Chronic loneliness: neurocognitive mechanisms and interventions

Loneliness has been associated with detrimental effects on mental and physical health and is increasingly recognized as a critical public health issue which may be further exacerbated by societal challenges such as increasing urbanization, an aging society as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. We here review recent findings on the neurocognitive mechanisms and brain alterations that underpin social disconnectedness, therapeutic approaches for chronic loneliness and how these lines of research can be integrated to improve the efficacy of loneliness interventions in healthy individuals and patients with mental disorders.

Pengembangan Keterampilan Dasar Bagi Peserta Didik Untuk Mempersiapkan Era Society 5.0

<p><em>An aging society has caused several health and social problems in Japan. Therefore, in order to overcome the current problems and to prevent future problems, Japan has embarked on a human-centered transformation, namely Society 5.0 which is experienced not only domestically but also worldwide. This change requires everyone, especially the younger generation to prepare themselves to survive and even lead it. There is a set of skills that must be mastered by students to achieve these goals, namely communication, leadership, reading comprehension, and curiosity. This paper aims to describe methods for developing these skills in elementary school students. The conclusion states that some of the methods actually complement each other, meaning that they can be applied interchangeably in a school setting.</em></p>

Age-based Analysis of the Perceptions of Aging and Successful Aging in Malaysia

Given that ageism could have detrimental effects on the aging society, knowing how people of different age groups perceive aging and successful aging is important. This study collected data from 648 respondents aged between 18 and 80 years old for an age-based analysis of the perceptions toward aging and successful aging. The findings revealed that generally, being healthy, happy, and physically active are considered important aspects of successful aging. Regardless of age, health is perceived as the most fundamental part of life. Both the psychosocial and health factors are critical aspects of successful aging. Hence, it is critical to look into the provision of better healthcare and public facilities for older adults, to find ways to reduce negative attitudes toward older people and to assist older adults to live successfully at old age.

Probing into the Dilemma of Hospice Care for the Elderly in China

With the aging of the population gradually become a worldwide trend, China has entered into the aging society in 2000, the phenomenon of “getting old before getting rich” has caused a severe challenge. As a part of the pension system, hospice should be paid attention and promoted. However, due to the influence of China’s traditional view of death and the fact that hospice is not included in the medical insurance system, the idea of hospice has not been widely publicized. Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, this paper analyzes the current situation of hospice care for the elderly in China and explores the specific difficulties encountered in its development, then we hope people re-understand the saying “a good death is better than a lazy life” and choose hospice care services rationally.

Social Constructionism and Social Representation Theory

This chapter considers how the perspectives of social constructionism and social representations theory can overlap and cross-fertilize more than was once recognized, when the study of change is at stake. This applies particularly to the study of meaning-making through practices and relations via social artifacts. Focusing on those scholars considered to be the main initiators and developers of these two perspectives in social psychology—Serge Moscovici and Kenneth J. Gergen—the authors analyze their works on different levels: meta-theoretical, theoretical, and methodological. Grounding their reasoning on research that they themselves and others have conducted on the two frameworks, mainly on aging in an aging society, the authors call for a further erasure of distinctions between the two. They conclude by suggesting a fruitful future enrichment of the dialogue and a reciprocal cross-fertilization that might overcome nominalistic barriers in the study of social knowledge, particularly where change and continuity are concerned.

Chronic Stress A Potential Suspect Zero of Atherosclerosis: A Systematic Review

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a chronic vascular inflammatory disease, in which the lipid accumulation in the intima of the arteries shows yellow atheromatous appearance, which is the pathological basis of many diseases, such as coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease and cerebrovascular disease. In recent years, it has become the main cause of death in the global aging society, which seriously endangers human health. As a result, research on AS is increasing. Lesions of atherosclerosis contain macrophages, T cells and other cells of the immune response, together with cholesterol that infiltrates from the blood. Recent studies have shown that chronic stress plays an important role in the occurrence and development of AS. From the etiology of disease, social, environmental and genetic factors jointly determine the occurrence of disease. Atherosclerotic cardio-cerebrovascular disease (ASCVD) is often caused by chronic stress (CS). If it cannot be effectively prevented, there will be biological changes in the body environment successively, and then the morphological changes of the corresponding organs. If the patient has a genetic predisposition and a combination of environmental factors triggers the pathogenesis, then chronic stress can eventually lead to AS. Therefore, this paper discusses the influence of chronic stress on AS in the aspects of inflammation, lipid metabolism, endothelial dysfunction, hemodynamics and blood pressure, plaque stability, autophagy, ferroptosis, and cholesterol efflux.

Developing a Rule-Based Expert System to Infer Customized Care Plans for Long Term Care Patients

Systems of long-term care are needed in aging society to meet the needs of older people. In rapidly increasing demand for long-term care, how to ensure the quality of long-term care is an important issue. Therefore, we designed a rule-based expert system that automatically generates customized care plans based on the assessment results. Aims to provide health providers a useful tool in long term patients management.