A Pilot Physical Activity Initiative to Improve Mental Health Status amongst Iranian Institutionalized Older People

Background: Sufficient level of physical activity may promote overall and mental health of old people. This study was carried out to investigate the practicability of a physical activity promotion initiative amongst institutionalized older people in Tabriz, Iran. Methods: Purposive sampling method was used in this semi-experimental study to recruit 31 older people living in a selected residential care in Tabriz. Moderate-intensity aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity was planned for those who had not severe baseline cognitive impairment or were not too frail to undertake the survey. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used to measure mental health status before and after intervention through a face-to-face interview. Descriptive statistics, Wilkcoxon rank-sum, Mann–Whitney U and Chi-Square tests were employed to analyses the data. Results: The applied intervention was significantly improved status of physical health, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression. Conclusion: Incorporation of physical activity promotion programs into routines of older people residential care homes in Iran is feasible but may need training of physical activity specialists to work with older people based on their physical endurance and limitations

Socioeconomic Status and Coronary Heart Disease

Background: Iran has undergone a remarkable demographic transition over the last threedecades. Socioeconomic status (SES) indicators including education, income, and occupationare associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors, morbidity, and mortality. Theaim of the present study was to describe demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, theirassociation to the diseases, and to explore the predictive risk of CHD in Tabriz, the fourthlargest city in Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province.Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out to explore and analyze thecurrent SES status of CHD patients. The study was conducted in Tabriz and all patients(n=189) refereed to the Central Referral Hospital for cardiac patients (Shahid Madani Hospital)from 2009 to 2010 were considered. A researcher structured questionnaire with 15 questionswas used to collect data. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the basic SES featuresof the CHD patients and data analysis was done using SPSS ver. 16.Results: Less educated participants were more susceptible to CHD. Regarding to occupationalstatus, housewives and retired men were in higher risk of CHD than the rest of the people.Studied patients also reported to be mostly from urban areas that were living in apartmentcomplexes.Conclusion: In line with some international research evidence the study results suggested thatpeople from lower/middle social classes were in greater CHD risk than higher social classes.This epidemic might be halted through the promotion of healthier lifestyles and the support ofenvironmental and policy changes

The contribution of home-based technology to older people's quality of life in extra care housing

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>British government policy for older people focuses on a vision of active ageing and independent living. In the face of diminishing personal capacities, the use of appropriate home-based technology (HBT) devices could potentially meet a wide range of needs and consequently improve many aspects of older people's quality of life such as physical health, psychosocial well-being, social relationships, and their physical or living environment. This study aimed to examine the use of HBT devices and the correlation between use of such devices and quality of life among older people living in extra-care housing (ECH).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A structured questionnaire was administered for this study. Using purposive sampling 160 older people living in extra-care housing schemes were selected from 23 schemes in England. A face-to-face interview was conducted in each participant's living unit. In order to measure quality of life, the SEIQoL-Adapted and CASP-19 were used.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Although most basic appliances and emergency call systems were used in the living units, communally provided facilities such as personal computers, washing machines, and assisted bathing equipment in the schemes were not well utilised. Multiple regression analysis adjusted for confounders including age, sex, marital status, living arrangement and mobility use indicated a coefficient of 1.17 with 95% CI (0.05, 2.29) and <it>p </it>= 0.04 [SEIQoL-Adapted] and 2.83 with 95% CI (1.17, 4.50) and <it>p </it>= 0.001 [CASP-19].</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The findings of the present study will be value to those who are developing new form of specialised housing for older people with functional limitations and, in particular, guiding investments in technological aids. The results of the present study also indicate that the home is an essential site for developing residential technologies.</p

The contribution of home-based technology to elderly people's quality of life in extra-care housing

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

A systematic review to compare residential care facilities for older people in developed countries: Practical implementations for Iran

