Teaching Gerontology in Transcultural Academics: A Phenomenographic Study of Thai and Swedish Nurse Educators’ Conceptions of Gerontological Nursing

Introduction: There is an urgent need for registered nurses with gerontological competence within long-term care (LTC) of older adults. Despite increases of life expectancy, LTC for older adults is not emphasized in nursing curricula in neither Sweden nor Thailand. Thus, the aim was to explore conceptions on gerontological nursing (GN) among Swedish and Thai nurse educators. Method: A qualitative phenomenographic method, based on open-ended interviews with five Thai and nine Swedish nurse educators was conducted. Results: The results indicate a paradox between the educators’ knowledge about the implications of global aging, their hope of own aging, and LTC. The ethical responsibility of being credible and a source of inspiration in teaching about aging are focused, while GN seem to be less important. Discussion: To increase students’ interest in GN, measures need to be taken within the educational arenas, where the educators’ own conceptions toward GN, cultural aspects of aging, and LTC are discussed.

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.

Standards and Guidelines for Undergraduate Programs in Gerontology

Undergraduate programs (majors, minors, certificates) and continuing education programs in gerontology prepare students for entry-level careers in aging and increase competitiveness for graduate work in a variety of fields. Job growth in the field of gerontology is high, especially for positions requiring a bachelor’s degree and less. Gerontology education at this level is essential for meeting the growing demand for workers in social services and health services who understand the opportunities and challenges that come with increased longevity and global aging. This presentation will highlight the new recommendations for competency-based gerontology education for undergraduate and continuing education credentials outlined in the latest edition of AGHE Standards and Guidelines. Whether you are developing a new curriculum or revising an old one, we will offer suggestions for using the AGHE competencies and guidelines to ensure that your program adequately prepares students and offers them a competitive edge in today’s job market.

A conceptual analysis of older adults’ empowerment in contemporary japanese culture

Background Empowerment among older adults is a key concept for improving their health. In contrast, empowerment evolves according to cultural and historical contexts and needs to be consistently tested and constructed. The purpose of this study was to clarify the components of older adults’ empowerment in contemporary Japan and to reconstruct the definition of empowerment. Methods A conceptual analysis was performed using Rodgers’ evolutionary method. The data sources were PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Igaku Chuo Zasshi. The search keywords were “empowerment,” “older adults,” and “Japan/Japanese.” Of the 8811 articles published between 2000 and 2019 that focused on older adults’ empowerment, we selected 60 articles that met our objectives. Results Seven antecedents, six attributes, and seven consequences were identified. Older adults’ empowerment in contemporary Japan was defined as “the series of processes in which disclosing oneself, not only verbally but also nonverbally (e.g., through work, roles, and collaborative activities), in connection with others, objectively perceiving one’s existence and challenges, taking proactive actions based on decision-making, and utilizing one’s strengths in new work and community life.” Conclusions This concept is useful in practice, education, and research on community development and providing support for older adults based on self-help and mutual aid, not only in Japan but also for the global aging society.

The Role of Global Scholarship in the Journal of Aging & Social Policy

Policymakers, practitioners, and researchers need a balanced, thoughtful, and analytical resource to meet the challenge of global aging at a rate that’s historically unprecedented. The Journal of Aging & Social Policy (JASP), which was founded in 1989, serves this role by drawing contributions from an international panel of policy analysts and scholars who assume an interdisciplinary perspective in examining and analyzing critical phenomena that affect aging and the development and implementation of programs for elders from a global perspective. Study settings extend beyond the United States to include Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Latin America, Asia, and the Asia-Pacific rim. This presentation will document the scope, content, and focus of JASP, including the rise of international submissions, which now account for approximately half of articles published. Opportunities for publishing in JASP will be discussed; so too will strategies for navigating the peer-review process successfully.

Global Publishing Opportunities in Gerontology: A View From the Editor's Desk

Global aging has proceeded at an unprecedented and accelerating rate. The aging of the population creates both opportunities and challenges for elders, their families, and society in general. Importantly, there is substantial variation in the effects of and response to global aging both within and across nations depending, in part, on prevailing cultural expectations and values, political and economic imperatives, and social and demographic characteristics. Thus, while some regions and countries have responded with innovative policies and programs to better enable the growing cohort of older adults to remain active and engaged in the community, other regions and countries have struggled with their response or barely begun to plan for the rising population of elders. This symposium assembles editors at five leading gerontological journals to demonstrate the role that peer-reviewed scholarship can play in disseminating knowledge that informs gerontological research, policy, and practice internationally. Editors include: Kyungmin Kim, PhD, Research on Aging; Jessica Kelley, PhD, Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences; Edward Alan Miller, PhD, Journal of Aging & Social Policy; Julie Hicks Patrick, PhD, International Journal of Aging & Human Development; and Julie Robison, PhD, The Journal of Applied Gerontology. Each presenter will review the scope, content, and focus of their journals and the role and opportunities for international scholarship.

