Longitudinal qualitative inquiry from a social gerontological perspective can offer unique insights into older adults' wellbeing and home care service trajectories. This temporal case study of 12 older home care clients analysed 136 interviews over three time points with 53 home care network actors in Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Many clients and families grappled with service changes almost daily, even if the level or type of service appeared officially stable. The pandemic added further disruption, shaping clients' lives, wellbeing, and relationships, as well as their access to and use of service. Notably, changes in clients' wellbeing and needs for help were not necessarily straightforward nor always apparent to case coordinators, especially when these were tied to social, emotional, or relational wellbeing, or to clients' living arrangements, housing, family, and community integration. Findings can enhance theorizing of change for older adults receiving home care and guide equity-informed policy and practice.

Les enjeux éthiques de la pratique de l'ergothérapie auprès de personnes aînées en centre hospitalier n'ont pas été à ce jour documentés d'une manière large et globale. L'objectif de l'étude était de décrire ces enjeux suivant la perspective d'ergothérapeutes du Québec. Des entrevues individuelles ont été réalisées avec des ergothérapeutes dans le cadre d'une étude qualitative d'inspiration phénoménologique. Trois analystes se sont concertées lors de l'analyse des verbatims des entretiens. Vingt ergothérapeutes ont pris part à l'étude. Sept unités de sens émergent des données, lesquelles attestent que plusieurs valeurs sont bafouées dans le quotidien de la pratique, telles que l'autonomie décisionnelle des personnes aînées, leur autonomie fonctionnelle, leur dignité, l'accessibilité et la qualité des services ergothérapiques, la reconnaissance de la profession ergothérapique, la collaboration interprofessionnelle et la bientraitance des personnes aînées. Les résultats rejoignent ceux documentés dans les écrits, tout en identifiant plusieurs enjeux éthiques non documentés à ce jour.

Engagement in social, physical, and cognitive activities is beneficial for maintaining cognitive health in later life by providing cognitive reserves against cognitive and neurodegenerative decline.

Dementia care is often fragmented and difficult to navigate. Patient navigation is a promising solution to support individuals with dementia and their care partners.

Cognitive stimulation (CS) interventions, such as book clubs ('bibliotherapy'), that foster both cognitive and social engagement show promise for supporting healthy aging. However, current evidence concerning the use of CS interventions remains limited, and few studies offer insights into the participants' experiences and features that make CS interventions feasible.

The Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia (COMPASS-ND) is an observational study of more than 1100 participants across the dementia spectrum. This research note describes the development and features of the neuropsychological research battery, which is available in English and French. The training of staff and procedures for quality assurance are described. The battery assesses learning and memory, processing speed, attention, executive function, visuoperceptual processing, and language, and the available test scores are described. We outline our goals for future work including: (1) increasing the sociodemographic diversity of the participant cohorts, (2) determining the psychometric properties of the battery, (3) establishing robust normative data from control participants followed longitudinally, and (4) examining longitudinal data on individuals at risk of dementia and across the dementia spectrum. The COMPASS-ND neuropsychology data will provide a unique open-access database of deeply phenotyped participants with or at risk of dementia for Canadian and international researchers.

Alert systems can engage the community to help locate missing persons with dementia. Evidence on the impact of implemented alert systems is minimal. Guided by three adapted Knowledge-to-Action Framework phases: identifying the problem, assessing barriers, and evaluating outcomes, this study aimed to examine understandings about alert systems and their implementation in Canada, Scotland, and the United States. A document review and interviews conducted with 40 interest holders (those with lived experience, first responders, service providers, and policymakers) underwent thematic analysis. Findings revealed variability in alert systems implementation and barriers at individual (limited understanding of alert systems, privacy concerns, alert fatigue) and organizational levels (sustainability, accessibility, privacy legislation). Participants recommended the following for successful implementation of alert systems: clear policy, collaboration, ongoing assessment, and a localized, opt-in system with accessibility, public education, and sustainable funding. This information indicates under what conditions alert systems for missing persons with dementia could be implemented.

Tamil immigrants in Canada face high rates of Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and significant barriers in accessing T2DM-related services. These barriers are often amplified for older adults, whose age-related needs intersect with cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic factors. This study explored the lived experiences of Tamil older adults accessing T2DM-related health care services in the Greater Toronto Area. A qualitative interpretive description approach was used, involving in-depth semi-structured interviews with nine Tamil older adults. Participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. Thematic analysis was applied, with findings organized using Levesque et al.'s framework (). Five key themes were identified: (1) timely and informed diabetes management, (2) reliance on trusted health service providers, (3) reliance on others for transportation, (4) financial factors, and (5) navigating health care through cultural and communication factors. Identified themes can inform potential solutions to improve access including centralized resource hubs, culturally tailored education programs, affordable transportation options, and an integrated health care approach.

