Spousal bereavement and its effects on later life physical and cognitive capability: the Tromsø study.

Spousal bereavement is associated with health declines and increased mortality risk, but its specific impact on physical and cognitive capabilities is less studied. A historical cohort study design was applied including married Tromsø study participants (N=5739) aged 50-70 years with baseline self-reported overall health and health-related factors and measured capability (grip strength, finger tapping, digit symbol coding, and short-term recall) at follow-up. Participants had data from Tromsø4 (1994-1995) and Tromsø5 (2001), or Tromsø6 (2007-2008) and Tromsø7 (2015-2016).

Life-course income trajectories of men and women in Norway: implications for self-rated health in later life.

Background: Socioeconomic inequalities in health are well-established, but studies addressing lagged effects of income or of fluctuations in income over the life course are relatively rare. The current study aims to (i) identify and describe life-course income trajectories for men and women who are currently in later life; and (ii) assess the association of income trajectories with self-rated health in older adults.

Methods: The study sample consisted of 1625 men and 1634 women born between 1937 and 1955 who participated in the third wave of the Norwegian Life course, Ageing and Generation Study.

Do characteristics of family members influence older persons' transition to long-term healthcare services?

Background: Future demographic and economic changes warrant a better understanding of older persons' need for health-related long-term care services (LTC). LTC uptake among older people is likely to be influenced by the presence or absence of family members, but there is scarce research on the role played by partners with different caregiving potential. There is even less research on the contributions of adult children and their caregiving potential.

Socioeconomic Inequalities in Mortality After Age 67: The Contribution of Psychological Factors.

Diverging trends of longer lives and increased inequalities in age-at-death invite to updated research on late-life mortality. Earlier studies have identified health behavior, childhood, psychosocial, and material conditions as key determinants of life expectancy, but the role of psychological factors remains a topic of debate. The current study is framed in a life course developmental perspective and assesses the mediating role of secondary control strategies (subjective age) and primary control capacity (perceived control) to socioeconomic (wealth and education) inequality in mortality after age 67.

Nurses' assessments of horizontal collaboration in municipal health and care services for older adults: A cross-sectional study.

Interprofessional and interorganizational collaboration is considered key to achieving high-quality care and positive patient outcomes, but there is limited research into how nurses working in nursing homes and home care services perceive collaboration with other municipal health and care service providers and how their assessments of collaboration vary with individual characteristics and context. The objective of this study was to map variation in nurses' assessments of horizontal collaboration with core care services for older adults, specifically nursing homes, home care services, general practitioners, the allocation office and physio- and occupational therapy services. The study draws on findings from a nationwide cross-sectional survey on posthospital care for older adults, conducted among nurses working in nursing homes and home care services in Norway (N = 3717).

Nurses' assessments of staffing adequacy in care services for older patients following hospital discharge.

Aims: To explore community nurses' assessments of staffing adequacy in care provision for older patients following hospital discharge and analyse the extent to which their assessments are associated with characteristics of the system level of municipality and vertical coordination between hospital and community care services.

Design: Nation-wide cross-sectional survey.

Methods: Web-based survey conducted in 2017 among 3,461 nurses working with older persons (65+) in homecare services, residential care and nursing homes in Norway.

A nation-wide cross-sectional study of variations in homecare nurses' assessments of informational continuity - the importance of horizontal collaboration and municipal context.

Background: Numerous studies have revealed challenges associated with ensuring informational continuity in municipal care services for older adults with comprehensive, prolonged and complex care needs. Most research is qualitative and on the micro-level. The aim of the current study is to map variation in homecare nurses' assessments of available information in the municipalities' documentation system and investigate the extent to which these assessments are associated with perceived quality of collaborations and with municipal context.

Are there educational disparities in health and functioning among the oldest old? Evidence from the Nordic countries.

With the ageing of the population and recent pressures on important welfare state arrangements, updated knowledge on the linkage between socioeconomic status and health in old age is pertinent for shedding light on emerging patterns of health inequalities in the Nordic countries. This study examined self-rated health (SRH), mobility and activities of daily living (ADL) according to level of education in the three oldest old age groups 75-84, 85-94, and 95+, in four Nordic countries. Altogether, 6132 individuals from Danish Longitudinal Study of Ageing, Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation study, Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old, the 5-Country Oldest Old (Sweden) and Vitality 90 + Study were analysed.

Social pathways to health: On the mediating role of the social network in the relation between socio-economic position and health.

Good health is one of the key qualities of life, but opportunities to be and remain healthy are unequally distributed across socio-economic groups. The beneficial health effects of the social network are well known. However, research on the social network as potential mediator in the pathway from socio-economic position (SEP) to health is scarce, while there are good reasons to expect a socio-economical patterning of networks.

Educational inequalities in late-life depression across Europe: results from the generations and gender survey.

This study explores country- and gender-stratified educational differences in depression among older adults from 10 European countries. We examine inequalities in both absolute (prevalence differences) and relative (odds ratios) terms and in bivariate and multivariate models. We use cross-sectional, nationally representative data from the generations and gender survey.

Changes in Health and Health Behavior Associated With Retirement.

Objectives: While poor health contributes to early work exits, it is less clear how early work exits affect health. This study therefore examines changes in health associated with retirement.

