Download or read book Perceived Neighbourhood Environment and Health related Outcomes Among Older Adults written by Lucelia Luna de Melo and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aging -- Physical activity -- Physical function -- Mobility -- Obesity.
Download or read book Perceived Neighbourhood Environment and Health related Outcomes Among Older Adults written by Lucelia Luna De Melo and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aging -- Physical activity -- Physical function -- Mobility -- Obesity.
Download or read book Healthy Aging and the Community Environment written by Chanam Lee and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2021-11-29 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book U S Health in International Perspective written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-04-12 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.
Download or read book Determining the Influence of the Neighborhood Environment on Walking Among Older Adults written by Tracey Elizabeth Beard and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ageing in Society written by John Bond and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2007-02-22 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: `Ageing in Society brings forth exciting new questions, fresh perspectives, and a necessary critical approach to key issues - this is indeed an authoritative introduction. The authors not only have made significant contributions to gerontology, but offer the reader considerations for what could be, not just what is, the design of old age in society. The book will inform students in ways that so many texts in the area, satisfied with comfortable bromides, do not′ - Jaber Gubrium, Editor of Journal of Aging Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia `This completely revised Third Edition of Ageing in Society presents one of the most comprehensive pictures of ageing today. Emphasising the dual processes of ageing societies and the experience of ageing, the book offers the reader - student or researcher alike - cogent discussions of the most up to date perspectives and evidence available. The contributors are all leading experts in their fields - comprising a range of important disciplines as they apply to ageing. Ageing in Society is a cutting edge text on one of the most important subjects facing the modern world - a must for all students of ageing′ - Mike Bury, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of London `The Third Edition of the comprehensive textbook Ageing in Society extends its scope to include continental Europe, allowing broader as well as deeper insights into recent trends in gerontology. Gerontologists and practitioners are urged not to stop reading before they have reached the insightful last chapter "Ageing into the future"!′ - Professor Dorly Deeg, Editor-in-Chief European Journal of Ageing The Third Edition of this popular and widely-used text provides a comprehensive introduction to the study of ageing, exploring the key theories, concepts and methods which the behavioural and social sciences contribute to the subject. Thoroughly revised and updated, Ageing in Society reflects new trends in gerontology, incorporating recent developments in theory and research as well as major international and interdisciplinary perspectives. A new chapter on cognitive ageing has been added and key themes, such as social protection, retirement, health and illness, and cultural images of old age are also critically examined. Ageing in Society was developed by the British Society of Gerontology to fulfil the need for an authoritative introduction to social gerontology. As such, it is an ideal resource for students and lecturers in the social and behavioural sciences, as well as for students and practitioners in health and social care.
Download or read book Neighborhood Environment Social Participation and Well being Among Older Adults in the U S written by Yi Wang (Social worker) and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Due to their diminished functional capacity, older adults are most sensitive and susceptible to the influences of immediate environmental situations. For older adults to enjoy healthy, safe, and active lives in the community, their neighborhood environment must have good person-environment fit. This study extends the current knowledge base of environment and healthy aging by using structural equation modeling with nationally representative panel data, the 2012-2014 Health and Retirement Study, (1) to discern the direct impact of neighborhood features on well-being (i.e., physical health, mental health, and life satisfaction) in later life, (2) to investigate the intermediate outcome (i.e. social participation) of environmental antecedents and its pathway pointing to the ultimate health outcomes, and 3) to determine the relative importance of physical versus social aspects of neighborhood environment to participation and well-being in later life. A significant pathway was found between neighborhood environment and individual health outcomes (i.e., life satisfaction, depressive symptoms) and that pathway partially went through participation of the following social activities: interpersonal exchange/helping others and community leisure. Neighborhood physical environment (measured by neighborhood physical disorder scale) was found significantly associated with physical health, whereas neighborhood social environment (measured by neighborhood social cohesion scale) mattered to mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms) and psychological well-being (i.e., life satisfaction). Understanding the associations among environment, participation, and well-being confirms the hypothesis that environment influences people's well-being both directly and indirectly by changing human behaviors (i.e., social participation). The findings bring greater attention to the environmental and social factors of health in later life and set the stage for the development and implementation of interventions/ programs fundamentally informed by the person-environment perspective so as to improve human lives.
