Older Adults as Virtual Subject Matter Experts in COVID Graduate Education

Abstract COVID-19 has further illuminated the need for educational approaches in gerontology that are person-centered and experiential. Ideally, this includes in-person experiences with students and older adults. Through their classroom participation as subject matter experts in aging, older adults share their personal experiences, and react to gerontological theories and ideas. Shared learning offers a platform for exploration of shared humanity, so that older adults are not seen as the “other”, but “us”. This prepares a generation of gerontologists to identify and reject ongoing ageism, again highlighted by the pandemic. COVID-19 has also challenged educators to offer these experiential opportunities. In this presentation we will outline how older adults from a Continuing Care Retirement Community participated virtually in a graduate course. We will discuss how their virtual involvement was structured, how their real-time COVID experiences were integrated, and share feedback from older adult participants and students on their shared learning experiences.

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‘We have become prisoners of our own age’: from a continuing care retirement community to a total institution in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak

Age and Ageing ◽

10.1093/ageing/afab013 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Liat Ayalon ◽

Sharon Avidor

Keyword(s):

Emotional Responses ◽

Retirement Community ◽

Retirement Communities ◽

Continuing Care ◽

Total Institution ◽

Continuing Care Retirement Communities ◽

Personal Experiences ◽

Total Institutions ◽

Design And Methods ◽

Depth Interviews

Abstract Background and objectives during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Israel, people residing in continuing care retirement communities (CCRC) found themselves under strict instructions to self-isolate, imposed by the CCRC managements before, during and after the nationwide lockdown. The present study explored the personal experiences of CCRC residents during the lockdown. Research design and methods in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 CCRC residents from 13 different CCRCs. Authors performed a thematic analysis of interview transcripts, using constant comparisons and contrasts. Results three major themes were identified: (i) ‘Us vs. them: Others are worse off’. Older residents engaged in constant attempts to compare their situation to that of others. The overall message behind these downward comparisons was that the situation is not so bad, as others are in a worse predicament; (ii) ‘Us vs. them: Power imbalance’. This comparison emphasised the unbalanced power-relations between older adults and the staff and management in the setting and (iii) ‘We have become prisoners of our own age’. Interviewees described strong emotions of despair, depression and anger, which were intensified when the rest of society returned back to a new routine, whilst they were still under lockdown. Discussion and implications the measures imposed on residents by managements of CCRCs during the lockdown, and the emotional responses of distress among some of the residents, revealed that CCRCs have components of total institutions, not normally evident. This underscores the hidden emotional costs of the lockdown among those whose autonomy was compromised.

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Transition and Adaptation to the Continuing Care Retirement Community From a Life Course Perspective: Something Old, Something New, and Something Borrowed

Journal of Applied Gerontology ◽

10.1177/0733464816637851 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 37 (3) ◽

pp. 267-288 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Liat Ayalon

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Life Course ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Adult Children ◽

Life Course Perspective ◽

Retirement Community ◽

Continuing Care ◽

Future Expectations ◽

Linked Lives ◽

Continuing Care Retirement Community

The study examined the accounts of older adults and their adult children concerning the transition to the continuing care retirement community (CCRC) and the adjustment to it, using a life course perspective. Up to three waves of interviews, consisting of a total of 187 interviews with older adults and their adult children, were conducted between 6 months and 6 years from the transition to the CCRC. Thematic analysis was employed using comparisons across groups of interviewees (older adults and adult children) and waves of interviews (up to three waves) to identify core categories of meaning. Time perception was an organizing principle across interviews. Both older adults and their adult children perceived themselves as moving forward and backward in time following the transition to the CCRC and future expectations for deterioration. The study emphasizes the linked-lives of older adults and their adult children.

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Prevalence of older adults with low muscle mass living in a residential continuing care retirement community in Florida

Clinical Nursing Studies ◽

10.5430/cns.v7n1p83 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 83 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dennis Hunt ◽

Sareen S. Gropper ◽

Kelly A. Miller ◽

Barbara Tymczyszyn ◽

Deborah Chapa

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Skeletal Muscle ◽

Muscle Mass ◽

Nurse Practitioners ◽

Oldest Old ◽

Bioelectrical Impedance ◽

Retirement Community ◽

Continuing Care ◽

Skeletal Muscle Index ◽

Continuing Care Retirement Community

Muscle mass, strength, and function have been shown to decline with aging, and if of sufficient magnitude can result in sarcopenia. This study’s objective was to determine the prevalence of low muscle mass in a group of adults living in a “premier” Florida residential continuing care retirement community. The sample consisted of 80 older adults, ranging from young old (65-74 years) to the oldest old (85+ years) with the oldest participant being 94 years. Skeletal muscle mass was assessed via bioelectrical impedance analysis. Skeletal muscle index values were calculated and compared with established cut-off values to classify each individual’s muscle mass as normal or low (sarcopenic). The prevalence of sarcopenia among the males was 66% and among females was 73%. When examined by age, 56% of those in their 70s, 73% of those in their 80s, and 79% of adults in their 90s had low muscle mass indicative of sarcopenia. This study found a higher prevalence for sarcopenia in females and males, especially among the oldest groups, than previously reported in a nationally representative sample of adults. This study’s findings also suggest the need for further studies examining whether the prevalence of low muscle mass among adults in either classification varies with socioeconomic status and ethnicity. Continuing care retirement communities may provide excellent environments for the screening, diagnosis, and implementation of exercise and nutritional programs for residents to help prevent or attenuate sarcopenia’s deleterious effects. Nurse practitioners must incorporate screening for sarcopenia in their wellness package for their patients. Screening, nutritional education and support and exercise prescriptions are vital to prevent associated decline from sarcopenia.

