SPOUSAL INFLUENCES ON HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF OLDER KUWAITI MEN AND WOMEN

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yagoub Y. Al-Kandari ◽  
Douglas E. Crews
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Data Entry ◽  
Somatic Symptoms ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Poor Health ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Health Symptoms ◽  
Frequency Of Contact ◽  
Health And Well Being

SummaryThe aim of the study was to determine the associations of the self-perceptions of health and social support among Kuwaitis who were 60 years old and older, who either were or were not currently living with a spouse. A sample of 1427 was selected (472 men and 955 women). Social Affairs nurses completed all interviews in the participants’ homes. A single questionnaire was designed; SPSS (version 21) was used for data entry and analysis. Participants living with their spouse reported significantly greater social support, more frequent contact with others and greater strength of social relationships than those without a spouse. Significant differences between those with and without a spouse were observed for all physically assessed and self-reported aspects of health. Of 60 items included in the somatic symptoms, participants with a spouse reported fewer poor health symptoms than those without a spouse. More children living in the same household, along with greater frequency of contact, strength of contact and social support significantly and independently predicted positive somatic symptoms in the total sample as well as in both sexes. Participants with a spouse reported fewer poor health symptoms than did those without a spouse. Having a spouse is a significant benefit to many aspects of elder Kuwaitis’ daily lives, including their health and well-being.

scholarly journals Older Men With Living Spouses Versus Men Without Spouses: An Example From the Arab World—Kuwait

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 155798832093721
Author(s):  
Yagoub Yousif Al-Kandari
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Data Entry ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Elderly Men ◽  
Glucose Levels ◽  
Frequency Of Contact ◽  
Social Support Scale ◽  
Reported Health ◽  
Health And Well Being

This research is concentrated on elderly Kuwait men and the effect that losing wife, a major determinant of social support, has on their general health. A sample of 472 older male adults aged 60 years and older have been included in this study. A questionnaire was the major tool of the study. The questionnaire included sociocultural information and social support scales (Degree of Religiosity, Social Support Scale, Frequency of Contact, and Strength of Relation scales). Health measurements also were used: two, one-item self-reported health scales in the current year and last year and a Somatic Symptoms Inventory (SSI) were used. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure and glucose levels were taken. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 21) was used for data entry and analysis. t-test and regression were the major statistical procedures. Data show that there are differences between elderly men with a living wife compared to those without a living wife. Having a living wife was positively associated with better social support and health in Kuwaiti elderly men. Data show that a living wife is an important factor of men’s health and well-being in general and that a wife is one of the major social support elements of elderly men.

SOCIAL SUPPORT AND HEALTH AMONG ELDERLY KUWAITIS

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 518-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
YAGOUB Y. AL-KANDARI ◽  
DOUGLAS E. CREWS
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Diastolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Somatic Symptoms ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Elderly Adult ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Frequency Of Contact ◽  
Blood Pressures

SummaryThe aim of this study was to examine differences in several aspects of health between Kuwaiti men and women aged 60 years and over across three age categories (60–69, 70–79, 80+ years). The relationships between several social support variables, somatic symptoms and systolic and diastolic blood pressures were examined. A total of 1427 adult men (472) and women (955) aged 60 years and over representing all six governorates were selected. Data were collected during 2008–2009 by interview and completion of a questionnaire by participants in their own homes, after obtaining their informed consent. The Social Support Scale (SSS), Frequency of Contact Scale (FOC), Strength of Relations (SOR), Somatic Symptoms Inventory (SSI) and self-rated scales of general health were included. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured. The data show that self-rated health and health in the last year differ significantly across age groups. Glycaemia differed significantly across the three age groups for the total sample. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were higher in older respondents than younger ones, but no significant differences were observed between men and women. No significant differences in somatic symptoms were observed across the three age groups. Strength of relationship, frequency of contact, social support and children living with an elderly adult were all associated with fewer somatic symptoms, and all, except social support, were associated with lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Having children, the perception of social support, frequency of contact with, and strength of, relationships with kin are important modulators of somatic symptoms and blood pressure among elderly Kuwaitis.

