scholarly journals The First COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Restrictions: An Intergenerational Comparison of the Impacts

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 958-959
Author(s):  
Anne Glass ◽  
Lauretta Lawlor

Abstract “Social distancing” and stay-at-home orders were enacted in many states in response to the spread of COVID-19. We sought to understand intergenerational differences in the impact of the initial COVID-19 restrictions on interactions, loneliness, and stress. Data was collected via online survey from individuals ages 18 and above during the period April 7-May 8, 2020. The predominantly female, White, and well-educated sample (n = 962) included 245 younger adults (YAs) ages 18-34, 374 middle-aged adults (MAs) ages 35-64, and 343 older adults (OAs) ages 65+, with overall mean age 51.67 (SD=20.257; range 18-96). Before the restrictions, 41% of these OAs infrequently/never interacted face-to-face with children, increasing to 74% after restrictions. Three quarters (77%) of YAs reported seeing OAs less often, but 42% reported increasing their connections with OAs via technology. About a third of MAs (35%) and OAs (36%) were lonely, compared to 48% of YAs (p = .003), and a higher percentage of YAs (57%) reported being “more lonely” now, compared to MAs (36%) and OAs (41%). OAs reported the least stress; 42% reported low/very low levels of stress compared to YAs (9%) and MAs (20%). All generations most often identified “being able to go places” as the thing they missed most, but it increased significantly with age (p < .001), from YAs (32%), MAs (37%), to OAs (44%). More YAs (20%) than OAs (7%) reported missing “structure to their day.” Results of these intergenerational comparisons suggest the resilience of older adults is helping them during the current pandemic.

Author(s):  
Ann Pearman ◽  
MacKenzie L Hughes ◽  
Emily L Smith ◽  
Shevaun D Neupert

Abstract Objectives Older adults are at higher risk for death and infirmity from COVID-19 than younger and middle-aged adults. The current study examines COVID-19-specific anxiety and proactive coping as potential risk and resilience factors that may be differentially important for younger and older adults in understanding stress experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Five hundred and fifteen adults aged 20–79 years in the United States reported on their anxiety about developing COVID-19, proactive coping, and stress related to COVID-19 in an online survey. Results Although there were no age differences in stress levels, anxiety about developing COVID-19 was associated with more COVID-19 stress for older adults relative to younger adults, but proactive coping was associated with less COVID-19 stress for older adults relative to younger adults. Discussion Our results suggest that anxiety might function as a risk factor, whereas proactive coping may function as a resilience factor for older adults’ COVID-19 stress. We encourage future context-dependent investigations into mental health among older adults during this pandemic and beyond.


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-37
Author(s):  
Cassandra Cooney ◽  
Jillian Minahan ◽  
Karen L. Siedlecki

Experiencing ageism has been shown to negatively impact older adults. This study investigated predictors of ageism to examine which are most important in accounting for ageist attitudes. Participants ( N = 419) between the ages of 18 and 86 completed an online survey assessing ageism and several predictors of ageism. Higher levels of anxiety about aging, lower levels of knowledge of aging, and less frequent and lower quality of contact with older adults uniquely predicted ageism beyond the influence of demographic and well-being factors. Anxiety about aging fully mediated the relationship between death anxiety and ageism, and the relationship between attitudes toward own aging and ageism. Moderation analyses showed that knowledge of aging buffered the impact of anxiety about aging on ageism such that low knowledge of aging and high anxiety about aging were particularly impactful in predicting ageism in younger adults, as compared with older adults.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 786-787
Author(s):  
Hyunjin Noh

Abstract This qualitative study explored the impact of pain and discomfort on the lives of cognitively impaired older adults and their caregivers from the caregiver perspective. Forty-three individuals of age 19+, who identified themselves as primary caregiver to a chronically or seriously ill older adult (age 50+) with cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia, were recruited at various community settings. Individual, face-to-face interviews were conducted to ask participants how they thought their care-recipient’s pain and discomfort affected the care-recipient’s and the caregiver’s life respectively. Inductive, thematic analysis of interview transcripts revealed several key themes: compromised mobility, limited social interaction or activities, and depressive symptoms in both care-recipients and caregivers; aggravated cognitive decline in care-recipients; and poorer physical health in caregivers. Participants wanted more information on the disease trajectory and available services, particularly home-based therapies and social activities for care-recipients, which provides future program/practice implications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah De Pue ◽  
Céline Gillebert ◽  
Eva Dierckx ◽  
Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt ◽  
Rudi De Raedt ◽  
...  

AbstractCOVID-19 took a heavy toll on older adults. In Belgium, by the end of August, 93% of deaths due to COVID-19 were aged 65 or older. Similar trends were observed in other countries. As a consequence, older adults were identified as a group at risk, and strict governmental restrictions were imposed on them. This has caused concerns about their mental health. Using an online survey, this study established the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults aged 65 years or older, and which factors moderate this impact. Participants reported a significant decrease in activity level, sleep quality and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Depression was strongly related to reported declines in activity level, sleep quality, wellbeing and cognitive functioning. Our study shows that the COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the mental health of older adults. This implies that this group at risk requires attention of governments and healthcare.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 683-683
Author(s):  
Asa Inagaki ◽  
Ayumi Igarashi ◽  
Maiko Noguchi-Watanabe ◽  
Mariko Sakka ◽  
Chie Fukui ◽  
...  

