Geriatric medicine and cultural gerontology

Background: The Alanya region on Turkey's southern coast has become an important destination for German retirement migration. Objective: Identify research studies on German retirement migration to Turkey which deal with the life situation, the motives, the handling of critical life situations in the context of retirement migration, and the reasons for return migration. Methods: The researcher conducted a qualitative systematic literature review from January 2021 to May 2021 in MEDLINE, CINAHL Complete, and APA PsychInfo...

This scoping review aimed to explore what is known about palliative and End-of-Life (EOL) care access by immigrants with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background living in high-income Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. CaLD immigrants have low utilization of palliative care services with patients' family members taking up the role of caring, leading to immigrants not fully benefiting from the specialized services that are offered to alleviate suffering and promote quality of life...

Geriatric Medicine education tends to adopt a biomedical lens, despite the practice of Geriatric Medicine involving the comprehensive assessment of the functional, psychological, and social aspects of older people's lives. In this commentary, we describe the delivery of a Social Gerontology education program for Geriatric Medicine trainees in the Northwest of England. Education in Social Gerontology-a field that focuses on how social, cultural, economic, and environmental factors shape the lives of older adults-is thought to mitigate against ageism, a pervasive and multifaceted form of discrimination...

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are key effectors of urinary tract innate immunity. Identifying differences in urinary AMP levels between younger and older adults is important in understanding older adults' susceptibility and response to urinary tract infections (UTI) and AMP use as diagnostic biomarkers. We hypothesized that uninfected older adults have higher urinary human neutrophil peptides 1-3 (HNP 1-3), human alpha-defensin-5 (HD-5), and human beta-defensin-2 (hBD-2), but lower urinary cathelicidin (LL-37) than younger adults...

Limited research has been conducted on the views of senior citizens in Nepal with regards to contemporary challenges and aging issues. To better understand their existing problems, it is important to talk to and survey senior citizens and reflect on their experiences and insights. The Senior Citizens Acts, 2063 in Nepal defines senior citizens as individuals who have reached the age of 60 years or above. With an increase in life expectancy rates, the senior citizen population in Nepal is on the rise...

This survey study aimed to assess the willingness of culturally diverse older adults to participate in COVID-19 research. The majority of the 276 participants were women (81%, n  = 223) and Black/African American (62%, n  = 172) or White Hispanic (20%, n  = 56). A key finding from the survey was less than 1 of 10 respondents would be likely to participate in COVID-19 related research if given the opportunity. There were no differences observed by gender, race or ethnicity...

In Hong Kong, the number of South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, and Nepalese) older adults is projected to increase. However, academic and policy research in Hong Kong exploring the aging experience among ethnic minority older adults remains scarce. Drawing on in-depth interviews with South Asian older adults in Hong Kong, this paper examines the challenges they face in the economic, health, and social domains to maintain their quality of life in old age. Our analysis illustrates the significant cultural values, family obligations, and ethnic networks that shape the quality of life of South Asians in Hong Kong...

Aim: This scoping review aims to identify the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of VR technology in the aged-care setting. Background: Virtual reality (VR) offers the potential to reduce social isolation and loneliness through increased social engagement in aged-care settings. Methods and Analysis: This scoping review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology and took place between March and August 2022. The review included a three-step search strategy: (1) identifying keywords from CINHAL, Embase, Medline, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science (2) conducting a second search using all identified keywords and index terms across selected databases; and (3) searching the reference lists of all included articles and reports for additional studies...

The home care workforce provides essential support for older people with dementia to live a life of fulfillment. " Enabling Choices ," an evidence-informed conversation tool, aims to negotiate risk around everyday activities between home care workers, people with dementia and their informal carers. This paper describes tool conversion into electronic format and preparation for implementation throughout a large Australian health and aged care service provider, utilizing the Implementation Framework for Aged Care (IFAC)...

Cultural and social factors significantly influence the care provided to persons with dementia. This scoping review aimed to map emerging evidence on the influence of cultural and social factors on care delivery among Africa American caregivers of persons with dementia, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a systematic scoping review approach, we identified 21 studies on cultural and social factors influencing care delivery. The search included EMBASE, CINAHL, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, JBI Evidence Synthesis, and Epistemonicos...