Evaluation of Quality of Context Information in U-Health Smart Homes

2012 ◽  
pp. 179-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Bringel Filho ◽  
Nazim Agoulmine
Keyword(s):  
Health Systems ◽  
Smart Homes ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Context Information ◽  
Context Aware ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Quality Of Context ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

Ubiquitous Health (U-Health) smart homes are intelligent spaces capable of observing and correctly recognizing the activities and health statuses of their inhabitants (context) to provide the appropriate support to achieve an overall sense of health and well-being in their inhabitants’ daily lives. With the intrinsic heterogeneity and large number of sources of context information, aggregating and reasoning on low-quality raw sensed data may result in conflicting and erroneous evaluations of situations, affecting directly the reliability of the U-Health systems. In this environment, the evaluation and verification of Quality of Context (QoC) information plays a central role in improving the consistency and correctness of context-aware U-Health applications. Therefore, the objective of this chapter is to highlight the impact of QoC on the correct behavior of U-Health systems, and introduce and analyze the existing approaches of modeling, evaluating, and using QoC to improve its context-aware decision-making support.

scholarly journals Health and well-being of parents with 4-year-old children – a nationwide study in 2018 in Finland

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Klemetti ◽  
M Vuorenmaa ◽  
R Ikonen ◽  
J Oksanen ◽  
J Lammi-Taskula
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Service Use ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Mental Distress ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Poor Health ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Upper Secondary Education ◽  
Health Clinics ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract Background A nation-wide data collection on small children and their families’ health and well-being has been lacking in Finland. The aim of this study was to examine health and determinants of health among parents with a four-year-old child. Methods A nation-wide study for 4-year-old children (N = 8720) and their parents (N = 10 737) conducted in 2018. The families were recruited by public health nurses at child health clinics. Both parents had a possibility to answer a questionnaire considering questions on health, well-being and service use. General health of the parent was measured by one question (How do you find your general state of health?), depressive disorders by PHQ-2 and mental health by MHI-5. Data were analyzed by cross-tabulation. Results of logistic regression will be presented in the conference. Results Most participants were female (72%) and most families had two adults (93%). Mean age was 35 years and 58% were highly educated. Around 10% reported their health as average or poor, 19% had had depressive disorders within 12 months, and 6% had experienced mental distress. Single parents reported mental distress and depressive disorders significantly more often than the other parents. Average or poor health was reported significantly more often by female parents. Those with average or poor health or depressive disorders were significantly more likely to have one child, upper secondary education or less, or be outside of work. They felt themselves significantly more often lonely and unsatisfied with their life and family’s economic situation. They were also significantly more likely to report need of support for their own parenthood and partnership. Conclusions Health challenges among the parents were quite similar than those among the adults in same ages. However, detailed analysis is needed to find out the specific determinants affecting the parents and whole family’s life to be able to better support the families. Key messages Most parents with children aged 4-year-old were healthy and satisfied with their life. The parents having poor physical or mental health had also challenges in family life.

Gratitude and Loneliness: Enhancing Health and Well-Being in Older Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 772-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Y. Bartlett ◽  
Sarah N. Arpin
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Treatment Group ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Health ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Health Symptoms ◽  
Group Self ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Improve Health

We experimentally investigated gratitude’s impact on loneliness and health in older adults. Participants were assigned to a daily gratitude writing exercise (treatment group) or a control group. Self-reported loneliness and health (i.e., subjective well-being, subjective health, health symptoms) were measured daily over a 3-week period. In support of our hypotheses, within-person variability in gratitude predicted differences in loneliness and health. Furthermore, those in the treatment group showed stronger cumulative effects of gratitude on loneliness and health symptoms when aggregated across the 20-day study. Additionally, a series of conditional, multilevel indirect effect models found that loneliness acted as a mechanism for gratitude’s differential impact on subjective well-being and health symptoms across conditions. Taken together, this study provides initial evidence that a simple gratitude exercise can strengthen associations among daily gratitude and loneliness and, consequently, improve health, for older adults.

