Study protocol for Prospective RELOC-AGE: A longitudinal mixed-methods study exploring associations of housing, relocation and active and healthy ageing in Sweden (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Zingmark ◽  
Jonas Björk ◽  
Marianne Granbom ◽  
Giedre Gefenaite ◽  
Frida Nordeström ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Background: While housing and neighbourhood features have the potential to impact opportunities for active ageing, there is a lack of knowledge related to how older people reason regarding their housing situation and how housing and fulfilment of relocation are associated with active and healthy ageing. OBJECTIVE Objective: The objectives of Prospective RELOC-AGE are to study housing choices and relocation and explore effects on active and healthy ageing among men and women 55 years or older in Sweden considering relocation. METHODS Methods: The estimated sample (n=2800) will include people aged 55+ being listed for relocation at either of two housing companies: a local public housing company in Southern Sweden and a national condominium provider (NCP). Prospective RELOC-AGE has a two-level longitudinal mixed-methods design and include quantitative surveys (implemented by a professional survey company) and a telephone interview for a baseline data collection in 2021, with follow-ups with the same procedures in 2022 and 2023. The survey and interviews include questions related to present housing and neighbourhood, relocation plans and expectations, a range of perspectives on active and healthy ageing, and demographics. Linking to national registers will provide additional data on e.g., home help and health care use, objective housing and neighbourhood characteristics. The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04765696 [1]. To explore what housing attributes older adults considering relocation find important, and to what extent, when making their decisions on housing, we will develop a Discrete Choice Experiment to be implemented with a subsample of participants. Further, a Grounded Theory (GT) approach will be applied to collect in-depth interview data from participants who have moved to another dwelling, within 6 months after the move. A follow-up interview 12 months later will focus on participants´ deepened experience over time in terms of fulfilled expectations relocation experiences. RESULTS Results: As of submission of this protocol (June 2021) recruitment has commenced with approximately n=960 respondents to the survey and with ongoing telephone interviews. We anticipate recruitment and data collection based on surveys and interviews to continue during 2021. CONCLUSIONS Conclusions: Prospective RELOC-AGE has the capacity to generate new policy-relevant knowledge on associations of housing, relocation and active and healthy ageing. Such knowledge is relevant for the development of proactive approaches to housing in old age on the individual, group as well as societal levels. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04765696

Author(s):  
Fomba Louisette Naah ◽  
Aloysius Mom Njong ◽  
Jude Ndzifon Kimengsi

This paper examines the determinants and policy implications of active and healthy ageing in Sub-Saharan Africa, taking the case of Bamenda, in Cameroon. Specifically, the study sought to identify and explore the determinants of active and healthy ageing using a mixed-methods approach involving qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. Focus group discussions were conducted complemented by a survey (random and snowball sampling) using a structured questionnaire. Narratives and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data generated from the focus group discussion and Tobit regression was employed to analyze the multiple determinants of active ageing by dimensions and on a global scale in Cameroon. Results identified three key dimensions of active and healthy ageing: employment/livelihood options (EL), community support and health (CH) and housing and living in Bamenda (HL). The regression results reveal gender bias in active ageing, a non-effect of education and health on active ageing, and a positive effect of income on active and healthy ageing. This study contributes, among others, to the competence–environmental press theory on active ageing with regards to unbundling context specific determinants of active and healthy ageing. It equally derives policy considerations with regards to gender mainstreaming and the identification of age friendly income earning options to enhance the active and healthy ageing process.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asghar Zaidi ◽  
Katrin Gasior ◽  
Eszter Zolyomi ◽  
Andrea Schmidt ◽  
Ricardo Rodrigues ◽  
...  

The active and healthy ageing measure reported here is calculated for the 28 European Union countries, with a specific focus on the current generation of older people and by using the latest data from multiple surveys. It covers diverse aspects of active and healthy ageing, by measuring older people’s contribution with respect to not just employment but also their unpaid familial, social and cultural contributions and their independent, healthy and secure living. The article presents the first-of-its-kind quantitative measure of active and healthy ageing in the literature on active and healthy ageing which hitherto has focused largely on concepts, definitions and public policy strategies. In this pursuit, an important contribution of this measure, referred to as the Active Ageing Index (‘AAI’), is that it also captures how countries differ with respect to capacity and enabling environments for active and healthy ageing. The AAI offers a breakdown not just by four domains of active and healthy ageing but also by gender. Key findings are that Sweden comes at the top of the country ranking, followed closely by Denmark, the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands and Ireland. The four southern European countries (Italy, Portugal, Spain and Malta) are middle-ranked countries. Greece and many of the Central European countries are at the bottom, highlighting much greater untapped potentials of active and healthy ageing among older people in these countries and a need for greater policy efforts. Women fare worse than men in most countries, identifying a need for an emphasis on reducing gender disparity in experiences of active and healthy ageing. The AAI tool developed has the potential to identify the social policy mechanisms behind the differential achievements of active and healthy ageing, for example, what active and healthy ageing strategies have driven top performers, and in what respect the bottom-ranked countries have lagged behind.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-207
Author(s):  
Éva Berde ◽  
Izabella Kuncz

The paper provides a brief description of the Active Ageing Index (AAI). This indicator, introduced in 2012, aims to measure the potential of older people for active and healthy ageing. The indicator is constructed from European Union survey data, and these results are weighted with coefficients determined by experts. One of the variables from the surveys measures the proportion of older people using the internet at least once a week. We argue that such regular internet usage does not show too much variation in this era of the ubiquitous internet, so a more sophisticated definition of internet usage must be taken into consideration. Our discussion contains three different AAI variants: the original expert-based, the Djurovic et al. (2017) I-distance indicator, and our factor-based index.


