scholarly journals The Medical Care of the Elderly from the Care Provider's Point of View

2018 ◽  
pp. 435-453
Author(s):  
Lilia Rosenfeld

The aging of the population presents modern Western society with a variety of different challenges, especially in the areas of health and medicine. On the one hand, there is the demand of the elderly patients to receive medical treatments that are supposed to improve or preserve the existing quality of life and to prevent the extension of a life without quality, with suffering and pain. On the other hand, aging is accompanied by the appearance and exacerbation of chronic illnesses, reduces the treatment benefits of medical activities and increases the risks of irreversible physical dependence. Furthermore, the lack of consensus among the physicians regarding the willingness of treatment and the proper timing of the treatment of the elderly – pose questions about the quality of the treatment for the elderly. Thus, in the opinion of different care-providers and in comparison to other age groups in modern Western society, the elderly do not enjoy the treatment advantages of medical activities proven in the treatment of other age groups in society.

2019 ◽  
pp. 5-34
Author(s):  
Anna L. Lukyanova ◽  
Rostislav I. Kapeliushnikov

The paper analyzes changes in job opportunities of older workers in Russia in the period 2005—2017. The study uses the data from the Russian Labor Force Survey conducted by Rosstat. Changes in the occupational and industrial composition of elderly workers follow the trends pursued by other age groups: employment shifts from low- to high-skilled occupations, from physical to intellectual labor, and from material production to the service sector. We find a stronger polarization among older workers as their occupational structure is biased in favor of, on the one hand, the most and, on the other hand, the least qualified types of jobs. Employment of the elderly has fallen sharply in agriculture and manufacturing with a significant increase in trade, education, and health. Although the employment structure of older workers is generally more “traditionalist”, recent decades have witnessed its transformation in “progressive” directions, similarly to other age groups. These findings suggest that the legislated increase in the state retirement age is not likely to give rise to sizeable unemployment among the elderly. Most of them will be able to work in the occupations and industries previously dominated by young and prime-age workers.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3683
Author(s):  
Ewa Rusak ◽  
Natalia Ogarek ◽  
Karolina Wolicka ◽  
Anna Mrówka ◽  
Sebastian Seget ◽  
...  

Quality of life (QoL) is an important parameter that affects the choice of therapy. Assessment of QoL and satisfaction with therapy using the rtCGM in children with T1D aged < 7 years was conducted. The study group consisted of 38 children with T1D aged < 7 years (34% aged 2–4, 66% aged 5–7 years), HbA1c: 6.53 ± 0.63%, duration of diabetes: 2.6 ± 1.6 years, treated with an rtCGM-augmented insulin pump for 1.92 ± 1.15 years. Two anonymous surveys were conducted: a. PedsQL3.0 diabetes standardized questionnaire—QoL assessment among age groups: 2–4/5–7 years. b. An original survey assessing the CGM use satisfaction. The mean scores in PedsQL3.0: communication 75%, worries 30%, treatment 70%, and problems associated with diabetes 65%. The QoL scale is: 0–19% very low, 20–39% low, 40–59% moderate, 60–79% high, 80–100% very high. The most frequently reported concerns were long-term diabetes complications and prick pain. Satisfaction with CGM use was high (68% in group aged 5–7 and 92% 2–4 years). Twenty-seven (71%) caregivers confirmed the positive effect of CGM on sleep. During the use of rtCGM a high quality of life was reported, and the quality of sleep in their caregivers was increased.


Author(s):  
Orazio Licciardello ◽  
Manuel Mauceri ◽  
Graziella Di Marco ◽  
Maria Giuseppina Cardella

