Geropsychology

In this current entry, grandparenthood is defined as the role that older people play as grandparents in a family. Social relationships are associated with subjective physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood. As they age though, they experience changes in their preferences for social partners and the composition of their social network. In this entry, they first introduce age-related changes in social relationships in terms of their closeness and type. Then, they focus on a relationship that is particularly prevalent and important in older adulthood, i.e., grandparenthood. They discuss factors that may influence the meaning of grandparenthood and grandparenting behaviors, focusing specifically on gender and culture, and the outcomes of grandparenthood. Age Differences in Social Relationships Number of Relationships In the aging literature, studies consistently find that the number of social partners shrinks with age (Zhang et al. 2011), with research suggesting this is not simply due to functional losses and mortality (Lang and Carstensen 1994). Despite the change, subjective well-being in older adulthood does not appear to suffer by the decrease in the number of social partners. In fact, subjective well-being tends to increase with age (Carstensen et al. 1995). Two reasons may explain this phenomenon. First, older adults may enjoy being alone more than do younger adults. For instance, Larson et al. (1985) found that older adults reported a greater sense of control when alone. A study by Lang and Baltes (1997) extended the aforementioned idea by considering the effect of context when older participants were alone. They found that the older old (i.e., those aged 85-103 years) felt the highest sense of autonomy with the least social contacts when they were facing difficulties in everyday life. The authors interpreted the results as a compensation mechanism, in which being alone in daily activities may allow older adults to maintain autonomous functioning and still spend time with people in other daily activities. The above studies speak to the idea that aloneness in old age may not be as detrimental as conventionally believed. This argument might be particularly true for people from independent cultural backgrounds. In independent cultures, when people get older, they are less likely to attribute their loneliness to personal deficits (e.g., lack of pleasant personal characteristics) than do people in interdependent cultures. A study conducted by Rokach and Neto (2005) found that Canadians, who were from an independent culture, adjusted better in a lonely situation than their Portuguese counterparts, a group who was

Introduction: In today's modern world, we are witnessing a noticeable increase in stress level, and its aftermath on an individual's psychological well-being, specifically among older adults. Some studies suggested that social isolation and cognitive emotion regulation can affect an individual's psychological well-being. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between life events and psychological well-being, considering the possible mediating roles of social isolation and cognitive emotion regulation among community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This study was implemented through a cross-sectional and correlational design. The statistical population of this study included all community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and older living in Tehran. The sample included 321 older adults, who were selected through the convenience sampling method. The Old Age Stressor Scale, the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale, the Lubben Social Network Scale, and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire were used to collect data. The gathered data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and path analysis statistical technique. The SPSS 16 and Amos 16 software were used for data analysis. Results: 55.7% of participants were women, and 44.3% were men with the mean age of (65.14±5.02) and (67.99±6.35), respectively. The results showed that life events (r=-0.281, P<0/001), and social isolation (r=-0.425, P<0/001) directly predicted psychological well-being. Also, social isolation and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies mediated the relationship between life events and psychological well-being (ß=-0.112, P<0/001) and explained 28% of the variance of psychological well-being. Conclusions: The findings showed that social isolation and maladaptive emotion regulation play a significant mediating role in the relationship between life events and psychological well-being. Therefore, designing and implementing interventions to reduce social isolation and improve cognitive emotion regulation strategies for older adults encountering stressful life events is recommended.

Anxiety symptoms and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent among older people although infrequently the subject of systematic research in this age group. One important limitation is the lack of a widely accepted instrument to measure dimensional anxiety in both normal older people and older people with mental health problems seen in various settings. Accordingly, we undertook the development and initial testing of a short scale to measure anxiety in older people.

The practice of psychology covers the range of ages from conception through to the end of life and palliative care. Psychologists practice in a variety of roles, but the majority of these roles involve interactions with nonprofessionals of varying ages. These interactions are governed by codes of ethical practice, whether these are developed by the funding bodies for research activities, professional associations, or regulatory bodies. Ethical codes vary in their format and emphasis, but all have the protection of the public as a major purpose. Often there are special provisions in these codes for particular populations or circumstances. Here we describe the development of ethical guidelines for the practice of psychology with older adults in Australia and report on those guidelines and their supporting literature.