Engaging residents of long-term care homes (LTCHs) in their home's environment, programs, and operations is required in some jurisdictions and could improve resident quality of life and other outcomes. This scoping review summarized existing research on resident engagement in LTCH organizational design and governance, including associated enablers, barriers, approaches, and outcomes. The database search yielded 5,580 records (after deduplication), and 62 articles covering 59 studies were included. These studies predominantly described Residents' Councils ( = 38; 64%) and enablers or barriers pertaining to resident and home perspectives, as well as implementation and sustainability infrastructure. Few studies described approaches to considerations of resident diversity ( = 8; 14%) or the presence of dementia and/or cognitive impairment ( = 12; 20%). Ten studies reported quantitative data evaluating resident engagement, and only four with resident-reported outcomes. Robust, evidence-informed frameworks that are co-designed with residents, staff, and others in the LTCH sector are needed to engage residents in their LTCHs.

La présente étude de méthode mixte explore les perceptions et attentes relatives aux hypnotiques et produits de santé naturels (PSN) chez les personnes âgées. Vingt-quatre personnes d'en moyenne 76 ans dont 58 % étaient des femmes ont participé à des entrevues semi-structurées. La moitié était des utilisateurs d'hypnotiques. Selon leur score de l'index de sévérité de l'insomnie, 54 % des participants avaient une insomnie légère, 38 % modérée et 8 % sévère. Les participants s'attendaient que les médicaments permettent un endormissement rapide, un sommeil ininterrompu et une augmentation de sa durée. Ils souhaitaient avoir des sensations comme la détente ou l'absence de pensées durant leur sommeil. Les sensations désirées au réveil comprenaient le calme, le bien-être et la satisfaction. Dans l'analyse de combinaison, les thèmes de la quantité de sommeil et le temps de latence court sont des critères d'efficacité les plus fréquemment cités autant chez ceux souffrant d'insomnie légère que modérée à sévère. L'absence d'éveils nocturne était l'autre critère d'efficacité plus fréquemment mentionné chez ceux ayant une insomnie légère alors que la sensation de bien-être au réveil était celui pour ceux ayant une insomnie modérée à sévère.

Un certain nombre d'articles et de chapitres d'ouvrages évoquent les remaniements fonctionnels des familles face à la maladie neuro-évolutive (MNE) d'un de leurs proches. Cependant, peu d'études s'arrêtent sur le vécu de ces familles, sur leur positionnement face à la maladie et de comment elles se sentent reconnues par leurs proches atteints d'une MNE à un stade sévère. Dans cette étude, nous nous sommes intéressés au sentiment de reconnaissance des enfants et des conjoints, aux émotions de colère et de tristesse ainsi qu'aux sentiments de découragement et d'impuissance vécus par les familles face à l'évolution de la MNE de leurs parents / conjoints. Nous avons souhaité savoir s'il existait une différence significative entre les enfants et les conjoints au niveau de leur sentiment de reconnaissance et de leurs vécus. Nos résultats montrent qu'il existe une différence significative entre les enfants et les conjoints au niveau de la colère.

Most persons living with dementia in Canada reside at home, relying on support from family and/or friends as caregivers. Evidentially, knowledge gaps exist when trying to understand how caregivers and persons living with dementia can be better supported in their community and health care environments. This research examined the effect of aging in place with a focus on providing a comprehensive understanding of the barriers to aging in place for persons living with dementia and their caregivers using the social-ecological model. Fourteen caregivers were recruited to participate in one-on-one semi-structured interviews. The subsequent theme, , emphasizes issues faced with community and societal domains of aging in place care. These findings shed light on the unmet needs of persons living with dementia and their caregivers while aging in place, as well as the need to address systemic barriers to sincerely promote aging in place for persons.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted significant vulnerabilities in long-term care (LTC) homes, severely impacting residents and care partners. This study investigates how care partners of older adults living in Ontario LTC homes perceived residents' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those perceptions shaped their own caregiving experiences. Using critical ethnography, we identified four key themes: (a) masks and miscommunication, (b) loneliness and loss, (c) from interaction to isolation, and (d) loss of the advocacy role. Supportive actions included transparent masks, increased allied health professionals, and enriching daily programs. These findings emphasize the need for policies that balance infection control with the emotional and social needs of LTC residents, addressing power imbalances, ageism, and systemic inequities.

