scholarly journals Effect of the Information Support Robot on the Daily Activity of Older People Living Alone in Actual Living Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2498
Author(s):  
Jumpei Mizuno ◽  
Daisuke Saito ◽  
Ken Sadohara ◽  
Misato Nihei ◽  
Shinichi Ohnaka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Older People ◽  
Daily Activity ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Information Support ◽  
Sleep Patterns ◽  
High Cognitive Function ◽  
Environment Study ◽  
The Impact

Information support robots (ISRs) have the potential to assist older people living alone to have an independent life. However, the effects of ISRs on the daily activity, especially the sleep patterns, of older people have not been clarified; moreover, it is unclear whether the effects of ISRs depend on the levels of cognitive function. To investigate these effects, we introduced an ISR into the actual living environment and then quantified induced changes according to the levels of cognitive function. Older people who maintained their cognitive function demonstrated the following behavioral changes after using the ISR: faster wake-up times, reduced sleep duration, and increased amount of activity in the daytime (p < 0.05, r = 0.77; p < 0.05, r = 0.89, and p < 0.1, r = 0.70, respectively). The results suggest that the ISR is beneficial in supporting the independence of older people living alone since living alone is associated with disturbed sleep patterns and low physical activity. The impact of the ISR on daily activity was more remarkable in the subjects with high cognitive function than in those with low cognitive function. These findings suggest that cognitive function is useful information in the ISR adaptation process. The present study has more solid external validity than that of a controlled environment study since it was done in a personal residential space.

scholarly journals The impact of adult mortality on the living arrangements of older people in rural South Africa

2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 431-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
VICTORIA HOSEGOOD ◽  
IAN M. TIMÆUS
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Older People ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Adult Mortality ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Quality Infrastructure ◽  
Rural South Africa

This paper examines changes in households with older people in a northern rural area of KwaZulu Natal province, South Africa, between January 2000 and January 2002. The focus is the impact of adult deaths, especially those from AIDS, on the living arrangements of older people. The longitudinal data are from the Africa Centre Demographic Information System. In 2000, 3,657 older people (women aged 60 years or older, men 65 years or older) were resident in the area, and 3,124 households had at least one older member. The majority (87%) of older people lived in three-generation households. Households with older people were significantly poorer, more likely to be headed by a woman, and in homesteads with poorer quality infrastructure than households without older members. By January 2002, 316 (8%) of the older people in the sample had died. Of all the households with an older person, 12 per cent experienced at least one adult death from AIDS. The paper shows that older people, particularly those living alone or with children in the absence of other adults, were living in the poorest households. They were also coping with an increasing burden of young adult deaths, the majority of which were attributable to AIDS.

Research on Product Design of Solitary Elder

2011 ◽  
Vol 346 ◽  
pp. 301-305
Author(s):  
Yan Qun Wang ◽  
Bing Chen Zhang ◽  
Wei Min Guo
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Product Design ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
Movement Function ◽  
Perceptual Function

Solitary elders belong to vulnerable groups in society, thus they are in urgent need of the social care. As the old age, lower self-care ability and living alone, they have many difficulties in daily life. The product design of solitary elder mainly includes three aspects, movement function,perceptual function，cognitive function. Pay attention to the particularity of solitary elders, designers would create a quality living environment better for them.

scholarly journals Shutting Down Sex

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-13
Author(s):  
Lara McKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Global North ◽  
The Impact

This article examines the transformation of singledom during the COVID-19 pandemic, scrutinising the impact of rules and regulations governing proximity, touch and sex. I focus on government responses in Australia, situating the nation’s experience in a global context. National discussions were strangely sexless, presuming widespread coupledom and emphasising the lost, non-sexual intimacies of families and older people. I contrast this to broader theoretical claims of a ‘transformation of intimacy’ that posit a move to atomised relations across the Global North, including a growing tendency towards singledom. Yet assumptions of coupledom clearly persist in Australian policy and social life. I reflect on transformations of singledom and living alone during and prior to the pandemic, exposing tensions between theorisations, local realities, and the governance of sex and singledom.

scholarly journals Comparison of clinical effect of living alone between urban area and rural area in patient with acute coronary syndrome