Anxiety symptoms and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent among older people although infrequently the subject of systematic research in this age group. One important limitation is the lack of a widely accepted instrument to measure dimensional anxiety in both normal older people and older people with mental health problems seen in various settings. Accordingly, we undertook the development and initial testing of a short scale to measure anxiety in older people.

Popular assertions portray depression as an inevitable outcome of aging, a widespread image embraced by many health professionals. Although epidemiological data contradict the prevalent image that depressive syndromes increase with age, the prognosis becomes more negative as one grows older. An early thorough assessment is vital to identify depressive symptoms in older adults, thus promoting the development of tailored interventions and improved recovery rates. The main problems associated with the assessment of depressive symptoms in older adults include a lack of knowledge about changes in the pattern of symptoms, the inadequacy of techniques developed for other age cohorts, the misuse of psychometric instruments, and deficits in additional areas of assessment. The underlying goal of this article is to analyze the obstacles to a successful assessment of depression symptoms in older adults, suggesting strategies to overcome them.

Background: Difficulties with memory and communication are prominent and distressing features of dementia which impact on the person with dementia and contribute to caregiver stress and burden. There is a need to provide caregivers with strategies to support and maximize memory and communication abilities in people with dementia. In this project, a team of clinicians, researchers and educators in neuropsychology, psychogeriatrics, nursing and speech pathology translated research-based knowledge from these fields into a program of practical strategies for everyday use by family and professional caregivers.

Background: Anxiety symptoms and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent among older people and are associated with considerable disability burden. While several instruments now exist to measure anxiety in older people, there is a need for a very brief self-report scale to measure anxiety symptoms in epidemiological surveys, in primary care and in acute geriatric medical settings. Accordingly, we undertook the development of such a scale, based on the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of randomly selected, community-residing, older women (N = 284; mean age 72.2 years) using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses. DSM-IV diagnostic interviews were undertaken using the Mini International Diagnostic Interview, fifth edition (MINI-V).
Results: We developed a 5-item version of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory, which we have termed the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory – Short Form (GAI-SF). We found that a score of three or greater was optimal for the detection of DSM-IV Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) in this community sample. At this cut-point, sensitivity was 75%, specificity was 87%, and 86% of participants were correctly classified. GAI-SF score was not related to age, MMSE score, level of education or perceived income adequacy. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach’s α = 0.81) and concurrent validity against the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was good (rs = 0.48, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: The GAI-SF is a short form of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory, which we recommend for use in epidemiological studies. It may also be useful in primary care and acute geriatric medical settings.

To investigate how psychosocial resources may improve well-being for older adults, this study explored the relationship among questionnaire measures of optimism, social support and perceptions of control in predicting subjective well-being (measured with the positive affect subscale of the Affect Balance Scale) (Bradburn, 1969) and psychological well-being (measured with the purpose in life scale of the Ryff Psychological Well-being scales) (Ryff, Lee, Essex, & Schmutte, 1994) among older adults. The potential mediating roles of perceived social support and perception of control were also explored. Participants were 225 adults aged from 65 to 94 years. Optimism was found to be a predictor of both subjective and psychological well-being, and perceived social support was found to mediate the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being, but not psychological well-being. In contrast, perception of control was found to mediate the relationship between optimism and psychological well-being, but not subjective well-being. Longitudinal research is needed to confirm these pathways. Understanding and promoting positive aspects of well-being in older adults is important given the growing number of older adults, particularly in Western industrialized countries such as Australia where, for example, the over 65s were 43