Family and Aging in Cross-National Contexts

The global aging of the population, combined with shifts in the structure and composition of families, has led to increased attention to the role of family and social relationships in the aging experience. The importance of family in determining healthy aging, however, may largely depend on the social, political, and economic context in which individuals are embedded. Cross-national investigations offer a unique opportunity to understand how family relationships and family caregiving influence health and well-being among older adults by comparing family dynamics across different sociocultural contexts. The HRS-family of surveys, which have been harmonized within the Gateway to Global Aging, provides remarkable opportunities for cross-national comparative analysis. The papers in this session use harmonized data from the Gateway to compare the influence of family on health across different social dimensions in multiple countries from around the world, including examinations of: 1) the impact of grandparenting on health of older adults in Europe and China; 2) psychological well-being among European older adults whose partners receive formal care; 3) the influence of parent-child relationships on health and well-being of older adults in China and the U.S.; and 4) how loneliness among older adults is patterned according to their living arrangements and relationship quality. The discussion will highlight the promises and challenges of cross-national research on families and aging and how harmonized aging data facilitates international comparisons.

Artificial Intelligence Assistive Technology in Hospital Professional Nursing Technology

Global aging is becoming more and more serious, and the nursing problems of the elderly will become very serious in the future. The article designs a control system with ATmega128 as the main controller based on the function of the multifunctional nursing robot. The article uses a convolutional neural network structure to estimate the position of 3D human joints. The article maps the joint coordinates of the colour map to the depth map based on the two camera parameters. At the same time, 15 joint heat maps are constructed with the joint depth map coordinates as the centre, and the joint heat map and the depth map are bound to the second-level neural network. The prediction of the position of the user’s armpit is further completed by image processing technology. We compare this method with other attitude prediction methods to verify the advantages of this research method. The research background of this article is carried out in the context of global aging in the 21st century.

Mild Muscle Mitochondrial Fusion Distress Extends Drosophila Lifespan through an Early and Systemic Metabolome Reorganization

In a global aging population, it is important to understand the factors affecting systemic aging and lifespan. Mitohormesis, an adaptive response caused by different insults affecting the mitochondrial network, triggers a response from the nuclear genome inducing several pathways that promote longevity and metabolic health. Understanding the role of mitochondrial function during the aging process could help biomarker identification and the development of novel strategies for healthy aging. Herein, we interfered the muscle expression of the Drosophila genes Marf and Opa1, two genes that encode for proteins promoting mitochondrial fusion, orthologues of human MFN2 and OPA1. Silencing of Marf and Opa1 in muscle increases lifespan, improves locomotor capacities in the long term, and maintains muscular integrity. A metabolomic analysis revealed that muscle down-regulation of Marf and Opa1 promotes a non-autonomous systemic metabolome reorganization, mainly affecting metabolites involved in the energetic homeostasis: carbohydrates, lipids and aminoacids. Interestingly, the differences are consistently more evident in younger flies, implying that there may exist an anticipative adaptation mediating the protective changes at the older age. We demonstrate that mild mitochondrial muscle disturbance plays an important role in Drosophila fitness and reveals metabolic connections between tissues. This study opens new avenues to explore the link of mitochondrial dynamics and inter-organ communication, as well as their relationship with muscle-related pathologies, or in which muscle aging is a risk factor for their appearance. Our results suggest that early intervention in muscle may prevent sarcopenia and promote healthy aging.

Smart Clothing as a Noninvasive Method to Measure the Physiological Cardiac Parameters

In response to global aging, there have been improvements in healthcare, exercise therapy, health promotion, and other areas. There is a gradually increasing demand for such equipment for health purposes. The main purpose of smart clothing is to monitor the physical health status of the user and analyze the changes in physiological signals of the heart. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the factors that affect the measurement of the heart’s physiological parameters and the users’ comfort while wearing smart clothing as well as to validate the data obtained from smart clothing. This study examined the subjective feelings of users (aged 20–60 years) regarding smart clothing comfort (within 12 h); the median values were comfortable and above (3.4–4.5). The clothing was combined with elastic conductive fiber and spandex to decrease the relative movement of the fiber that acts as a sensor and increase the user’s comfort. Future studies should focus on the optimization of the data obtained using smart clothing. In addition to its use in medical care and post-reconstructive surgery, smart clothing can be used for home care of older adults and infants.