The outcomes of treatment for homebound adults with complex medical conditions in a hospital-at-home unit in the southern district of Israel.

Background: A model of hospital-at-home services called the Home Care Unit ("the unit") has been implemented in the southern region of the Clalit Healthcare Services in Israel. The aim of the present study was to characterize this service model.

Methods: A retrospective cross-over study.

A prospective association between social isolation and cognitive performance among older adults in Europe: the role of loneliness and poor oral health.

Objectives: The relationship between social isolation, loneliness, and tooth loss and cognition in older people is poorly understood. We examine how social isolation and cognitive performance are associated prospectively among older adults, as well as how tooth loss and loneliness are related to this association.

Methods: Using data from 26,168 participants aged ≥50 from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we explored the association between social isolation, loneliness, tooth loss and cognition.

Assessment of a digital intervention program with Holocaust survivors.

Objective: This study evaluated a digital intervention program with aging Holocaust survivors. Participants received a tablet device and were coupled with a volunteer who assisted them to use the tablet. The study aimed to assess which characteristics of the Holocaust survivors are linked with more frequent use of digital communication at the end of the program.

Employment over the life course and post-retirement social networks: a gendered perspective.

Objectives: The present study examines how different lifelong employment patterns are related to social relationships in old age, and whether there are gender differences in the impact of lifelong employment patterns.

Designs And Participants: The study was based on data collected among European adults as part of the Health, Aging and Retirement Survey in Europe (SHARE) and focuses on retired adults.

Measurements: The study combines data on social relationships, collected in 2015, with retrospective data on employment history (number of jobs and years of employment) collected in 2017.

Social Support and Commitment to Life and Living: Bidirectional Associations in Late Life over Time.

Objectives: This study aims to enhance the understanding of longitudinal associations between two important facets of well-being in late life: social support and commitment to life and living (CTL).

Methods: Structured home interviews were conducted with 824 Israelis ≥75 years of age, with three annual data collection timepoints. We hypothesized and tested a cross-lagged, longitudinal structural equation model (SEM) in which CTL and social support were assumed to predict each other over time, covarying for previously reported CTL and social support.

Contact With Older Adults Is Related to Positive Age Stereotypes and Self-Views of Aging: The Older You Are the More You Profit.

Objectives: Past studies showed that intergenerational contact is beneficial in improving attitudes toward older people. To date, however, research on the benefits of contact with older adults focused on younger adults (intergenerational contact), overlooking the effects for older adults (contact with same-age peers). In this study, we investigated the association between contact with older adults and views of the self in old age in a domain-specific way among younger and older adults.

The Associations of Loneliness and Social Support with Cognitive Impairment among Middle-Aged and Older Individuals with Diabetes.

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease with significant morbidity and mortality and it is associated with poor cognitive performance in later life. This study seeks to determine the relationship between social support and cognitive function among participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We used data from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, including participants with T2DM aged 45 and older (n = 4821).

Age integration in later life social networks and self-perceptions of aging: examining their reciprocal associations.

Relying on the age segregation theory (limited contact between age groups), this study examined the temporal reciprocal associations between age integration-the inclusion of older and younger people in one's personal network-and one's self-perceptions of aging (SPA). Data came from the 2014 and 2017 waves of the German Ageing Survey and focused on adults aged 60 and above ( = 5239). Age composition of the network was assessed as the number of kin and non-kin in the social network who are either more than 10 years older or more than 10 years younger than the respondent.

Accelerometer-Assessed Physical Activity and Cognitive Performance among European Adults Aged 50+: The Mediating Effects of Social Contacts and Depressive Symptoms.

Background: Cognitive decline is a major public health concern worldwide and it is vital to identify and better understand effective population-based means to improve cognitive performance in old age. The current study set out to examine the links between accelerometer-based physical activity with cognitive performance in later life, as well the indirect pathways through one's social network contacts and depression.

Method: We used data from 855 participants aged 50 and above who took part in a cross-sectional accelerometer study as part of the Survey of Ageing, Retirement and Health (SHARE).

