Caring for the elderly in Chile. Exploring the experiences of men who care for dependent people

Recognizing that research on care has tended to focus on the experiences of female caregivers, this study, based on the experience of men caregivers of dependent elderly people in Chile, has sought, among others, to answer what meanings give them the men caregivers in the care given to dependent elderly people, and what consequences the need to care for others has had for them. Through a qualitative study based on interviews with ten men caregivers of dependent people, it has been possible to determine that, among others, caregivers mean care as an expression of love, but also as a responsibility. On the other hand, caring for others has had negative consequences both for their mental health and for their income generation. The study concludes by recognizing, among other aspects, that interventions and policies of care that are conceived from a rights perspective, must address in a robust way the needs of both people involved in the arrangements, care receivers, and the caregiver. In doing so, the State has a crucial role, as the first guarantor of rights.

ASSOCIAÇÃO ENTRE INSEGURANÇA ALIMENTAR E CONSUMO ALIMENTAR DE IDOSOS ASSISTIDOS POR UMA ESTRATÉGIA DE SAÚDE DA FAMÍLIA DO INTERIOR PAULISTA

The aim was to verify the association between food insecurity (FI) and food consumption of elderly people assisted by a Family Health Strategy (FHE). Sixteen elderly people, of both sexes, with a mean age of 69.13 years and BMI of 29.23 kg/m2 were evaluated. The Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale, food frequency questionnaire and 24-hour food recall were used. Weight and height were taken from the patients' records. It was observed that 37.5% of the elderly were in mild AI, 31.25% in moderate AI, 18.75% in severe AI and only 12.5% in food security. Individuals do not consume skimmed milk and have frequent intake of eggs, sausages, margarine, refined cereals, industrialized beverages, sweets and candies. And little or no use of olive oil and whole grains. No significant association between AI and food consumption. It is concluded that there was no association between food insecurity and food consumption in elderly people assisted by an ESF.

COVID-19 vaccine prioritization based on district classification in Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia

Due to limited availability, Indonesia’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination will be done in 4 stages until herd immunity has been reached. Yogyakarta, an education and tourist destination, needs to get a specific, spatial estimation of the exact need for COVID-19 vaccination without delay. This study sheds light on identifying which districts should be prioritized at each vaccination phase. Secondary data collected from provincial, and county-level statistical agencies were quantitatively calculated by the Z-Score method. The results indicate that the first phase of vaccination should prioritize Pengasih and Sentolo districts in Kulon Progo Regency, which have a large number of health workers; the districts of Depok, Banguntapan, Piyungan, Sewon, Wonosari, Gamping, Mlati and Ngaglik should be done in the second phase based on the fact that these districts have many public service officials as well as elderly people; Umbulharjo and Depok districts will be approached in the third phase since they have more vulnerable groups and facilities that may promote COVID- 19 transmission during their daily activities; while the fourth phase should focus on the districts of Banguntapan, Sewon, Kasihan, Gamping, Mlati, Depok, and Ngaglik due to the intensity of COVID-19 clusters discovered there. Overall, vaccination would be given the priority in the districts with the largest number of people in need, i.e., public service officers, elderly people and those likely to be exposed to the coronavirus causing COVID-19.

Social interactions in long-term care

Современное общество становится все более сложным, меняются не только технологии, но и его социально-возрастная структура. Человечество впервые столкнулось с ситуацией, когда пожилых больше, чем молодежи, и оказалось к этому не готово. Возникает новая задача - согласование взаимодействий и интересов множества субъектов социального взаимодействия в интересах пожилых. Традиционных управленческих воздействий государства становится недостаточно, постепенно складываются механизмы самоорганизации общества и автономности граждан. Новой проблемой стало не только быстрое старение общества, но и увеличение числа пожилых, требующих постоянного ухода в последние годы жизни. Уже сложившиеся «закрытые институты» - дома престарелых - сегодня все менее популярны у населения. В статье предложен обзор российского законодательства о долговременном уходе за пожилыми, а также анализ успехов и барьеров взаимодействия в организации ухода государства, коммерческих и некоммерческих учреждений в Санкт-Петербурге - городе пожилого населения и развитого социального обслуживания пожилых. Поэтому мы вправе сделать вывод, что социальное обслуживание в Петербурге может рассматриваться как перспективная модель развития долговременного ухода за пожилыми. Цель статьи - анализ особенности взаимодействий различных субъектов складывающейся в Петербурге системы долговременного ухода за пожилыми. Нас интересуют ситуации, когда имеющихся правовых норм/регулирования/вмешательства во взаимодействия достаточно, чтобы задачи ухода решались, а участники не страдали, и наоборот - когда имеющихся регулятивов недостаточно и либо задачи не решаются, либо потерпевшей стороной оказывается пожилой человек или его семья. Modern society is becoming more and more complex, not only technologies are changing, but also its socio-age structure. For the first time, mankind found itself in a situation where there are more elderly people than young people, and it turned out to be not ready for this. A new task arises - the coordination of interactions and interests of many subjects of social interaction in the interests of the elderly. The traditional administrative influences of the state are becoming insufficient; mechanisms of self-organization of society and the autonomy of citizens are gradually taking shape. A new problem has become not only the rapid aging of society, but also an increase in the number of elderly people requiring constant care in the last years of their lives, since the already existing «closed institutions». Nursing homes are less popular today. The article provides an overview of Russian legislation on long-term care for the elderly, as well as an analysis of the successes and barriers to interaction in organizing care for the state, commercial and non-profit institutions in St. Petersburg. Petersburg is a city of the elderly population and developed social services for the elderly. Therefore, we have the right to conclude that social services in St. Petersburg can be viewed as a promising model for the development of long-term care for the elderly. The purpose of the article is to analyze the peculiarities of interactions between various subjects of the system of long-term care for the elderly that is emerging in St. Petersburg. We are interested in situations when the existing legal norms/regulation/interference in interactions are sufficient for the tasks of care to be solved, and the participants did not suffer. And vice versa, when the existing regulations are insufficient, and either the tasks are not being solved, or the injured party is an elderly person or his family.

