Steven J. LaGrow

Feelings of Abandonment and Quality of Life Among Older Persons in Rural Northeast Thailand

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which older persons in rural Northeast Thailand felt abandoned by the emigration of their children and the impact this may have on their quality of life. A cross sectional survey, consisting of 113 questions including the 26-item WHOQOL-BREF and the 24-item WHOQOL-OLD was administered to 212 participants. Participants ranged in age from 60 to 107 with a mean age of 71. While only 9% were found to live alone, 20% stated that they felt abandoned to some degree. A one-way between groups MANOVA was conducted to determine if those who felt abandoned differed from those who did not on a single-item question of Overall QOL and the total scores for the WHOQOL-BREF and WHOQOL-OLD. A statistically significant difference was found between the groups on the combined dependent variable [F (3, 208) = 4.75, p = .003; Wilks’ Lambda = .94]. When the results for each of the dependent variables were considered separately, statistically significant differences were found on the WHOQOL-BREF [F (1, 210) = 13.61, p < .001] and the WHOQOL-OLD [F (1, 210) = 9.85, p = .001] only.

Independent Travel for Developmentally Disabled Persons: A Comprehensive Model of Instruction.

Independence and self-determination are long established goals for developmentally disabled persons. Some aspects of independence depend upon the ability to to gain access to resources in the local community. As a result, the acquisition of independent travel skills has received much attention over the years. However, most attempts to teach travel skills to this population have been limited in scope. This paper advocates a more comprehensive approach based upon the principles used to teach orientation and mobility to blind and visually impaired people.