The Life Course Paradigm as a Lens for Holistic Nursing Research in Older Adults Diagnosed With Schizophrenia

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-380
Author(s):  
Verónica García Walker
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Life Course Theory ◽  
Nursing Research ◽  
Holistic Nursing ◽  
Whole Person ◽  
Psychological Comorbidities ◽  
Specific Care ◽  
The Life Course

Older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia (OADWS) have unique needs for care and live longer today than their forebears who were diagnosed with schizophrenia. As a result, nurses need to be prepared for the specific care of individuals who live with schizophrenia as they age. Together, Life Course Theory and holistic nursing suggest a good fit in the quest for successful solutions and/or outcomes for the unique problems that OADWS face. Holistic nursing views the patient as a whole person, considering all aspects of the patient’s experiences within life’s broader environment. The life course paradigm offers an effective way for nurses to understand issues that patients face throughout their lives, thus enhancing holistic nursing with a historical perspective. This is especially important for the care of OADWS, who face unique disparities as well as physical and psychological comorbidities over their life course. This article is intended to initiate a discussion of OADWS, focused with Life Course Theory as a holistic lens. Literature pertinent to the life course of OADWS is reviewed, followed by an analysis of the life course paradigm in relation to OADWS’ unique experiences. Conclusions support the holistic use of Life Course Theory in research and interventions for OADWS.

Older Adults Diagnosed With Schizophrenia in Long-term Care Facilities: Life Course Theory for Holistic Nursing Research and Practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 089801012110253
Author(s):  
Verónica G. Walker ◽  
Elizabeth K. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Health Beliefs ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Life Course Theory ◽  
Nursing Research ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Holistic Nursing ◽  
Care Facilities

Older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia (OADWS) often enter long-term care facilities with unique challenges related to trauma and stress experienced throughout their life course. Health care workers often report that when they work with this population, they feel unprepared due to limited training. In this article, life course theory is presented as a lens for holistic nursing research and as a way for nurses to adapt interventions already used with cognitively impaired older adults (e.g., those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease) for OADWS in long-term care. It is hoped that these ideas will facilitate discussion of ways to inform training for holistic long-term care of OADWS. Holistic principles of nursing addressed with life course theory as a lens include the following: (a) accounting for strengths and challenges; (b) honoring experiences, values, and health beliefs; (c) viewing interrelationships with the environment; and (d) nurturing of peace, wholeness, and healing.

Transitions, The Family and the Life Course in Historical Perspective

1980 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 211
Author(s):  
Herman R. Lantz ◽  
Tamara K. Harevan
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Life Course

scholarly journals Harmonisation and Between-Country Differences of the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire in Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentin Ourry ◽  
Natalie L. Marchant ◽  
Ann-Katrin Schild ◽  
Nina Coll-Padros ◽  
Olga M. Klimecki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Cognitive Reserve ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
Education Systems ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Behavioural Determinants ◽  
Country Differences ◽  
The Life Course

Background: The Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ) assesses complex mental activity across the life-course and has been associated with brain and cognitive health. The different education systems and occupation classifications across countries represent a challenge for international comparisons. The objectives of this study were four-fold: to adapt and harmonise the LEQ across four European countries, assess its validity across countries, explore its association with brain and cognition and begin to investigate between-country differences in life-course mental activities.Method: The LEQ was administered to 359 cognitively unimpaired older adults (mean age and education: 71.2, 13.2 years) from IMAP and EU-funded Medit-Ageing projects. Education systems, classification of occupations and scoring guidelines were adapted to allow comparisons between France, Germany, Spain and United Kingdom. We assessed the LEQ's (i) concurrent validity with a similar instrument (cognitive activities questionnaire - CAQ) and its structural validity by testing the factors' structure across countries, (ii) we investigated its association with cognition and neuroimaging, and (iii) compared its scores between countries.Results: The LEQ showed moderate to strong positive associations with the CAQ and revealed a stable multidimensional structure across countries that was similar to the original LEQ. The LEQ was positively associated with global cognition. Between-country differences were observed in leisure activities across the life-course.Conclusions: The LEQ is a promising tool for assessing the multidimensional construct of cognitive reserve and can be used to measure socio-behavioural determinants of cognitive reserve in older adults across countries. Longitudinal studies are warranted to test further its clinical utility.