Modeling and empirical verification of dependences of the influence of socio-economic situation of elderly persons on the level of resilience

В работе проведен эмпирический анализ влияния на уровень жизнестойкости параметров социально-экономического положения людей пожилого возраста на основе данных социологического опроса. Моделирование исследования включало выбор переменных с учетом критерия комплексности измеряемых параметров. Эмпирической базой для исследования являлись результаты анкетирования лиц пожилого возраста (выборочная совокупность 400 человек), проживающих в городах и сельской местности Томской обл. Для тестирования гипотез использовали моделирование и корреляционный анализ. Для выявления зависимости применена формальная модель взаимосвязи жизнестойкости с выделенными параметрами социально-экономического положения как системы показателей, к которым применимы методы математической статистики для выявления их влияния на укрепление жизнестойкости пожилых людей. Результаты исследования подтверждают влияние удовлетворенности материальным достатком на жизнестойкость людей пожилого возраста. Выявлены корреляции жизнестойкости и разных параметров, в том числе пола, места проживания и высшего образования. The work carried out an empirical analysis of the impact on the level of vitality of the parameters of the socio-economic situation of elderly people based on the data of a sociological survey. The modeling of the study of the influence included the choice of variables taking into account the criterion of the complexity of the measured parameters. The empirical basis for the study was the results of a survey (n=400) of elderly people living in cities and rural areas of the Tomsk region. Modeling and correlation analysis are used to test hypotheses. To identify the dependence, a formal model of the relationship of resilience with the selected parameters of the socio-economic situation is used as a system of indicators, to which the methods of mathematical statistics are applied to identify their impact on strengthening the resilience of older people. The results of the study confirm the influence of satisfaction with material prosperity on the resilience of elderly people. Correlations of resilience with different parameters, including gender, place of residence and higher education, were revealed.

Dyadic Satisfaction and Shared Affectivity Are Associated with Psycho-Sexual Functioning in Elderly Men and Women

Objectives The quality of sexual life of elderly people represents an understudied topic of sexual medicine and of psycho-sexology. Hence, we aimed to evaluate the association of specific psycho-relational variables, such as intimacy, increased affective gestures towards a partner (AGtP), daily shared activities, and dyadic satisfaction, with the psychosexual wellbeing of elderly people, expressed in terms of sexual satisfaction. Methods: A cohort of elderly people was selected from a sample of a broader study evaluating the role of sexual activity in protecting the emotional wellbeing of a population subjected to quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the presence of sexual dysfunctions, the emotional wellbeing (i.e., absence of anxiety and/or depression), and the quality of the partners’ relationships were studied. For the study’s purpose, the Sexual Health Inventory for Males (SHIM), the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), the Orgasmometer and the Orgasmometer-F, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale were adopted. Results: A group of 124 elderly subjects (≥60) was selected for the study’s purposes. Among these, 84% were males (120/124), and 16% were females (20/124). All the subjects declared to be in a stable relationship and to be sexually active during the first lockdown period. Gender differences were found for the Dyadic Satisfaction subscale (males: 37.04 ± 6.57; females: 32.85 ± 10.04; p < 0.05) and the Orgasmometer (males: 7.64 ± 1.30; females: 6.60 ± 2.46; p < 0.01). Linear regression analysis showed the association between higher Orgasmometer scores and: (i) the absence of sexual dysfunctions (β = −1.213; SE = 0.271; p < 0.0001), (ii) higher dyadic satisfaction (β = 0.042; SE = 0.019; p < 0.05), and (iii) reduced shared activities with partner (β = −0.463; SE = 0.143; p < 0.01) and increased affective gestures towards partner (DAS measured AGtP) (β = 0.595; SE = 0.065; p < 0.0001). Post hoc analysis of ANCOVA with the Bonferroni correction method showed a significant difference in the Orgasmometer scores between subjects with and without sexual dysfunction (mean difference: 2.102; SE = 0.340; pBonf < 0.001), with healthy subjects reporting higher scores compared to dysfunctional ones. Conclusions: It is reasonable to suppose that, beyond the presence of sexual dysfunctions, the sexual health of elderly people may benefit from the quality of the relationship, and, specifically, from the presence of affective gestures towards the partner and the dyadic satisfaction. To the contrary, the quantity of time spent together, sharing specific activities, may be considered a factor worsening relational and sexual health. These data should be considered during the evaluation of sexual health among elderly people.