Author(s):  
Coral L. Hanson ◽  
Lis Neubeck ◽  
Richard G. Kyle ◽  
Norrie Brown ◽  
Robyn Gallagher ◽  
...  

Physical activity referral schemes (PARS) are implemented internationally to increase physical activity (PA), but evidence of effectiveness for population subgroups is equivocal. We examined gender differences for a Scottish PARS. This mixed-methods, concurrent longitudinal study had equal status quantitative and qualitative components. We conducted 348 telephone interviews across three time points (pre-scheme, 12 and 52 weeks). These included validated self-reported PA and exercise self-efficacy measures and open-ended questions about experiences. We recruited 136 participants, of whom 120 completed 12-week and 92 completed 52-week interviews. PARS uptake was 83.8% (114/136), and 12-week adherence for those who started was 43.0% (49/114). Living in less deprived areas was associated with better uptake (p = 0.021) and 12-week adherence (p = 0.020), and with male uptake (p = 0.024) in gender-stratified analysis. Female adherers significantly increased self-reported PA at 12 weeks (p = 0.005) but not 52 weeks. Males significantly increased exercise self-efficacy between baseline and 52 weeks (p = 0.009). Three qualitative themes and eight subthemes developed; gender perspectives, personal factors (health, social circumstances, transport and attendance benefits) and scheme factors (communication, social/staff support, individualisation and age appropriateness). Both genders valued the PARS. To increase uptake, adherence and PA, PARS should ensure timely, personalised communication, individualised, affordable PA and include mechanisms to re-engage those who disengage temporarily.


Author(s):  
Lucy Beishon ◽  
Rebecca H. Clough ◽  
Meeriam Kadicheeni ◽  
Tamara Chithiramohan ◽  
Ronney B. Panerai ◽  
...  

AbstractThe population is ageing worldwide, thus increasing the burden of common age-related disorders to the individual, society and economy. Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke, dementia) contribute a significant proportion of this burden and are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Thus, understanding and promoting healthy vascular brain ageing are becoming an increasing priority for healthcare systems. In this review, we consider the effects of normal ageing on two major physiological processes responsible for vascular brain function: Cerebral autoregulation (CA) and neurovascular coupling (NVC). CA is the process by which the brain regulates cerebral blood flow (CBF) and protects against falls and surges in cerebral perfusion pressure, which risk hypoxic brain injury and pressure damage, respectively. In contrast, NVC is the process by which CBF is matched to cerebral metabolic activity, ensuring adequate local oxygenation and nutrient delivery for increased neuronal activity. Healthy ageing is associated with a number of key physiological adaptations in these processes to mitigate age-related functional and structural declines. Through multiple different paradigms assessing CA in healthy younger and older humans, generating conflicting findings, carbon dioxide studies in CA have provided the greatest understanding of intrinsic vascular anatomical factors that may mediate healthy ageing responses. In NVC, studies have found mixed results, with reduced, equivalent and increased activation of vascular responses to cognitive stimulation. In summary, vascular and haemodynamic changes occur in response to ageing and are important in distinguishing “normal” ageing from disease states and may help to develop effective therapeutic strategies to promote healthy brain ageing.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 18-25
Author(s):  
Dipendra Kumar Khatri

This article summarizes the study conducted to find out the effectiveness of guided writing in teaching composition. Fifty-two students of grade nine studying at Khelnechour Secondary School, Surkhet were the sample population of this research. The researcher requested one of the teachers to involve in the practical teaching for carrying out the research. The tests (pre-test and post test) were the major tools for data collection. The students were ranked from the first to the fifty-second position based on the results of the pre-test. They were divided into two groups based on odd-even ranking of the individual scores. Then, experimental group was taught through guided writing activities whereas controlled group was taught without guided writing activities. Each groups attended thirty lessons. Then the post-test was administered. The results of these two tests (Pre and Post) were compared and found that guided writing activities were more effective in teaching composition. Journal of NELTA Surkhet Vol.4 2014: 18-25


Author(s):  
Clara I. Valero ◽  
Alejandro M. Medrano Gil ◽  
Regel Gonzalez-Usach ◽  
Matilde Julian ◽  
Giuseppe Fico ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 1843-1867 ◽  
Author(s):  
HOLLY GWYTHER ◽  
RICHARD COOKE ◽  
RACHEL SHAW ◽  
MAURA MARCUCCI ◽  
ANTONIO CANO ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA) was launched by the European Commission in 2011 to promote innovation in ageing research. This paper explores the experiences of partners delivering frailty interventions within Europe, registering their programmes with the EIP-AHA. Data were collected using an online survey from 21 partners in seven countries. A mixed-method approach was used with inductive thematic analysis of free-text responses to improve data richness. Responses indicated that there was a lack of consistency between EIP-AHA partners in methods of defining, screening and measuring for frailty and pre-frailty. Open responses to survey questions about intervention facilitators, moderators and barriers were coded into two themes: working with stakeholders and project management. We concluded that EIP-AHA partners are providing interventions addressing physical, cognitive and wellbeing elements of frailty. However, there needs to be an increase in the proportion of interventions that consistently apply valid methods of screening and/or measuring frailty and pre-frailty. Most, but not all projects are targeting pre-frail older adults, suggesting an appropriate balance of prevention in a useful ‘intervention window’ but also a growing understanding that frailty at later stages is amenable to intervention. Findings suggest design manipulations to improve outcomes and adherence to interventions, specifically inclusion of a perceived benefit/reward for older adults, e.g. a social aspect or health-care promotion.


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