Dimensions of Human Behavior: The Changing Life Course
SAGE Journal Articles
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Journal Article 9.1: Verbrugge, L. M., Latham, K., & Clarke, P. J. (2017). Aging With Disability for Midlife and Older Adults. Research on Aging. 39(6): 741–777.
Abstract: This analysis brings “aging with disability” into middle and older ages. We study U.S. adults ages 51+ and ages 65+ with persistent disability (physical, household management, personal care; physical limitations, instrumental activities of daily living [IADLs], activities of daily living [ADLs]), using Health and Retirement Study data. Two complementary approaches are used to identify persons with persistent disability, one based directly on observed data and the other on latent classes. Both approaches show that persistent disability is more common for persons ages 65+ than ages 51+ and more common for physical limitations than IADLs and ADLs. People with persistent disability have social and health disadvantages compared to people with other longitudinal experiences. The analysis integrates two research avenues, aging with disability and disability trajectories. It gives empirical heft to government efforts to make aging with disability an age-free (all ages) rather than age-targeted (children and youths) perspective.
Learning Objective: 9.2 Summarize major themes of the demographic characteristics of people in late adulthood; 9.3 Give examples of diversity in the late-adult population; 9.6 Summarize the major biological, psychological, personality, and intellectual changes in late adulthood; 9.7 Give examples of social role changes and family relationships in late adulthood; 9.9 compare formal and informal resources for meeting the needs of elderly persons; 9.10 Give examples of risk factors and protective factors of late adulthood; 9.11 Apply knowledge of late adulthood to recommend guidelines for social work engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation.
Abstract: We employed an auto-ethnography approach to explore the affective dimension of life review sessions with community-dwelling older military veterans with minor cognitive impairment (MCI) and early dementia. Using researchers’ analytic memos, we identified facilitators’ interactional strategies that fostered the participant’s sense of personal identity, dignity and social self-worth. Interaction among participant, caregiver, and facilitators evoked a range of emotional responses, offering a window into the affective world of MCI and early dementia. Positive emotional responses outnumbered negative emotional responses by a ratio of two-to-one in the life review sessions; however, negative emotions were more revelatory of current struggles with declines in health and function. Facilitators utilized two interactional strategies, in particular, to foster personhood and social value of participants: focusing on the participant and creating an empathic connection with the participant. Further work is needed to understand the role of emotions in research interactions and to examine the psychosocial mechanisms through which positive affect functions in promoting identity, personhood and social value among persons with MCI and early dementia.
Learning Objective: 9.6 Summarize the major biological, psychological, personality, and intellectual changes in late adulthood; 9.7 Give examples of social role changes and family relationships in late adulthood, 9.8 Describe the search for personal meaning in late adulthood, 9.9 Compare formal and informal resources for meeting the needs of elderly persons.
Journal Article 9.3: Colin Reid, R., & Chappell, N. L. (2017). Family Involvement in Nursing Homes: Are Family Caregivers Getting What They Want? Journal of Applied Gerontology. 36(8): 993–1015.
Abstract: The provision of person-centered care for nursing home residents with dementia suggests the need for family caregiver involvement. In this article, we argue that optimal family involvement differs by family caregiver and therefore depends on the degree to which family caregivers consider their own involvement to be important. In this Canadian study, we compare the importance that 135 family caregivers of residents with dementia place on 20 kinds of involvement with the degree to which they perceive opportunities for involvement. Family Involvement Congruence Scores are calculated in three ways: those for whom involvement is important, those for whom involvement is not important, and an overall congruence score. Congruence scores varied by involvement type. These scores show promise for use in future research on family caregiver involvement and as tools for use by facilities as they endeavor to meet family caregiver expectations for involvement.
Learning Objective: 9.2 Summarize major themes of the demographic characteristics of people in late adulthood; 9.3 Give examples of diversity in the late-adult population; 9.7 Give examples of social role changes and family relationships in late adulthood; 9.8 Describe the search for personal meaning in late adulthood, 9.9 Compare formal and informal resources for meeting the needs of elderly persons; 9.10 Give examples of risk factors and protective factors of late adulthood; 9.11 Apply knowledge of late adulthood to recommend guidelines for social work engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation.