Aging & mental health
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Aging & mental health · Jan 2012
Effects of home, outside leisure, social, and peer activity on psychological health among Japanese family caregivers.
Previous research has indicated that informal caregivers' personal activities are disrupted by their caregiving role, leading to psychological stress and lower life satisfaction. However, the extent to which engagement in personal activities affects caregivers' psychological health remains unclear. This study examines the relationship between different types and frequencies of activities and both positive and negative parameters of the psychological health of caregivers. ⋯ This study shows that activity type and frequency are associated with caregivers' psychological health, extending previous findings and providing practical implications for the support of family caregivers through programs to improve their participation in specific types of activities.
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Aging & mental health · Jan 2012
Posttraumatic stress disorder and its comorbidity with depression and somatisation in the elderly - a German community-based study.
Even 60 years after World War II, the German elderly population is significantly more often affected by posttraumatic symptomatology compared to the younger cohorts. This study is addressing prevalence rates of posttraumatic symptomatology and its comorbidity with depression and somatisation. ⋯ Posttraumatic symptomatology is a common phenomenon in the German elderly population. Especially, subsyndromal disorders are very common and increasing across the age groups. Posttraumatic symptomatology is associated with an increased risk of depressive and somatoform disorders. As posttraumatic symptoms are often neglected in geriatric health care, future effort should address the recognition and treatment of posttraumatic symptoms in elderly patients.
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Aging & mental health · Jan 2012
Psychometric properties of the Hebrew version of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale short version.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Hebrew version of the Zarit Burden Interview (H-ZBI) short version. ⋯ The scale can be a useful screening instrument for professionals working with family caregivers to assess the degree of burden felt by family caregivers who provide long-term care for physically frail older adults. The scale also provides indications of the need for professional intervention when burden is great and negatively affects the caregivers' quality of life.
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Aging & mental health · Jan 2012
Attachment representations in people with dementia and their carers: implications for well-being within the dyad.
The process of developing and living with dementia may activate attachment feelings and behaviours in people with dementia (PwD) and their carers. By obtaining information from both PwD and carer, we aimed to provide information on the nature and concordance of attachment patterns within the dyad and to examine the relative contribution of attachment representations in PwD and carers to the well-being of both parties. ⋯ Attachment representations may be important for the psychological well-being of PwD and carers, but there was no evidence of the reciprocal nature of attachment within these dyads.
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Aging & mental health · Jan 2012
An examination of the needs of older patients with chronic mental illness in public mental health services.
To describe the needs of patients aged 50 years and over with chronic mental illness being case managed within a public mental health service, and to determine factors that influence these needs. ⋯ The social needs of older patients with chronic mental illness require greater attention by public mental health services.