Age-related digital disparities, functional limitations, and social isolation: unraveling the grey digital divide between baby boomers and the silent generation in senior living facilities

OBJECTIVES

The onset of the digital age has sparked a significant age-related digital divide, detrimentally affecting older adults. The age-related digital disparities and the gray digital divide between the Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation in senior living facilities remains an exigent issue. This study explored the lived experiences of older adults as they confront the challenges posed by age-related digital disparities inherent in the gray digital divide in senior living facilities.

METHODS

In-depth, semi-structured interviews and observations were conducted with 28 older adults living in six senior living facilities in three urban locations. Moustakas's transcendental phenomenology was employed, and the Modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method was used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

This study identified six main themes: barriers to connectivity, digital literacy, generational-rooted perceptions, navigating technology with functional limitations, social isolation, and end-of-life planning.

CONCLUSION

The gray digital divide disproportionately affects older adults in senior living facilities. The study emphasizes the need for tailored interventions and targeted support to address the specific needs of each cohort and reduce age-related disparities. Addressing these disparities has significant implications for academics, policy-makers, senior living accommodations, and technology developers.

"Savoring the Past, Nourishing the Present": Uncovering the Essence of Multicultural Mealtime Experiences in Senior Living Facilities

Mealtimes are crucial markers of daily schedules and hold significant meaning for older adults in senior living facilities worldwide, extending beyond the food served. Utilizing Moustakas' transcendental phenomenological approach, this study explores the lived experiences and multifaceted meanings of mealtimes for older adults from multicultural backgrounds in senior living facilities in Malaysia. In six urban senior living facilities, 28 older adults from Malaysia's three major ethnic groups, namely Bumiputera Malays, Chinese, and Indians were interviewed through semi-structured one-on-one interviews. Five discernible themes beyond tangible aspects emerged: mealtimes as cultural bridges, memories and palate, emotional bonds through food, quality control and consumption, and comfort through personalized dining experience. This study raises awareness among senior-living facilitators, family caregivers, academics, and policymakers to acknowledge the evident complexities of mealtimes for older adults living away from the comfort of familiarity. Future research should consider the active involvement of all stakeholders in co-creating and implementing interventions that enhance older adults' mealtime experiences in senior-friendly establishments.

Navigating the twilight years: Supporting older adults' orientation and wayfinding in senior living facilities

In their twilight years, spatial disorientation can cause significant challenges for older adults, leading them to become perpetually disoriented or rely more on environmental cues and others for navigation. Unfortunately, wayfinding within senior living facilities is often an afterthought for senior living facility planners. This study explores the lived experiences of older adults coping with spatial disorientation and wayfinding in senior living facilities and the consequential impact on their physical, social, and psychosocial well-being. Data were collected from 28 older adults in six senior living facilities within three urban locations. The study used one-on-one, semi-structured, in-depth interviews and the Modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen analysis method guided by Moustakas' transcendental phenomenology. Five primary themes emerged: spatial disorientation, wayfinding, self-evident stimuli, visual cues and constancies, and digital wayfinding decision junctions. Through a "looking out from the inside" approach, the findings have valuable implications for academics, senior-friendly environments, government policymakers, hospitality and healthcare industries.

Urban blue: A global analysis of the factors shaping people's perceptions of the marine environment and ecological engineering in harbours

Marine harbours are the focus of a diverse range of activities and subject to multiple anthropogenically induced pressures. Support for environmental management options aimed at improving degraded harbours depends on understanding the factors which influence people's perceptions of harbour environments. We used an online survey, across 12 harbours, to assess sources of variation people's perceptions of harbour health and ecological engineering. We tested the hypotheses: 1) people living near impacted harbours would consider their environment to be more unhealthy and degraded, be more concerned about the environment and supportive of and willing to pay for ecological engineering relative to those living by less impacted harbours, and 2) people with greater connectedness to the harbour would be more concerned about and have greater perceived knowledge of the environment, and be more supportive of, knowledgeable about and willing to pay for ecological engineering, than those with less connectedness. Across twelve locations, the levels of degradation and modification by artificial structures were lower and the concern and knowledge about the environment and ecological engineering were greater in the six Australasian and American than the six European and Asian harbours surveyed. We found that people's perception of harbours as healthy or degraded, but not their concern for the environment, reflected the degree to which harbours were impacted. There was a positive relationship between the percentage of shoreline modified and the extent of support for and people's willingness to pay indirect costs for ecological engineering. At the individual level, measures of connectedness to the harbour environment were good predictors of concern for and perceived knowledge about the environment but not support for and perceived knowledge about ecological engineering. To make informed decisions, it is important that people are empowered with sufficient knowledge of the environmental issues facing their harbour and ecological engineering options.

