{"title":"Bridging the Gap Between Actual and Desired Quality of Life: A Study of Older Adults in Institutional Care Settings in India.","authors":"Mayanka Gupta, Sushma Goel, Vinita Bhargava","doi":"10.1080/01634372.2025.2477575","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2025.2477575","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With an aging population, ensuring older adults' well-being is crucial. This study examined actual and desired Quality of Life (QoL) among institutionalized older Indians in care homes and recreational centers. Using a mixed-method approach, it analyzed key QoL dimensions, forming a QoL index. Surveys (293 participants) and qualitative data revealed significant gaps between actual and desired QoL, highlighting diverse needs across institutional contexts. Findings underscore the need for continuous QoL advancements in policies and programs. Targeted interventions can enhance QoL, offering valuable insights for social work practice and policy development to better support older adults' evolving needs.</p>","PeriodicalId":47579,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gerontological Social Work","volume":" ","pages":"1-22"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143606107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J Mufina Begam, E P Abdul Azeez, C V Irshad, P Padma Sri Lekha
{"title":"Social Frailty Moderates the Association Between Gender and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey Among Indian Older Adults.","authors":"J Mufina Begam, E P Abdul Azeez, C V Irshad, P Padma Sri Lekha","doi":"10.1080/01634372.2025.2472967","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2025.2472967","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study examined the role of gender, social frailty, depressive symptoms, and cognitive impairment on life satisfaction, along with the interaction effect of social frailty between gender and life satisfaction. We used the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) Wave 1 data and considered 23,345 older adults. Multivariate models, ordinary least squares regression, and moderation analyses were conducted. The higher levels of social frailty status depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment reduced life satisfaction. The interaction models revealed that the relationship between gender and life satisfaction was moderated by social frailty. The results indicate the need to improve social networks and engagement among aging adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":47579,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gerontological Social Work","volume":" ","pages":"1-20"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143587585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gender Identity, Sexuality, and LGBTI Perspectives in Swedish Dementia Care Policies.","authors":"Anna Siverskog, Linn J Sandberg","doi":"10.1080/01634372.2025.2472971","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2025.2472971","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aims to explore articulations of gender identity, sexuality, and LGBTI perspectives in national as well as local dementia care policies and guidelines in Sweden. The analysis of the documents is influenced by Bacchi's WPR-approach. The analysis illustrates how there is a general silence on gender identity, sexuality, and LGBTI perspectives in policy. LGBTI perspectives tend to be addressed separately from people with dementia and most often present as potential grounds for discrimination. LGBTI people with dementia appear to be non-existent, and gender identity and sexuality irrelevant to dementia care and person-centered approaches, and by extension irrelevant to personhood.</p>","PeriodicalId":47579,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gerontological Social Work","volume":" ","pages":"1-22"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143558351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Childhood Threats and Cognitive Difficulties in Mid and Later Life: A Gendered Perspective on the Mediating Role of Family Functioning.","authors":"Xue Bai, Jia-Jia Zhou, Bo Hu, David Ho Keung Shum","doi":"10.1080/01634372.2025.2471994","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2025.2471994","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study examined the associations between childhood threats (parental abuse and bullying victimization) and cognitive difficulties in mid and later life. Data were extracted from the 2022 Panel Study on Active Ageing and Society in Hong Kong (<i>N</i> = 5,007). Mediation analyses were performed using the PROCESS macro, both for the entire sample and gender-stratified models. Findings revealed that frequent parental abuse and bullying victimization during childhood were associated with increased cognitive difficulties in mid and later life. Contemporary family functioning mediated these relationships. Gender differences were observed in the mediating role of family functioning, with its significance limited to older women.</p>","PeriodicalId":47579,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gerontological Social Work","volume":" ","pages":"1-21"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143558349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rauf Yanardağ, Ahmet Tunç, Sema Dökme Yağar, Fedayi Yağar
{"title":"Life Satisfaction, Perception of Loneliness and Death Anxiety of Older Adults Living in Container Cities After the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes.","authors":"Rauf Yanardağ, Ahmet Tunç, Sema Dökme Yağar, Fedayi Yağar","doi":"10.1080/01634372.2025.2471986","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2025.2471986","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>After the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, thousands of people started to live in container cities. Determining the life satisfaction levels of older adults living in these cities and investigating the factors that may be effective are of vital importance for individuals. 274 older adults living in container cities in Kahramanmaraş city constituted the sample of this study. Results show that the life satisfaction levels of earthquake victims older adults living in the container city are at a medium level. Additionally, both perceptions of loneliness and death anxiety had a negative relationship with life satisfaction.