The Rhythm of Health in Older Women With Chronic Illness

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelma B. Crawford Shearer ◽  
Julie D. Fleury ◽  
Pamela G. Reed

Trends in population growth indicate that nurses increasingly will be caring for older adults, especially older women, who are at risk for less than optimal health due to chronic illnesses. The purpose of this qualitative study was to obtain a better understanding of the meaning of health from the perspective of older women. Focus group interviews with 51 women, aged 55 to 93, were held. Data were analyzed using directed qualitative content analysis. A Rogerian perspective of human health provided the broad conceptual lens for the study. Three themes explicating the meanings of health emerged from the data: realizing the potential for purpose, listening to energy flow, and purposefully participating in health-related changes. The three themes represented ways in which the women dealt with the paradoxes posed by their chronic illness. Findings captured the hopeful, although sometimes conflicting, meanings of health among the women as brought forth by experiences with chronic illness and the challenges of aging.

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-172
Author(s):  
Joel Faronbi ◽  
Aishat Ajadi ◽  
Robbert Gobbens

Background: The increase in life expectancy has brought about a higher prevalence of chronic illnesses among older people.Objectives: To identify common chronic illnesses among older adults, to examine the influence of such conditions on their Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), and to determine factors predicting their HRQoL.Method: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted involving 377 individuals aged 60 years and above who were selected using multi-stage sampling techniques in Olorunda Local Government, Osun State, Nigeria. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire comprising socio-demographic characteristics, chronic illnesses, and the World Health Organization quality of life instrument (WHOQOL-BREF) containing physical health, psychological, social relationships, and environmental domains.Results: About half (51.5%) of the respondents reported at least one chronic illness which has lasted for 1–5 years (43.3%). The prevalence of hypertension was 36.1%, diabetes 13.9% and arthritis 13.4%. Respondents with chronic illness had significantly lower HRQoL overall and in the physical health, social relationships and the environmental domains (all p<0.05) compared to those without a chronic illness. Factors that predicted HRQoL include age, marital status, level of education, the presence of chronic illness and prognosis of the condition.Conclusion: This study concluded that chronic illness is prevalent in Nigerian older people and significantly influence their HRQoL. Age, marital status, and level of education were associated with HRQoL in this group.Keywords: Chronic illness, Health-Related Quality of Life, Older adults, Socio-demographic factorsFunding: Postdoctoral fellowship from Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Afric


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberley D. Curtin ◽  
Christina C. Loitz ◽  
Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere ◽  
Ernest Nene Khalema

Immigrants to Canada are less likely to be physically active compared with non-immigrants, and the interrelations between personal and environmental factors that influence physical activity for immigrants are largely unexplored. The goal of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand how the experience of being new to Canada impacts opportunities and participation in physical activity. Two focus group interviews with immigrants to Canada were conducted. The first group ( n=7) included multicultural health brokers. The second group ( n=14) included English as a second language students. Qualitative content analysis was used to determine three themes consistent with the research question: transition to Canadian life, commitments and priorities, and accessibility. Discussion was framed using a social ecological model. Implications for practice and policy are suggested including enhanced community engagement, and organizational modifications. Overall, the development and implementation of physical activity policies and practices for newcomers to Canada should be centered on newcomers’ perspectives and experiences.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026565902199553
Author(s):  
Camilla Nilsson ◽  
Jill Nyberg ◽  
Sofia Strömbergsson

The aims of this study were to identify children’s reactions towards speech sound disorders (SSD) in other children and whether these reactions can be related to specific speech characteristics. Six audio samples, each containing minute-long resumes of short animated film by five children with SSDs and one child with typical speech (TS), aged 5–9 years, were played back to 17 10–11-year-olds, during four focus group interviews. The transcribed interviews underwent a qualitative content analysis. The analysis resulted in five identified main themes of listener reactions, concerning the experiences as a listener, the perspective of the speaker, as well as observations of speech characteristics. Reactions of empathy were expressed towards a perceived misalignment between speaker age and speech production proficiency. Awareness of peer reactions are clinically useful, for the understanding and acknowledgement of everyday contextual factors of children with SSDs, during planning and motivation of speech intervention. The children’s self-selected terminology may serve future quantitative investigations to further determine the boundaries of acceptability towards SSDs as well as towards non-standard sociolects or language varieties.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veikko Pelto-Piri ◽  
Lars Kjellin ◽  
Ulrika Hylén ◽  
Emanuele Valenti ◽  
Stefan Priebe