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SYMPTOMOLOGY OF FALLS BY OLDER ADULTS IN A CONTINUING CARE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

The Gerontologist ◽

10.1093/geront/gnv341.15 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 55 (Suppl_2) ◽

pp. 644-644

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Retirement Community ◽

Continuing Care ◽

Continuing Care Retirement Community

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Reliability and Validity of the Outcome Expectations for Exercise Scale-2

Journal of Aging and Physical Activity ◽

10.1123/japa.13.4.382 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 382-394 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Barbara Resnick

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Convergent Validity ◽

Rasch Analysis ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Outcome Expectations ◽

Retirement Community ◽

Continuing Care ◽

Validity Testing ◽

Confirmatory Factor ◽

The Relationship

Development of a reliable and valid measure of outcome expectations for exercise for older adults will help establish the relationship between outcome expectations and exercise and facilitate the development of interventions to increase physical activity in older adults. The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Outcome Expectations for Exercise-2 Scale (OEE-2), a 13-item measure with two subscales: positive OEE (POEE) and negative OEE (NOEE). The OEE-2 scale was given to 161 residents in a continuing-care retirement community. There was some evidence of validity based on confirmatory factor analysis, Rasch-analysis INFIT and OUTFIT statistics, and convergent validity and test criterion relationships. There was some evidence for reliability of the OEE-2 based on alpha coefficients, person- and item-separation reliability indexes, and R2 values. Based on analyses, suggested revisions are provided for future use of the OEE-2. Although ongoing reliability and validity testing are needed, the OEE-2 scale can be used to identify older adults with low outcome expectations for exercise, and interventions can then be implemented to strengthen these expectations and improve exercise behavior.

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Factors Influencing Advance Care Planning Among Older Adults in Two Socioeconomically Diverse Living Communities

American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine® ◽

10.1177/1049909116679140 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 35 (1) ◽

pp. 69-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Jennifer L. Tripken ◽

Cathy Elrod ◽

Susan Bills

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

End Of Life ◽

Advance Care Planning ◽

End Of Life Care ◽

Retirement Community ◽

Continuing Care ◽

Care Planning ◽

Attitudes And Beliefs ◽

Life Care ◽

Advance Care

Background/Objectives: Advance care planning (ACP) is an iterative, complex, and dynamic process of discussion, decision-making, and documentation about end-of-life care. The extent to which this process takes place in older adults in diverse socioeconomic settings is not well documented. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about ACP among older adults in two socioeconomically diverse settings to identify the individual and contextual factors that influence behaviors regarding end-of-life care. Design: A cross-sectional survey design was used. Setting: An affordable independent continuing care retirement community and a high-income eligible (HIE) independent continuing care retirement community. Participants: Individuals aged 55 years and older who resided in independent living. Measurements: A 61-item survey was administered. Simple descriptive statistics were used to examine the responses, and inferential statistics were used to evaluate which items were associated with key outcomes between the 2 settings. Results: Seventy-seven older adults completed the survey. Significant differences in familiarity of terminology and knowledge of ACP, as well as significant differences in completion of advance directives and communication, were found between the 2 communities. No differences were found in attitudes and beliefs about end-of-life issues. Conclusion: Higher levels of knowledge and engagement in ACP were reported at the HIE community as compared to the affordable housing community. These findings provide insight into the influence of the contextual forces that encourage and support ACP.

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Preparing for the New Normal: Chronicling the Impact of COVID-19 on Older Adults and Providers

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.2231 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 585-585

Author(s):

Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili ◽

Justine Sefcik

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Healthcare Delivery ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Retirement Community ◽

Continuing Care ◽

Care Providers ◽

New Normal ◽

Continuing Care Retirement Community ◽

The Impact

Abstract COVID-19 and social distancing heralded an unprecedented change in the way older adults and health care providers live, work, socialize and manage their health. Early “calls-to-action” included the call for researchers to chronicle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on care of older adults to inform models of care and best practices in the new normal. This symposium explores the impact of COVID-19 on the health of older adults across the care continuum and healthcare delivery augmented by technology. The perspectives of older adults living in the community and providers who care for this population are highlighted. Additionally, there is a focus on the most vulnerable, those living in skilled care facilities and continuing care retirement communities. Fisher analyzes the key themes in 37 COVID-19 video communiques over 11 months at a continuing care retirement community. Sefcik explores coping strategies including outdoor activities among community-dwelling older adults. DiMaria-Ghalili examined patterns of physical and mental health, technology usage and loneliness in older adults, including those living in the community and a continuing care retirement community. Using longitudinal data and COVID-19 supplemental survey data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, Huh-Yoo discusses disparities in online patient-provider communication and implications for the Post-COVID era. Coates discusses the facilitators and barriers perceived by interdisciplinary providers deploying telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for healthcare delivery in older adults. The symposium will conclude with a discussion by Dr. Sefcik on the implications for research, practice and policy in the post COVID-19 era.

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