Abstract Our study aimed to explore the prevalence and factors of physical restraints among frail to dependent older adults living at home. We conducted an online survey to ask about the physical/mental conditions, demographics, service utilization, and physical restraints of community-dwelling older adults. Either home care nurse or care managers who were responsible for the older adult answered the survey that were conducted at baseline and one month later. We obtained data from 1,278 individuals. Physical restraint was reported for 53 (4.1%) participants. Multiple logistic regression revealed the factors associated with physical restraints at home: having been restrained at baseline, having pneumonia or heart failure, receiving home bathing, or using rental assistive devices were associated with physical restraints at one month. The findings could be used to promote discussion about which services prevent physical restraints and what we should do to support clients and their family to stay at home safely.


Hematology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin S. Tallman

Abstract The prognosis for younger adults (≤ 55–60 years) with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has improved during the last four decades. However, there has been little progress in the treatment of older adults. This disappointing observation is important because the median age of patients with AML is about 70 years. Approximately 60%–80% of younger adults with AML achieve complete remission (CR) with the cytotoxic agents cytarabine and an anthracycline such as daunorubicin or idarubicin or the anthracenedione mitoxantrone. However, only 30%–40% of such patients are alive and disease-free at 5 years. Among older adults, CR is achieved in 40%–55%, but there are very few long-term survivors. Many studies have evaluated the impact of alternative doses and schedules, as well as additional cytotoxic drugs, on the prognosis for this group of patients. The outcome has not improved substantially beyond that achieved with conventional doses of an anthracycline and cytarabine followed by high-dose cytarabine consolidation. Several factors identified at diagnosis can predict outcome. The most important of these is the karyotype of the leukemic cells. Another critical factor is the presence of transmembrane transporter proteins, which confer multidrug resistance and mutations in or overexpression of specific genes such as WT1, C/EBPα, BAX, and BCL-2/BAX ratio, BAALC, EVI1, KIT and FLT3. The development of specific agents directed at gene mutations, signal transduction pathways and unique cell surface antigens provide the foundation for new therapeutic strategies. Such agents include the immunoconjugate gemtuzumab ozogamicin, multidrug resistance inhibitors, farnesyltransferase inhibitors, histone deacetylase and proteosome inhibitors, antiangiogenesis agents, FLT3 inhibitors, apoptosis inhibitors, and nucleoside analogs. All of these agents can potentially address the heterogeneous abnormalities in AML and significantly improve the outcome for patients.


Author(s):  
Kathryn Baringer ◽  
Dustin J. Souders ◽  
Jeremy Lopez

Introduction: The use of shared automated vehicles (SAVs) should lead to several societal and individual benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced traffic, and improved mobility for persons who cannot safely drive themselves. We define SAVs as on-demand, fully automated vehicles in which passengers are paired with other riders traveling along a similar route. Previous research has shown that younger adults are more likely to report using conventional ridesharing services and are more accepting of new technologies including automated vehicles (AVs). However, older adults, particularly those who may be close to retiring from driving, stand to greatly benefit from SAV services. In order for SAVs to deliver on their aforementioned benefits, they must be viewed favorably and utilized. We sought to investigate how short educational and/or experiential videos might impact younger, middle-aged, and older adult respondents’ anticipated acceptance and attitudes toward SAVs. Knowing what types of introductory experiences improve different age groups’ perceptions of SAVs will be beneficial for tailoring campaigns aiming to promote SAV usage. Methods: We deployed an online survey using the platform Prolific for middle-aged and older respondents, and our departmental participant pool for younger adults, collecting 585 total responses that resulted in 448 valid responses. Respondents answered questions regarding their demographic attributes, their ridesharing history, preconceptions of technology, as well as their anticipated acceptance attitudes towards SAVs as measured by the dimensions of the Automated Vehicle User Perception Survey (AVUPS). After this, respondents were randomly assigned to an intervention condition where they either watched 1) an educational video about how SAVs work and their potential benefits, 2) an experiential video showing a AV navigating traffic, 3) both the experiential and educational videos, or 4) a control video explaining how ridesharing works. Anticipated acceptance attitudes towards SAVs were measured again after this intervention and difference scores calculated to investigate the effect of the intervention conditions. Prolific respondents were paid at a rate of $9.50/hour and younger adults received course credit. Results: Controlling for preconceptions of technology and ridesharing experience, a MANOVA was run on the difference scores of the dimensions of the AVUPS (intention to use, trust/reliability, perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), safety, control/driving-efficacy, cost, authority, media, and social influence). Both older and middle-aged adults expressed significantly greater increases in PEOU and PU of SAVs than younger adults. We also observed an interaction between age and condition for both PU and PEOU. For PU, older adults’ difference scores were found to be significantly greater than younger adults’ for the control video condition. With PEOU, older adults’ difference scores were significantly greater than both younger adults’ for the control video condition, and middle-aged adults had greater difference scores for the educational-only video condition than younger or older adults. Discussion: The increases in PU observed for older adults in the control condition suggests that educating them on how to use currently available ridesharing services might transfer to and/or highlight the benefits that automated ridesharing might provide. The PEOU interactions also suggest that middle-aged adults might respond more positively than younger or older adults to an educational introduction to SAVs. Conclusion: The positive findings pertaining to PU and PEOU show that exposure to information related to SAVs has a positive impact on these attitudes. PU’s and PEOU’s positive relationship to behavioral intentions (BI) in the Technology Acceptance Model, coupled with the findings from this study, bode well for higher fidelity interventions seeking to inform and/or give individuals experience with SAVs. Providing information on how currently available ridesharing services work helped our older adult respondents recognize the potential usefulness of SAVs. Knowing that different age groups may respond better to educational versus experiential interventions, for example middle-aged adults in this study responding more positively to the educational video condition than younger or older adults, may be useful for targeted promotional campaigns.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S289-S290
Author(s):  
Chinelo K Nsobundu ◽  
Margaret J Foster ◽  
Yan Hong