La gestion socioterritoriale du vieillissement constitue un enjeu fondamental au Nouveau-Brunswick. Comme cette province ne possède pas de stratégie territoriale du vieillissement, il revient aux municipalités d'aménager leur territoire afin de favoriser le vieillissement sur place. L'objectif de cet article consiste à évaluer la perception des élus municipaux, des intervenants communautaires et des aînés en ce qui a trait à la gestion socioterritoriale du vieillissement dans quatre villes du Nouveau-Brunswick. L'approche utilisée est celle des représentations sociales des acteurs à partir d'entrevues semi-dirigées. Sur le plan théorique, notre analyse s'appuie sur le modèle de gérontologie environnementale. Bien que les résultats de nos entretiens révèlent une satisfaction généralisée des répondants concernant l'implication des élus à la gestion socioterritoriale du vieillissement, des disparités persistent notamment au chapitre de l'accessibilité par rapport à certains édifices et au manque d'infrastructures dédiées spécifiquement aux aînés. Pour pallier ces difficultés, le déploiement d'une stratégie territoriale du vieillissement multiniveau constitue une piste de solutions à envisager.

Cognitive and behavioral factors contribute to the mitigation of stress-related health outcomes in later life. Given that stress management interventions for older adults are an important target for healthcare, there is a need for a relatively short and standardized assessment tool to comprehensively measure stress and coping in later adulthood while minimizing the burden on participants. The Stress Assessment Inventory (SAI), a 123-item measure designed to assess stress and coping resources in younger adults.

The trajectory of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) to dementia within primary care is not well understood.

Approximately 25% of older adult residents who experience an acute change in health status are transferred from Long-Term Care (LTC) to Emergency Departments (ED). We explored the use of an intervention (i.e., LTC to ED) care and referral pathway, INTERACT® Change in Condition cards, and STOP AND WATCH tool, in informing decision making regarding resident transfers. We conducted 22 semi-structured interviews with Health care Providers (HCPs) involved in the LTC to ED care pathway in Western Canada. Thematic analysis of the qualitative interviews was used to evaluate the use of the pathway and tools. We identified six themes influencing decision making around resident transfers including interprofessional practice and conflict, ambiguous and clear medical cases, ageism, health care providers' goals, family involvement in resident care, and intervention tools. The intervention may be useful in streamlining, documenting, and increasing transparency in complicated LTC resident care and transfer decisions.

Ontario seniors face a range of challenges as they age, including financial, physical and social barriers. Addressing these challenges is essential to improving the health and well-being of older adults in the province. Objective: The discussion proposes that naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs) offer a viable and safe alternative to formal retirement communities and evaluates how NORCs can support seniors when examined through the lens of the social determinants of health.

Driving enables older adults to maintain independence and community mobility. Driving plays a pivotal role in the ability to engage in activities, socialize, run errands, and access health care services; yet many people eventually stop driving. This study investigates factors that contribute to transitions from driver to non-driver (i.e., driving status) using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Among participants aged 45-85 who reported driving at baseline ( = 30,901), 1.65 percent ( = 510) had stopped driving at follow-up (three years later). Logistic regression identified predictors of this transition, including older age, female sex, lower income, urban residence, poorer self-rated health, difficulties with activities of daily living, low memory scores, and vision problems. These findings highlight the interplay of physical, cognitive, and environmental factors in driving cessation. This research advances understanding of mobility transitions in later life and informs targeted strategies to support older adults as they plan for driving retirement.

This study aimed to identify the associations between possible sarcopenia (p-sarcopenia) and fall risk, depression, and quality of life (QOL) in middle-aged (age ≥ 45 years) and older (age ≥ 65 years) adults. In this study, we analyzed a total of 10,181 men and women aged 45-85 years from the initial survey sample of the 2006 Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. Among middle-aged men (women) adults, fall risk and depression were 4.09 (1.34) and 2.25 (2.05) times higher in the p-sarcopenia group than in the non-possible sarcopenia (np-sarcopenia) group, respectively ( < 0.05). Middle-aged and older men and women all showed low QOL-related scores, especially middle-aged men and women in the p-sarcopenia group ( < 0.05). Therefore, adequate management of sarcopenia is necessary in both older and middle-aged adults to reduce its burden as a public health concern.