Julie Blaskewicz Boron

Older adults talk technology: Technology usage and attitudes

Older adults (n = 113) participated in focus groups discussing their use of and attitudes about technology in the context of their home, work, and healthcare. Participants reported using a wide variety of technology items, particularly in their homes. Positive attitudes (i.e., likes) outnumbered negative attitudes (i.e., dislikes), suggesting that older adults perceive the benefits of technology use to outweigh the costs of such use. Positive attitudes were most frequently related to how the technology supported activities, enhanced convenience, and contained useful features. Negative attitudes were most frequently associated with technology creating inconveniences, unhelpful features, as well as security and reliability concerns. Given that older adults reported more positive than negative attitudes about the technologies they use, these results contradict stereotypes that older adults are afraid or unwilling to use technology. These findings also highlight the importance of perceived benefits of use and ease of use for models of technology acceptance. Emphasizing the benefits of technology in education and training programs may increase future technology adoption.

Older Adults' Training Preferences for Learning to Use Technology.

Older adults may benefit from using technology in their everyday lives. However, adults over 65 may need more training than their younger counterparts given they have had less experience with technology. In this study, 113 adults between the ages of 65 and 85 participated in focus group interviews discussing their training needs and preferences for technology items used in the home. Participants expressed an interest in receiving additional training, particularly for specific tasks. Participants also discussed preferences for various characteristics of training, such as who should conduct the training and for their preferred method of training. One of the most frequently discussed preferences was for self-training using text materials, such as a manual.

Medication adherence strategies in older adults

Medical advancements, including medications to manage disease, have contributed to increased longevity. Because medical products contribute to increased longevity, medication adherence is important for the older adult population. Proper adherence not only contributes to quality of life physically, but also to decreased health care costs. Effective support systems to facilitate maintenance of medication regimens are necessary. Knowledge of the popularity of strategies employed by older adults can inform the design of support systems. In a survey of 366 adults aged 60 to 80 we found that older adults use multiple strategies, and these strategies are most effective when in their normal routine. Thus support systems should incorporate and facilitate the use of multiple strategies. Moreover, support systems are needed for adherence to medication regimens when people are outside of their routines.

Child Safety in Grocery Stores: The Impact of Verbal Prompts and Reinforcement on Safety Strap Use in Shopping Carts

Head and face injuries requiring a hospital visit are a consistent problem for young children shopping with their caregivers. Falls from shopping carts are the most common cause of such injuries. Using a reversal design with a 2-month follow-up, research assistants verbally prompted caregivers with small children seated in a shopping cart to put a safety strap on their child when entering a grocery store. Compliance resulted in the child receiving a gold star sticker. The sticker was used to identify participants for subsequent data collection when exiting the store. Verbal prompts and stickers increased safety belt use, and most children (95%) remained strapped in during their entire visit. A 2-month follow-up showed the effects to be short lived.

LONGITUDINAL CHANGE IN COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY: PROGRESSION FROM COGNITIVELY HEALTHY TO DEMENTIA

Background:Understanding the transition from cognitively normal status to that of a diagnosis of dementia and the risk factors that predict this transition is a major public health goal. This pursuit requires longitudinal studies that follow individuals over time. Here we focus on two salient risk factors (APOEe4, hypertension) and their effects on change over 11+ years in two measures of cognitive flexibility (set shifting in a task; attitudinal flexibility in daily life) in the progression from cognitively healthy to dementia diagnosis. Methods:At baseline all study participants from the Seattle Longitudinal Study were nondemented (N 1⁄4 1024; mean age1⁄451.9; mean education1⁄413.9 years; 52.9% female; 26.9% APOE e4; and 62 % hypertensive). Over the study period, N 1⁄4 215 participants progressed to dementia (20% conversion rate). These participants were older, had a higher proportion APOE e4 (40%) and higher proportion hypertension but did not differ in education. Multivariate multilevel modeling was used to examine crosssectional and longitudinal change in two flexibility measures, including the modifying effects of APOE e4 and hypertension. Results: Both flexibility measures showed significant age x time interaction indicating an acceleration in rate of change with age. For the set shifting task there was a APOE e4 x time interaction indicating significantly greater acceleration in rate of decline in flexibility for APOE e4 subjects. In those converting to dementia, there was a significantly greater acceleration in rate of decline in flexibility on the set shifting task. For the attitudinal flexibility measure, there was a hypertension x dementia interaction indicating that hypertension was associated with reduced flexibility for those progressing to dementia.Conclusions:Decline in flexibility increased with age for both set shifting and attitudinal flexibility. Rate of decline was accelerated by progression to dementia. Risk factors varied by flexibility measure. APOE e4 was associated with steeper decline for the set shifting task. In contrast, hypertension was associated with reduced flexibility on the attitudinal flexibility measure for those progressing to dementia.