scholarly journals ‘Life in the Travelling Circus’: A Study of Loneliness, Work Stress, and Money Issues in Touring Professional Golf

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Fry ◽  
Daniel Bloyce
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Work Stress ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Decision Latitude ◽  
Personal Problems ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Effort Reward Imbalance ◽  
Reward Imbalance ◽  
Professional Golfers ◽  
Health And Well Being

This article examines the effects of globalization on the well-being of migrant professional athletes. Interviews with 20 touring professional golfers reveal that players experience many of the personal problems—such as loneliness, isolation, low decision latitude, low social support, and effort-reward imbalance—which have been identified as “strong predictors of mental ill-health” (Leka & Jain, 2010, p. 65). Feelings of loneliness and isolation developed as players were regularly apart from family and friends, and spent most of their time with other golfers whom they had somewhat superficial relationships with. These feelings coupled with, for many, uncertain income generated through golf added further to their work-related anxieties. Overall, results highlight the importance of considering how workplace anxieties and vulnerabilities impact on athlete migrants’ health and well-being.

Anthropomorphism and Anthropomorphic Selection—Beyond the "Cute Response"

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Serpell
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Selection Pressure ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Support Providers ◽  
Evolutionary Selection ◽  
Human Side ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Health And Well Being

AbstractThis article explores the origin and evolutionary implications of anthropomorphism in the context of our relationships with animal companions. On the human side, anthropomorphic thinking enables animal companions' social behavior to be construed in human terms, thereby allowing these nonhuman animals to function for their human owners or guardians as providers of nonhuman social support. Absence of social support is known to be detrimental to human health and well being. Therefore, anthropomorphism and its corollary, pet keeping, have obvious biological fitness implications. On the animal side, anthropomorphism constitutes a unique evolutionary selection pressure, analogous to sexual selection, which has molded the appearance, anatomy, and behavior of companion animal species so as to adapt them to their unusual ecological niche as social support providers. Although such species undoubtedly have benefited numerically from the effects of this process, the consequences of anthropomorphism are less benign when viewed from the perspective of individual animals. Indeed, anthropomorphic selection probably is responsible for some of the more severe welfare problems currently found in companion animals.

Poor health as a potential risk factor for job loss due to automation: the case of Norway

2017 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Hessel ◽  
Solveig Christiansen ◽  
Vegard Skirbekk
Keyword(s):  
Potential Risk ◽  
Job Loss ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Poor Health ◽  
Job Displacement ◽  
Average Risk ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Generalised Linear Models ◽  
Health And Well Being

ObjectiveThis study aimed to quantify the extent to which health characteristics of workers are related to the potential risk of experiencing job displacement due to automation.MethodsLinking the 2015 Norwegian Statistics on Income and Living Conditions survey (n=6393) with predicted probabilities of automation by occupation, we used Kruskal-Wallis tests and multivariate generalised linear models to assess the association between long-standing illnesses and risk of job automation.ResultsIndividuals with long-standing illnesses face substantially greater risks of losing their job due to automation. Whereas the average risk of job automation is 57% for men and 49% for women with long-standing illnesses, the risk is only 50% for men and 44% for women with limitations (p<0.001). Controlling for age, having a long-standing illness significantly increases the relative risk of facing job automation among men (risk ratio (RR) 1.13, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.19), as well as women (RR 1.11, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.17). While, among men, the association between long-standing illness and risk of job automation remains significant when controlling for education and income, it becomes insignificant among women.ConclusionsIndividuals with poor health are likely to carry the highest burden of technological change in terms of worsening employment prospects because of working in occupations disproportionally more likely to be automated. Although the extent of technology-related job displacement will depend on several factors, given the far-reaching negative consequences of job loss on health and well-being, this process represents a significant challenge for public health and social equity.

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