Background: There is a worldwide shortage of mental health professionals trained in the provision of mental health services to older adults. This shortage in many countries is most acutely felt in the discipline of psychology. Examining training programs in clinical psychology with respect to training content may shed light on ways to increase interest among students and improve practical experiences in working with older adults.
Methods: A large multinational survey of geropsychology content in university-based clinical and counselling psychology training programs was conducted in 2007 in the U.S.A., Australia, and Canada. Both clinical/counseling programs and internship/practicum placements were surveyed as to staffing, didactic content and training opportunities with respect to geropsychology.
Results: Survey response rates varied from 15% in the U.S.A. (n = 46), 70% in Australia (n = 25) to 91.5% in Canada (n = 22). The U.S.A. and Australia reported specialist concentrations in geropsychology within graduate clinical psychology training programs. More assessment and psychopathology courses in the three countries were cited as having ageing content than psychotherapy courses. Many non-specialist programs in all three countries offered course work in geropsychology, and many had staff who specialized in working clinically with an older population. Interest in expanding aging courses and placements was cited by several training sites. Recruiting staff and finding appropriate placement opportunities with older adult populations were cited as barriers to expanding geropsychology offerings.
Conclusions: In light of our results, we conclude with a discussion of innovative means of engaging students with ageing content/populations, and suggestions for overcoming staffing and placement shortcomings.

Introduction: There has been a growing interest in the cross-cultural adaptation of instruments for assessment of anxiety, but studies involving anxiety specifically in the geriatric population is still unusual. Thus, there is a lack of instruments designed to comply with this population. Translation and cultural adaptation is the first step to providing comparisons between different cultural contexts.
Objective: Elaborate the semantic equivalence of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory to Brazilian Portuguese.
Method: The cross-cultural adaptation process consisted in four steps: two translations, two back- translations, both made by independent translators, the development of a synthetic version, and a pretest applied in a population sample.
Results: For each item of the instrument, we present the results of four steps. Throughout the process, any problems found could be solved by ensuring the quality of the instrument and its appropriateness to the population to which it is intended.
Discussion: The use of four-step method proved effective and safe in the process of semantic equivalence.

Background: Anxiety symptoms and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent among older people and are associated with considerable disability burden. While several instruments now exist to measure anxiety in older people, there is a need for a very brief self-report scale to measure anxiety symptoms in epidemiological surveys, in primary care and in acute geriatric medical settings. Accordingly, we undertook the development of such a scale, based on the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory.

The assessment of anxiety can be difficult in older populations. In particular, the assessment of anxiety in long-term care settings can be problematic, because patients may be experiencing some level of cognitive impairment as well as co-existing medical conditions. The Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) is a brief, 20-item anxiety screening tool validated previously in community and outpatient samples of older adults. In this series of studies the predictive validity of the instrument in residential care settings is examined. Results indicated that classification of presence or absence of anxiety symptoms by the GAI was not significantly associated with an individual’s cognitive status, in either community dwelling or residential care samples. In addition, data supported the predictive validity of the GAI in residential care settings with respect to diagnosis of anxiety disorders. Thus the GAI may be a useful measure to assess anxiety symptoms in residential care.

Social relationship accounts for subjective physical and mental health across adulthood. Aging is associated with changes of preferences on social partners and composition of social network. In this entry, we first introduce age-related changes in social relationship in terms of relationship closeness and relationship types. Then, we focused on a relationship that is particularly prevalent and important in older adulthood, i.e. grandparenthood. We introduced factors that may influence the meaning of grandparenthood and grandparenting behaviors, such as gender and culture, and the outcomes of grandparenthood.