The Aging Personality and Self

Personality may be defi ned as the pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that shape an individual’s interface with the world, distinguish one person from another, and manifest across time and situation. 1-3 Personality is impacted by biologic, cognitive, and environmental determinants, including the impact of culture and cohort. Theoretical approaches to personality are as varied as the breadth of the construct they attempt to describe and explain. Yet each approach, to varying degrees, emphasizes stability and change within individuals across time and situations. The impact of personality across the adult life span touches every domain: personal, professional, spiritual, and physical. Certainly, personality characteristics have direct and indirect infl uences on health status, health behaviors, and behavioral interactions with health care professionals. Although no single chapter can adequately condense such rich empirical and theoretical research, we will attempt to provide a concise overview of stage models, trait theory, and social-cognitive approaches to personality. As such, we will focus on aspects of personality development among cognitively intact older adults, not personality changes that may ensue as the result of dementia. Each section of this chapter contains four subsections. For each of the three major approaches (stage, trait, socialcognitive), we fi rst provide an overview of classical along with the most current research on stability and maturational and environmental change within adult personality. Our focus will be on fi ndings from longitudinal data. Second, we include cross-cultural comparisons of adult personality where available. This focus provides a unique contribution to recent reviews of adult personality and aging. 4,5 Third, we examine the health correlates of adult personality, focusing on morbidity and mortality, well-being, life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, anxiety, and depression. Finally, we discuss measurement issues and provide examples of current assessment instruments.

The Aging Personality and Self: Diversity and Health Issues

Personality may be defi ned as the pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that shape an individual’s interface with the world, distinguish one person from another, and manifest across time and situation. 1-3 Personality is impacted by biologic, cognitive, and environmental determinants, including the impact of culture and cohort. Theoretical approaches to personality are as varied as the breadth of the construct they attempt to describe and explain. Yet each approach, to varying degrees, emphasizes stability and change within individuals across time and situations. The impact of personality across the adult life span touches every domain: personal, professional, spiritual, and physical. Certainly, personality characteristics have direct and indirect infl uences on health status, health behaviors, and behavioral interactions with health care professionals. Although no single chapter can adequately condense such rich empirical and theoretical research, we will attempt to provide a concise overview of stage models, trait theory, and social-cognitive approaches to personality. As such, we will focus on aspects of personality development among cognitively intact older adults, not personality changes that may ensue as the result of dementia. Each section of this chapter contains four subsections. For each of the three major approaches (stage, trait, socialcognitive), we fi rst provide an overview of classical along with the most current research on stability and maturational and environmental change within adult personality. Our focus will be on fi ndings from longitudinal data. Second, we include cross-cultural comparisons of adult personality where available. This focus provides a unique contribution to recent reviews of adult personality and aging. 4,5 Third, we examine the health correlates of adult personality, focusing on morbidity and mortality, well-being, life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, anxiety, and depression. Finally, we discuss measurement issues and provide examples of current assessment instruments.

CHAPTER 29 – The Aging Personality and Self: Diversity and Health Issues

Personality may be defi ned as the pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that shape an individual’s interface with the world, distinguish one person from another, and manifest across time and situation. 1-3 Personality is impacted by biologic, cognitive, and environmental determinants, including the impact of culture and cohort. Theoretical approaches to personality are as varied as the breadth of the construct they attempt to describe and explain. Yet each approach, to varying degrees, emphasizes stability and change within individuals across time and situations. The impact of personality across the adult life span touches every domain: personal, professional, spiritual, and physical. Certainly, personality characteristics have direct and indirect infl uences on health status, health behaviors, and behavioral interactions with health care professionals. Although no single chapter can adequately condense such rich empirical and theoretical research, we will attempt to provide a concise overview of stage models, trait theory, and social-cognitive approaches to personality. As such, we will focus on aspects of personality development among cognitively intact older adults, not personality changes that may ensue as the result of dementia. Each section of this chapter contains four subsections. For each of the three major approaches (stage, trait, socialcognitive), we fi rst provide an overview of classical along with the most current research on stability and maturational and environmental change within adult personality. Our focus will be on fi ndings from longitudinal data. Second, we include cross-cultural comparisons of adult personality where available. This focus provides a unique contribution to recent reviews of adult personality and aging. 4,5 Third, we examine the health correlates of adult personality, focusing on morbidity and mortality, well-being, life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, anxiety, and depression. Finally, we discuss measurement issues and provide examples of current assessment instruments.