presented by hepatitis B and C. There is currently an effective vaccine as well as treatment for hepatitis B. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C, but in recent years considerable progress has been made in treating this disease. Also, the introduction of drugs known as direct-acting antivirals makes it possible to cure over 90% of patients within 2-3 months. But in many countries, current drug policies, regulations and prices keep treatment out of the reach of most people with hepatitis. Eradication of viral hepatitis is possible if greater emphasis is placed on prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Vaccination is very important, as it is possible for types A and B of hepatitis. Early diagnosis is also extremely important, given that there are currently very effective drugs that can prevent the development of liver cancer. The WHO also noted that about two million people worldwide become ill each year due to the reuse of syringes and stressed the importance of checking blood donors to see if they are not carriers of hepatitis B or C viruses. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to highlight the pharmacological treatment and the main therapeutic and prevention schemes currently used for patients with these liver diseases. The paper was based on the most popular methods of identification of the latest international information about the treatment of hepatitis (by electronic search using Pubmed, SciFinder, Scirus, GoogleScholar and Web of Science). We also consulted the global literature cited in the hepatitis database of the World Health Organization (WHO) updated frequent from the current literature on this topic.

scholarly journals Women and Successful Ageing

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
J. Raja Meenakshi
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
World Health ◽  
Successful Ageing ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Physical And Psychological Health ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Women In India ◽  
Active Contribution

<p>Every human being has to face the ageing process and no one could escape from it. The understanding of ageing differs from culture to culture and it varies across nations. World Health Organization recognized that the developing world often defines old age, not by years, but by new roles, loss of previous roles, or inability to make active contribution to society. Women in India generally considered as a secondary citizens and the life of the aged women needs wide attention. Successful ageing refers to leading the life with good physical and psychological health and also with economical independence.Pre plan is highly required to lead a successful life. This study makes an attempt to study the life of elderly women and to understand how they lead a successful life. Case study method was used to study the successful life of the respondents.</p>

scholarly journals Association between Personal Social Capital and Loneliness among Widowed Older People

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (16) ◽  
pp. 5799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongdong Jiang ◽  
Yitan Hou ◽  
Jinwei Hao ◽  
Jiayi Zhou ◽  
Junfeng Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Older People ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Bridging Social Capital ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related

To explore the association between the personal social capital and loneliness among the widowed older adults in China. Data from 1497 widowed older adults were extracted from China’s Health-Related Quality of Life Survey for Older Adults 2018. The Chinese version of the Personal Social Capital Scale (PSCS-16) was used to evaluate the participants’ status of bonding and bridging social capital (BOC and BRC). Loneliness was assessed by the short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8). Multiple linear regression models were established to examine the relationship between social capital and loneliness. The BOC and BRC of rural widowed older people were significantly lower than those of widowed older people in urban areas, while loneliness of rural widowed older people was higher than that of widowed older people in urban areas. The result of the final model showed that loneliness of rural participants was significantly associated with both BOC (B = 0.141, p = 0.001) and BRC (B = −0.116, p = 0.003). The loneliness of the urban widowed sample had no association with both BOC and BRC (p > 0.05). These findings suggested that more social support and compassionate care should be provided to enrich the personal social capital and thus to reduce loneliness of widowed older adults, especially those in rural areas.

scholarly journals Exercise-Induced Biological and Psychological Changes in Overweight and Obese Individuals: A Review of Recent Evidence

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petros C. Dinas ◽  
Aleksandra S. Markati ◽  
Andres E. Carrillo
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Endocrine Function ◽  
World Health ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Health Indices ◽  
Physical And Psychological Health ◽  
Exercise Induced ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

On a global scale, the most recent evidence indicates that over 400 million adults are obese while ~20 million children and 1.6 billion adults are overweight. The World Health Organization reveals that, by the year 2015, ~2.3 billion adults will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese. In this review paper we summarized the current evidence to elucidate the impact of exercise training on biological and psychological health indices in overweight and obese individuals. Endocrine function indices that are discussed herein include leptin, adiponectin, growth hormone, and ghrelin levels. Psychological factors include anxiety and depression, body image, and motivation for exercise. Overall, exercise promotes physical and psychological health in overweight and obese individuals particularly because exercise-induced adaptations occur across a multitude of systems within the active human. The impact of exercise on specific biological and psychological health indices contributes to overall health in overweight and obese individuals.

scholarly journals Quality of Life and Migraine Disability among Female Migraine Patients in a Tertiary Hospital in Malaysia

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Munvar Miya Shaik ◽  
Norul Badriah Hassan ◽  
Huay Lin Tan ◽  
Siew Hua Gan
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Tertiary Hospital ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
World Health ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Pain Scores ◽  
Health Organization

Background. Disability caused by migraine may be one of the main causes of burden contributing to poor quality of life (QOL) among migraine patients. Thus, this study aimed to measure QOL among migraine sufferers in comparison with healthy controls.Methods. Female diagnosed migraine patients (n= 100) and healthy controls (n=100) completed the Malay version of the World Health Organization QOL Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. Only migraine patients completed the Malay version of the Migraine Disability Assessment questionnaire.Results. Females with migraines had significantly lower total WHOQOL-BREF scores (84.3) than did healthy controls (91.9,P<0.001). Similarly, physical health (23.4 versus 27.7,P<0.001) and psychological health scores (21.7 versus 23.2,P< 0.001) were significantly lower than those for healthy controls. Seventy-three percent of patients experienced severe disability, with significantly higher number of days with headaches (13.8 days/3 months,P< 0.001) and pain scores (7.4,P< 0.013). Furthermore, migraine patients with lower total QOL scores had 1.2 times higher odds of having disability than patients with higher total QOL scores.Conclusions. The present study showed that migraine sufferers experienced significantly lower QOL than the control group from a similar population. Disability was severe and frequent and was associated with lower QOL among the migraine patients.

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