Rural and urban older adults' perspectives of strength in their daily lives.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to understand older adults' perspectives of strength in their daily lives. BACKGROUND: Maintaining strength is important as the population ages and many older adults live into their 80s and 90s. Few studies have explored older adults' views of strength and its management as they age. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive design was used. The sample consisted of 5 focus groups (n = 41) that participated in semistructured interviews. Transcribed data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. RESULTS: Three themes emerged-the capacity to meet variable demands, changes in strength, and strategies to stay strong. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults regard strength as an integration of physical and internal capacities for meeting a range of demands and use physical, mental, and social activities for staying strong. Nurses have an important role in helping older adults focus on strength and their abilities rather than inabilities to enhance healthy aging.

Older adults' perceptions of weakness and ageing.

BACKGROUND: Age-related weakness, or sarcopenia, has been related to functional disability, falls, frailty and mortality. Although it is one of the most common symptoms older adults link to their functional abilities, to date, no studies have explored older adults' perceptions of weakness and its association with ageing. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To understand the meaning of weakness for older adults' and their perceptions of its association with ageing. DESIGNS: A qualitative descriptive design involved in-depth interviews with 13 community-dwelling older adults. RESULTS: Weakness was described primarily in two ways: (i) inability and (ii) inward turning. The extreme of weakness, as giving up and giving in, which older adults applied to others, not themselves, prompted them to engage in several efforts at staying strong. These included motivating self-talk, achieving balance, keeping busy and active, and self-validating as a strong person. Older adults' perceptions of the association between weakness and ageing were variable and characterized by considerable ambiguity. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Nurses must be alert to both the visible and subtler dimensions of weakness. It is important to engage older adults in active strategies that enhance muscle strength while capitalizing on their self-motivating and validating efforts at staying strong.

Mobility adaptations of older adults: a secondary analysis.

The purpose of this secondary study was to describe the mobility adaptations of community-living older adults. The primary study, designed to understand weakness and aging from the perspective of older adults, revealed that older adults viewed weakness as a progression from inability to an end point of 'giving up,' which prompted the use of adaptation strategies to preserve mobility and to counter a self-identity of being weak. A qualitative descriptive design guided the primary study of 15 community-living older adults, who participated in in-depth interviews. A systematic secondary analysis using Baltes and Baltes' theory of Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) showed that older adults used selection, optimization, and compensation adaptations across a range of mobility behaviors. The SOC model offered a framework for profiling older adults' agency and motivations in meeting mobility challenges as they age and provided the basis for targeted interventions to maximize mobility with aging.

The experience of two practice education models: collaborative learning unit and preceptorship.

Twenty-two Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates shared their perceptions one year after graduation on two practice education models they experienced during years three and four of their nursing education. The two models evaluated were collaborative learning units (CLU) and preceptorship. The participants described what was most important about each of these models in preparing them for graduate practice. While the preceptorship model has been researched for decades, the CLU data are previously unexplored information. The CLU data revealed the themes of working with many and making practice their own, while the themes of working with one and consolidation of nursing practice emerged from the preceptorship data. The participants suggest that both models offer different yet complementary paths for learning and enhanced professional development and practice. There is also confirmation that both are relevant and perhaps necessary to accomplish the complexities of preparing students for professional nursing practice.