Social Participation of Older Adults in Rural and Urban Areas: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Turkey.

Social participation is important in terms of active aging and quality of life during old age. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the social participation of older adults in rural and urban areas in Turkey. Related factors were similarly identified. The sample comprised 1,224 people over the age of 60, with a mean of 69.78 ± 7.48 years. Among the participants, 61.4% live in urban areas. The data were collected in family health centers through face-to-face interview and the Interview Form, Social Participation Assessment Form, and Social Participation Dimension of the Turkish Version of the Aging Module of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) Scale. The scores obtained from the social participation dimension of the scale among the elderly in urban areas were higher than those obtained among the elderly in rural areas (p = .002). In addition, older adults in the urban areas who talked on the phone several times a month (p = .025), went to concerts, theater/cinema, museum/exhibition, various visual/musical shows (p = .046), and engaged in gardening (p = .032) obtained higher scores in the social participation dimension than the other participants. Health care professionals should take an advocacy role in building relationships with policy makers and create suitable socialization opportunities for older adults in urban and rural areas.

Social participation is important in terms of active aging and quality of life during old age.This is the first study with a huge sample to compare the level of social participation of the elderly in rural and urban areas in Turkey.It provides information on the level of social participation of the elderly in a developing country.

Determination of the costs of falls in the older people according to the decision tree model.

PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH: The primary aim of this study is to hypothetically examine the costs of falls experienced by the older people living in the community and fall prevention interventions implemented by nurses using the decision tree model. The secondary purpose of the study is to determine the factors affecting the cost of falls. THE MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was planned as a costing and cost-effectiveness study. Two thousand seventy-five patient files were examined by following the research criteria. In the present study, a hypothetical analytical decision tree model was used. Three different scenarios were set up in the study, and the decision tree analyses were performed according to these scenarios. Falls will decrease by 12 % in the pessimistic scenario, by 27 % in the optimal scenario, and by 39 % in the optimistic scenario. The SPSS 22.0 (2014) and TreeAge Pro Suit (2009) programs were used for data analysis. THE PRINCIPAL RESULTS: The average cost for a person admitted to a hospital due to falls was $396.51 ± $1429.35.It was determined that costs varied according to the type of the injury.The results of this present study demonstrated that the three scenarios tested were costly but also more effective. Hence, the applicability of these interventions should be considered by policy makers taking both the costs and effectiveness into account. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: Multidisciplinary research should be carried out in order to increase the effectiveness of the fall prevention programs to be implemented in the future, and multifaceted fall prevention programs should be developed.

Health Beliefs, Self-Care Behaviors and Quality of Life in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.

AIM: Diabetes mellitus is a lifelong metabolic disease accompanied by acute and chronic complications and requires continuous medical care. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the diabetes self-management educational intervention given to individuals with type 2 diabetes on their health beliefs, self-care activities, and quality of life. METHOD: A single group randomized quasi-experimental study with the pre- and post-intervention design was conducted in two family health centers (n=60). The self-care activities, health beliefs, and quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes were investigated. RESULTS: The mean pre- and post-intervention blood glucose subscale scores were 1.57±0.91 and 3.22±1.06, respectively. The mean pre- and post-intervention social/vocational issues subscale scores were 29.26±5.54 and 33.26±3.19, respectively. The mean scores of the quality of life increased in the primary school graduates and in those who previously had no diabetes intervention after the intervention program. It was determined that the mean body mass index values of the participants decreased after the intervention. CONCLUSION: It is recommended to organize and implement periodic diabetes self-management educational intervention programs in family health centers and in centers providing diabetes health care to improve health beliefs and to increase self-care activities and quality of life in individuals with diabetes.