Download or read book Communities in Action written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
Download or read book Walkable Neighborhoods written by Koichiro Oka and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2020-01-09 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is now widely recognized that individual-based motivational interventions alone are not sufficient to address the global pandemic of physical inactivity (lack of exercise and too much sitting time). There has been a growing interest in the effect the physically built environment can have on people’s active behaviors. The fundamental assumption is that surrounding physical environments can support active behaviors among a large number of people with long-term effects. This topic has received much attention over the last decade, mainly in the three fields of urban design, public health, and transportation. This Special Issue aims to provide multidisciplinary and evidence-based state-of-the-art research on how the locations where people live impact their active behaviors and health outcomes.
Download or read book Physical Activity Socioeconomic Status and Perceptions of Neighborhood Safety in Older Adults written by Melissa Kealey and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Background Mobility, "the ability to move oneself [e.g., by walking, by using assistive devices, or by using transportation) within community environments that expand from one's home, to the neighborhood, and to regions beyond" (Webber, Porter et al. 2010)], is important to healthy aging. Walking, both for recreation and for transportation, has been suggested to be a particularly accessible, affordable, and safe way to be physically active. It is important to understand the barriers to and supports for walking in one's neighborhood for older adults. Neighborhood socioeconomic status and other neighborhood characteristics, such as perceived safety from crime, are associated with walking and physical activity. Health symptoms may also be important determinants of walking and physical activity for older adults. Objectives 1. Determine to what extent objective and perceived neighborhood characteristics of older adults vary by the socioeconomic status of the neighborhood. Determine what objective neighborhood and personal characteristics are associated with perceived neighborhood safety in older adults. 2. Determine the leading health symptoms reported by older people as causing difficulty when walking outdoors. 3. Determine the different physical activities engaged in by older men and women. Determine the association between both neighborhood socioeconomic status and perceived safety from crime and physical activity. Methods The study titled "Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity among Older Adults: A Healthy Aging Research Network (HAN) Collaboration" (referred to in this dissertation as the "HAN Walking Study") was designed to examine how the neighborhood environment may influence physical activity and walking behavior in older adults, and how this relationship may be modified by the functional capacity of older adults. Data were collected from 884 older adults at four sites across the country, from a diversity of physical environments. Data collection included in person interviews, lower-body functional capacity testing, accelerometers, walking diaries, and secondary GIS data. Results 1. Participants living in neighborhoods of low socioeconomic status (low SES) have objectively shorter block lengths, higher housing density, and more businesses. Participants living in low SES neighborhoods perceive that they are less safe from crime and traffic. They also perceive that their neighborhood is more densely populated with greater percentages of apartments and condominiums. Perceived crime safety is associated with both neighborhood characteristics as well as the characteristics of the people who live there. 2. Most participants report multiple barriers to walking outside. Overall, 95.5% report at least one health symptom or other barrier to walking, with a range of 0-37 and a mean of 7.9 barriers. 3. The most frequent types of activity reported by both women and men are light housework (93.0%) and shopping or running errands (93.0%), followed by walking at a normal or leisurely pace (77.7%). In a combined model, crime safety, but not neighborhood poverty or primary type of neighborhood housing, is associated with physical activity. Conclusions Walking is engaged in by the majority of both older men and women in this study. However, they perceive multiple barriers to walking. Neighborhood determinants of walking may be one pathway through which neighborhood socioeconomic status influences health outcomes. Perceived safety from crime is possibly an important neighborhood determinant of walking and physical activity. Further research is needed to determine how changes in neighborhoods as well as other interventions may reduce barriers and lead to increased walking behavior in older adults.