Abstract Falls constitute a multitude of injuries irrespective of age. To combat these challenges, older adults are encouraged to engage in recreational activities. Yoga has been identified as an effective physical activity to promote mobility and balance for older adults. This study aims to systematically review the literature about yoga as a fall prevention intervention and synthesize the outcomes. Major databases (Ovid Medline & CINAHL) were searched for relevant articles. Studies were included if they met the criteria of 1) being a face to face yoga program, 2) aimed to recruit participants 50 years or older, and 3) reported at least one fall-related outcome (e.g., balance, mobility, fear of falling) as a result of the yoga program. 57 studies were identified: 32 from Ovid Medline and 25 from CINAHL. After removing the duplicates and applying a strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, 11 articles were included in the final analysis. A detailed synthesis of the results will be presented and quality assessment of included articles will be performed using the Modified Downs and Black checklist which appraises the methodological quality of both randomized and non-randomized studies. More research is needed to understand the impact of yoga in preventing falls among older adults at least 50 years of age. Additionally, research should establish a gold standard index that identifies which specific yoga programs ( based on type- individual vs. group; hatha, iyengar, kundalini, ashtanga, and etc.; frequency, and duration) have an enhanced effect on fall prevention.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
B Pais ◽  
P Buluschek ◽  
T Nef ◽  
N Schütz ◽  
H Saner ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In Europe, population ageing is increasing the healthcare needs and costs. Both frailty and chronic diseases affecting older people reduce their ability to live independently. However, most older people prefer to age in their own homes. New development of in-home monitoring can play a role in staying independent, active and healthy. Our objective was to evaluate a new in-home monitoring system among home-dwelling older adults (OA), their family caregivers (FC), and their healthcare providers (HCP) for the support of home care. Methods The system continuously monitored OA’s daily activities (e.g., mobility, sleep habits, fridge visits, door events) at home by ambient sensor system (DomoCare®) and health-related events by wearable sensors (Fitbit®, ECG). In case of deviations in daily activities (e.g., changes in mobility), alerts were transmitted to HCP via email. Using specific questionnaires, the opinion of 13 OA, 13 FC, and 20 HCP were collected at the end of 12-month of follow-up focusing on their user experience and the impact of in-home monitoring on home care services. Results These preliminary results underlined that the majority of OA, FC, and HCP consider that in-home sensors can help staying at home, improving home care, reducing family stress, and preventing domestic accidents. The opinion tended to be more favourable toward ambient sensors (80%) than toward Fitbit® (67%) and ECG (64%). On average, OA (80%) and FC (73%) tended to be more enthusiast than HCP (63%). Some barriers reported by HCP were a fear of weakening of the relationship with OA and an excessive surveillance. Conclusions Overall, the opinion of OA, FC and HCP were positive related to in-home sensors, with HCP being more mixed about their use in clinical practice. Key messages In-home monitoring technologies seem to be generally well accepted. In-home monitoring technologies could be help facilitating home care of older people.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 1175-1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Callow ◽  
Daniel D. Callow ◽  
Charles Smith

Background: The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Health Belief Model (HBM) were used to examine the opinion and behaviors of older adults regarding Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), social distancing practices, stay-at-home orders, and hypothetical public policy messaging strategies. Method: A convenience sample ( N = 242) of adults 60 and older in the state of Maryland took part in an online survey. Respondents filled out questions regarding demographic information, political affiliation, current social distancing behaviors, and TPB and HBM constructs in our proposed model. Linear regression analysis and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were conducted to test the model. Results: Attitude toward social isolation was affected by perceived benefits and barriers to social distancing measures, perceived severity of COVID-19, and political affiliation. Behavior intention was influenced by attitude, subjective norms, political affiliation, and messaging strategies. Conclusion: The study provides support for the conceptual model and has public policy implications as authorities begin to lift stay-at-home orders.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document