Browsing by Subject "Aging in place"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Examining the Effects of Aging in Place on Quality of Life Compared to a Long-Term Care Facility: A Rapid Systematic Review
    (2023-05-04) Clayton, Ella; Doss, Breanna; Harrison, Stephanie; Mukhtar, Anam; Notter, Hope; Reyher, Whitney; Sego, Daniel; Chase, Anthony; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences
    As individuals age, they face impacted occupational performance which present as challenges performing activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) independently. This rapid systematic review seeks to investigate the effectiveness of existing occupational therapy (OT) interventions for older adults who are both aging in place and residing in long term care facilities through examining the evidence of 29 studies. Occupational therapy interventions investigated through this study were found to have common themes related to quality of life, occupational performance, self-efficacy, and psychological well-being. Common limitations found among studies include lack of randomization, small sample sizes, and lack of generalizability to different populations. Findings reveal that OT interventions with a focus on client-centered care contribute to improved occupational performance, participation, and quality of life for older adults. This systematic review supports implementing OT interventions for older adults aging in place and in long term care facilities. However, further research is needed to increase generalizability of conclusions and further examine the differences in outcomes between settings.
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    Exploring Older Adults’ Beliefs About the Use of Intelligent Assistants for Consumer Health Information Management: A Participatory Design Study
    (JMIR Publications, 2019-12-11) Martin-Hammond, Aqueasha; Vemireddy, Sravani; Rao, Kartik; Human-Centered Computing, School of Informatics and Computing
    Background: Intelligent assistants (IAs), also known as intelligent agents, use artificial intelligence to help users achieve a goal or complete a task. IAs represent a potential solution for providing older adults with individualized assistance at home, for example, to reduce social isolation, serve as memory aids, or help with disease management. However, to design IAs for health that are beneficial and accepted by older adults, it is important to understand their beliefs about IAs, how they would like to interact with IAs for consumer health, and how they desire to integrate IAs into their homes. Objective: We explore older adults’ mental models and beliefs about IAs, the tasks they want IAs to support, and how they would like to interact with IAs for consumer health. For the purpose of this study, we focus on IAs in the context of consumer health information management and search. Methods: We present findings from an exploratory, qualitative study that investigated older adults’ perspectives of IAs that aid with consumer health information search and management tasks. Eighteen older adults participated in a multiphase, participatory design workshop in which we engaged them in discussion, brainstorming, and design activities that helped us identify their current challenges managing and finding health information at home. We also explored their beliefs and ideas for an IA to assist them with consumer health tasks. We used participatory design activities to identify areas in which they felt IAs might be useful, but also to uncover the reasoning behind the ideas they presented. Discussions were audio-recorded and later transcribed. We compiled design artifacts collected during the study to supplement researcher transcripts and notes. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data. Results: We found that participants saw IAs as potentially useful for providing recommendations, facilitating collaboration between themselves and other caregivers, and for alerts of serious illness. However, they also desired familiar and natural interactions with IAs (eg, using voice) that could, if need be, provide fluid and unconstrained interactions, reason about their symptoms, and provide information or advice. Other participants discussed the need for flexible IAs that could be used by those with low technical resources or skills. Conclusions: From our findings, we present a discussion of three key components of participants’ mental models, including the people, behaviors, and interactions they described that were important for IAs for consumer health information management and seeking. We then discuss the role of access, transparency, caregivers, and autonomy in design for addressing participants’ concerns about privacy and trust as well as its role in assisting others that may interact with an IA on the older adults’ behalf.
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    Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority: Policy Evaluation of Aging in Place
    (2014-08-28) Norwood, Connor W.; Omenka, Isaac O.
    Aging in place refers to making the living environment safe and adaptable for everyone to remain independent and thrive in their homes and community even as circumstances change. The primary target populations for aging in place strategies are seniors and persons with disabilities. The effort involves construction of buildings and communities that are accessible, and livable. Creation of these housing opportunities means Hoosiers can choose how and where they live: rent or own, urban or rural, close to school or close to work. The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) has been working on developing a working definition of “Aging in Place” (AiP) in order to enhance the aging in place strategic initiative to support seniors and persons with disabilities in Indiana. As a result an evaluation of the current initiative was completed to determine the needs of the target population and to enhance the strategic priority. The goal of the program evaluation is to determine if the working definition of AiP fully encompasses the needs of the community and target population. The evaluation design involves learning and improvement of the IHCDA AiP priority and intends to improve the process. The evaluation team conducted one focus group to collect more in-depth information on perceptions, insights, attitudes, experiences, and beliefs regarding AiP. Five major themes from the focus group were identified including family, accessibility, independence, community integration, and finances. The evaluation was also able to identify a unique perspective of the definition of “home” shared by the aging in place community. To establish a home a physical and psychological component must be met. Furthermore, independent senior living communities were identified as being in high demand. Based on the findings of the evaluation, three recommendations were developed to enhance the AiP priority at IHCDA. It is recommended that IHCDA amend the working definition to explicitly characterize the meaning of home based on the findings of this evaluation. IHCDA should also increase allocation of funds to independent senior living communities and should perform ongoing evaluations to ensure that current needs of the AiP community are being identified and met. Ongoing evaluation with the data collection tool developed in this evaluation will ensure that the AiP strategic priority at IHCDA is on the right path moving forward.
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    The Best of Two Worlds to Promote Healthy Cognitive Aging: Definition and Classification Approach of Hybrid Physical Training Interventions
    (JMIR, 2024-07-31) Herold, Fabian; Theobald, Paula; Gronwald, Thomas; Kaushal, Navin; Zou, Liye; de Bruin, Eling D.; Bherer, Louis; Müller, Notger G.; Health Sciences, School of Health and Human Sciences
    A healthy lifestyle can be an important prerequisite to prevent or at least delay the onset of dementia. However, the large number of physically inactive adults underscores the need for developing and evaluating intervention approaches aimed at improving adherence to a physically active lifestyle. In this regard, hybrid physical training, which usually combines center- and home-based physical exercise sessions and has proven successful in rehabilitative settings, could offer a promising approach to preserving cognitive health in the aging population. Despite its potential, research in this area is limited as hybrid physical training interventions have been underused in promoting healthy cognitive aging. Furthermore, the absence of a universally accepted definition or a classification framework for hybrid physical training interventions poses a challenge to future progress in this direction. To address this gap, this article informs the reader about hybrid physical training by providing a definition and classification approach of different types, discussing their specific advantages and disadvantages, and offering recommendations for future research. Specifically, we focus on applying digital technologies to deliver home-based exercises, as their use holds significant potential for reaching underserved and marginalized groups, such as older adults with mobility impairments living in rural areas.
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    Understanding the Role of Social Infrastructure for Older Adult Engagement Across Geographic Contexts
    (Oxford University Press, 2022-12-20) Latham-Mintus, Kenzie; Montgomery, Lucas; Wilson, Jeffrey; Sociology, School of Liberal Arts
    Using semi-structured interviews of older adults, living alone or with a partner in the community, this research explores themes related to aging in place, social infrastructure, and community engagement across geographic contexts in Indiana. In particular, we are interested in understanding how older adults experience and use the existing social infrastructure in their communities and how these experiences vary across the rural-suburban-urban continuum. Additionally, we examine how social interactions supported by social infrastructure influence the maintenance of social relationships including weak social ties. Because COVID-19 has significantly changed patterns of community engagement among older adults, respondents were asked to discuss their behavior pre- and post-COVID-19. Applying a thematic analysis approach to the data, we explore the interconnections among social infrastructure, community engagement, social relationships, and geographic settings with an emphasis on older adults’ experiences and perceptions.