Older Adults, Health Information, and the World Wide Web


Book Description

This work explores how the Web might be used to deliver current, easily accessible health information to adults over the age of 60 and their caregivers. It considers how age-related changes in vision, cognitive function, and motor skills impact on the delivery of health information.




Aging, Technology and Health


Book Description

Aging, Health and Technology takes a problem-centered approach to examine how older adults use technology for health. It examines the many ways in which technology is being used by older adults, focusing on challenges, solutions and perspectives of the older user. Using aging-health technology as a lens, the book examines issues of technology adoption, basic human factors, cognitive aging, mental health, aging and usability, privacy, trust and automation. Each chapter takes a case study approach to summarize lessons learned from unique examples that can be applied to similar projects, while also providing general information about older adults and technology. - Discusses human factors design challenges specific to older adults - Covers the wide range of health-related uses for technology—from fitness to leading a more engaged life - Utilizes a case study approach for practical application - Envisions what the future will hold for technology and older adults - Employs a roster of interdisciplinary contributors




Person-Centred Practice in Nursing and Health Care


Book Description

Person-centred Practice in Nursing and Health Care is a comprehensive and practical resource for all nurses and healthcare practitioners who want to develop person-centred ways of working. This second edition which builds on the original text Person Centred Nursing, has been significantly revised and expanded to provide a timely and topical exploration of an important subject which underpins all nursing and healthcare, edited by internationally renowned experts in the field. Person-centred Practice in Nursing and Health Care looks at the importance of person-centred practice (PCP) from a variety of practice, strategic, and policy angles, exploring how the principles of PCP underpin a variety of perspectives, including within leadership and in the curriculum. The book explores not only a range of methodologies, but also covers a variety of different healthcare settings and contexts, including working within mental health services, acute care, nursing homes, the community, and working with children and people with disabilities. Key features: Significantly updated and expanded since the previous edition, taking into account the considerable changes in recent health care advancements, including the ‘Francis’ report Builds on previous perspectives of person-centredness in nursing and applies them in a broader nursing and health care context Includes a stronger exploration on the role of the service-user Shows the use of life-story and narrative approaches as a way of putting the individual’s identity at the heart of the care relationship Includes learning features such as links to current practice developments and reflective questions




Social Psychological Foundations of Health and Illness


Book Description

Social Psychological Foundations of Health and Illness is a summary of current research in social-health psychology. The chapters, written by distinguished leaders in the field, provide brief surveys of classic developments in each area of study followed by extended discussion of the authors’ research programs. Includes state-of-the-art descriptions of new findings and theories concerning social aspects of physical health and illness. Discusses virtually all of the major topics studied in the contemporary field of social-health psychology. Contains chapters written by leading figures in the field that discuss their own research within the context of classic efforts.




Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults


Book Description

Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an individual's circumstances and perceptions. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that social isolation presents a major risk for premature mortality, comparable to other risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. As older adults are particularly high-volume and high-frequency users of the health care system, there is an opportunity for health care professionals to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults summarizes the evidence base and explores how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, particularly among low income, underserved, and vulnerable populations. This report makes recommendations specifically for clinical settings of health care to identify those who suffer the resultant negative health impacts of social isolation and loneliness and target interventions to improve their social conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults considers clinical tools and methodologies, better education and training for the health care workforce, and dissemination and implementation that will be important for translating research into practice, especially as the evidence base for effective interventions continues to flourish.




Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Design for Everyday Life


Book Description

The two LNCS volume set 9193-9194 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the First International Conference on Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population, ITAP 2015, held as part of the 17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2015, held in Los Angeles, CA, USA, in August 2015, jointly with 15 other thematically conferences. The total of 1462 papers and 246 posters presented at the HCII 2015 conferences were carefully reviewed and selected from 4843 submissions. These papers of the two volume set address as follows: LNCS 9193, Design for Aging (Part I), addressing the following major topics: HCI design and evaluation methods for the elderly; ICT use and acceptance; aging, the web and social media; and the elderly and mobile devices and LNCS 9194, Design for Everyday Life (Part II), addressing the following major topics: health care technologies and services for the elderly; home and work support; smart environment and AAL; and communication, games, and entertainment.







Social Structure and Aging


Book Description

This volume presents a systematic examination of the impact of social structures on individual behaviors and on their development in adulthood and old age. These papers and responses attempt to improve the reciprocal relationship between changes in social macro- and micro-structures and the process of psychological development in relation to issues of human aging. Using and combining concepts and data from various fields, this research promotes a better understanding of the effects of demographic patterns and social structures on the psychological development of adults.




Technology for Adaptive Aging


Book Description

Emerging and currently available technologies offer great promise for helping older adults, even those without serious disabilities, to live healthy, comfortable, and productive lives. What technologies offer the most potential benefit? What challenges must be overcome, what problems must be solved, for this promise to be fulfilled? How can federal agencies like the National Institute on Aging best use their resources to support the translation from laboratory findings to useful, marketable products and services? Technology for Adaptive Aging is the product of a workshop that brought together distinguished experts in aging research and in technology to discuss applications of technology to communication, education and learning, employment, health, living environments, and transportation for older adults. It includes all of the workshop papers and the report of the committee that organized the workshop. The committee report synthesizes and evaluates the points made in the workshop papers and recommends priorities for federal support of translational research in technology for older adults.




The Encyclopedia of Aging


Book Description

A COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE ON GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS Since its inception in 1987, The Encyclopedia of Aging has proven to be the definitive resource for scholars and students across the burgeoning and increasingly interdisciplinary fields of gerontology and geriatrics. Like its three esteemed predecessors, the fourth edition contains concise, readable explorations of hundreds of terms, concepts, and issues related to the lives of older adults, as well as timely coverage of the many new programs and services for the elderly. Updated, under the distinguished stewardship of editor-in-chief Richard Schulz to reflect the infusion of new information across the scientific disciplines, this new edition brings readers up-to-the-moment significant advances in biology, physiology, genetics, medicine, psychology, nursing, social services, sociology, economics, technology, and political science. While retaining the format and standard of excellence that marked the first three editions, the fourth edition encompasses a wealth of new information from the social and health sciences. It contains the most current bibliography of an expanding literature, an exhaustive index, and extensive cross references. This much anticipated update of the field's most authoritative resource will take its place as an indispensable reference for specialists and non-specialists across a broad range of disciplines that now comprise the field of aging. SPRINGER--SERVING THE HEALTHCARE AND HELPING PROFESSIONS FOR MORE THAN 55 YEARS