Background: The underlying goals of the present study were (i) to assess knowledge of and attitudes towards aging in a sample of Portuguese undergraduate students undertaking various degrees in health and welfare subjects, and (ii) to analyze the extent to which knowledge, attitudes and other factors were associated with interest in working with older adults.
Methods: The study was cross-sectional in design. The sample comprised 460 Portuguese undergraduate students enrolled in degrees in nursing, social work, and psychology. They were asked to complete questionnaires and quizzes, which were analyzed using contingency tables and one way analysis of variance for inter-group comparison, and then subjected to multivariate logistic regression analysis.
Results: Significant differences emerged between groups on knowledge, attitudes towards aging and interest in working with older adults, with both nursing and social work students displaying more positive attitudes, knowledge, and interest in working with older adults, when compared with psychology students. A regression analysis indicated that attitudes, knowledge, and previous formal contact were significant predictors of interest.
Conclusion: Interest in working with older adults was significantly related to positive attitudes, more knowledge and formal previous contact. Positive attitudes towards older adults can be promoted through interaction with faculty members and experts, knowledge acquisition about normative changes with age, and contact with healthy and impaired older adults.

Background: Differential diagnosis implies identifying shared and divergent characteristics between clinical states. Clinical work with older adults demands not only the knowledge of nosological features associated with differential diagnosis, but also recognition of idiosyncratic factors associated with this population. Several factors can interfere with an accurate diagnosis of specific phobia in older cohorts. The goal of this paper is to review criteria for specific phobia and its differential diagnosis with panic disorder, agoraphobia, post- traumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder, while stressing the specific factors associated with aging.
Methods: A literature search regarding specific phobia in older adults was carried out using PubMed. Relevant articles were selected and scanned for further pertinent references. In addition, relevant references related to differential diagnosis and assessment were used.
Results: Etiologic factors, specificity of feared stimulus or situation, fear predictability and the nature of phobic situations are key points to be assessed when implementing a differential diagnosis of specific phobia.
Conclusions: First, age-related sensory impairments are common and interfere both with information processing and communication. Second, medical illnesses create symptoms that might cause, interfere with, or mimic anxiety. Third, cohort effects might result in underreporting, through the inability to communicate or recognize anxiety symptoms, misattributing them to physical conditions. Finally, diagnostic criteria and screening instruments were usually developed using younger samples and are therefore not adapted to the functional and behavioral characteristics of older samples.

Australia has fallen behind overseas counterparts in the area of geropsychology, and clinical geropsychology in particular. Older Australians are not getting the level of
psychological services needed on the basis of their status as
a large and growing proportion of the population, nor in terms
of the level of psychological problems they experience.
Research showing the efficacy of psychological interventions
in this age group is briefly reviewed. Given the established
need and demonstrated efficacy of psychological interventions
in this age group, reasons for the paucity of psychological
services to the Australian aged are then explored. Finally,
possible solutions to this problem are presented, with an
emphasis on the need for increased attention to geropsychology in clinical psychology training. This includes the need for
students to be exposed to older adults in their practical placements, both in order to dispel stereotypes and to generate
interest in this neglected and growing segment of the population.

Background: Difficulties with memory and communication are prominent and distressing features of dementia which impact on the person with dementia and contribute to caregiver stress and burden. There is a need to provide caregivers with strategies to support and maximize memory and communication abilities in people with dementia. In this project, a team of clinicians, researchers and educators in neuropsychology, psychogeriatrics, nursing and speech pathology translated research-based knowledge from these fields into a program of practical strategies for everyday use by family and professional caregivers.
Methods: From the available research evidence, the project team identified compensatory or facilitative strategies to assist with common areas of difficulty, and structured these under the mnemonics RECAPS (for memory) and MESSAGE (for communication). This information was adapted for presentation in a DVD-based education program in accordance with known characteristics of effective caregiver education.
Results: The resultant DVD comprises (1) information on the nature and importance of memory and communication in everyday life; (2) explanations of common patterns of difficulty and preserved ability in memory and communication across the stages of dementia; (3) acted vignettes demonstrating the strategies, based on authentic samples of speech in dementia; and (4) scenarios to prompt the viewer to consider the benefits of using the strategies.
Conclusion: Using a knowledge-translation framework, information and strategies can be provided to family and professional caregivers to help them optimize residual memory and communication in people with dementia. Future development of the materials, incorporating consumer feedback, will focus on methods for enabling wider dissemination.

