Background: Recruitment of cancer clinical trial (CCT) participants, especially participants representing the diversity of the US population, is necessary to create successful medications and a continual challenge. These challenges are amplified in Phase I cancer trials that focus on evaluating the safety of new treatments and are the gateway to treatment development. In preparation for recruitment to a Phase I recurrent head and neck cancer (HNC) trial, we assessed perceived barriers to participation or referral and suggestions for recruitment among people with HNC and community physicians (oncologist, otolaryngologist or surgeon).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding human mobility in outdoor environments is critical for many applications including traffic modeling, urban planning, and epidemic modeling. Using data collected from mobile devices, researchers have studied human mobility in outdoor environments and found that human mobility is highly regular and predictable. In this study, we focus on human mobility in private homes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: More than 18 000 Golf Cart (GC)-related injuries occur in the United States (US) annually. However, very few studies have analyzed the causes of such crashes. This study represents the largest single-center analysis of GC crashes performed within the largest GC community in the US, a community in which they are used extensively for local transportation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo understand the positives and negatives of online dating according to the lived experience of older women, telephone interviews were conducted with 45 women ages 50+ who date online. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically team coded. The opportunity to expand one's social network for both friendships and romantic partners, the ability to control dating risks and pace of relationship formation, and knowing more about one's partner were significant reported benefits of online dating.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntimate partner violence (IPV) exposure has been associated with poor mental health outcomes for victims, but fewer studies have examined the unique contributions of emotional abuse to mental health. This study explored the contextual relationships between the type and frequency of IPV, community factors, and emotional health. Data were collected from a community-based IPV intervention program.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Research indicates increasing trends among older adults toward heavy and abusive drinking, often associated with depressive symptoms. Possible exceptions are residents of planned retirement communities, whose drinking may be associated with social activities. To better understand these relationships, this study examined the relationship of depressive symptoms and drinking in a large retirement community.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGood nutrition in late life is key to the health of older adults and demands the attention of health promoters. To assess how the social lives and community environmental supports and barriers affect older adults' nutritional health, we conducted 29 focus groups with 144 residents of The Villages, Florida. Participants reside in one of the largest retirement communities in the United States.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn contrast to younger populations, little attention has been paid to the increase in seniors using Internet-based venues to find relationships and the potential risk for adverse outcomes this poses. This study examined data collected via an online survey from 45 ethnically diverse women aged 50+ "seeking relationships" on MySpace. The majority of women reported a relationship with someone they met online (85%).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Co-occurring depression in women with cancer can complicate cancer treatment, lead to poor treatment adherence for both conditions, and decrease survival if left untreated. The purpose of this study was to explore risk factors for depression among Latina breast cancer survivors.
Methods: A closed-ended questionnaire was administered by telephone to 68 Latinas diagnosed with breast cancer within the past 5 years.
Introduction: Understanding sexual behavior is important when evaluating the health needs of older adults. Little research has addressed the effect of specific health conditions on sexual inactivity in this growing population.
Aim: The study aims to assess the association of mental and physical health conditions with sexual inactivity among adults 55 and older living in The Villages, Florida.
Physical mistreatment has been estimated to affect 2 million older persons each year and dramatically affects health outcomes. While researchers have attempted to examine risk factors for specific forms of abuse, many have been able to focus on only victim or perpetrator characteristics, or a limited number of psychosocial variables at any one time. Additionally, data on risk factors for subgroups such as persons with Alzheimer's disease who may have heightened and/or unique risk profiles has also been limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study evaluated whether the use of a multilevel system of intervention based on batterer assessment resulted in lowered risk of re-arrests for both domestic violence and other crimes. The study conducted analysis of data from 1995 to 2004, including initial arrest and program placement information and re-arrest rates for 17,999 individual batterers. The study found that recidivism rates were substantially lower for participants who completed the programs when compared to those who did not and that the re-arrest rates were substantially lower than are generally found in the literature on batterer recidivism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article presents a theoretical framework for the study of social and behavioral factors associated with elder self-neglect. The model presented reflects the authors' beliefs that a risk-vulnerability model offers a useful framework from which to study all forms of elder mistreatment, as well as elder self-neglect. This model has particular utility, because it can begin to define the elements of risk and vulnerability that may be addressed using preventative measures as opposed to solely addressing intervention, which is often the case when addressing elder mistreatment and self-neglect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This study examined verbal aggression in a sample of community dwelling older adults with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) using the Risk and Vulnerability model as a means for identifying factors associated with verbal mistreatment in caregiver/patient dyads.
Design And Methods: Subjects were recruited in the State of Florida through their association with state-funded memory disorder clinics or with local chapters of the Alzheimer's Association. The sample for this analysis consisted of 254 caregivers who completed both a questionnaire and an in-home interview between the years 1998 and 2002.
Elder mistreatment is a serious issue that effects the lives of thousands of older adults and results in emotional difficulties, such as depression,feelings of inadequacy, self-loathing, and lowered self-esteem. It has been shown to result in family distress, impaired life functioning, and difficulties with cognition and has been linked to health problems,such as immunologic dysfunction, and increased mortality. As the population ages, and with it the numbers of persons afflicted by diseases such as Alzheimer's, understanding and recognizing elder mistreatment becomes an important factor in maintaining quality of life for older adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci
August 2005
Background: Elder neglect accounts for over 70% of all adult protective services reports in the nation annually, and it has been estimated that there are over 70,000 new cases each year. The purpose of this study was to conduct elder neglect research in the emergency department (ED), using a dyadic vulnerability/risk-profiling framework for elder neglect.
Methods: Patients were recruited through four EDs in New York and Tampa from the beginning of February 2001 through the end of September 2003.
Purpose: Neglect of older adults accounts for 60% to 70% of all elder-mistreatment reports made to adult protective services. The purpose of this article is to report data from research, using a risk-and-vulnerability model, that captures the independent contributions of both the elder and the caregiver as they relate to the outcome of neglect.
Methods: Between February 2001 and September 2003, older adults were screened and recruited through four emergency departments in New York and Tampa.
Advances in handheld computer technology are making data collection faster, easier, and more accurate. In this article, the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) to collect data for a study on elder neglect is described and evaluated. Methods for integrating this technology into a research study are discussed as are suggestions for increasing the performance of data collectors using these devices.
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