Download or read book Environment and Aging written by Mortimer Powell Lawton and published by Study of Aging. This book was released on 1986 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Environment for Aging written by Russell A. Ward and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nature and consequences of aging depend on its environmental context, and the literature does not treat the various environmental dimensions in an integrated fashion. The authors introduce a general approach to the human ecosystem, highlighting theoretical and empirical issues necessary to an understanding of person-environment interaction related to aging. They then investigate in detail three aspects of the environment of older persons: residential and neighborhood, interpersonal support networks, and age-related attitudes. They give specific attention to the impact of the age composition of neighborhoods and interpersonal networks. The authors present findings from their interview survey of 1,185 community residents aged 60 and over. Major findings from the interviews include: Despite objective neighborhood problems, older persons express high neighborhood satisfaction. This partly reflects limited residential options, as well as a passive and vicarious spatial experience. The environment is experienced in diverse ways; however, urbanism and personal competence shape the nature and outcomes of person-environment interaction. Older persons have relatively robust interpersonal support networks. Perceived sufficiency of contact and support are more salient to morale than are more objective measures of interpersonal support. Although attitudes toward other older people are generally favorable, patterns of age identity reflect a detrimental view of aging. There is little evidence that socialization for aging or age-group solidarity make aging “easier” in this regard. Older persons exhibit moderate age homogeneity within their interpersonal networks, partly reflecting neighborhood age concentration. Contrary to the apparent benefits of planned age-segregated housing, age homogeneity in neighborhoods and networks does not contribute to well-being. The authors examine three major themes in their concluding chapter; age itself does not “loom large” in the lives of these community residents, though age becomes salient under certain conditions; there is diversity in the implications of the environmental context for aging, in particular reflecting an “environmental docility” hypothesis; and aging must be viewed in interactional or transactional terms—older people “construct” the environment as a subjective entity.
Download or read book Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2020-05-14 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Social Capital as a Health Resource in Later Life The Relevance of Context written by Fredrica Nyqvist and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-02-20 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the social aspects of healthy ageing for older individuals. It features more than 15 papers that explore the relevance of the social environment for health on the micro, meso, and macro level. Overall, the book applies a comprehensive contextual approach that includes discussion of how family and friends, neighborhoods, nations, and welfare regimes influence health. The book first explores the issue on the individual level. It looks at the importance of social capital for health among older people, examines types of social networks and health among older Americans, as well as discusses dynamic social capital and mental health in late life. Next, the book looks at the issue through a neighborhood and societal context, which takes into account day-to-day interaction in the immediate environment as well as the social, health, and economic policies in place in different regions in the world, including America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. From there, the book goes on to offer implications and recommendations for research and practice, including the management of related concepts of research on well-being and health. It also offers a psychosocial approach to promoting social capital and mental health among older adults. This book provides health professionals as well as researchers and students in gerontology, sociology, social policy, psychology, and social work with vital insights into the social factors that increase healthy life years and promote well-being.
Download or read book Environmental Gerontology written by Rick J. Scheidt and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental gerontology – the research on aging and environment – evolved during the late 1960s, when the domain became a relevant topic due to societal concerns with the problems of housing for elderly people. The field proliferated during the 1970s and 1980s, and remains viable and active today on an international scale. However, in recent times, the viability of the field and its future has been brought into question. In this volume, international experts across diverse areas reflect on the current progress of their respective disciplines, illustrating research-grounded benefits emerging from their work, and suggesting new agenda that can guide progress in the future. The contributors address a wide range of issues, including: evaluation of existing paradigms and new theories that might advance both research and training; issues and applications in methods, measures, and empirically-generated research agenda; innovative approaches to environmental transformations in home, community, and long-term care settings; and understudied populations and issues in environmental gerontology. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Housing for the Elderly.
Download or read book Neighborhood Environment Stress and Obesogenic Behaviors Among Adults written by Wendy E. Barrington and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Background: Socio-ecologic models convey a conceptualization of how levels of environment surrounding individuals impact health behaviors and subsequent health outcomes. Neighborhood context, defined as area-level social or physical systems or structures, has been recognized as an important social determinant of many health outcomes across the lifespan. The overall goal of this dissertation was to evaluate the effects of worksite and home neighborhood contexts on biobehavioral pathways associated with stress. In particular, this dissertation evaluates whether workplace neighborhood context contributed to obesity-related behaviors, as most research to date has been in relation to the home neighborhood. It also examines how neighborhood contexts of the home and workplace influence levels of stress, a hypothesized pathway for the embodiment of contextual effectson chronic disease processes. Methods: Chapters 1 and 2 used Promoting Changes in Activity and Eating (PACE) data, which