Hazard perception in driving involves a number of different processes. This paper reports the develop- ment of two measures designed to separate these processes. A Hazard Perception Test was developed to measure how quickly drivers could anticipate hazards overall, incorporating detection, trajectory predic- tion, and hazard classification judgements. A Hazard Change Detection Task was developed to measure how quickly drivers can detect a hazard in a static image regardless of whether they consider it hazardous or not. For the Hazard Perception Test, young novices were slower than mid-age experienced drivers, con- sistent with differences in crash risk, and test performance correlated with scores in pre-existing Hazard Perception Tests. For drivers aged 65 and over, scores on the Hazard Perception Test declined with age and correlated with both contrast sensitivity and a Useful Field of View measure. For the Hazard Change Detection Task, novices responded quicker than the experienced drivers, contrary to crash risk trends, and test performance did not correlate with measures of overall hazard perception. However for drivers aged 65 and over, test performance declined with age and correlated with both hazard perception and Useful Field of View. Overall we concluded that there was support for the validity of the Hazard Percep- tion Test for all ages but the Hazard Change Detection Task might only be appropriate for use with older drivers.

The article is devoted to the problem of comprehension of the life of the elderly residents of rural areas (villagers). Residents of the rural area is a special socio-demographic group, which has its own age, socio-psychological features and social values, which are determined by the level of socio-economic and cultural development of a specific society. We characterized the social and age characteristics of older villagers. The scientific approaches to the problem of the meaning of life, its meaningfulness in old age are considered. Scientists emphasize that it is important for an older person to analyze and evaluate his life, and to preserve the meaning of life at the moment.
The total number of participants took part in the study was 184 elderly people. The age of the participants was from 55 to 78 years. The average age of the subjects was 66.53 years. We used the test of meaningfulness orientation by Dmitriy Leontiev. Also we collected the information about some social features of elderly villagers through interviews.
It is empirically confirmed that the elderly villagers lack the ability to comprehend their own lives and understand its meaning. Most of them have problems understanding the nature and orientation of their lives, which are largely due to changes in it. Old villagers are often dissatisfied with their today`s way of life and do not believe in their own ability to influence it; they live in their past. They are not always able to notice goals in the future, which make their lives meaningful and purposeful. Old villagers consider their life to be insufficiently interesting, emotionally rich and full of meaning. Many of them are not fully satisfied with the results of their past life. A minority of those who are relatively satisfied with the results of previous life have been identified. They perceive themselves as very strong personalities, who have a freedom of choice to build their lives in accordance with their own purposes and ideas about its meaning. Women have more faith in the possibility of such freedom compared to men. Old villagers are aware of the limited ability to control their lives and understand the influence of various factors on decision making and their implementation.
Using the Student`s t-test it was confirmed that, firstly the level of meaningfulness of life in the elderly men and women who live in rural areas is not significantly different, although women perceive it emotionally more intense and have more plans for the future than men; secondly the lives of elderly villagers are less meaningful than the elderly inhabitants of cities.
It has been established that the elderly villagers are most keen to change their way of life, living conditions. They also want to work, improve their financial position, solve problems with their relatives, etc.

One reason that older drivers may have elevated crash risk is because they anticipate hazardous situations less well than middle-aged drivers. Hazard perception ability has been found to be amenable to training in young drivers. This article reports an experiment in which video-based hazard perception training was given to drivers who were between the ages of 65 and 94 years. Trained participants were significantly faster at anticipating traffic hazards compared with an untrained control group, and this benefit was present even after the authors controlled for pretraining ability. If future research shows these effects to be robust, the implications for driver training and safety are significant.

Phobias are common in later life, yet treatment research in this population remains scant. The efficacy of exposure therapy, in combination with other Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) components, in the treatment of specific phobia with a middle and older aged sample was examined. Sixteen adults aged 45–68 with DSM-IV diagnosis of a specific phobia received a manualized intervention over ten weeks, and were compared with a control group. Results indicated significant time effects in the treatment group for the primary outcome variables of phobic severity and avoidance as well as secondary outcome variables including depression and anxiety. Symptom presence and severity also significantly declined in the treatment group. No significant changes in state anxiety were noted across the treatment period. Such results provide support for the efficacy of exposure combined with CBT treatment for specific phobia in middle to older aged adults.

