Social participation has tremendous implications for the physical and mental health of older adults. A growing body of Canadian literature has examined social participation among older adults, including frequency of participation; gender, age, and regional differences in participation; and associations with self-perceived health, loneliness, and life dissatisfaction. The current study adds to this important body of research, using a large, nationally representative sample of adults 45–85 years of age (Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging [CLSA] baseline data [n = 51,338]), to examine nuanced characteristics associated with social participation (socio-demographics, social support, cognitive ability, mental health, physical conditions), frequency of participation, and the relationship between the aforementioned characteristics and frequency of participation. Findings indicated that compared with those who reported infrequent/no participation, more frequent participation was associated with greater social support, higher cognitive abilities, increased satisfaction with life, fewer depressive symptoms, reduced odds of self-reported mood and anxiety disorders, and fewer self-reported physical conditions. Findings highlight the importance of active social participation, and have important implications for the development and implementation of accessible community programs across Canada.

Caregivers of persons with dementia and depression experience adverse effects associated with their role. The aim of this scoping review was to identify the challenges faced by caregivers of people with dementia and depression, along with interventions to support them. The MEDLINE®, Embase and PsycINFO databases were searched using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. Grey literature was assessed using the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health’s Gray Matter tool.

The population consisted of caregivers of people with dementia and depression; the concept was to identify the negative impacts that caregivers experience and whether there are interventions to reduce them; the context was any study design targeting family or friends who were caregivers. A total of 12,835 citations were identified; 139 studies were included. Dementia and depression have variable impacts on outcomes experienced by caregivers, including burden/strain (n = 52), depression (n = 27), distress (n = 53), quality of life (n = 5) and health/well-being (n = 9). Pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions have mixed effects. This study is important considering that depression in people with dementia is associated with caregiver distress. The use of a variety of non-pharmacological interventions could be beneficial to the latter.

This study aimed to explore the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and potential associations (i.e., strength and direction) with caregiver characteristics or factors. A targeted survey was distributed to dementia caregivers aged 55+ years. Questions concerning psychological distress, suicidal thoughts while caregiving and antecedents of suicidal behaviours were administered. A sample of 71 French-speaking Canadian caregivers completed the survey between May and October 2019. Among them, 52.1 per cent (n = 37) reported suicidal ideation while providing care to a relative or a friend living with dementia. Caregivers who presented suicidal ideation reported more abusive behaviour toward the care recipient. Caregivers who reported suicidal thoughts were significantly more distressed than caregivers without them on measures of burden, depression, and anxiety. Suicidal thoughts in caregivers are important evaluation targets, primarily for the prevention of suicide, but also because caregivers who report suicidal thoughts also present a heightened risk for abusing the care recipient.

The objectives of this feasibility study were to measure the prevalence of nutrition risk in community-dwelling older adults (CDOA, ages ≥ 65 years) and explore the perspectives of CDOA of the acceptability, value, and effectiveness of nutrition risk screening in primary care and community settings. Using the Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition (SCREEN)© eight-item tool (n = 276), results indicated that moderate and high nutrition risks affected 50 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively, of those screened. Interviewees (n = 16) agreed that screening is acceptable, important, and valuable (Theme One). Effectiveness was unclear, as only 3 of 16 respondents recalled being told their nutrition risk status. When articulating nutrition-related issues, a food security theme, expressed in the third person, was prominent (Theme Two). Screening for nutrition risk and receiving nutrition information in community-based settings are acceptable to CDOA and medically necessary, as evidenced by the high proportion of CDOA at moderate-high nutrition risk.

The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of a leisure education/ counseling workshop on the leisure motivation, participation and satisfaction of a group of 27 senior citizens. The content of the workshop was based largely on the value clarification technique. The data, analysed using the t-test, indicate the workshop's limited impact on the dependent variables measured.

