Access to Employment, Volunteer Activities, and Community Events and Perceptions of Age-Friendliness: The Role of Social Connectedness

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
pp. 1016-1024
Author(s):  
Mi Sun Choi ◽  
Holly Dabelko-Schoeny ◽  
Katie White

The aim of this study was to investigate the direct and indirect effects of access to employment, volunteer opportunities, and community events on older adults’ perception of age-friendliness and feelings of connectedness. Data were from an age-friendly community survey conducted in a Midwestern city in the United States. We analyzed the responses of 264 older adult residents (50 years and older) using path analysis. Results showed that access to community events, job resources, and connectedness were predictors of older adults’ perceptions of age-friendliness of their community, and that connectedness mediated the relationship between access to community events and perceived age-friendliness. The findings help to refine the concept of an age-friendly community from older adults’ perspectives and emphasize the importance of fostering interactions through community events to enhance older adults’ feelings of connectedness.

Author(s):  
Elliot Friedman ◽  
Beth LeBreton ◽  
Lindsay Fuzzell ◽  
Elizabeth Wehrpsann

By many estimates the majority of adults over age 65 have two or more chronic medical conditions (multimorbidity) and are consequently at increased risk of adverse functional outcomes. Nonetheless, many older adults with multimorbidity are able to maintain high levels of function and retain good quality of life. Research presented here is designed to understand the influences that help ensure better functional outcomes in these older adults. This chapter presents findings that draw on data from the Midlife in the United States study. The independent and interactive contributions of diverse factors to multimorbidity and changes in multimorbidity over time are reviewed. The degree that multimorbidity increases risk of cognitive impairment and disability is examined. The role of inflammation as a mediator is considered. Multimorbidity is increasingly the norm for older adults, so better understanding of factors contributing to variability in multimorbidity-related outcomes can lead to improved quality of life.


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.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 1010-1019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Ayotte ◽  
Guy G. Potter ◽  
Heather T. Williams ◽  
David C. Steffens ◽  
Hayden B. Bosworth

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Jessica Van Wingerden ◽  
Rob Poell

The present study was designed to gain knowledge about the relationship between job characteristics in the workplace (job demands and job resources), employees’ perceived opportunities to craft, and subsequently their actual job crafting behavior. Specifically, the potential mediating role of perceived opportunities to craft could shed better light on the mechanisms that lead employees to job craft in the context of particular work characteristics. We collected data among a group of Dutch health care professionals working in an organization that offers care for patient with mental disabilities (N=522). Participants of the study reported their job demands; workload, emotional demands and work-home interference, their job resources; role clarity, communication and team cohesion, their perceived opportunities to craft, and their job crafting behavior. We tested the hypothesized antecedents of job crafting perceptions and behavior model with structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses. Results indicated that perceived opportunities to craft mediates the relationship between job resources and employees actual job crafting behavior. The insights provided in this study do not only build on job crafting literature but are also helpful to understand which aspects of the workplace influence employees’ job crafting behavior. Therefore, these insights may be useful for the deliberate cultivation of job crafting behavior within organizations.


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