Older adulthood is a crucial time in the health management journeys of transgender and non-binary (TNB) people. Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted TNB older patients (65 years and over) offers critical guidance for successful health services reform and continued delivery systems change. Using qualitative data from 47 semi-structured individual interviews, I investigate how TNB older Americans-as a medically and socially vulnerable population in the United States-manage their health during the COVID-19 pandemic...

Aim: This systematic review aims to evaluate changes in Chinese older adults' psychosocial wellbeing after receiving horticultural therapy, and examine existing evidence regarding horticultural therapy's effectiveness in a Chinese setting. Method: Intervention studies measuring relevant outcomes amongst older adults and conducted in China were identified from ASSIA, CIHAHL Plus, PsycINFO, EMBASE, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Web of Science Core Collection and CNKI. Cochrane risk of bias assessment tools were used to appraise study quality...

Hospital care of frail older adults is far from optimal. Although some geriatric models of care have been shown to improve outcomes, the effect size is small and models are difficult to fully implement, sustain and replicate. The two root causes for these shortcomings are competing interests (high revenue generating diseases, procedures and surgeries) and current hospital cultures (for example a culture of safety that emphasizes bed alarms and immobility rather than frequent ambulation). Geriatric hospitals would be hospitals completely dedicated to the care of frail older patients, a group which is most vulnerable to the negative consequences of a hospitalization...

Objectives: Regional health innovation ecosystems can activate collaboration and support planning, self-management and development and commercialization of innovations. We sought to understand how older adults and their caregivers can be meaningfully engaged in regional health innovation ecosystems focused on health and aging-related technology innovation. Methods: A six-phase concept mapping technique gathered data over six time points across Canada. Brainstorming conducted online and in person identified engagement ideas...

Assessing cognitive decline and everyday functioning (EvF) in older age is valuable in detecting age-related neurological disorders. In Greece, there is a lack of sensitive instruments that capture fluctuations in EvF among older persons who are cognitively healthy or have subtle cognitive impairments. The EPT 28-items test, a widely used paper-and-pencil EvF measure, was translated in Greek and adapted to the Greek culture in this study. A multi-step methodology using a sample of 139 older Greek persons was employed...

In today's tormented world, it appears useful to take advantage of communication channels to promote life-course immunization and affirm its major role in healthy ageing. Instead of developing the argument of chronological age, we demonstrate the life-course principle here based on the P4 medicine concept. Are vaccines "preventive, personalized, predictive, and participatory?" Based on detailed analysis of research findings, we successively demonstrate the seminal role of vaccines on preventable infectious diseases, post-sepsis functional decline, non-communicable diseases (cardio-neuro-vascular, respiratory, and renal diseases), community protection, antimicrobial resistance, and perhaps even old-age dementia...

BACKGROUND: As Japan's population continues to age, it is estimated that the number of people aged ≥75 years will exceed 20 million by 2025. Furthermore, over the past 10 years, we have not reduced the difference between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. Therefore, the extension of healthy life expectancy and the development of a healthy society are the most urgent issues. In terms of medical care, the changing times have inevitably led to changes in disease structures and medical demands; therefore, the medical delivery system has had to be changed to meet these demands...

Objective: To develop a conceptual model that confirms whether mobility-related activities of daily living (ADLs) abilities are strongly associated with reduced health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in older adults. Methods: A total of 153 participants (63 men, 90 women) were analyzed. The mobility-related ADL survey from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan was used. The Japanese version (v1.2) of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey was administered to evaluate HRQOL...

OBJECTIVE: Social isolation is a risk factor for depression in older age. However, little is known regarding whether its impact varies depending on country-specific cultural contexts regarding social relationships. The present study examined the association of social isolation with depression onset among older adults in England, which has taken advanced measures against social isolation, and Japan, a super-aged society with a rapidly increasing number of socially isolated people. DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal study...

T.S. Eliot once proposed that there were two sorts of problems in life. One prompted the question, 'What are we going to do about it?' and the other provoked the questions, 'What does it mean? How does one relate to it?' Geriatric medicine, an eminently practical specialty, has concentrated with good effect on the former but with notable exceptions has yet to devote significant time to the latter. Into this breach has developed an innovative and exciting movement in gerontology to provide a deeper and more comprehensive insight into the meaning of ageing...