Rosa Martins

Abuse and maltreatment in the elderly.

INTRODUCTION The aging population is increasing worldwide, but the abuse and mistreatment in the elderly (often silenced forms) has also been increasing, with strong implications for their quality of life. OBJECTIVE To identify forms of abuse and ill-treatment in the elderly, as well as the determinants of these abuses. METHODOLOGY This is a quantitative study, of the non-experimental, descriptive, cross-sectional type attended by 135 Portuguese elderly. It uses the Family APGAR Scale and the Question to Elicit Elder Abuse (QEEA), which was applied between January and June 2013, in the elderly residing in the central of Portugal. RESULTS The data shows that 23.5% of the elderly have suffered some kind of abuse, these being especially of the emotional kind and neglect. We also found that the most abused elders were unmarried and widows, those who had lower academic qualifications, those who reported feeling lonely and less healthy and even those who perceive to integrate families with some degree of dysfunction. CONCLUSION We found that the abuse and mistreatment are present in the everyday life of many seniors and are a difficult subject to approach. The evidence, invite us to reflect on the development of intervention strategies, particularly at the levels of emotional abuse, neglect, promotion of health and family functioning in order to contribute to the reduction or extinction of abuse and ill-treatment in the elderly.

Validation of Emotional Intelligence Measure (MIE) for the Portuguese population.

OBJECTIVE To describe the process of validating Emotional Intelligence Measurement (MIE) Scale for Portuguese senior citizens. DESIGN Observational, cross-sectional quantitative study. FRAMEWORK Senior citizens attending senior universities and from the community in the district of Viseu. PARTICIPANTS 1084 subjects participated with a mean age of 72.98 years, residing in the district of Viseu, no longer involved in formal activities (retired) and participating voluntarily in study. MAIN MEASUREMENTS the Emotional Intelligence Measuring (MIE) Scale, socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, marital status, residence). An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the MIE scale were performed. RESULTS The MIE showed very good internal consistency (Cronbachs alpha=0.952). The main component and rotation factor analysis varimax extracted 36 items and five factors which explain 54.78% of the total variance. After confirmatory factor analysis and re-specification of the model, the global indicator values of the adjustment model for the MIE revealed a quality of good fit (X(2)/df=3.46; RMR=0.025). The final version of the MIE was composed of 33 items and five factors that represent emotional intelligence skills: Factor 1 - Empathy (12 items); Factor 2 - Self-motivation (10 items); Factor 3 - Self-awareness (4 items); Factor 4 - Self-control (4 items); Factor 5 - Sociability (3 items). CONCLUSION The MIE scale is shown to be suitable to assess emotional intelligence in Portuguese senior citizens.

Construction and validation of the Scale Sources of Information about AIDS (SSIA)

OBJECTIVE To characterize sources of information students of higher education turn to for clarification about AIDS. RESEARCH DESIGN Cross-sectional, non-experimental research, with the features of descriptive, correlational and explanatory studies. The data collection protocol includes personal and academic data and the sources of information about AIDS scale. PARTICIPANTS 2002 students participated, 60.7% girls (X=21.76; years ± 4.43 SD), of the first and last years of higher education in the North and Centre of Portugal. RESULTS Students rely mainly on reading informational materials for information about AIDS. Approximately 37% have good information on AIDS with young people up to the age of 25 and attending courses in field of health having higher scores. CONCLUSIONS Changes are needed in health education models in the area of HIV/AIDS, since these are not showing a satisfactory level of efficiency. On the other hand, it is important to motivate young people to change their behaviours. Although many young people have knowledge, they do not change their risk behaviours.