</p>","PeriodicalId":47579,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gerontological Social Work","volume":" ","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143544024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"\"I Should Not Have to Teach My Providers\": Identifying Challenges Associated with LGBTQ Aging.","authors":"M Aaron Guest, Jane Hook, Beth Hunter","doi":"10.1080/01634372.2025.2471442","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01634372.2025.2471442","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals are living longer but facing increased barriers to access to care. To understand this discrepancy, we conducted a multi-phase needs assessment on the needs of LGBTQ older adults. Six hundred seventy-two individuals participated in the survey, which included six open-ended questions. Using thematic analysis, our findings point to critical challenges in healthcare access, including locating affirming and affordable providers, accessing social support, the availability of housing, and accessing legal services. Addressing these challenges requires gerontologists to engage in activities to remove barriers to care and generate innovative solutions to reduce health disparities.</p>","PeriodicalId":47579,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gerontological Social Work","volume":" ","pages":"1-19"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143504813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Afro-Centric Care Matching Strategies - A Potential Approach to Providing Culturally Appropriate Older Adult Care.","authors":"Anthony Obinna Iwuagwu","doi":"10.1080/01634372.2025.2471468","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2025.2471468","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47579,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gerontological Social Work","volume":" ","pages":"1-4"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143494237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lena Rebecca Richardson, Sarah L Canham, Rachel Weldrick, Jill Hoselton, Alison Grittner, Christine A Walsh
{"title":"\"I Feel Like a Somebody Again\": Ethics of Care at a Shelter for Older Adults Fleeing Abuse in Canada.","authors":"Lena Rebecca Richardson, Sarah L Canham, Rachel Weldrick, Jill Hoselton, Alison Grittner, Christine A Walsh","doi":"10.1080/01634372.2025.2468314","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2025.2468314","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Abuse against older adults is an under-researched pathway to older adult homelessness. This paper fills a gap through a secondary data analysis of qualitative interviews with five providers and 10 clients from a homeless shelter serving older adults fleeing abuse. Drawing on a feminist ethics of care framework, we explored the role of care in participants' experiences of shelter life and what aging in the right place meant to them, identifying three themes: 1) cultivating trust and relationship-building between providers and clients; 2) caregiving, mutual care, and collective care among clients; and 3) lack of care and processes of repair.</p>","PeriodicalId":47579,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gerontological Social Work","volume":" ","pages":"1-23"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143473349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laura Bradbury, Katherine Supiano, Troy Andersen, Kimberly Ponce-Gonzalez, Adrienne Bott
{"title":"Lessons Learned in Recruitment, Training, and Retention in a Pre-Loss Grief Support Intervention.","authors":"Laura Bradbury, Katherine Supiano, Troy Andersen, Kimberly Ponce-Gonzalez, Adrienne Bott","doi":"10.1080/01634372.2025.2465244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2025.2465244","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Participant recruitment in dementia caregiver research is recognized as challenging. This article details the strategies, barriers, and successes of a recruitment approach of a clinical intervention trial for family caregivers of persons living with dementia. Throughout the study, we dealt with challenges both within and outside the researchers' control. These challenges included institutional barriers, community barriers, and individual barriers. To maximize our chances for success, we focused on building strong relationships between the research team and the participants. Using social workers as recruiters, maintaining frequent contact with participants, and flexibility in managing challenges promoted modest success in recruitment and retention.</p>","PeriodicalId":47579,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gerontological Social Work","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143434097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nathalie McIntosh, Lara VandenBergh, Whitney L Mills
{"title":"The Impact of a Guardianship Social Worker on Inpatient Time-To-Guardianship and Costs: Preliminary Findings.","authors":"Nathalie McIntosh, Lara VandenBergh, Whitney L Mills","doi":"10.1080/01634372.2024.2424421","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01634372.2024.2424421","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Unrepresented patients who lack decision-making capacity can remain in hospitals for weeks awaiting guardianship and subsequent discharge, resulting in medically unnecessary and costly extended stays. The guardianship process is complicated and requires collaboration between the medical and legal systems. The Rocky Mountain Regional Veteran Affairs Medical Center created a guardianship social worker position to improve the guardianship process by developing subject matter expertise, infrastructure, and standardized procedures. In this brief report, we provide preliminary data on the impact of a guardianship social worker. Time to guardianship completion, mean lengths of stay (LOS), counts of completed guardianships, and cost estimates were compared before and after the guardianship social worker position was created. The mean time to complete guardianships decreased from 121.9 to 69.8 days (<i>p</i> = .13), the mean LOS for patients awaiting guardianship decreased from 129.8 to 117.2 days (<i>p</i> = .39), and the yearly counts of completed guardianships increased from 2 to 9 (<i>p</i> = .002). Estimated inpatient cost savings per patient was $56,244. While promising, these preliminary data are limited by small case numbers and the unknown impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on long-term placement. Creating guardianship-focused social work positions has the potential to create efficiencies in the guardianship process.</p>","PeriodicalId":47579,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Gerontological Social Work","volume":" ","pages":"269-278"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142584640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}