Habits and Lifestyles of Successfully Aging Women in a Rural Area

Older adults in rural areas have unique challenges to maintain well-being. The goal of this project was to examine those unique factors related to successful aging in a sample of older women living in a rural area in the Midwest using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Mental and physical health, personality traits, cognitive abilities (i.e., working memory, vocabulary and attention), and activity levels were assessed. A semi-structured interview using a life narrative approach was also used to explore habits, family relationships and lifestyles over the past 20 years. The women were administered the following measures: 1) Big Five Factor Personality Inventory (John, 1990); 2) The Florida Cognitive Activities Scale (Schinka et al., 2005); 3) Geriatric Depression Scale (Brink et al., 1982); 4) A series of cognitive tasks to assess working memory, vocabulary, and attention; and 5) the Identity Style (revised) measure. All of the women indicated that they felt they were aging successfully. Many of the women also reported having very healthy diets, moderate to high levels of exercise, and included many redemption sequences in their life stories (i.e., a negative event leading to an emotionally positive outcome). Current self-rated health was related to Extraversion (r = -.45), Openness (r = -.36), and Neuroticism (r = .35). Interestingly, the women\u27s educational level was related to their current level of cognitive activities (r = .39) as well as depression score (r = -.36). These findings present support for the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and also indicate that many factors including personality traits as well as education may play a role in how well women age

Hidden Symmetries of the Kepler Problem

The orbits of planets can be described by solving Kepler’s problem which considers the motion due to by gravity (or any inverse square force law). The solutions to Kepler’s problem, for energies less then 0, are ellipses, with a few conserved quantities: energy, angular momentum and the Laplace-Runge-Lenz (LRL) vector. Each conserved quantity corresponds to symmetries of the system via N ̈other’s theorem. Energy conservation relates to time translations and angular momentum to three dimensional rotations. The symmetry related to the LRL vector is more difficult to visualize since it lives in phase space rather than configuration space. To understand the symmetry corresponding to the LRL vector, I use tools from Hamiltonian Mechanics, including the Poisson bracket, flow parameters, and action angle variables to make a visualization of the effect of the symmetry corresponding to the LRL vector. In particular the LRL vector corresponds to four-dimensional rotations in phase space. Though it is beyond the scope of this project I hope to use the solidified understanding of the relationship between conserved quantities and symmetries to simplify the derivation of the probability distribution of semi-major axis given a single direct image of an exoplanet

Feasibility of home-based neurologic music therapy for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: a pilot study

Family caregivers often feel ill-equipped to handle bothersome behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, such as agitation, apathy, and sleep disturbances, leading to increased caregiver distress and nursing home placement for people with dementia. Therapies for such symptoms are currently limited and non-pharmacological options are preferred, given potential side effects of medications. Neurologic music therapy (NMT) could provide an additional treatment option for managing behavioral and psychological symptoms for community-dwelling people with dementia and their caregivers. This pilot study sought to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of home-based NMT for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Eighteen persons with dementia-caregiver dyads were enrolled to receive one-hour weekly sessions of home-based NMT for 6 weeks. Demographic, quality of life, neuropsychiatric symptom, and caregiver burden and self-efficacy information was collected at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks. Seven dyads (38.9%) withdrew from therapy before completing all sessions; these participants had higher Neuropsychiatric Inventory scores and were of older age at baseline. For those who completed therapy, neuropsychiatric symptom scores improved at 6 weeks, an effect that was sustained at 12 weeks. No other outcome measures changed significantly after therapy. Initiating NMT too late in the course of dementia, when behavioral symptoms are already present, may be impractical for people with dementia and increase caregiver stress, even when provided within the home. Introducing and incorporating the principles of NMT earlier in the course of dementia could allow for increased comfort and benefit for people with dementia and their caregivers

Feasibility, Acceptability, and Efficacy of Home-Based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Pain in Older Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias: A Randomized Sham-Controlled Pilot Clinical Trial

Although transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is emerging as a convenient pain relief modality for several chronic pain conditions, its feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy on pain in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) have not been investigated. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of 5, 20-min home-based tDCS sessions on chronic pain in older adults with ADRD. We randomly assigned 40 participants to active (n = 20) or sham (n = 20) tDCS. Clinical pain intensity was assessed using a numeric rating scale (NRS) with patients and a proxy measure (MOBID-2) with caregivers. We observed significant reductions of pain intensity for patients in the active tDCS group as reflected by both pain measures (NRS: Cohen’s d = 0.69, p-value = 0.02); MOBID-2: Cohen’s d = 1.12, p-value = 0.001). Moreover, we found home-based tDCS was feasible and acceptable intervention approach for pain in ADRD. These findings suggest the need for large-scale randomized controlled studies with larger samples and extended versions of tDCS to relieve chronic pain on the long-term for individuals with ADRD

Global rural health disparities in Alzheimer\u27s disease and related dementias: State of the science

INTRODUCTION: Individuals living in rural communities are at heightened risk for Alzheimer\u27s disease and related dementias (ADRD), which parallels other persistent place-based health disparities. Identifying multiple potentially modifiable risk factors specific to rural areas that contribute to ADRD is an essential first step in understanding the complex interplay between various barriers and facilitators. METHODS: An interdisciplinary, international group of ADRD researchers convened to address the overarching question of: What can be done to begin minimizing the rural health disparities that contribute uniquely to ADRD? In this state of the science appraisal, we explore what is known about the biological, behavioral, sociocultural, and environmental influences on ADRD disparities in rural settings. RESULTS: A range of individual, interpersonal, and community factors were identified, including strengths of rural residents in facilitating healthy aging lifestyle interventions. DISCUSSION: A location dynamics model and ADRD-focused future directions are offered for guiding rural practitioners, researchers, and policymakers in mitigating rural disparities. HIGHLIGHTS: Rural residents face heightened Alzheimer\u27s disease and related dementia (ADRD) risks and burdens due to health disparities. Defining the unique rural barriers and facilitators to cognitive health yields insight. The strengths and resilience of rural residents can mitigate ADRD-related challenges. A novel location dynamics model guides assessment of rural-specific ADRD issues

Global rural health disparities in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: State of the science

INTRODUCTION: Individuals living in rural communities are at heightened risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), which parallels other persistent place-based health disparities. Identifying multiple potentially modifiable risk factors specific to rural areas that contribute to ADRD is an essential first step in understanding the complex interplay between various barriers and facilitators. METHODS: An interdisciplinary, international group of ADRD researchers convened to address the overarching question of: “What can be done to begin minimizing the rural health disparities that contribute uniquely to ADRD?” In this state of the science appraisal, we explore what is known about the biological, behavioral, sociocultural, and environmental influences on ADRD disparities in rural settings. RESULTS: A range of individual, interpersonal, and community factors were identified, including strengths of rural residents in facilitating healthy aging lifestyle interventions. DISCUSSION: A location dynamics model and ADRD-focused future directions are offered for guiding rural practitioners, researchers, and policymakers in mitigating rural disparities. HIGHLIGHTS: Rural residents face heightened Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD) risks and burdens due to health disparities. Defining the unique rural barriers and facilitators to cognitive health yields insight. The strengths and resilience of rural residents can mitigate ADRD-related challenges. A novel “location dynamics” model guides assessment of rural-specific ADRD issues