Older adults' perceptions of weakness and ageing.

Int J Older People Nurs

School of Nursing, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, Canada.

Published: March 2013

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.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-3743.2011.00280.xDOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

older adults'
16
adults' perceptions
16
older adults
12
older
8
weakness
8
perceptions weakness
8
weakness ageing
8
weakness older
8
perceptions association
8
efforts staying
8

Similar Publications

Introduction: The aim of the observational SIMPLE study was to assess real-life effectiveness and safety of a single-pill combination (SPC) of perindopril arginine/amlodipine in a broad range of subjects with newly diagnosed mild-to-moderate hypertension treated in Canadian general practice.

Methods: Treatment-naïve participants aged 18-65 years with mild-to-moderate hypertension, whose physicians decided to initiate the perindopril/amlodipine SPC, were recruited from Canadian clinical practice from October 2017 to February 2019. Participants were followed at 3- (M3) and 6-month (M6) visits after treatment initiation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cellulite is an aesthetically distressing skin condition occurring in 80-90% of females and manifesting as dimples and depressions, producing an uneven surface to the skin. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of combined oral consumption of two dietary supplements based on chokeberry and tart cherry juices over a period of 32 days on cellulite reduction. Twenty women aged 21-49 with a cellulite grade of 1-2 according to the Nurnberger-Muller scale were participating in the study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Reducing inequities in hypertension control among those affected in low- and middle-income countries requires person-centred health system responses based on a contextualised understanding of the choices and care pathways taken by those who rely on the services provided, particularly those from poor and marginalised communities. We examine patterns of care seeking and pathways followed by individuals with hypertension from low-income households in the Philippines and Malaysia. This study aims to fill a significant gap in the literature by analysing the stages at which individuals make decisions that may affect the successful control of their blood pressure.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Proximal humerus fractures (PHF) are common with approximately 30% requiring surgical intervention. This ranges from open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) to shoulder arthroplasty (including hemiarthroplasty, total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA), reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA)). The aim of this study was to assess trends in operative interventions for PHF in an Australian population.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Researchers in numerical cognition have extensively studied the number sense-the innate human ability to extract numerical information from the environment quickly and effortlessly. Much of this research, however, uses abstract stimuli (e.g.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!