included approximately 2400 individuals at follow-up within randomly selected smaller worksites in Seattle, to evaluate associations. Chapter 3 evaluated associations among 510 non-Hispanic white women in Seattle who represented a broad range of individual and neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES). Chapter 4 evaluated associations among 541 older professional white men and women within the British civil service. To evaluate neighborhood and individual-level associations, all analyses used models that accounted for multiple sources of variance (i.e. random effects models, generalized estimating equations (GEE)) and included relevant covariates. Results: We found in chapter 1 that higher worksite-level SES was significantly associated with more walking for at least 10 minutes in the previous week among employees. Built environment attributes were also significantly and independently associated with obesity-related behaviors. Specifically, higher residential density around the worksite was significantly associated with walking and eating 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables, independent of worksite-level SES. More food and activity destinations as well as more intersections around the worksite were also significantly associated with more walking before accounting for worksite-level SES. We also found that higher residential density mediated the association of higher worksite-level SES with eating 5 or more servings of fruit and vegetables and with walking. Chapter 2 evaluated associations between social and built environment attributes surrounding worksites, perceived global and work-related stress, and C-Reactive Protein (CRP), a biomarker of inflammation that is associated with stress. We concluded that worksite context was not significantly associated with perceived stress or CRP in these data. Worksite contextual variables were associated with work demands and worker social support, however, and these relationships varied by gender. Specifically, work demands varied significantly by both worksite-level SES and surrounding residential density among men. White-collar worksite class was also associated with fewer work demands and greater social support. Among women, a significant linear trend between higher residential density and greater work demands was demonstrated. Worker social support also varied significantly by residential density. Chapter 3 evaluated associations between home neighborhood SES and general perceptions of stress and found relationships which depended on individual-level SES. Specifically, measures of higher neighborhood SES were associated with lower stress among lower educated women whereas the opposite was suggested for higher educated women. Similar relationships were suggested when using family income as a measure of individual-level SES, albeit not as consistent. Strong associations between perceived neighborhood characteristics and stress were exhibited for all women. Specifically, greater neighborhood problems and dissatisfaction as well as lower perceived walkability were all highly significantly associated with greater stress. Chapter 4 evaluated associations between home neighborhood SES (i.e. income and employment deprivation), perceived neighborhood characteristics (i.e. social control, neighborhood threat, fear of crime), and stress reactivity (i.e. cortisol). Income and employment deprivation were significantly associated with lower social control, higher neighborhood threat and greater fear of crime after accounting for individual demographic characteristics. Fully adjusted models also indicated that higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation were associated with cortisol non-response, an indicator of a "blunted" cortisol profile which has been associated with chronic disease risk. Perceived neighborhood characteristics were also significantly associated with cortisol non-response independent of individual-level demographic covariates. Mediation analyses indicated that the association between neighborhood SES and cortisol non-response was partially mediated by social control and neighborhood threat. Conclusion: These studies contribute to the collective understanding of how environments may impact health behaviors and subsequent risk of disease among adults through the stress process. Importantly, findings indicate that multiple neighborhood contexts may be salient to biobehavioral processes associated with stress. Perceived measures of the neighborhood are important determinants of stress which not only work independently, but also mediate relationships between neighborhood-level SES and the stress process. These more modifiable factors may provide targets for addressing neighborhood disparities in health associated with stress.
Download or read book New Directions in the Sociology of Aging written by Panel on New Directions in Social Demography, Social Epidemiology, and the Sociology of Aging and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2014-01-09 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The aging of the population of the United States is occurring at a time of major economic and social changes. These economic changes include consideration of increases in the age of eligibility for Social Security and Medicare and possible changes in benefit levels. Furthermore, changes in the social context in which older individuals and families function may well affect the nature of key social relationships and institutions that define the environment for older persons. Sociology offers a knowledge base, a number of useful analytic approaches and tools, and unique theoretical perspectives that can facilitate understanding of these demographic, economic, and social changes and, to the extent possible, their causes, consequences and implications. The Future of the Sociology of Aging: An Agenda for Action evaluates the recent contributions of social demography, social epidemiology and sociology to the study of aging and identifies promising new research directions in these sub-fields. Included in this study are nine papers prepared by experts in sociology, demography, social genomics, public health, and other fields, that highlight the broad array of tools and perspectives that can provide the basis for further advancing the understanding of aging processes in ways that can inform policy. This report discusses the role of sociology in what is a wide-ranging and diverse field of study; a proposed three-dimensional conceptual model for studying social processes in aging over the life cycle; a review of existing databases, data needs and opportunities, primarily in the area of measurement of interhousehold and intergenerational transmission of resources, biomarkers and biosocial interactions; and a summary of roadblocks and bridges to transdisciplinary research that will affect the future directions of the field of sociology of aging.