Perceptions of societal ageism and declines in subjective memory during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal evidence from US adults aged ≥55 years.

The cognitive health of older adults since the COVID-19 pandemic onset is unclear, as is the potential impact of pandemic-associated societal ageism on perceived cognition. We investigated associations between perceptions of societal ageism and changes in subjective memory over a 10-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected longitudinal data from monthly online questionnaires in the nationwide COVID-19 Coping Study of US adults aged ≥55 from April 2020 to January 2021 (N = 4444).

Daily fluctuations in subjective age and depressive symptoms: the roles of attitudes to ageing and chronological age.

Studies indicate that both subjective age-individuals' perception of their own age as older or younger than their chronological age, and attitudes to ageing are related to physical and mental health. Less is known about the possible dual effect of these two constructs of subjective views of ageing. In the current study, 334 participants (aged 30-90,  = 58.

Psychological reactions to the coronavirus pandemic: a comparative study of Holocaust survivors and other older adults in Israel.

Background: The current study examines psychological reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults living in Israel. Based on the 'life events, stress, coping and health theory,' we hypothesized that due to their traumatic early life history and dearth of emotional and physical coping resources, Holocaust survivors would be more vulnerable than other older adults to the negative effects of this difficult and prolonged life event on their mental health.

Methods: Based on structured questionnaires with closed questions, we interviewed 306 Holocaust survivors and non-survivors aged 75 + during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The effect of pre-pandemic PTSD and depression symptoms on mental distress among older adults during COVID-19.

Objectives: To explore the extent that pre-COVID-19 comorbid PTSD-depression symptoms prospectively predict mental distress among older adults during COVID-19.

Methods: We used the Israeli component of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-Israel), and focused on older adults who participated in 2015 and 2020 and were aged 60 years old or above in 2020 (N = 754). Mental distress was measured via symptoms of depression, feeling anxious\nervous, and loneliness.

Reciprocal Effects of Marital Idealization and Marital Satisfaction Between Long-Wed Spouses Over Time.

Marital idealization is defined as an interpersonal mode of self-deception whereby husbands and wives convey an exceedingly positive portrayal of their spouse and relationship (e.g., "My spouse has never made me angry").

The Relationship Between Perceived Age Discrimination in the Healthcare System and Health: An Examination of a Multi-Path Model in a National Sample of Israelis Over the Age of 50.

Objectives: The present study aims to examine possible pathways that potentially account for the relationship between perceived age discrimination in healthcare settings (as one form of ageism) and health outcomes.

Methods: We relied on 1570 complete surveys, which constitute a representative national sample of adults aged 50 and above in Israel.

Results: We found a direct link between perceived age discrimination and health outcomes.

Ageism from a cross-cultural perspective: results from a national survey of Israelis over the age of 50.

Objectives: We examined differences across three groups in Israel to test the double jeopardy versus the intersection escape hypotheses-which evaluate whether being older and belonging to an underrepresented group serves as a double burden, exposing older minorities to higher levels of perceived ageism or on the contrary, older age serves as a protective factor, especially for underrepresented groups.

Design: A cross-sectional, nationally representative sample, consisting of three groups: Veteran Israelis, Israeli Arabs and immigrants from the Former Soviet Union. The latter two groups represent underrepresented (minority) populations in Israel.

Teaching and Practicing Cognitive-Behavioral and Mindfulness Skills in a Web-Based Platform among Older Adults through the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an acceleration in the development of web-based interventions to alleviate related mental health impacts. The current study explored the effects of a short-term digital group intervention aimed at providing cognitive behavioral and mindfulness tools and skills to reduce loneliness and depression and to increase social support among older adults in Israel. This pilot randomized controlled trial included community-dwelling older adults ( = 82; aged between 65-90 years; 80% female) who were randomized either to an intervention group ( = 64) or a wait-list control group ( = 18).

Self-perceptions of aging and depressive symptoms: the mediating role of loneliness.

Depression is a major health concern for both individuals and societies. Hence, understanding the risk factors for depression is of importance. As individuals grow older, the way in which they perceive the aging process may have a significant influence on their physical and mental health.