Hypertension in Older Adults and the Role of Positive Emotions

Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma City Times newspaper. Caption: "In Oklahoma City, one minute of prayerful silence at 1 a.m., broken by the sound of "Taps" will mark the observance of a national holiday, originally established before the end of the Civil War a century ago. The holiday started in the southern states as "Decoration Day" prior to the end of the war which seperated state from state and in some instances, brother from brother. Established originally as an observance to honor soldiers killed in the U.S. Civil War, it wasn't an official holiday for the nation until 1868. It was then Commander-in-chief John A. Logan of the grand Army of the Republic issued a general order designating May 30 "for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of thier country during the late rebellion........Oklahoma City American Legion Commander Tom McDonnell along with a group of buddies will place wreaths on the anchor and at the foot of the 45th National Guard Memorial in Civic Center on Memorial Day morning..........Post 170 will decorate Arlington, east of the city. Post 73 will take care of Sunnylane cemetery on 29th near Del City and several of the smaller posts will take care of smaller cemeteries.

Examining the disablement process among older Mexican American adults

The Disablement Process model (Verbrugge and Jette, Social Science & Medicine 38 (1994) 1) describes a pathway leading from pathology to impairment to functional limitations, and, ultimately to disability. Components of this model have been examined among older White adults; however, very little research has examined the disablement process among older adults of other ethnic groups. Our goal in this research is to evaluate the Disablement Process model using Activities of Daily Living (ADL) disability as the outcome among a representative group of older Mexican American adults in the Southwestern United States. Respondents are from two waves of the Hispanic Established Populations Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (EPESE) (n=2439). Structural equation models (LISREL 8.30) are utilized to examine the Disablement Process model. We also investigate aspects of the original model that have potentially important effects on the process of becoming disabled, such as cognitive impairment and perceived emotional support. Findings from structural equation models suggest that the main pathway from pathology to ADL disability is through functional limitations among older Mexican Americans. Risk factors, especially age and gender, have significant indirect effects on ADL disability. The main pathway in the Disablement Process model receives preliminary support among older Mexican Americans. We discuss implications of this model for future research.USA Disability Aging Mexican American