A Comprehensive Evaluation of a Lifelong Learning Program: Program 60.

Lifelong learning programs meet older adults' educational needs and further support their health and well-being leading to more successful aging. In particular, university-based lifelong learning programs have provided older adults with opportunities to not only develop skills and knowledge but also expand new social networks with people of different ages. This study evaluated a university-based lifelong learning program, Program 60, to identify the relationships between participants' experiences in the program and their quality of life. An online survey was employed, and 107 participants completed the self-report survey. The participants reported that classes helped increase their emotional satisfaction and that they enjoyed taking classes with younger students. Their experiences in the program reliably predicted psychological and social elements of their quality of life ( p = .004 and p = .019, respectively). Study results provide helpful information for the development of lifelong learning programs that are responsive to the increasing demands of older adults.

Korean Survivors of the Japanese "Comfort Women" System: Understanding the Lifelong Consequences of Early Life Trauma.

Prior to and during World War II, thousands of girls and young women were abducted from Korea and forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese government. Termed comfort women, these girls and young women suffered extreme sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and trauma. Research on this group is not well-developed and people know little of the impact of this early life trauma on the lives of these women who are now in later life. Using snowball sampling, 16 older adult survivors of the comfort women system participated in semistructured qualitative interviews. Thematic analysis was conducted to gain an understanding of the trauma that these women suffered and how it impacted their lives. Results revealed the depths of the abuse these women suffered, including repeated rapes, physical beatings, humiliation, forced surgery and sterilization, and social exclusion. These early traumatic experiences appeared to reverberate throughout their lives in their family relations, their inability to marry and to conceive children, and their emotional and physical well-being throughout the life course and into later life. The experiences of these survivors illustrate the lasting impact of early-life trauma and can guide interventions with current survivors of sexual abuse or trafficking.

The Home-Delivered Meals Program: A Promising Intervention for Suburban Older Adults Living Alone.

This study examined differences in perceived benefits of home-delivered meals between older adults living alone and those living with others. Recommendations were also discussed to enhance services by examining differences between these two subgroups. This study used secondary data analysis focusing on two open-ended questions that were collected in a client satisfaction survey conducted by AgeOptions, the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) in suburban Cook County, Illinois. Out of 199 older adults or their caregivers who participated in the survey, 126 (63.3%) older adults were living alone. All of the survey participants shared their perception of home-delivered meals benefits, and 91 respondents (45.7%) offered recommendations on the program. The results suggest that there is a greater need for transportation options, financial security, regular safety checks, and basic support for older adults who live alone compared to those living with others. The most frequent recommendation from all older adults was increasing the variety of meal options. Older adults living alone complained less about taste and the way meals were cooked than older adults living with others, but they requested availability of meals customized for those with unique needs. Additionally, older adults living alone offered a wider range of recommendations for the program as well as identify more diverse benefits from the program than those living with others.