Abstract.We conducted some researches in order to explore “fields” or dimensions of elderly people’s Quality of Life (QoL), both as self-perception and hetero-perception. A set of researches were conducted in Italy and Spain, involving seniors and university students. The aim was to explore the seniors’ QoL from both their and the students’ point of view. Results showed elderly people perceived their own life better than the “other” attributed to them; they were quite good at managing Positive and Negative Emotions. Spanish university students represented more positively the elderly people’s QoL than Italian colleagues. A Positive Affect as well as an empathic attitude towards seniors affected a better representation about elderly people’s QoL. Another set of studies was focused on the elderly people’s QoL and New Technologies (NTs) as these may offer opportunities both to maintain an independent lifestyle and to being involved in relevant activities. Most participants had nor any digital skills neither prejudices on the NTs; the perceived QoL was quite positive; Self-Efficacy believes were really high. The QoL was affected only by Self-Efficacy. A workshop was held, involving a small group of both disabled and healthy seniors; it was focused on the NTs, as tools to promote an active citizenship. After Training our seniors improved their Digital Skills and their own Quality of Life. In the end, a study was conducted in order to verify how both empathy (Empatic Concern; Perspective Taking), Theory on Mind (RMET) and contact worked well to improve QoL levels attributed to elders by a group of university students. On an applicative plan, empathy and TOM should represent the backdrop in supervised experiences of contact between students and elders. Further research will be conduct on this path.Key-Words: Active ageing; Quality of Life; Social Representations; Contact; Empathy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Avi Bitzur ◽  
Eran Fisher

The widespread expression saying that "loneliness is the No. 1 enemy of old age" has, in the 21st century, becomes obvious and banal now that suicide rates among the elderly in many countries and in Israel, the case study for this paper, is higher than among other age groups in those countries.Loneliness itself, its ramifications, consequences, and implications on the lives of the elderly have made it a dominant factor in terms of its potential damage.Old age and loneliness have been the subjects of many different definitions, studies and theories, but despite the quantity and quality of these attempts worldwide, and particularly in Israeli research, there is a conspicuous lack of any comprehensive plan that would address the implications and destructive effects of the loneliness experienced by the elderly. Many limited-scale programs exist on a local level, but they fail to address the clear need to eradicate menacing loneliness.The authors of this essay plan to outline basic principles for designing an operational concept for a national plan to combat the consequences and effects of depression among the elderly, using Israel as an example.This paper will begin with a review of the definitions and literature on the phenomenon of depression, and a review of the literature dealing with the unhealthy connection between old age and depression. We will then review various programs worldwide that deal with the phenomenon of loneliness and old age; continue to present data on the effects of loneliness on elderly Israelis; present various Israeli programs and projects that attempt to deal with this phenomenon; and conclude by detailing the proposed principles for a comprehensive operational approach that maps out this painful phenomenon in Israel and proposes a plan of action on how to best deal with it.


Author(s):  
Karamoko Detto ◽  
Yoro Dezay Thierry ◽  
Moroh Jean-Luc Aboya ◽  
Koffi Alex Joel ◽  
Djè Koffi Marcellin

The aim of this study is to evaluate the hygienic quality of the dishes cooked and sold by the women traders in the town of Korhogo. The study was carried out with 45 restaurants in the town of Korhogo. It consisted on the one hand, a survey based on the Ishikawa diagram in order to assess the hygienic conditions, and on the other hand of microbiological analyses of the ready-to-serve meals. A total of 90 samples were taken, including 2 dishes per restaurant, respectively consisting of one hot and one cold dish. Generally, results showed that hygienic conditions were unsatisfactory based on the utilized guidelines. From a microbiological point of view, the meal samples were 75.2% satisfactory, 7.6% acceptable and 17.2% unsatisfactory. In view of these results, it appears essential to improve hygiene conditions by greater involvement of the official services involved in training these traders and monitoring compliance with good hygiene practices and the establishment of a program of cleaning and disinfection of premises and equipment.


2003 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1210-1229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Søren Ventegodt ◽  
Niels Jørgen Andersen ◽  
Joav Merrick

This paper presents a positive philosophy of life developed to support and inspire patients to take more responsibility for their own lives and to draw more efficiently on their known or hidden resources. The idea is that everybody can become wiser, use themselves better, and thus improve quality of life, subjective health, and the ability to function.To be responsible means to see yourself as the cause of your own existence and state of being. To be the one who forms your own life to your liking, so that others do not shape it in the way they prefer to see you. Seen this way, taking responsibility in practice is one of the most difficult things to do. One of the greatest and most difficult things to do in this context is to be able to love. To be the one who loves, instead of being the one who demands love, care, awareness, respect, and acceptance from somebody else.Since almost all of us have had parents who maybe loved us too little and mostly conditionally, we all harbor a deep yearning to be loved as we are, unconditionally. A lot of our energy is spent trying to find recognition and acceptance, more or less as we did as children from our parents, who created the framework and defined the rules of the game. But today, reality is different. We have grown up and now life is about shaping our own existence. So we must be the ones who love. This is what responsibility is all about. Taking responsibility is, quite literally, moving the barriers in our lives inside ourselves. Taking responsibility for life means that you are willing to see that the real barriers are not all these external ones, but something that can be found within yourself. Of course there is an outside world that cannot be easily shaped according to your dreams. But a responsible point of view is that although it is difficult, the problem is not impossible; it is your real challenge and task. If there is something you really want, you can achieve it, but whether it happens depends on your wholehearted, goal-oriented, and continuous attempts. This paper describes the philosophy about seizing the meaning of life and becoming well again, even when there is little time left.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 943
Author(s):  
María Luisa Delgado-Losada ◽  
Alice Helena Delgado-Lima ◽  
Jaime Bouhaben