Limitations of cytochrome oxidase I for the barcoding of Neritidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) as revealed by Bayesian analysis

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene has been universally and successfully utilized as a barcoding gene, mainly because it can be amplified easily, applied across a wide range of taxa, and results can be obtained cheaply and quickly. However, in rare cases, the gene can fail to distinguish between species, particularly when exposed to highly sensitive methods of data analysis, such as the Bayesian method, or when taxa have undergone introgressive hybridization, over-splitting, or incomplete lineage sorting. Such cases require the use of alternative markers, and nuclear DNA markers are commonly used. In this study, a dendrogram produced by Bayesian analysis of an mtDNA COI dataset was compared with that of a nuclear DNA ATPS-α dataset, in order to evaluate the efficiency of COI in barcoding Malaysian nerites (Neritidae). In the COI dendrogram, most of the species were in individual clusters, except for two species: Nerita chamaeleon and N. histrio. These two species were placed in the same subcluster, whereas in the ATPS-α dendrogram they were in their own subclusters. Analysis of the ATPS-α gene also placed the two genera of nerites (Nerita and Neritina) in separate clusters, whereas COI gene analysis placed both genera in the same cluster. Therefore, in the case of the Neritidae, the ATPS-α gene is a better barcoding gene than the COI gene.

DNA barcoding reveals neritid diversity (Mollusca: Gastropoda) diversity in Malaysian waters

This is the first study to identify and determine the phylogenetics of neritids found in Malaysia. In total, twelve species from the family Neritidae were recorded. Ten species were from the genus Nerita and two species were from the genus Neritina. DNA barcodes were successfully assigned to each species. Although some of these species were previously reported in the region, three are only presently reported in this study. The dendrogram showed Nerita and Neritina strongly supported in their respective monophyletic clades. Phylogenetic positions of some species appeared unstable in the trees. This could be due to the differences in a small number of nucleotides, thus minimizing genetic variation between each specimen and species.

Utilization of molecular markers for the conservation of blood cockles, Anadara granosa (Arcidae)

We examined genetic variation in blood cockles in an effort to obtain information useful for the sustainability, management, and the stability of this species as a major commodity in the fisheries sector. Ten populations of cockles were sampled from the north to the south of the west coast of peninsular Malaysia. The cockles were collected in collaboration with the Fisheries Research Institute, Penang. The population genetic analysis of the cockles were studied via RAPD-PCR and mtDNA sequencing. Three hundred individuals were analyzed with RAPD-PCR experiments. High gene diversity over all loci was observed (Shannon index = 0.549 ± 0.056 and Nei's gene diversity = 0.4852 ± 0.0430 among 35 loci). The second method, mtDNA sequencing, was employed to complement the information obtained from RAPD-PCR. The gene selected for mtDNA sequencing was cytochrome c oxidase I (COI). One hundred and fifty individuals were sequenced, yielding a partial gene of 585 bp. Statistical analysis showed homogeneity in general but did reveal some degree of variability between the populations in Johor and the rest of the populations. The Mantel test showed a positive but nonsignificant correlation between geographic and genetic distances (r = 0.2710, P = 0.622), as in the RAPD analysis. We propose that the homogeneity between distant populations is caused by two factors: 1) the translocation of the spats; 2) larvae are carried by current movement from the north of the peninsula to the south. The different genetic composition found in Johor could be due to pollution, mutagenic substances or physical factors such as the depth of the water column. This population genetic study is the first for this species in peninsular Malaysia. The data from this study have important implications for fishery management, conservation of blood cockles and translocation policies for aquaculture and stock enhancement programs.

The ideal measurement of the quality of life in post stroke patients: an urban study

OBJECTIVE

There is paucity of literature on the measurement of the quality of life in post stroke patients in the developing countries. The main objective of this study was to determine the quality of life (QOL) of post stroke patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 107 post stroke patients in two centers. The data was obtained during the period of January 2009 till May 2009 using purposive sampling method. A total of 68 males and 39 females participated in this study. Stroke Specific Quality Of Life (SS-QOL) version 2.0 was used. Cronbach's alpha values for SS-QOL ranged between 0.73 and 0.89.

RESULTS

The mean ± SD of the QOL score was 141.79 ± 40.32. The mean ± SD of the age was 65.47 ± 11.79 years. Result showed significant negative association between age and QOL of post stroke patients (r = - 0.199, p= 0.040). Domains mostly affected by stroke compared to pre-stroke were mobility (69%) and energy (64%). There were two domains in SS-QOL significantly predicted the QOL of post stroke patients. These domains were work and productivity (β= 2.277, t= 2.145, p= 0.035) and thinking (β= 1.927, t= 2.567, p= 0.012).

CONCLUSION

Few items from this measurement tool may not be appropriate in a developing country because of the different cultural background. There is a need to develop appropriate post stroke patient measurement tool based on local practice.