Knowing health literacy levels of older patients and their caregivers is important because caregivers assist patients in the administration of medications, manage daily health care tasks, and help make health services utilization decisions. The authors examined the association of health literacy levels between older Hispanic patients and their caregivers among 174 patient-caregiver dyads enroll...

BACKGROUND Little is known regarding destinations and distances necessary for independent community ambulation after enactment of the Americans with Disability Act. OBJECTIVE To qualitatively describe community locations visited by older adults and to determine ambulation distance required to visit these locations. DESIGN Descriptive study. METHODS Nineteen subjects, 65 years or older and...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between the use of senior center and health-related quality of life in Korean older adults. METHODS A questionnaire survey was conducted to two types of older adults who lived in Busan, Korea: 154 older adults who used a senior center and 137 older adults who did not use a senior center. The Korean version of short-for...

Community organizations, such as churches, clubs, and senior centers, can be important locations for health programs. However, little is known about the organizational factors that influence participation and engagement in health programs. To learn more, we evaluated a community-based program designed to help US military veterans better manage their high blood pressure. The program involved tra...

PURPOSE The article seeks to identify patterns of service utilization among informal caregivers of frail older adults. In particular, the study examined determinants that explain heterogeneous variations in caregivers' service use patterns. METHODS Using a latent class analysis (LCA) on the 2004 National Long-Term Care Survey and Informal Caregiver data (n = 1,908), this study classifies over...

Balance ability decreases with age, which results in an increased risk of falls for people over age 65. Tai Chi exercise appears to offer potential benefits in the reduction of falls for the elderly. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of extended (6- and 12-month) Tai Chi exercise interventions on balance and selected motor functions for senior citizens. Forty-seven sub...

OBJECTIVES Data from the Healthy Aging Network (HAN) study (Prohaska, T., Eisenstein, A., Satariano, W., Hunter, R., Bayles, C., Kurtovich, E., … Ivey, S. [2009]. Walking and the preservation of cognitive function in older populations. The Gerontologist, 49[Suppl. 1], S86-S93; and Satariano, W., Ivey, S., Kurtovich, E., Kealey, M., Hubbard, A., Bayles, C., … Prohaska, T. [2010]. Lower-body func...

There has been numerous studies designed to assess the effects of religion on the psychological well-being of older adults. However, reviewing the literature reveals that currently the empirical work is inconsistent and often contradictory on this issue. The current study is designed to examine the effects of religiosity on psychological well-being in older adults. Psychological well-being will...

BACKGROUND Older adults are the fastest growing segment of the United States population. There is an immediate need to identify novel, cost-effective community-based approaches that promote health and well-being for older adults, particularly those from diverse racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Because choral singing is multi-modal (requires cognitive, physical, and psychosocial enga...

OBJECTIVES Obesity increases a person's risk for diabetes, which is becoming the most common chronic disease in the United States. Latina and African-American women in disadvantaged communities are at higher risk for becoming overweight and subsequently developing diabetes. The purpose of this focus-group study was to guide our adaptation of an evidence-based lifestyle intervention and implemen...