Psychometric Properties of and Measurement Invariance in the Questionnaire of Stereotypes Toward Older Adulthood in Health Care College Students and Health Professionals of Colombia: Psychometric Study.

BACKGROUND: In health professionals, negative stereotypes toward older adulthood have been associated with the difficulty in recognizing pathological processes and the refusal to care for older patients because of assuming that communication with them will be uncomfortable and frustrating. For these reasons, research on stereotypes in these groups has acquired growing importance. The usual strategy to identify and evaluate agist stereotypes is to use scales and questionnaires. Although multiple scales are currently used, in Latin America, the Questionnaire for the Evaluation of Negative Stereotypes Toward Older Adulthood (Cuestionario de Estereotipos Negativos sobre la Vejez [CENVE]), developed in Spain, is widely used but without evidence of construct validity in our context. In addition, although in the original version, a factorial structure of 3 factors was found, in later studies, a unifactorial structure was obtained. OBJECTIVE: The objective is to study the construct validity of the CENVE in a sample of Colombian health personnel to clarify its factorial structure and concurrent validity. Likewise, the measurement invariance according to gender and age was studied. METHODS: A nonprobabilistic sample of 877 Colombian health professionals and intern health students was obtained. The data were collected online using the LimeSurvey tool. To study the factor structure of the CENVE, 2 confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models were carried out, one to test a single factor and the other to test the 3-related-factor structure. The factor measurement reliability was evaluated with the composite reliability index (CRI) and the average variance extracted (AVE). The measurement invariance was studied according to gender (men and women) and age (emerging adults, 18-29 years old, and adults, 30 years old or older). Using a structural equation model, the relationship between age and the latent CENVE total score was studied to obtain evidence of concurrent validity, since studies indicate that the younger the age, the greater the number of stereotypes. RESULTS: The 1-factor structure was confirmed. The reliability results indicated that both indices show adequate values. Likewise, the existence of a strong invariance in measurement by gender and age group was verified. After contrasting the means of the groups, the results showed that men show more negative stereotypes toward old age than women. Likewise, emerging adults also showed more stereotypes than adults. We also verified that age is inversely related to the latent score of the questionnaire, such that the younger the age, the greater the stereotype. These results are in agreement with those obtained by other authors. CONCLUSIONS: The CENVE shows good construct and concurrent validity, as well as good reliability, and it can be used to assess stereotypes toward older adulthood in Colombian health professionals and health sciences college students. This will allow us to better understand the effect of stereotypes on agism.

Sentido de vida en personas adultas mayores semi-institucionalizadas

RESUMEN Introducción: El envejecimiento poblacional impone la necesidad de prever servicios de salud de calidad y especializados, así como un soporte psicológico y social adecuado para la promoción del bienestar de las personas mayores. Objetivo: Caracterizar el sentido de vida en personas mayores semi-institucionalizadas de la ciudad de Santa Clara, Cuba. Métodos: Se asumió un enfoque cualitativo con un diseño fenomenológico. Se emplearon como técnicas la entrevista en profundidad, el Registro de la Actividad Método Directo e Indirecto y el Cuestionario PIL. Los datos fueron procesados mediante el análisis de contenido y la triangulación de datos. Resultados: Como principales resultados se señala que, en las personas mayores participantes, se apreciaron limitaciones en las dimensiones experiencias de sentido, metas y tareas y dialéctica destino-libertad. Discusión: El sentido de vida en las personas mayores participantes se configuró en torno a la salud, los contactos sociales y familiares, las metas propias, la necesidad de trascendencia, la libertad, la felicidad y la participación. La ausencia de sentido se asoció a la carencia de un objetivo específico, a la incapacidad de legar sus conocimientos y experiencias de vida; así como a llevar una vida rutinaria.

ABSTRACT Introduction: Population aging imposes the need to provide quality and specialized health services, as well as adequate psychological and social support to promote the well-being of the elderly. Objective: To characterize the meaning of life in semi-institutionalized elderly people in the city of Santa Clara, Cuba. Methods: A qualitative approach with a phenomenological design was assumed. The in-depth interview, the Direct and Indirect Method Activity Record and the PIL Questionnaire were used as techniques. The data were processed through content analysis and data triangulation. Results: As main results, it is pointed out that, in the elderly participants, limitations were seen in the dimensions experiences of meaning, goals and tasks and the destination-freedom dialectic. Discussion: The sense of life in the participating elderly people was configured around health, social and family contacts, their own goals, the need for transcendence, freedom, happiness and participation. The absence of meaning was associated with the lack of a specific objective, the inability to pass on their knowledgement and life experiences; as well as leading a routine life.

Vital minimums: El Salvador between youth and old age.

Through the concept of the "vital minimum"-the notion of basic life rights and living standards for all Salvadorans articulated by the early twentieth-century Salvadoran essayist Alberto Masferrer-this essay demonstrates the importance of older adult sociality and old age return as a prism through which to understand contemporary El Salvador. Examining retiree objectives and everyday practices among older Salvadorans in a transnational frame, the article links Masferrer's vitalist thinking to mounting concerns of older adult dignity and the coming general crisis of care as the Salvadoran population uptrends toward older age. The article suggests the need to take stock, politically and analytically, of the social worlds shaped and bolstered by older adults, underscoring their roles as economic supports, community mediators, and caregivers, which make possible the social reproduction of community itself.

Partiendo del concepto de "mínimo vital", la noción de los derechos humanos básicos y los estándares de vida para todos los salvadoreños según articulada por el ensayista salvadoreño de principios del siglo veinte Alberto Masferrer, este ensayo demuestra la importancia de la sociabilidad para los adultos mayores y del regreso al país en la vejez como prisma a través del cual entender a El Salvador contemporáneo. Al examinar los objetivos de jubilación y las prácticas cotidianas entre los salvadoreños mayores dentro de un marco transnacional, el artículo vincula el pensamiento vitalista de Masferrer con las inquietudes cada vez mayores sobre la dignidad en la vejez y la crisis general de atención médica que se avecina con la tendencia en alza en la edad de la población salvadoreña. El artículo sugiere la necesidad de evaluar, política y analíticamente, los mundos sociales formados y sostenidos por los adultos mayores, enfatizando sus funciones de sostén económico, mediadores comunitarios y cuidadores, las cuales posibilitan la reproducción social de la comunidad misma.