Method: Survey data from gainfully employed individuals aged 57 to 66 in 2002 were used to assess changes in health status and behaviors associated with retirement (49%) 5 years later ( N = 546).

Real teams and their effect on the quality of care in nursing homes.

Background: Use of teams has shown to be an important factor for organizational performance. However, research has shown that a team has to meet certain criteria and operate in a certain way to realize the potential benefits of team organizing. There are few studies that have examined how teams operate in the nursing home sector and their effect on quality of care.

Improvement in Stress, General Self-Efficacy, and Health Related Quality of Life following Patient Education for Patients with Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Pilot Study.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate changes in general self-efficacy, health related quality of life (HRQoL), and stress among patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NET) following a multidisciplinary educational intervention. Forty-one patients were enrolled in this exploratory pilot study. A total of 37 patients completed the full 26-week intervention based on the principles of self-efficacy.

The effects of leadership and ward factors on job satisfaction in nursing homes: a multilevel approach.

Aims And Objectives: To examine (1) the relationships between job satisfaction and task- and relationship-oriented leadership and (2) the direct and moderating effects on job satisfaction of three ward-level factors: workload, use of teams and staff stability.

Background: Job satisfaction in nursing homes is vital to meeting the challenges related to recruitment and turnover.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Norwegian sandwiches: On the prevalence and consequences of family and work role squeezes over the life course.

Population ageing changes profoundly the current balance between generations. Governments are responding with policies to promote later retirement and family care, but these ideals may come in conflict in mid-life when family obligations can be hard to reconcile with employment. Yet we know little about the prevalence of being "sandwiched", and even less about the consequences.

[A community short-term crisis unit does not reduce acute admissions to psychiatric wards].

Background: Due to long-term capacity problems in the psychiatric acute ward, we tried to canalise acute admissions due to life crises (and not serious mental disease) to a new short-term in-patient crisis unit. Our hypothesis was that the opening of this unit would lead to fewer admissions to the psychiatric acute ward and that this change would be reflected by an increase of patients with a more severe psychopathology.

Material And Methods: The study had a quasi-experimental design.

Health related quality of life in patients with neuroendocrine tumors compared with the general Norwegian population.

Purpose: Health related quality of life (HRQoL) was characterized among patients with neuroendocrine tumor (NET) and compared with the general Norwegian population.

Methods: A cross sectional, comparative design was chosen, and the samples comprised 196 NET patients and 5,258 individuals from the general Norwegian population. We used Chi-square cross tab calculations to evaluate sociodemographic characteristics, T-tests for independent samples and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) in order to compare HRQoL (SF-36) scores across a range of background variables.

Construct validity of the five-factor Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in pre-, early, and late adolescence.

Background: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is designed to measure psychological adjustment in children and adolescents. Psychometric evaluations of the instrument have shown satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity, while factor analysis studies have shown mixed results across countries. In the present study, the construct validity of the five-factor SDQ is evaluated in a large community sample of Norwegian pre-, early, and late adolescents.

Service quality in hospital wards with different nursing organization: nurses' ratings.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study to assess: (1) the relations between nursing organization models in hospital wards and nurses' perception of the quality of patient care and dimensions of the practice environment, and (2) if these relations were modified by variations in local conditions at the ward level.

Background: Previous literature is inconclusive concerning what model of nursing organization maximizes the quality of nursing services.

Method: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in a representative sample of Norwegian hospital wards in 2005.

Does esophageal atresia influence the mother-infant interaction?

Purpose: Chronic illness in infancy may influence parent-infant interaction. We assessed quality of mother-infant interaction in children with esophageal atresia (EA) and searched for predictors for impaired interaction.

Methods: The study group comprised 37 one-year-old infants with EA born in 1999 to 2002 and their mothers.

Quality of life after randomization to laparoscopic versus open living donor nephrectomy: long-term follow-up.

Background: The aim of this randomized study was to compare patient-reported outcome after laparoscopic versus open donor nephrectomy during 1 year follow-up. The evidence base has so far not allowed for a decision as to which method is superior as seen from a long-term quality of life-perspective.

Methods: The donors were randomized to laparoscopic (n=63) or open (n=59) nephrectomy, with follow-up at 1, 6, and 12 months.

Health-related quality of life and intellectual functioning in children in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Aim: To evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and intellectual functioning of children in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

Methods: Children and adolescents treated for ALL (n = 40; mean age 11.8 years, range 8.

Quality of life can both influence and be an outcome of general health perceptions after heart surgery.

Background: Our aim was to investigate the existence of a reciprocal relationship between patients' assessment of quality of life and their appraisal of health. If present, this relationship will interfere with the interpretation of heart surgery's effect on overall quality of life.

Methods: Path analysis was used to investigate reciprocal causal relationships between general health perceptions and overall quality of life before and after heart surgery.

Stability of health-related quality of life in the Norwegian general population and impact of chronic morbidity in individuals with and without a cancer diagnosis.

The stability of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in the general population (GenPop) over years has rarely been evaluated. Neither has the impact of chronic morbidity on HRQoL in cancer survivors been extensively assessed, when identified in the Norwegian GenPop. We studied both aspects.