Psychological resilience, activities of daily living, and cognitive functioning among older male Tekun adults in rural long-term care facilities in China

Associations between depression, psychological resilience, and gratitude levels of patients with chronic diseases: Implications for medical social work practice

This cross-sectional study aims to examine the relationships between psychological resilience, gratitude, and depression levels of patients with chronic diseases (cancer, cardiovascular, and kidney diseases) in the context of medical social work practice. A survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the study. The sample consisted of 160 patients with chronic diseases who were regularly followed up for treatment in the polyclinics of Oltu State Hospital and Erzurum City Hospital operating in Türkiye. The hierarchical logistic regression model was used in the analysis of the data. According to the results, psychological resilience was the strongest predictor of depression in chronic patients, even when some sociodemographic and disease-related variables were controlled. While gratitude was found to have depression risk-reducing effects, some of this may be related to age. Also, high dependence levels and previous depression diagnosis were determined as important risk factors against depression. Medical social workers may benefit from interventions aimed at increasing psychological resilience and gratitude in the prevention and treatment of depression in patients with chronic diseases.

Attention to Rural Populations in Social Work Journals: Findings from a Scoping Review

PURPOSE

The study aimed to examine social work's scholarly attention to rural populations in a global context, given the paucity of rural social work literature in professional journals and earlier reviews showing the dominance of material emanating from the United States of America.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

The researchers used a scoping review of articles published in social work journals listed in the Journal Citation Reports for the Social Science (hereafter JCR) (n = 90) between 2009 and 2024.

RESULTS

The study found 152 articles on rural social work published in 48 of the 90 JCR social work journals, 71% of which were research-based. Most publications came from the Asia-Pacific (n = 60), 25 of which were from China, followed by 61 from North America, including 58 from the USA and three from Canada, along with 18 from Africa and 10 from Europe and the UK. There were only three from South America, possibly due to the study's restriction to English-language journals. The main themes related to rural social work practice, health, professional issues, and context.

DISCUSSION

The paucity of publications on rural issues contributed to minimal understanding of the complexity and diversity of rural poverty. The findings revealed remarkable similarities in knowledge shaping rural social work practice worldwide, despite regional differences.

CONCLUSION

The study suggested a consistent lack of focus on rural populations within the social work profession and underscored the importance of understanding and addressing pressing issues facing rural communities across diverse global contexts.

Prevalence and associated factors with oral frailty in middle-aged and older hospitalized patients: a cross-sectional study

Background

With the development of the economy and society, people pay more and more attention to oral health. Oral frailty can limit nutritional intake and make an individual physically weak, which is detrimental to people's health. Therefore, it is urgent to identify oral frailty and their associated risk factors. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the oral frailty and its influencing factors in Chinese middle-aged and older hospitalized patients.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 2023 to February 2024 in 2 tertiary hospitals in Wuhu City, Anhui Province, China. The self-designed sociodemographic information, the Oral Frailty Index-8, the 2-item Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC-2), the sarcopenia screening questionnaire, and the three-item short literacy survey were used in this study.

Results

A total of 914 middle-aged and older adults patients were recruited. The prevalence of oral frailty was 48.7% (445/914). In the univariate analysis, oral frailty was significantly associated with age, education, place of residence, monthly income, sarcopenia, resilience, and health literacy. Correlation analysis showed that oral frailty was significantly negatively correlated with sarcopenia, resilience, and health literacy. In the binary logistic regression analysis, oral frailty was significantly associated with sarcopenia, and health literacy. Health literacy was a protective factor of oral frailty.

Conclusion

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of oral frailty and identify the associated influencing factors among middle-aged and older adults patients in Anhui Province, China. This study identified several factors influencing oral frailty in middle-aged and older adults patients. Therefore, the government and relevant departments should implement targeted interventions to improve middle-aged and older adults patients' oral frailty.

Longitudinal Associations Between Psychological Resilience and Cognitive Function: Evidence From the U.S. Health and Retirement Study

OBJECTIVES

Reductions in psychological resilience and declining cognition are common among older adults. Understanding the longitudinal association between them could be beneficial for interventions that focus on age-related cognitive and psychological health. In this study, we evaluated the longitudinal associations between cognition and psychological resilience over time in a nationally representative sample of U.S. older adults.

METHODS

A total of 9,075 respondents aged 65 and above from 2006 to 2020 health and retirement study (HRS) were included in the current study. Cognition was measured through a modified 35-point Telephone Interview Cognitive Screen, and psychological resilience in the HRS was calculated using a previously established simplified resilience score. Bivariate latent growth modeling was used to examine the parallel association between psychological resilience and cognitive function over a period of up to 12 years.

RESULTS

Positive correlations existed between the intercepts (r = 0.20, SE = 0.07, p < .001) as well as the slopes (r = 0.36, SE = 0.03, p < .001) for psychological resilience and cognition. The initial level of cognition positively predicted the slope of psychological resilience (β=0.16, SE=0.01, p<.001), whereas a somewhat less robust effect was found for the slope of cognition and the initial level of psychological resilience (β=0.10,   SE=0.03,   p<.001), after controlling all other covariates.

DISCUSSION

In a population-based sample of U.S. older adults, cognition and psychological resilience could mutually reinforce one another. Clinicians and policy makers may consider recommending tasks associated with improving cognitive function for interventions to bolster psychological resilience among older adults.

Potential factors associated with resilience among older adults in rural China: a multilevel analysis

BACKGROUND

Resilience is crucial for older adults who experience adversities, but research on the issue in rural China remains limited. This study aims to examine factors associated with resilience among older adults in rural China, as related to different types of resilience, and under different levels of adversity.

METHODS

Data were taken from the eight-wave (2001-2021) Longitudinal Study of Older Adults in Anhui Province, China. We used data from the eighth wave (2021) for the outcome variables and lagged predictors (2018) to avoid reverse causal effects. The study sample included individuals 60 years and above, excluding new participants from 2021, those without any adverse events, and any respondents with incomplete analytic data. Resilience was operationalized as residuals of the regressions of life satisfaction (Life Satisfaction Scale) and depressive symptoms (CES-D) on adversity, referred to as Type-1 and Type-2 resilience respectively. These two types of resilience were then treated as the outcome variables in subsequent multilevel regressions, with the predictors focusing on individual, social, and environmental characteristics and resources. This study adheres to STROBE guidelines.

RESULTS

43% of rural older adults exhibited both Type-1 and Type-2 resilience, whereas 18% exhibited only Type-1 resilience and 7% exhibited only Type-2 resilience. Common factors associated with both types of resilience included self-rated health, satisfaction with one's own financial situation, and the prestigiousness of social networks. Predictors for higher levels of Type-1 resilience included higher levels of financial and emotional support and more options for places of leisure. Predictors for higher levels of Type-2 resilience included greater access to medical care. The prestigiousness of social networks, higher levels of emotional support and instrumental support, access to medical care, and more options of places of leisure were positively associated with resilience in the low-adversity group (first tertile of adversity), only satisfaction with financial situation was positively correlated with the resilience of the middle-adversity group (second tertile), while better self-rated health, satisfaction with financial situation, and financial support yielded greater resilience in the high-adversity group (third tertile).

CONCLUSIONS

We examined two types of resilience among older adults in rural China, and found that they have shared and unique associated factors. In addition, the potential factors influencing resilience varied with the level of adversity.