Availability of services in registered retirement villages in Queensland, Australia: A content analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The study investigates and compares the services available in different types of registered retirement villages in Queensland (QLD). METHODS: A content analysis based on official websites of 175 registered villages in QLD, Australia, is presented. RESULTS: This study identifies 82 services, with activity organisation, emergency response, hairdressing and transportation being most frequently available to residents. The number of services available is associated with the village size and financial type, with residents living in large private villages having access to significantly more services. CONCLUSION: The research findings reveal the state of the art of current industry practice. They provide useful implications for stakeholders. For instance, residents who prefer to get access to various services should focus more on large private villages. Developers can check their service delivery environment to confirm its balance with residents' competencies. The government can propose innovative initiatives to promote the delivery of appropriate services in villages.

[Age-Wohnmatrix. Using basic needs rather than defined terms]. / Age-Wohnmatrix. Bedürfnisse statt Begriffe ins Zentrum stellen.

BACKGROUND: The variety of living possibilities for ageing people has increased in the past few years. This vast range of housing arrangements does not make orientation any easier for individuals. The definition of housing and caring arrangements not only differs from one country to another but also within countries. MATERIAL AND METHOD: To develop a framework describing different housing offers, we started to work with a positioning matrix, which is known in economic sciences. The matrix turned into the Age-Wohnmatrix which is defined by two basic needs of elderly people: the importance of being autonomous and the desire to be integrated and secure. RESULTS: On the autonomy axis, there are three different types of housing arrangements: private living arrangements, special housing offers for elderly people, and institutional living. The security axis starts by offering apartments, followed by social integration, assistance, and care. CONCLUSION: The Age-Wohnmatrix should be a helpful tool to analyze and define the character of housing options for elderly people.

Measurement and predictors of resilience among community-dwelling older women.

BACKGROUND: Resilience, the ability to adapt positively to adversity, may be an important factor in successful aging. However, the assessment and correlates of resilience in elderly individuals have not received adequate attention. METHOD: A total of 1395 community-dwelling women over age 60 who were participants at the San Diego Clinical Center of the Women's Health Initiative completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), along with other scales pertinent to successful cognitive aging. Internal consistency and predictors of the CD-RISC were examined, as well as the consistency of its factor structure with published reports. RESULTS: The mean age of the cohort was 73 (7.2) years and 14% were Hispanic, 76% were non-Hispanic white, and nearly all had completed a high school education (98%). The mean total score on the CD-RISC was 75.7 (sd=13.0). This scale showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.92). Exploratory factor analysis yielded four factors (somewhat different from those previously reported among younger adults) that reflected items involving: (1) personal control and goal orientation, (2) adaptation and tolerance for negative affect, (3) leadership and trust in instincts, and (4) spiritual coping. The strongest predictors of CD-RISC scores in this study were higher emotional well-being, optimism, self-rated successful aging, social engagement, and fewer cognitive complaints. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the CD-RISC is an internally consistent scale for assessing resilience among older women, and that greater resilience as assessed by the CD-RISC related positively to key components of successful aging.

[The compatibility of housing needs and housing conditions and and its impact on experiencing attachment to a district]. / Die Ubereinstimmung von Wohnbedürfnissen und Wohnbedingungen und ihr Einfluss auf die erlebte Stadtteilverbundenheit.

Based on the "complementary-congruence model" of person-environment (p-e) fit, this study focuses on housing in old age as an interaction between housing needs and housing conditions in urban settings. The research aims are: (1) To establish a set of housing-related p-e fit indices based on the relationship between environmental needs and existing conditions in different physical and social domains, and to describe housing among elders aged 51-80 years and in different urban districts with these indices. The study distinguishes between basic, higher-order and social needs relating to housing; (2) To explain outdoor place attachment as an indicator for quality of life in different urban districts with a set of predictors including these person-environment fit indices. Data were drawn from telephone-based interviews with 365 older adults (51-80 years) who were questioned about individual housing needs and housing conditions. Results revealed higher p-e fit scores in the domains of higher-order and social housing needs and conditions in the districts which were considered to be more pleasant but had poor access to the city and to public transportation. In contrast, age was more important in explaining differences in the domain of basic housing needs and conditions with higher p-e fit scores among older participants in all settings. In explaining outdoor place attachment, the fit between basic and social housing needs and conditions was important, but the higher-order fit did not play a role.

La calidad de las viviendas de los ancianos y sus preferencias ante la institucionalización / The quality of old people’s housing and their preferences before institutionalisation

Se pretende conocer la situación real de los espacios y servicios con los que cuentan los ancianos en sus entornos residenciales (viviendas y residencias), identificar el grado de satisfacción subjetiva de los mismos, e investigar las preferencias residenciales ante una supuesta institucionalización. El trabajo empírico se realiza con una muestra de 323 ancianosde entre 60 y 85 años, a los que se les facilita un protocolo de respuestas. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto que sus viviendas cuentan con los espacios y servicios que consideran necesarios, que su grado de satisfacción residencial es muy elevado, y que la afectividad sería la característica que más exigirían a las residencias de ancianos (AU)

There is a great interest in discovering the current situation regarding residential environments(housing and residential homes) and facilities which elderly people are faced with, identifying the degree of subjective satisfaction of the aforementioned citizens and investigating the residential preferences before a supposed institutionalisation. The empirical work would be carried out with a survey of 323 elderly people between 60 and 85 years old where a series of possible answers are given. The results show that their housing has the spaces and services considered necessary, that the degree of residential satisfaction is very high and that sensitivity would be a principal characteristic demanded within residential homes for elderly people (AU)

Senior Resource: retirement Communities and planning

Apresenta informações aos idosos sobre aposentadoria, finanças, seguros e cuidado. Possui periódico eletrônico (enviado por e-mail)direcionado ao público idoso.

Una aproximación a la situación de los adultos/as mayores y de las Asociaciones, Clubes y Grupos Parroquiales que los nuclea

Estudio exploratorio de la situación de los adultos/as mayores para analizar sus organizaciones, normasy procedimientos. Describe la creencias, prejuicios y estereotipos de la población urbana paraguaya hacia los adultos mayores, resaltando a aquellos que mantienen nuestra cultura y determinan su estilo de vida. Presenta el análisis del anteproyecto de Ley que estaba en estudio en la Cámara de Senadores

Institutions for the elderly operating without a license: quality of care and the surveillance process.

In 1992, Israel's Services for the Aged identified private institutions for the elderly operating illegally, which are notorious for poor quality. This article presents the findings of screening visits in 97 "pirate" institutions, as part of a plan to improve surveillance, and evaluates the outcomes as a measure of the effectiveness of intervention. Although a high proportion of deficiencies was found, some institutions showed a significant ability to correct them.

Credit analysis of nonprofit continuing care retirement communities.

The continuing care retirement community (CCRC) industry's growth has gained the attention of the financial community. As the industry's financial and regulatory environments change, credit analysts are developing analytical tools to evaluate these changes. The following article discusses some of these tools, provides a sample credit profile of a CCRC, and reviews recent accounting changes that will affect CCRC credit analysis.