Two Opposing Roles of SARS-CoV-2 RBD-Reactive Antibodies in Pre-Pandemic Plasma Samples From Elderly People in ACE2-Mediated Pseudovirus Infection

A novel coronavirus designated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged and caused an outbreak of unusual viral pneumonia. Several reports have shown that cross-reactive antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 also exist in people unexposed to this virus. However, the neutralizing activity of cross-reactive antibodies is controversial. Here, we subjected plasma samples from SARS-CoV-2-unexposed elderly Korean people (n = 119) to bead-based IgG antibody analysis. SARS-CoV-2 S1 subunit-reactive IgG antibody analysis detected positive signals in some samples (59 of 119, 49.6%). SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)-reactive antibody levels were most significantly correlated with human coronavirus-HKU1 S1 subunit-reactive antibody levels. To check the neutralizing activity of plasma samples, the SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudotype neutralizing assay was used. However, the levels of cross-reactive antibodies did not correlate with neutralizing activity. Instead, SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection was neutralized by some RBD-reactive plasma samples (n = 9, neutralization ≥ 25%, P ≤ 0.05), but enhanced by other RBD-reactive plasma samples (n = 4, neutralization ≤ -25%, P ≤ 0.05). Interestingly, the blood plasma groups with enhancing and neutralizing effects had high levels of SARS-CoV-2 RBD-reactive antibodies than the plasma group that had no effect. These results suggest that some SARS-CoV-2 RBD-reactive antibodies from pre-pandemic elderly people exert two opposing functions during SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection. In conclusion, preformed RBD-reactive antibodies may have two opposing functions, namely, protecting against and enhancing viral infection. Analysis of the epitopes of preformed antibodies will be useful to elucidate the underlying mechanism.

Associations Between Cognitive Function, Depression, and Olfactory Function in Elderly People With Dementia in Korea

Early detection is important for delaying or preventing cognitive impairment. Since olfactory dysfunction and depression are common symptoms of cognitive dysfunction, they may serve as measurable risk indicators. This study was designed to identify the relationship between olfaction, depression, and each domain of cognitive function in elderly dementia patients in South Korea. Study participants were 108 patients who visited the outpatient clinic between March and September 2019. More significant impairment of olfactory function was found in those with mild (7.48 ± 1.28) or moderate (7.37 ± 2.22) test scores of the Expanded Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale than in those with questionable scores (20.58 ± 6.18). The language domain of cognitive function, age, and education level showed 39.2% explanatory power for olfactory function (F = 5.591, p &lt; 0.001). It is expected that assessment of olfactory function in elderly people can lead to the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of dementia. Furthermore, it is important for future studies to confirm the relationship between each domain of cognitive function and olfactory function according to the type of dementia and to establish criteria for screening dementia in order to utilize olfactory function as a clinical marker.

Exploring Pragmatic Transfers in Ayoade Okedokun’s Mopelola: The Tale of a Beauty Goddess: A Sociolinguistic Perspective

This research work investigates pragmatic transfers in Okedokun’s Mopelola: The Tale of a Beauty Goddess. It aims at identifying, analyzing and interpreting pragmatic features through which specific meanings are conveyed in the selected play. In the attempt to reach this goal, the data are randomly collected from the whole play on the basis of a quantitative method. Then, the statistical results are qualitatively discussed and interpreted in terms of their frequency distribution. The findings show a predominance of pragmatic transfer of loan words representing 33.33% followed by proverbs 32.14% and loan-blends 16.16%. Transfers of greetings, insults and apology are low as they represent respectively 3.57%, 3.57%, and 2.38% whereas other transfers such as request, gratitude, offer, blaming/reproaching and advice are almost nonexistent. The high proportions of loan words as well as proverbs suggest the author’s determination to value Yoruba culture and tradition. The almost important proportion of loan-blends constitutes a strategy for the author to attract readers’ attention on the various authentic Yoruba expressions. The presence of transfer in greetings stresses the peculiarity of Yoruba culture characterized by the expression of profound respect to elderly people. On the other hand, the presence of insults indicates that though Yoruba culture is characterized by the expression of profound respect, some Yoruba people, as the black sheep, do develop arrogance in contradiction to their culture.