The Life Course of Baby Boomers

Hurt ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Boeri
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Informal Social Control ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Life Course Theory ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Problematic Drug ◽  
Social Controls ◽  
The Life Course

Life course theory focuses attention on the impact of history, timing, and important transitions in life trajectories. In this chapter, the life course analysis of boomer drug users reveals that drug trajectories were not developmental. Instead, they were discontinuous, interrupted phases dependent on social context and situations that changed over time. The chapter provides a closer inspection of the turning points into and out of drug use phases to better understand the causes of problematic drug use and what resources are needed to control it. In contrast to law enforcement and treatment professionals, who view problematic drug use as a lack of self-control, research finds that informal social control mechanisms are more important for maintaining or regaining control over drug use. Life course theory predicts that missing critical transitions in life, such as graduating from high school, leads to fewer informal social controls. The stories in this chapter reveal the negative impact of juvenile incarceration, which did not help anyone become drug free, but instead plunged youths into a criminal culture and broke their social bonds to mainstream social networks and access to informal social control mechanisms.

Achieving Recovery Through Resilience: Insights From Adults in Midlife Living With Anorexia Nervosa

2020 ◽  
pp. 104973232097820
Author(s):  
Leslie A. McCallum ◽  
Ramona Alaggia
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Young Adulthood ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽  
Life Course Theory ◽  
Seeking Help ◽  
The Life Course

Despite the high percentage of adults living with anorexia nervosa (AN) over the life course, there is limited understanding of what it means to be living with AN in midlife when the majority of research has focused on adolescents and young adults. As such, clinical practice for individuals in midlife is informed by a severe and enduring AN (SE-AN) framework, which assumes that recovery is not necessarily feasible past young adulthood. This study used constructivist grounded theory methodology to understand the experiences of adults in midlife living with AN. In-depth analyses of 19 participant narratives in midlife show that individuals face barriers to seeking help or remaining in recovery; however, midlife can also act as a significant catalyst toward recovery. Subsequently, there is merit in revisiting the utility of the SE-AN framework in the context of life course theory and exploring resilience-informed approaches in supporting recovery from AN.

scholarly journals KEEPING THINGS, BUT ONLY FOR A WHILE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S362-S363
Author(s):  
David J Ekerdt
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Museum Objects ◽  
Entire World ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Aging Adults ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract The life course is accomplished by material culture held as a convoy of possessions, but also sustained by public affordances and amenities that include the artifacts and artworks to be found in museums. In both places—household and museum—objects come and go, but there is mainly keeping. The difference lies in the capacity to keep things indefinitely: it is virtue for museums but a predicament for households of aging adults. Museums model ideals of permanence and responsibility toward things, ideals that, in the long run, households can only faintly attain. For older adults and for gerontologists, preservation is the wrong lesson to take away from the galleries. Rather, what we can learn there is how single, selected things can show, in a thoughtful way, an entire world of ideas and universe of meaning. No need to keep it all—and forever—but we can honor things while we can. ​

Sexy till I die: What applied theatre can offer in approaches to sexual health

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-375
Author(s):  
Leah Tidey
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
The Social ◽  
Applied Theatre ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract For older adults in Canada, too often shame and silence describe their experiences of sexual health. With more citizens over the age of 65 than ever before and increasing rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in older adults, we are facing a serious issue. Applied theatre offers an innovative approach to deconstructing social stigma in sexuality across the life course, whereby new understandings and perceptions may emerge for people of all ages. The usefulness, gaps and application of three different approaches to sexual health issues are examined to highlight innovations in addressing sexual health and critique ageist, sexist and heteronormative assumptions through a feminist, critical pedagogy lens. The analysis culminates in a proposed outline for an intergenerational, community-based theatre project to address the social stigma of sexuality across the life course entitled You're Doing What?! At Your Age?!

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