Using the internet for health information is a widespread phenomenon documented in considerable scholarship. Less common, however, is the analysis of panel data to examine how internet use may relate ...to change in health status over time.
This study examines whether internet use and internet use related to health are associated with a change in health status among young adults.
We used a unique panel survey data set collected about young adults' internet use in 2012 and 2016 (n=384). We applied logistic regression to examine the relationships between sociodemographics, internet experiences, frequency of health-related internet use, and sharing health content online with change in health status over time. We additionally examined the variables characterizing sharing health content online (via Facebook, Twitter, and email) in separate models.
In the second wave, over half (236/384, 61.5%) of the sample used the internet for health at least weekly. Approximately one-third (141/384, 36.7%) used Facebook for health-content sharing, while using Twitter and email for sharing health content were far less frequent (14/384, 3.6%, and 55/384, 14.3%, respectively). A change in health status occurred for 43.0% (165/384) of the sample; 18.5% (71/384) reported an improvement while 24.5% (94/384) reported a decline. Greater frequency of internet use was associated with health decline over time (B=-0.58, P=.02). We also found that frequent health-related internet use was related to enhanced health or maintained health (B=0.58, P=.03). Sharing health content on social media or email, however, was not related to young adults' health changes.
Young adults exhibit a pattern of using the internet for health that influences their health status. Our finding that frequent health-related internet use may promote improved or maintained health suggests that this type of online activity might also support healthy living.
Health care providers typically rely on family caregivers (CG) of persons with dementia (PWD) to describe difficult behaviors manifested by their underlying disease. Although invaluable, such reports ...may be selective or biased during brief medical encounters. Our team explored the usability of a wearable camera system with 9 caregiving dyads (CGs: 3 males, 6 females, 67.00 ± 14.95 years; PWDs: 2 males, 7 females, 80.00 ± 3.81 years, MMSE 17.33 ± 8.86) who recorded 79 salient events over a combined total of 140 hours of data capture, from 3 to 7 days of wear per CG. Prior to using the system, CGs assessed its benefits to be worth the invasion of privacy; post-wear privacy concerns did not differ significantly. CGs rated the system easy to learn to use, although cumbersome and obtrusive. Few negative reactions by PWDs were reported or evident in resulting video. Our findings suggest that CGs can and will wear a camera system to reveal their daily caregiving challenges to health care providers.
The emergence of social network sites and online communities has offered new possibilities for older adults to stay socially connected and older adults comprise a growing user group of social media. ...This paper examines the relationship between older adults' online social engagement and social capital based on a national survey of adults aged 60 and over. Findings show that older adults who engage more often in specific online social activities (i.e., asking questions on social media, looking at photos of family members/others) enjoy greater bridging social capital (both in offline and online contexts) than those who do so less often. Furthermore, Internet skills moderate the relationship between online social engagement and social capital. Specifically, older adults with greater Internet skills benefit relatively more from engaging in specific online social activities more often with respect to online bridging. The paper discusses the implications for digital inequality scholarship.
Research suggests that caregivers appreciate support from primary care physicians (PCPs) regarding dementia care; however, there remains a need for studies examining the role that PCPs play in ...behavior management. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively characterize the discussion on dementia-related behaviors (DRBs) during PCP visits and compare findings to an independently administered assessment of DRBs exhibited within a period of 4 weeks prior to the PCP visit. Twenty-five PCP visits of persons with dementia, in which caregivers coattended the visit, were audio-recorded and analyzed for occurrence of DRB discussion. Disruptive behaviors were reported by 80% of caregivers via independent assessment, yet discussed in 23% of medical visits. Dementia-related behavior discussion occurred in visits where caregivers independently reported significantly higher behavior frequency and behavior-related burden. Implications of findings for ways PCPs can assist the caregiver in behavior management are discussed.