Abstract Objectives The objective of the study was to investigate how mental health professionals describe and reflect upon different forms of informal coercion. Results In a deductive qualitative content analysis of focus group interviews, several examples of persuasion, interpersonal leverage, inducements, and threats were found. Persuasion was sometimes described as being more like a negotiation. Some participants worried about that the use of interpersonal leverage and inducements risked to pass into blackmail in some situations. In a following inductive analysis, three more categories of informal coercion was found: cheating, using a disciplinary style and referring to rules and routines. Participants also described situations of coercion from other stakeholders: relatives and other authorities than psychiatry. The results indicate that informal coercion includes forms that are not obviously arranged in a hierarchy, and that its use is complex with a variety of pathways between different forms before treatment is accepted by the patient or compulsion is imposed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. iv9-iv12
Author(s):  
Jennifer Muhaidat ◽  
Emad Al-Yahya ◽  
Maha Mohammad ◽  
Dania Qutishat ◽  
Rasha Okasheh ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The interplay between gender, Physical Activity (PA) and Dual Task (DT) gait in older adults is unclear. This study aimed to address DT gait based on gender and PA level in older adults. Methods Gait measures were collected using an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) during the 10-meter and Timed Up and Go (TUG) tests in single and DT conditions. Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) was used to measure PA. A total of 120 community-dwelling older adults (81 women and 39 men) took part. Participants were divided according to gender and PA level into four groups (women achieving (WA = 31), women not achieving (WN = 50), men Achieving (MA = 29) and men not achieving (MN = 10)). The achievement of PA was determined by total Metabolic Equivalent (MET) – Minute/week ≥ 600. Cognition, health-related quality of life, falls history and health status was measured. Results Women had poorer performance in time, gait velocity and stride length regardless of PA level. The cognitive condition had the greatest effect on gait parameters in all groups, except for stride length which decreased more under the motor condition. Women who did not achieve the PA guidelines had poorer perceived health-related quality of life than men who achieved and did not achieve the guidelines. Conclusions The findings suggest that women, regardless of PA level, experience greater deterioration under ST and DT conditions in 10-meter walk and TUG tests in terms of time and gait measures such as velocity and stride length. This interplay cannot be explained by PA alone since it could be reflective of poorer perceived health and frailty in older women. These findings are considered of importance when planning DT and PA interventions that aim to increase PA levels and promote function in older women.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-166
Author(s):  
Catharina Frank ◽  
Camilla Lindbäck ◽  
Christina Takman ◽  
Lena Nordgren

There is a lack of knowledge about healthcare professionals’ perspectives on rehabilitation in relation to heart failure. Still, collaboration between different professionals can impact patients. The purpose of this study was to describe healthcare professionals’ perceptions of their work with patients of working age with heart failure. The sample population consisted of six nurses, one physiotherapist and one cardiologist. One individual interview and two focus-group interviews were conducted. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Three descriptive categories were constructed: ‘the impact of heart failure on patients’ life situations’, ‘heart failure service’, and ‘patients’ process of returning to work’. To support patients, healthcare professionals need to find ways to combine patients’ personal needs with protocol-driven care.


2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 649-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni C. Antonucci ◽  
Kira S. Birditt ◽  
Noah J. Webster

Among older adults social relationships influence mortality, but it is less clear how. We examined associations between relationship quality with spouse, child, and best friend and mortality; and whether the associations varied in the presence of chronic illnesses. Survival analyses ( N = 514; 59 percent women aged ≥ 60) revealed sometimes counterintuitive main and buffering effects. Individuals who reported greater negative relationship quality with their children and friends lived longer. Buffering models suggest that relationships may exacerbate the effects of chronic illness on mortality and emphasize the importance of using a more nuanced approach when examining the effects of social relations on mortality.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 209-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisbeth Johansson ◽  
Marie Golsäter ◽  
Berith Hedberg

The aim of this study was to explore child health care nurses’ experiences of conducting health dialogues with non-native-speaking parents. In Sweden, it is not routine that all non-native-speaking parents are invited to a health dialogue. Regardless of language and cultural background, it is important that all parents have the same opportunities to participate. The data were obtained through two focus-group interviews and analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results revealed one theme Need for cultural awareness in the health dialogue and two categories: Overcoming feelings of uncertainty, with a need for more transcultural knowledge regarding what health and health promotion mean in other cultures; and Adapting the process of the health dialogue, whereby interpreters need knowledge about the intention of health dialogues and the content of the tool used in the encounter. Transcultural competence is needed in encounters with parents from other cultures.


1999 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 400-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia S. Teel ◽  
Paula Carson ◽  
Janet Hamburg ◽  
Alicia Ann Clair

The authors developed a program for older adults to improve spatial awareness and sense of balance while promoting person-environment interaction. Motivating Moves, a 20-min program of 14 movement sequences set to original music, was offered to 4 groups of older adults (N = 66, mean age = 80.97, SD = 7.34) during 6 weekly 1-hr sessions. Participants learned new movements during the First 5 weeks, and all movements were reviewed in the 6th week. Program evaluation was based on attendance-pattern data, self-report measures of program satisfaction, and focus-group interviews. Approximately 64% of enrollees (n = 42) completed the program, and attendance rates were high (>89%) for these individuals. Participants reported benefits of Motivating Moves’, such as enhanced posture awareness, improved sense of balance, and increased social interaction. Issues related to developing and offering a movement program with music are reviewed, with attention to potential difficulties and suggestions for program implementation.


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