Health-related life satisfaction and its influencing factors: A cross-sectional study in China.

AIM: With the rapid development of science and technology, the pace of life has accelerated. Health and life satisfaction issues of persons are gaining more attention. China, Japan, Malaysia, and Taiwan conducted international cooperative research on health of four regional populations. This research was a part of the study in mainland China, which aimed to explore health-related life satisfaction and its influencing factors on large samples in mainland China. METHODS: A random group of 1404 persons from universities, factories, companies, and elderly centers in Changchun completed a structured questionnaire. This study centered on life satisfaction indicators, which included the current whole life, income, family relationships, peer relationships, relationships with the neighbors, living environment, personal health, family health, spare time, and housework share. Other collected data included the Body Mass Index, blood pressure, self-rated health, Breslow's seven health practices, medical treatment within the past 6 months, physical examinations, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-12 Scale, social activities, networking relationships with persons around the community, social support, and sociodemographic variables. Associations between life satisfaction, demographics, and health-related variables were analyzed through a multiway ANOVA. RESULTS: The living environment and income of Chinese persons were related to their low life satisfaction. The multiway ANOVA showed that the independent relationship of self-rated health, regular physical examinations, GHQ-12 Scale, trust in the community, communication with the neighbors, education, and age related with life satisfaction accounting for 20.3% of the variance. Education and age showed interactive effects on life satisfaction. CONCLUSION: This study identified seven factors that influenced the life satisfaction of persons in mainland China. Life satisfaction can be enhanced through interventions to improve self-rated health, regular physical examinations, mental health, trust in the community, communication with the neighbors, education, and improvement in the health service.

Retirement planning and work-related variables in Chinese older nurses: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: To explore the situation of older nurses approaching retirement with regard to their retirement planning, and the relationship of their retirement planning behaviour with the job environment and job satisfaction under their current employment arrangements and other work-related variables. BACKGROUND: Nurse shortage has become a global phenomenon that can be alleviated by retaining older nurses in service. The Chinese government proposed the "Incremental Delay Retirement Age Policy." However, older nurses face delayed retirement but lack retirement plans. METHOD: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among a convenience sample of older retiring nurses (n = 152; 84.92% response rate) recruited from every department of four large general hospitals in Changchun, Jilin Province from June to August 2016. RESULT: The majority of the respondents presented poor retirement planning (n = 122, 80.3%). The independent variables of information exchange with patients, teamwork and personal growth and development explained approximately 16.6% of the variance in retirement planning. Nurse-patient communication and personal growth and development can promote retirement planning, but teamwork is negatively related to retirement planning. CONCLUSION: Retirement planning by Chinese older nurses is related to certain work-related variables. However, many other work-related variables were not associated with retirement planning and require further research. Overall, Chinese older retiring nurses must improve their retirement planning practices.

Evaluation of MESSAGE communication strategy combined with group reminiscence therapy on elders with mild cognitive impairment in long-term care facilities.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate combined effects of MESSAGE communication strategy and group reminiscence therapy (GRT) on elders with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in long-term care facilities in Changchun, China. METHODS: This study is a nonrandomized controlled trial. Subjects included 60 elders with MCI. Participants were divided into intervention (MESSAGE communication strategy combined with GRT) and control groups (without any intervention). Primary outcomes comprised cognitive function and quality of life of elderly people, as measured by the Beijing version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and the Chinese (mainland) version of Short-Form 36 Health Survey assessment. RESULTS: We observed significant changes in cognitive function with mean difference of 1.962 after 12 weeks (P = .000; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.341, 2.582), delayed memory dimension of 1.115 (P = .003; 95% CI = 0.417, 1.813). The intervention group exhibited the following improvements: general health of 14.731 (P = .000; 95% CI = 8.511, 20.951), mental health of 21.038 (P = .000; 95% CI = 17.301, 24.776), role-emotional of 26.925 (P = .003; 95% CI = 10.317, 45.533), and vitality of 14.231 (P = .000; 95% CI = 10.084, 18.377). CONCLUSIONS: Using a sample of Chinese elderly people with MCI and residing in long-term care facilities, we concluded that application of MESSAGE communication strategy combined with GRT resulted in improved cognitive function and quality of life.