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Faculty of Health and Community Studies

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14078/25

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Browsing Faculty of Health and Community Studies by Subject "aging"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Ageism and future cohorts of elderly: implications for social work
    (2014) Azulai, Anna
    In the field of prejudice and discrimination studies, an emphasis has been on racism and sexism, with comparatively little attention to understanding of ageism. This fact is alarming, particularly in the context of the growing population of older adults around the globe. This article provides a review of evidence of ageism among members of helping professions. The author expresses concern and develops an argument that ageism will increase as Baby Boomers reach retirement years. Implications for social work are then discussed.
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    Current and future needs of gerontological social work practice in Alberta: findings from the World Café at the Gerontological Symposium in Edmonton, Canada
    (2022) Azulai, Anna; Tong, Hongmei; Quinn, Kathaleen; Mykietka, Kelly
    The growing aging population in Canada has multi-faceted psycho-social needs. Social workers are well-positioned to address these needs, despite many challenges. This paper reports findings from the World Café at the Gerontology Symposium in Alberta, Canada, held in 2018. The goal was to learn from social work practitioners, researchers, and educators (N=49) about current and future needs of gerontological social work in Alberta. There were two research questions: 1) What strategies do social workers need on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels to help better serve the growing older adult population in Alberta? (R1) 2) How can social workers promote the value and contribution of gerontological social work within the interprofessional community? (R2) The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Ten R1-related themes emerged: personal traits of a social worker; professional skills; bio-psycho-social needs of older adults; community connections; access to benefits; gerontological social work education; integrated healthcare; aging policy; ageism; and advocacy to strengthen the voice of older adults. The three R2-related themes include strengthening the status of the social work profession; building trust through demonstrated skills; and interprofessional education and practice.
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    How do regulated nurse professionals in Alberta assess geriatric depression in residential care facilities?
    (2019) Azulai, Anna; Walsh, Christine A.
    Although geriatric depression is a prevalent, serious, and under-recognized mental health condition in residential care facilities, there is a dearth of related research in Canada. This exploratory mixed methods study examines the perspectives and practices of regulated nurse professionals on assessment of geriatric depression in residential care facilities in Alberta. Findings from the quantitative surveys (n = 635) and qualitative interviews (n = 14) suggest that geriatric depression is not systematically assessed in these care settings due to multiple challenges, including confusing assessment protocol, inconsistent use and contested clinical utility of current assessment methods in facilities, limited availability of mental health professionals in facilities, and the varied views of regulated nurse professionals on who is responsible for depression assessment in facilities. Implications and future research directions are discussed
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    Multimorbidity resilience and health behaviors among older adults: a longitudinal study using the Canadian longitudinal study on aging
    (2022) Wister, Andrew; Li, Lun; Whitmore, Carly; Ferris, Jennifer; Klasa, Katarzyna; Linkov, Igor
    There has been a growing interest in examining why some individuals adapt and bounce back from multimorbidity (resilience) better than others. This paper investigates the positive role of protective health behaviors on multimorbidity resilience (MR) among older adults focusing on older persons with two or more concurrent chronic conditions, and separately for three multimorbidity chronic illness clusters.