The Impact of Natural Disaster on the Health of Older Adults: A Multiwave Prospective Study

ABSTRACTObjectiveOlder adults are a potentially medically vulnerable population with increased mortality rates during and after disasters. To evaluate the impact of a natural disaster on this population, we performed a temporal and geospatial analysis of emergency department (ED) use by adults aged 65 years and older in New York City (NYC) following Hurricane Sandy’s landfall.MethodsWe used an all-payer claims database to analyze demographics, insurance status, geographic distribution, and health conditions for post-disaster ED visits among older adults. We compared ED patterns of use in the weeks before and after Hurricane Sandy throughout NYC and the most afflicted evacuation zones.ResultsWe found significant increases in ED utilization by older adults (and disproportionately higher in those aged ≥85 years) in the 3 weeks after Hurricane Sandy, especially in NYC evacuation zone one. Primary diagnoses with notable increases included dialysis, electrolyte disorders, and prescription refills. Secondary diagnoses highlighted homelessness and care access issues.ConclusionsOlder adults display heightened risk for worse health outcomes with increased ED visits after a disaster. Our findings suggest the need for dedicated resources and planning for older adults following a natural disaster by ensuring access to medical facilities, prescriptions, dialysis, and safe housing and by optimizing health care delivery needs to reduce the burden of chronic disease. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:184–193)

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The Impact of Subjective and Objective Hearing Loss on Cognition and Memory in Older Adults

Perspectives on Gerontology ◽

10.1044/gero20.2.49 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 49-57 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yvonne Rogalski ◽

Amy Rominger

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Hearing Loss ◽

Reading Aloud ◽

Cognitive Testing ◽

Professional Collaboration ◽

Cognitive Screening ◽

Speech Language Pathologist ◽

Text Passage ◽

The Impact ◽

Audiologic Evaluation

For this exploratory cross-disciplinary study, a speech-language pathologist and an audiologist collaborated to investigate the effects of objective and subjective hearing loss on cognition and memory in 11 older adults without hearing loss (OAs), 6 older adults with unaided hearing loss (HLOAs), and 16 young adults (YAs). All participants received cognitive testing and a complete audiologic evaluation including a subjective questionnaire about perceived hearing difficulty. Memory testing involved listening to or reading aloud a text passage then verbally recalling the information. Key findings revealed that objective hearing loss and subjective hearing loss were correlated and both were associated with a cognitive screening test. Potential clinical implications are discussed and include a need for more cross-professional collaboration in assessing older adults with hearing loss.

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The Impact of TimeSlips on Undergraduate Students in Service Learning With Older Adults

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/2020_persp-20-00171 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Sabine Heuer

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Service Learning ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Attitude Scale ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Attitudes Toward Older Adults ◽

Students Attitudes ◽

Attitude Shift ◽

The Impact ◽

Journal Entries

Purpose Future speech-language pathologists are often unprepared in their academic training to serve the communicative and cognitive needs of older adults with dementia. While negative attitudes toward older adults are prevalent among undergraduate students, service learning has been shown to positively affect students' attitudes toward older adults. TimeSlips is an evidence-based approach that has been shown to improve health care students' attitudes toward older adults. The purpose of this study is to explore the change in attitudes in speech-language pathology students toward older adults using TimeSlips in service learning. Method Fifty-one students participated in TimeSlips service learning with older adults and completed the Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS) before and after service learning. In addition, students completed a reflection journal. The DAS data were analyzed using nonparametric statistics, and journal entries were analyzed using a qualitative analysis approach. Results The service learners exhibited a significant increase in positive attitude as indexed on the DAS. The reflective journal entries supported the positive change in attitudes. Conclusions A noticeable attitude shift was indexed in reflective journals and on the DAS. TimeSlips is an evidence-based, patient-centered approach well suited to address challenges in the preparation of Communication Sciences and Disorders students to work with the growing population of older adults.

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The impact of caffeine on older adults' name learning

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e741382011-327 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Elizabeth A. Crandall ◽

Lori E. James

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

The Impact

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The Impact of Urban Development Patterns on Natural Disaster Damages

Journal of Environmental Policy and Administration ◽

10.15301/jepa.2019.27.4.189 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 189-210

Author(s):

Seungwon Kang ◽

Dalbyul Lee ◽

Juchul Jung

Keyword(s):

Urban Development ◽

Natural Disaster ◽

Development Patterns ◽

The Impact

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Fear of memory decline predicts lower quality of life and increased memory failures in older adults: Preliminary findings from a novel fear-avoidance of memory decline scale.

10.31234/osf.io/vugny ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Francesca Farina ◽

Marc Patrick Bennett ◽

James William Griffith ◽

Bert Lenaert

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Older Adults ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Fear Avoidance ◽

Subjective Memory ◽

Memory Decline ◽

General Anxiety ◽

Quality Of Life Scale ◽

The Impact

Evidence concerning the impact of fear of memory decline on health-related outcomes is limited. To determine the relationship between fear-avoidance of memory decline, quality of life and subjective memory in older adults using a novel scale to measure fear of memory decline. Sixty-seven older adults (59-81 years) completed a 23-item self-report questionnaire designed to capture experiential, cognitive and behavioral components of fear of memory decline, known as the fear and avoidance of memory decline (FAM) scale. Memory performance was assessed using the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-IV) and the Memory Failures Scale (MFS). General anxiety was assessed using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) and the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI). Quality of life was assessed using the Older Person’s Quality of Life scale (OPQOL-35). The FAM scale demonstrated good reliability and validity. Three latent factors were observed including: (1) fear-avoidance, (2) problematic beliefs and (3) resilience. After adjusting for age, education, memory performance and general anxiety, higher fear-avoidance predicted lower quality of life (p=.021) and increased memory failures (p=.022). Increased fear of memory decline predicts lower quality of life and subjective memory failures in healthy older adults. Based on these findings, we propose a preliminary fear-avoidance model that explains the development and maintenance of dementia-related functional disability in terms of psychological processes.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Assessing the impact of the anesthesia medication template on medication errors during anesthesia: A prospective study.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.727200676.793528049 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Craig Webster

Keyword(s):

Prospective Study ◽

Medication Errors ◽

A Prospective Study ◽

The Impact

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The Impact of Stressful Life Events and Social Support on Drinking among Older Adults: A General Population Survey

The International Journal of Aging and Human Development ◽

10.2190/f6g4-xlv3-5kw6-vmba ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 99-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Karen M. Jennison

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Life Events ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Prolonged Exposure ◽

Drinking Behavior ◽

National Sample ◽

Stressful Life ◽

Stress Buffering ◽

The Impact

This article is an analysis of stressful life events, the buffering hypothesis, and alcohol use in a national sample of 1,418 respondents 60 years of age and over. The results indicate that older adults who experience stressful losses are significantly more likely to drink excessively than those who have not experienced such losses or who have experienced them to a lesser extent. Increased drinking among older adults may therefore be a reaction to life circumstances in which alcohol represents an attempt to cope with traumatic loss, personal as well as within the kinship network. Supportive resources of spouse, family, friends, and church appear to have a stress-buffering effects that reduces the excessive-drinking response to life crisis. Data suggest, however, that older persons are vulnerable to the magnitude of losses experienced as they grow older and lose more of their family, friends, and peers. These stressors appear to seriously impact their drinking behavior and are not effectively buffered. Respondents report that drinking may increase during periods of prolonged exposure to emotionally depleting life change and loss, when supportive needs may exceed the capacities of personal and social support resources.

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