The possibility of measuring human activity patterns is discussed in terms of data obtained by attitude assessment, activity questionnaires, personal monitoring devices and fitness assessment. Specific problems are noted in applying these several techniques to elderly populations. Attitude assessments indicate the intention to exercise, and practical barriers may limit the translation of intention into overt behaviour. Questionnaires are open to exaggeration, but nevertheless remain the most practical method of evaluating large populations. Personal monitors can only be applied to small samples, but may nevertheless be helpful in improving questionnaire design. Fitness tests raise concerns of safety, and seem likely to bias population sampling towards the active elderly; scores are also influenced more by inherited factors than by current activity. Activity measurements seem unlikely to yield more than a crude estimate of total dietary needs in a population, but they may nevertheless help to identify a subset of old people where detailed nutritional examination is particularly cost-effective. The accurate determination of activity patterns will also have value as a means of encouraging the elderly to adopt an active lifestyle, maximizing their physical potential.

Causes of falls in older adults are common, multifactorial, and can lead to significant injury. This before-and-after study evaluated the benefits of a Fall Prevention Mobile Clinic (FPMC) in reducing the risk of falling in older adults in British Columbia, Canada. Four hundred seventy-six participants (average age of 83.6 years) enrolled in the study and were followed for 12 months after attending the FPMC. At 12-month follow-up, the mean percentage uptake of fall prevention recommendations was 48.8 per cent (SD = 25.7%), the Timed Up and Go mobility measure improved from a median of 19.04 seconds to 17.45 seconds and the number of participants falling decreased from 64.8 per cent (in the 12 months before attending the clinic) to 55.6 per cent (in the 12 months after attending the clinic) (p = .012). After attending the FPMC, participants acted on recommendations, improved mobility and decreased their risk of future falls.

Online delivery is new to the field of music therapy (MT). This research investigated older adults’ perceived quality of MT online by certified music therapists. In this feasibility study, applying both process and outcome assessments, nine older adults volunteered to participate. Zoom was used, and a virtual music therapy (VMT) kit was developed as a resource. Surveys and observed technical difficulties revealed that perceived quality varied slightly by level of technical difficulty experienced; however, overall mean perceived quality was 7.2 out of 9. Post-study interviews revealed three main themes: (a) individual experiences with VMT, (b) individuals’ suggestions for further development of VMT sessions, and (c) individuals’ personal outcomes from VMT sessions. Participants reported overall positive experiences with VMT. Despite a slight decline in perceived quality when more technical difficulties were present, each participant reported a desire for more sessions, and they would recommend it to others.

Psychological treatment of depression in the elderly has recently benefited from the development of the cognitive approach. In particular, cognitive psychotherapy seems well adapted to and accepted by older people. In this article, we attempt to show the course of this type of psychotherapy in the case of a 79 year-old depressive woman in our Cognitive Therapy Unit for Elderly. We emphasize the therapeutical setting and the content of the sessions, the techniques used, the changes that occurred, and finally, the therapeutic alliance is described. Although some negative views about psychotherapy with older people are not totally abandoned, this vignette is a good illustration of the benefits for the patient and the highly enriching work for the therapist.

Survivorship of patients placed into long-term care facilities within the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth was studied over a seven-year period from 1980 to 1987. All patients had been assessed prior to placement by the Placement and Coordination Service and their computer files served as the data base for this study. Over the seven years, 25 per cent of patients died in each of nursing homes, homes for the aged and lodging homes and over 50 per cent of patients died after being placed in chronic care hospitals. Approximately 10 per cent of the deaths occurred in the first year after placement in the lodging homes, homes for the aged and nursing homes, whereas 25 per cent died in this time in chronic care beds. Survivorship rates of all patients combined differed significantly for males compared with females, but were not significantly different for variables such as age at time of placement, marital status, ambulation, living arrangement, previous location of community versus institutions, and agreement between recommended and final placement. Client's memory at time of placement was associated with survivorship in a nursing home: males with “no recall” and females with “marked confusion” and “no recall” survived longer than those with “normal” memory.