The existing nursing homes in Iran cannot meet the psychological, social, and physical needs of older people. A majority of vulnerable individuals do not receive good-quality housing and a pleasant home environment. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the structure of purpose-built, modified housing, self-contained dwellings, residential care, and nursing homes for older people in Iran and around the developed countries. A systematic review was carried out to explore all the relative objects published in Persian and English during 1994–2016. The following databases were investigated: ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, SID, Magiran, and Irandoc. Then, the results were screened independently by two reviewers using predefined inclusion criteria. Moreover, the resources were analyzed in terms of basic features, patterns of care, type of services, personnel, and facilities. Various settings such as sheltered housing, extra care housing, nursing home, residential facilities, retirement community, and foster nursing homes were approached. We concluded that the care services provided to the elderly of Iran have quantitative and qualitative deficiencies due to non-compliance of these centers with international standards

Healthy Lifestyle Status among Non- Institutionalized Older People: A Literature Review

Introduction: Advances in medical and health sciences have led to increase in the number of older people. The most common non- communicable diseases can be prevented by following a healthy lifestyle. This study aimed to investigate the lifestyle of elderly people by reviewing the literatures and background of the previous researches in order to obtain a holistic view about lifestyle. Methods: A fast literature review was conducted applying retrospective approach to identify the status of lifestyle among older people. For this purpose, the related references with keywords involving 'lifestyle', 'elderly people', 'aging', and 'multiple chronic conditions' were electronically searched in databases ‘All Academic’, ‘ISI web of knowledge’, ‘PsycNET’, ‘Social Sciences Citation Index’, and ‘PubMed’ from 2002 to 2015. Results: 26 related articles were finalised and reviewed according to the study aims. The results showed that those people with an inappropriate lifestyle were more likely to die because of health difficulty reasons. Improving healthy lifestyle including dietary habits, weight control, physical activity, smoking cessation, managing stressful life events, and social capital were closely related with reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Conclusion: It seems that the awareness about the relationship between healthy lifestyle and incidence of multiple chronic conditions among older people may be effective in understanding of the potential health consequences of their performance, and also in modifying lifestyle

Older People’s Quality of Life and Role of Home-Based Technology

Background: Household devices may have a positive impact on daily lives by reducing the burden ofseveral tasks and enriching social interaction. There are varieties of assistive devices such as alarms, sensors,detectors, and life style monitoring devices, which can help in compensating for the activity limitationscaused by impairments. This study aimed to review the contribution that residential technologydevices can make to older people’s lives.Methods: An open-ended literature review following the guidance of the Centre for Review and Disseminationwas conducted to establish the current understanding of the topics by using clear and appropriatecriteria to select or reject studies. The studies entered into the review were limited by language,topic, and date of publication.Results: The research literature indicated that residential facilities which appropriately are designed andsupplied can have many benefits for older people such as increasing independence, maximising physicaland mental health, and improving their quality of life.Conclusion: Although most of the literature has explored the positive effects of technology devices onolder adults’ social networks, independence, psychological well-being, and social status, the possibilitiesof negative consequences have been neglected

Admission to a Nursing Home: Viewpoints of Institutionalized Older People about Replacement

Introduction: This study carried out to investigate the causes and motivations of older people residing in nursing home. Methods: A qualitative description study was designed by choosing a sample of the elderly residing in a nursing home in Tabriz, Iran. Based on purposive sampling, fifteen residents in the age range of 65-85 participated in the study. Data was collected through unstructured interviews/focus group discussions and then analyzed using content analysis. Results: Generally, two main concepts were obtained from the data as follow: non-compulsory entry and compulsory entry. Moving with prior approval, financial and family problems were considered as the subcategories of non-compulsory entry, while lack of consciousness and deception were dominated as sub-categorise of compulsory entering. Conclusion: We face a growing demand for community-based long-term care alternative to nursing homes as the elderly population is becoming elder. Frail older people who participated in the research were more likely to delay or prevent their entry into nursing homes