This article examines the extent to which studies of alcohol abuse, illicit drug use, and prescription drug abuse among older adults appear in the leading gerontological and substance abuse journals. ...The authors reviewed articles published in the 10 social science gerontological journals and the 10 social science substance abuse journals with the highest 5-year impact factors in PubMed from 2000 to 2010. Articles were selected that presented original research on alcohol, substance, or prescription abuse with older adults aged 50 and older; and were identified through aging and substance abuse-related Medical Subject Headings and word searches of titles and abstracts (N = 634). Full text of each article was reviewed by the authors, and consensus determined inclusion in the final sample. Of the 19,953 articles published respectively in the top 10 gerontological and substance abuse journals, 181 articles met the inclusion criteria of reporting findings related to substance use disorders among older adults. Specifically, 0.9% (102 of 11,700) of articles from the top 10 gerontology journals and 1.0% (79 of 8,253) of articles from the top 10 substance abuse journals met the criteria. Most published articles addressed alcohol misuse/abuse or polysubstance abuse with few articles addressing illicit drug use or the misuse of prescription medications. Less than 1% of articles published in the 10 gerontology journals and the 10 substance abuse journals with the highest 5-year impact scores addressed substance abuse in older adults. Practitioners treating health and/or mental health problems are at a disadvantage in accurately identifying and treating these conditions in older adult populations without a proper understanding of the role of comorbid substance use disorders.
Studies on disconnection from social media and related technologies tend to focus on the user's disconnection from one specific technology, and consequently provide an incomplete view. Drawing on ...in-depth interviews with 57 older adults ages 59+, we find that replacement is more common than complete disconnection, which suggests that research should consider people's larger digital media repertoire rather than focus on a single technology. Motivations for disconnection include social influences, lack of interest, convenience, time availability and overuse, privacy concerns, and technical barriers. We find that older adults' motivations for disconnection often mirror those of younger users reported in the literature, but some motivations are unique to older adults. Further, some disconnection motivations of younger users reported in the literature were not found in the responses of our sample of older adults. Overall, our study offers a nuanced view on experiences of ICT disconnection in the age of digital media ubiquity.
While the stereotypical older adult is one who is clueless about technology, research on this age group paints a different picture. Adding to the literature about older adults' varying tech savvy, ...this paper focuses on the technological support-giving abilities of those in later stages of life based on interviews conducted in four countries. Far from being dependent bystanders, some older adults serve as helpful sources of support to their peers. We also find mutual support - support given to each other - an important domain for how people in this age group give and get assistance when they encounter technical problems. That such a prominent amount of support providers exist in this age group implies that peer-led technical support approaches may be especially salient and effective in helping older adults use digital media. While some participants did not provide help with digital technology because they lacked confidence to do so, others believed they could, but were never asked. These individuals have the potential to play a critical role in digital media support that may be more acceptable to their peers than help from other age groups. Further investigation of how to harness this support is warranted.
With the growing population of individuals affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders, there is a pressing demand for research on late-life cognitive disorders. However, this ...population's high risk for decisional incapacity necessitates evaluation of capacity to consent to research participation, adding cost and complexity to the research process. The University of California, San Diego Brief Assessment of Capacity to Consent (UBACC) was initially validated in a sample of persons with schizophrenia and healthy controls.
To assess the psychometric properties of the UBACC when used in a sample of individuals contemplating participation in AD research.
The UBACC was administered to a convenience sample (n = 132) consisting of individuals with mild to moderate cognitive impairment (n = 52), their study partners (n = 52), and healthy older adults control subjects (n = 30), as part of a broader study to evaluate perceived burden of research participation. Reliability tests, correlational analyses, and exploratory factor analytic methods were used to examine the psychometric properties of the instrument.
UBACC scores were significantly associated with both global cognition (rs= 0.564, p < 0.001) and verbal fluency (rs = 0.511, p < 0.001), indicating concurrent validity with related constructs. The resulting factor structure differed from that reported by the developers in their initial testing. Items clustered almost entirely on one factor; items reflecting the construct of understanding accounted for 32.12% of total variance, with no evidence for distinct reasoning or appreciation scales.
The UBACC shows promise when used to screen for decisional capacity among those considering participation in AD research.
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