The aim of this research was to study the relationship between aging and decision-making. Specifically, it deals with managers' views on the hypothetical effects of age and experience on decision behaviour. Do the numerous beliefs and stereotypes related to the supposed effects of aging (i.e. agism) affect the decision-making process and its results? Are younger managers more creative, quicker or more audacious than older managers? Are the experienced managers more skilled, cautious or pragmatic than the less experienced ones? Given the fact that mean age of managers in many contemporary public organizations is rising, further information is needed on how this trend will affect the behaviour and state of mind of public managers who make daily decisions bearing important economic and social consequences. To investigate these questions, interviews were conducted with managers employed by Quebec's public service. These interviews were aimed at collecting data about the way managers themselves perceive the effects of aging on decision behaviour. Results indicated that managers do not readily link age and decision behaviour. However, the relationship between experience and decision behaviour is perceived as comparatively strong. The relevancy of further research on the effects of experience on decision behaviour and, more generally, on the effects of experience on working abilities is discussed.

An analysis is made concerning the relation of different factors to client transfer between levels of care in an area-based system of long-term care for the elderly and the disabled. Special emphasis is given to the transfer from non-institutional to institutional care. The analysis uses data collected through the application of the ASIM monitoring system from 1985 to 1991 in the municipality of Solna, Sweden. Factors analysed include age, sex, marital status, co-habitation, accessibility of housing, informal social support and different aspects of disability. Multivariate analysis regarding factors related to institutionalization — i.e. transfer from domiciliary care or sheltered housing to residential home or long-term hospital care/nursing home — showed level of disability, staff assessment of appropriate level of care and age to be the most significant factors. Dementia was the strongest individual disability factor with functional disability and incontinence also having some influence on the probability of transfer. Deficiencies in the social environment in terms of living alone, inadequate housing accessibility or lack of social support did not show up — presumably because they were adequately compensated for by the public home help services

In June 1993, the newly elected Progressive Conservative government of Alberta headed by Ralph Klein initiated a three-year deficit-elimination plan focussing exclusively on expenditure reductions. Despite the rapid implementation of this plan over the next three years, most Albertans did not find subsequent changes in government services and the shift of costs to the consumer to be consequential.Senior citizens, however, differ in a number of significant ways from the general population. Direct reductions in benefits, as well as cost-of-living increases and increases in other costs, combined to create a larger impact for seniors. A case study of one middle-income senior couple illustrates this point. This paper indicates that a more in-depth appraisal of the potential impact of social policy changes on vulnerable groups should be undertaken in other jurisdictions prior to the adoption of such fiscal-reform plans.

This is a descriptive retrospective study of geriatric medical consultation to a psychogeriatric unit in a general teaching hospital over a two-year period. Ninety-eight discharges were studied to assess patient demographics, medications and discharge status. 39.8 per cent of patients on the unit were seen in consultation by geriatric medicine. Males were more likely to require consultation. Length of stay was longer for those seen in consultation. Primary affective disorder was the most common psychiatric diagnosis in the patients studied. Management of pre-existing neurologic and cardiac disease were the predominant reasons for consultation. The supportive environment of this medical liaison model on a psychogeriatric unit provides an excellent teaching environment for both geriatric medical and psychiatric trainees.

Des estimations ont été recueillies d'un groupe de 120 sous-graduées sur le rendement d'une parmi quatre cibles féminines (àgées de 24, 44, 64, ou 84 ans) sur le test Schaie-Thurstone Adult Mental Abilities, Form A (STAMAT; Schaie, 1985). Pour examiner l'importance de la familiarité avec une tàche dans la précision de son exécution, la moitié des répondantes ont été chargées de remplir le STAMAT elles-mêmes avant d'évaluer les scores pour leur cible; l'autre moitié a pu examiner le contenu du test mais n'a pas rempli le STAMAT avant de soumettre leurs estimations. Une comparaison entre les estimations et les normes du STAMAT a indiqué que la plupart étaient exactes; certaines étaient excessivement généreuses, surtout pour les cibles les plus àgées. De très faibles différences dans les estimations ont été décelées entre celles qui avaient été chargées de remplir le test et celles qui ne l'avaient pas été au préalable. Finalement, les résultats ont confirmé que les répondantes ont une opinion différente sur l'évaluation chronologique des habiletés cognitives.