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Takeuchi ◽  
T Dohi ◽  
N Takahashi ◽  
H Endo ◽  
H Wada ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Clinical Outcomes ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Rural Area ◽  
Clinical Effect ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Living Together ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background and objective Living alone is reported as an independent risk factor for worse clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Manifestations of psychological stress such as depression and anxiety in patients living alone is thought to be associated with subsequent cardiovascular events. The impact of living alone on the psychological factors of patients may be differ depending on their living environment. However, comparison of the effects of living alone in different living environment on the prognosis of patients with ACS has not been reported. Purpose The aim of the present study was to compare the clinical effect of living alone on clinical outcomes in patients with ACS between urban area and rural area. Methods Data from a multi-center, observational study of consecutive patients who underwent emergency PCI for ACS between January 2012 and December 2016 were analyzed. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). MACCE was defined as composite of cardiovascular death, ACS, and stroke. Results In this study, 1349 patients were enrolled and divided into two population according to their living environment: urban area population (n=417), and rural area population (n=932). In urban area population, 87 patients (20.9%) were living alone, and 330 (79.1%) were living together. In rural area population, 169 (18.1%) were living alone, and 763 (81.9%) were living together. There are no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the living alone group and the living together group in both urban area population and rural area population. During a median follow-up period of 2.1 years, Kaplan-Meier curves showed the living alone group had higher risk of MACCE than the living together group in urban area population (log-rank, p=0.01). On the other hands, there are no significant differences in the incidences of MACCE between two groups in rural area population (p=0.86). After adjustment for other covariates, the living alone was significantly associated with MACCE (hazard ratio [HR], 2.83; 95% confidential interval [CI], 1.16–6.91; p=0.02) compared with the living together group in urban area population. However, in rural area population, the living alone group was not significantly associated with MACCE (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.66–1.57; p=0.92) compared with the living together group. Conclusion Living alone was significantly associated with worse clinical outcomes after emergency PCI of ACS in urban area but not in rural area. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Figure 1

PP12 An evaluation of the role of SCAS in the attendance to call-outs and the transport to hospital of older people with dementia

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. e6.2-e6
Author(s):  
Chloe Lofthouse-Jones ◽  
Helen Pocock ◽  
Phil King ◽  
Patryk Jadzinski ◽  
Ed England ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Electronic Records ◽  
Care Provision ◽  
Out Of Hours ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Care Package ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundOur previous work has shown that 35% of ambulance attendances by SCAS are to people aged 75 and over; 17% of these have dementia. The research literature suggests that older people with cognitive impairment/dementia experience longer stays, or die, in hospital. It is unclear whether factors such as call time or availability of social care impact conveyance rates. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of out-of-hours call-outs and social care provision on ambulance conveyance rates for people aged ≥75 years, including patients with dementia.MethodsFor this service evaluation, electronic records for patients aged ≥75 years attended by SCAS were extracted over one year. The proportion of conveyed patients according to a dementia record, out-of-hours call, time of year, triage grade, social care provision and indices of deprivation were calculated. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified factors which may influence conveyance.ResultsA total of 111,548 electronic records were included, 16.5% with dementia. 63.7% of calls resulted in conveyance (59.1% with dementia). Conveyances reduced in out-of-hours periods for all patients. 13.6% more patients living alone and 16.5% more patients living with family were conveyed to hospital if there was no care package in place. Adjusted for other factors, having a care package reduced the risk of conveyance in older people living alone by 36% (Odds ratio 0.64, 95% Confidence interval 0.62–0.67).ConclusionsAvailability of social care and time of call appear to be important determinants of conveyance in older people, both in those with and without dementia. More research is needed to improve needs assessments and local referral services and pathways.

Under reconstruction: the impact of COVID-19 policies on the lives and support networks of older people living alone

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Pfabigan ◽  
Paulina Wosko ◽  
Barbara Pichler ◽  
Elisabeth Reitinger ◽  
Sabine Pleschberger
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Support Networks ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Telephone Interviews ◽  
The Impact

In the spring of 2020, the Austrian government introduced COVID-19 containment policies that had various impacts on older people living alone and their care arrangements. Seven qualitative telephone interviews with older people living alone were conducted to explore how they were affected by these policies. The findings show that the management of everyday life and support was challenging for older people living alone, even though they did not perceive the pandemic as a threat. To better address the needs of older people living alone, it would be important to actively negotiate single measures in the area of conflict between protection, safety and assurance of autonomy.

scholarly journals An exploration of the impact of younger-onset dementia on employment

Dementia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 262-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Evans
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Older People ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Complex World ◽  
Life Course Approach ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

This study explored the emergence of dementia in people who were still working. A qualitative life course approach was used to describe the experience from the onset of dementia-related symptoms to the time when the person left the workforce. The emergence of dementia at work for the participants in this study took the form of a slow transition that initially was not noticed by co-workers. It brought about subtle changes as the person became forgetful, disorganised, made mistakes and was slower. Over time the person’s job performance continued to deteriorate and others at the workplace started to realise that there was a problem. Some were seen to be poor workers and so experienced difficulties with supervisors and co-workers. Others encountered difficulties managing changing relationships at work and negotiating the complex world of the workplace. Few were able to continue working beyond their diagnosis, and several raised concerns about the lack of opportunities for people who develop dementia while still employed. Given the greater participation of older people in the workforce, findings highlight the importance of identifying and supporting workers with declining cognitive function.

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