Objective: Rates of depression and anxiety are high among older adults in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). This study examined the extent to which psychological services are made available to facility residents in Australia, and investigated barriers to accessing such services. Method: The sample consisted of 90 senior staff from a random sample of RACFs. Participants completed self-report questionnaires regarding their perspectives on the availability of psychological services and potential barriers to access psychological services. Results: Access to psychological services was poor. Psychologists were employed at a rate only one third that of other providers of mental health services. Residents were rarely referred to psychologists or to psychological treatments. The most important barriers to access, as perceived by participants, were the low availability of psychologists specialising in treating older adults, lack of government funding for such access, and limited staff training in detecting depression and anxiety. Conclusion: Access to psychologists and psychological services remains poor in Australian residential aged care settings. Such access may be improved by developing a workforce of clinical geropsychologists, improving funding mechanisms for residents to access psychological services, and addressing staff knowledge about depression and anxiety.

The underlying goals of the present study were (i) to assess knowledge of and attitudes towards aging in a sample of Portuguese undergraduate students undertaking various degrees in health and welfare subjects, and (ii) to analyze the extent to which knowledge, attitudes and other factors were associated with interest in working with older adults.

Background: Fear of driving has been recognized as a complex diagnostic entity. For this reason, the use of psychometric instruments is fundamental to advancing research in this area. Psychometric instruments are also necessary for clinical care, as they can help conceptualize the disorder and plan adequate treatment. Objective: To describe the cross-cultural adaptation of a Brazilian version of the Driving Behavior Survey (DBS). Methods: The process consisted of: 1) two translations and back-translations carried out by independent evaluators; 2) development of a brief version by four bilingual experts in mental health; 3) experimental application; and 4) investigation of operational equivalence. Results: The adaptation process is described and a final Brazilian version of the DBS is presented. Conclusion: A new instrument is now available to assess the driving behaviors of the Brazilian population, facilitating research in this field.

Background: There is a worldwide shortage of mental health professionals trained in the provision of mental health services to older adults. This shortage in many countries is most acutely felt in the discipline of psychology. Examining training programs in clinical psychology with respect to training content may shed light on ways to increase interest among students and improve practical experiences in working with older adults.

Purpose of review
The advent of global population ageing raises understandable concerns about the high-prevalence mental disorders in older people. Accordingly, this review covers recently published scientific articles concerning anxiety and depression. Recent findings
There is a paucity of findings on anxiety in older people, although the availability of several new scales suggests increased interest in this topic. The low prevalence of late- life depression in many population surveys does not appear to be due to misattribution of depressive symptoms to physical disorders. Although it is well established that dementia leads to depression, there is now increasing evidence for the proposition that depression leads to cognitive decline and dementia. There is now good evidence also for a bidirectional relationship between obesity and depression. The prognosis of treated late-life depression varies with baseline neuropsychological function and the severity of white matter hyperintensities.
Summary
An excellent body of research on depression in older people is now available, although more work on both pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments is needed. More research is urgently required into anxiety disorders in older people. These are highly prevalent and associated with considerable disease burden. As the literature on depression in older people reaches maturity, there should be greater research and clinical interest in anxiety.

Reasons behind older adults’ under-utilisation of mental health services are complex. Barriers to access to mental health services for this group include service access and availability, attitudes of medical and mental health professionals, and attitudes of older people themselves. This questionnaire-based study sought to investigate variables that may influence attitudes towards psychological help seeking among a late mid-age–young-old Australian sample of 159 community- dwelling adults. The results suggest that attitudes towards seeking psychological help in this population were relatively positive. In addition,450% of participants in the sample indicated that they had sought treatment for emotional or psychological difficulties in the past, with the greatest proportion of those who sought help noting that it was for ‘‘family problems’’ (56%). The findings suggest that negative attitudes to help seeking in this age group may not be as pervasive as previously assumed, and that help-seeking behaviours may be high among those with positive attitudes towards help seeking.