The assessment of olfactory function is becoming increasingly relevant, especially in cases of cognitive decline (i.e., neurodegenerative diseases), where olfactory alterations may be relevant as potential early biomarkers. The Sniffin’ Sticks Olfactory Test, developed in Germany and validated in several countries, is an objective measure of olfactory performance. This study aims to validate this test in a Spanish sample. This study included 209 healthy normosmic volunteers (154 females and 55 males) aged between 20 to 79 years (mean age = 50.11 ± 15.18 years) as the normative sample. From this group, 22 participants were retested in order to obtain test–retest reliability evidence. Odor familiarity for descriptors in the olfactory identification test was also studied on an independent healthy sample (n = 69), and required cultural modifications were applied. Results indicate that men and women, as well as smokers and non-smokers, performed equally in every test. However, significant differences were found between age groups in every score. The general trend is that olfactory function progressively decreases as a function of age, the elderly group (+60 years) being the one with the lowest scores. In conclusion, this normative data, in addition to the test’s cultural modifications, allows the Sniffin’ Sticks Olfactory Test to be administered on a Spanish population.


1995 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelle Ricard ◽  
Mary Kamberk-Kilicci

The aim of this study was to assess the empathic reactivity of children when confronted with two different emotions felt by the same character. A total of 90 girls, divided into three equal groups aged 4, 6, and 8 years, were asked to verbally respond to a series of fictitious stories illustrated by a picture where the character's face was left blank. Four of these episodes implied one simple emotion, and the remaining four were complex episodes where the situation potentially induced two opposite emotions within the character, either successively or simultaneously. Empathy was scored according to (a) the match between the emotion identified in the character and the one reported by the subject, and (b) the interpretation given for the subject's reaction. Both the quality of the match and the level of interpretation from self-to event-to character-centred justifications-were found to increase with age, for complex as well as for simple emotions. However, children of all three age-groups displayed less empathic capabilities when witnessing complex rather than simple episodes, given the more demanding task involved in recognising and sharing emotional complexity. Finally, successive emotions appeared more difficult to cope with than simultaneous emotions, but this decalage may be due to the content of the stimuli used in this study.


2018 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 06007
Author(s):  
Jan Raczyński

Choosing a high-speed rail vehicle depends on many factors. On the one hand, there are requirements for ensuring the quality of service for passengers, on the other hand, there are constraints resulting from the parameters of available infrastructure. Also a relation of the benefit and financial costs associated with the purchase and the operation of rolling stock is essential. Technical characteristics of vehicles selected for operating a particular system is a compromise between the three groups of requirements. In this article technical parameters of railway infrastructure and rolling stock are classified and then analysed from the TSI requirements point of view.


2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Redmayne ◽  
Olle Johansson

AbstractOur environment is now permeated by anthropogenic radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation, and individuals of all ages are exposed for most of each 24 h period from transmitting devices. Despite claims that children are more likely to be vulnerable than healthy adults to unwanted effects of this exposure, there has been no recent examination of this, nor of comparative risk to the elderly or ill. We sought to clarify whether research supports the claim of increased risk in specific age-groups. First, we identified the literature which has explored age-specific pathophysiological impacts of RF-EMR. Natural life-span changes relevant to these different impacts provides context for our review of the selected literature, followed by discussion of health and well-being implications. We conclude that age-dependent RF-EMR study results, when considered in the context of developmental stage, indicate increased specific vulnerabilities in the young (fetus to adolescent), the elderly, and those with cancer. There appears to be at least one mechanism other than the known thermal mechanism causing different responses to RF-EMR depending upon the exposure parameters, the cell/physiological process involved, and according to age and health status. As well as personal health and quality-of-life impacts, an ageing population means there are economic implications for public health and policy.


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