Modification of the assessment of life habits (LIFE-Hm) to consider personalized satisfaction with participation in activities and roles: results from a construct validity study with older adults

Association between satisfaction and participation in everyday occupations after stroke

BACKGROUND

Within occupational therapy, it is assumed that individuals are satisfied when participating in everyday occupations that they want to do. However, there is little empirical evidence to show this.

AIMS

The aim of this study is to explore and describe the relation between satisfaction and participation in everyday occupations in a Swedish cohort, 5 years post stroke.

METHODS

Sixty-nine persons responded to the Occupational Gaps Questionnaire (OGQ). The questionnaire measures subjective restrictions in participation, i.e. the discrepancy between doing and wanting to do 30 different occupations in everyday life, and satisfaction per activity. Results were analysed with McNemar/chi-square.

RESULTS

Seventy percent of the persons perceived participation restrictions. Individuals that did not perceive restrictions in their participation had a significantly higher level of satisfaction (p = .002) compared to those that had restrictions. Participants that performed activities that they wanted to do report between 79 and 100% satisfaction per activity.

CONCLUSION

In this cohort, there was a significant association between satisfaction and participating in everyday occupations one wants to do, showing that satisfaction is an important aspect of participation and substantiates a basic assumption within occupational therapy. The complexity of measuring satisfaction and participation in everyday occupations is discussed.

Participation needs of older adults having disabilities and receiving home care: met needs mainly concern daily activities, while unmet needs mostly involve social activities

BACKGROUND

Participation is a key determinant of successful aging and enables older adults to stay in their homes and be integrated into the community. Assessing participation needs involves identifying restrictions in the accomplishment of daily and social activities. Although meeting participation needs involves older adults, their caregivers and healthcare providers, little is known about their respective viewpoints. This study thus explored the participation needs of older adults having disabilities as perceived by the older adults themselves, their caregivers and healthcare providers.

METHODS

A qualitative multiple case study consisted of conducting 33 semi-structured interviews in eleven triads, each composed of an older adult, his/her caregiver and a healthcare provider recruited in a Health and Social Services Centre (HSSC) in Québec, Canada. Interview transcripts and reviews of clinical records were analyzed using content analysis and descriptive statistics based on thematic saliency analysis methods.

RESULTS

Aged 66 to 88 years, five older adults had physical disabilities, five had mild cognitive impairment and one had psychological problems, leading to moderate to severe functional decline. Caregivers and healthcare providers were mainly women, respectively retired spouses and various professionals with four to 32 years of clinical experience. Participation needs reported by each triad included all domains of participation. Needs related to daily activities, such as personal care, nutrition, and housing, were generally met. Regarding social activities, few needs were met by various resources in the community and were generally limited to personal responsibilities, including making decisions and managing budgets, and some community life activities, such as going shopping. Unmet needs were mainly related to social activities, involving leisure, other community life activities and interpersonal relationships, and some daily activities, including fitness and mobility.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights the complexity of older adults' participation needs, involving daily as well as social activities. Properly assessing and addressing these needs is thus necessary to improve older adults' health and well-being. Discrepancies in the various actors' perceptions of participation needs must be further explored. Additional research would help better understand how to optimize the contribution of community organizations and caregivers.

Coping strategies associated with participation and quality of life in older adults

Background.

It is important to understand the coping strategies that optimize or restrict participation or quality of life, especially for older adults.

Purpose.

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between, on the one hand, problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies used to deal with aging limitations or health problems and, on the other hand, participation and quality of life.

Method.

A cross-sectional design was used with 82 community-dwelling participants aged 65 and older.

Findings.

Participants used both problem-focused (distancing, self-control) and emotion-focused (seeking social support, planful problem solving, positive appraisal) coping strategies to deal with aging limitations or health problems. Only a few moderately significant associations were found except for escape–avoidance coping strategies, which were significantly associated with lower participation and quality of life.

Implications.

Before developing interventions to improve or maintain older adults’ participation and quality of life, more studies are needed to better understand coping strategies used by older adults to deal with aging limitations or health problems and especially escape–avoidance strategies.