To investigate how psychosocial resources may improve well-being for older adults, this study explored the relationship among questionnaire measures of optimism, social support and perceptions of control in predicting subjective well-being (measured with the positive affect subscale of the Affect Balance Scale) (Bradburn, 1969) and psychological well-being (measured with the purpose in life scale of the Ryff Psychological Well-being scales) (Ryff, Lee, Essex, & Schmutte, 1994) among older adults. The potential mediating roles of perceived social support and perception of control were also explored. Participants were 225 adults aged from 65 to 94 years. Optimism was found to be a predictor of both subjective and psychological well-being, and perceived social support was found to mediate the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being, but not psychological well-being. In contrast, perception of control was found to mediate the relationship between optimism and psychologic...

ABSTRACTBackground: Difficulties with memory and communication are prominent and distressing features of dementia which impact on the person with dementia and contribute to caregiver stress and burden. There is a need to provide caregivers with strategies to support and maximize memory and communication abilities in people with dementia. In this project, a team of clinicians, researchers and educators in neuropsychology, psychogeriatrics, nursing and speech pathology translated research-based knowledge from these fields into a program of practical strategies for everyday use by family and professional caregivers.Methods: From the available research evidence, the project team identified compensatory or facilitative strategies to assist with common areas of difficulty, and structured these under the mnemonics RECAPS (for memory) and MESSAGE (for communication). This information was adapted for presentation in a DVD-based education program in accordance with known characteristics of ef...

The aim of this study is twofold. First, to assess the level of agreement between radiographic damage and functional disability in older people with osteoarthritis. And second, to assess the role of coping skills and sensory pain parameters as sources of disagreement between these variables. To achieve this objective we assess, in a sample of 104 older people with osteoarthritis, the following variables: functional capacity, radiographic damage, pain coping strategies, pain intensity, pain frequency and pain duration. The results show a non-linear relationship between radiographic damage and functional disability, modified by the levels of the two variables. There was maximum agreement between low levels of radiographic damage and of functional impairment, whilst agreement decreased for moderate and high levels of radiographic damage. Certain coping strategies may help to explain this disparity.

The older adult population have been increasing around the World. The interaction of older adults with their physical and social environment is so important to promote age-friendly societies. In the present study, it is aimed to explore variables associated with satisfaction among older adults living at home and nursing home. Participants were composed of 1770 older adults living at home (N= 846) and nursing home (N=924). Results revealed that, regarding variables associated with home satisfaction, older adults having at least a hobby, participating in social activities, living with her/his spouse and living at a home belongs to her/himself or spouse had higher scores of satisfaction than their counterparts. Regarding variables associated with nursing home satisfaction, older adults referred to a nursing home by herself/himself, older adults having visitors (a family member or another person rather than a relative) at a nursing home, older adults visiting her/his family and older adults having at least a hobby had higher satisfaction scores than counterparts. Results were discussed with the literature and clinical implications.

Keywords: Older adults living at home, older adults living at nursing home, home satisfaction, nursing home satisfaction, living place, participating in social activities, hobbies.
The older adult population have been increasing around the World. The interaction of older adults with their physical and social environment is so important to promote age-friendly societies. In the present study, it is aimed to explore variables associated with satisfaction among older adults living at home and nursing home. Participants were composed of 1770 older adults living at home (N= 846) and nursing home (N=924). Results revealed that, regarding variables associated with home satisfaction, older adults having at least a hobby, participating in social activities, living with her/his spouse and living at a home belongs to her/himself or spouse had higher scores of satisfaction than their counterparts. Regarding variables associated with nursing home satisfaction, older adults referred to a nursing home by herself/himself, older adults having visitors (a family member or another person rather than a relative) at a nursing home, older adults visiting her/his family and older adults having at least a hobby had higher satisfaction scores than counterparts. Results were discussed with the literature and clinical implications.

Keywords: Older adults living at home, older adults living at nursing home, home satisfaction, nursing home satisfaction, living place, participating in social activities, hobbies.

Phobias are common in later life, yet treatment research in this population remains scant. The efficacy of exposure therapy, in combination with other Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) components, in the treatment of specific phobia with a middle and older aged sample was examined. Sixteen adults aged 45–68 with DSM-IV diagnosis of a specific phobia received a manualized intervention over ten weeks, and were compared with a control group. Results indicated significant time effects in the treatment group for the primary outcome variables of phobic severity and avoidance as well as secondary outcome variables including depression and anxiety. Symptom presence and severity also significantly declined in the treatment group. No significant changes in state anxiety were noted across the treatment period. Such results provide support for the efficacy of exposure combined with CBT treatment for specific phobia in middle to older aged adults.

Objective: This brief examines the evidence that is currently available to inform the provision of psychological services within aged care services, considering both residential care and home care settings. Method: A narrative literature review of the literature evaluating psychological approaches for common conditions in aged care settings was conducted, focusing on the assessment and treatment of common mental health disorders and dementia. Information on the current employment and training of Australian psychologists in geropsychology was also summarised. Results: While further research is required, existing literature provides a clear rationale for the benefit of psychological approaches to address a range of conditions, including the management of dementia. There is only limited research focusing specifically on the home care setting, despite the increasing number of older adults who receive aged care services in their own homes. The current provision of psychological services in Australia is critically low, driven in part by funding limitations. Meanwhile, substantial gaps remain in the training provided to provisional psychologists. Conclusion: A number of key recommendations are made to address the growing need for aged-specific psychological assessments and interventions to be included as part of the delivery of aged care services in this country. Given the continued high prevalence of mental health disorders and dementia within aged care settings, as well as even higher rates of subthreshold conditions, improved access to psychological services for older Australians must become a priority.

The article examines the environmental qualities perceived by ageing populations in suburban low-density and car-oriented neighbourhoods in comparison to more dense and central areas. The study focuses on Nicosia, Cyprus, a city that suffers from extended sprawl and car dependency in almost every urban district. The aim of the article is to investigate how older adults perceive and evaluate their place of residence and if this assessment relates to the suburban or the city centre profile of their neighbourhoods. For this reason, the study takes five residential districts, two central and three suburban areas, as case studies. Each of the selected residential districts performs differently in terms of percentage of the population over the age of 65; scale and street layout; adequacy in supporting land uses; building density; distance from the city centre and public space availability and condition. The almost exclusive use of private cars, as the main transportation mode is a common ...

Social relationship accounts for subjective physical and mental health across adulthood. Aging is associated with changes of preferences on social partners and composition of social network. In this entry, we first introduce age-related changes in social relationship in terms of relationship closeness and relationship types. Then, we focused on a relationship that is particularly prevalent and important in older adulthood, i.e. grandparenthood. We introduced factors that may influence the meaning of grandparenthood and grandparenting behaviors, such as gender and culture, and the outcomes of grandparenthood.

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This thesis examines the phenomenological aspects of dementia patients who are living out their lives with decreasing lucidity in the world around them. I propose using Douglas Hollan’s framework of selfscapes to better conceptualize the embodied experience of dementia. In so doing, I will expose the flaws of Bourdieu’s habitus for the phenomenological consideration of individuals who may be temporally dislocated from “objective reality” and explore how the phenomenological misperception of Cartesian dualities encourage the decline of personhood in anthropological paradigms of embodiment.

Phobias are common in later life, yet treatment research in this population remains scant. The efficacy of exposure therapy, in combination with other Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) components, in the treatment of specific phobia with a middle and older aged sample was examined. Sixteen adults aged 45–68 with DSM-IV diagnosis of a specific phobia received a manualized intervention over ten weeks, and were compared with a control group. Results indicated significant time effects in the treatment group for the ...