Translation and validation of Caregiving Satisfaction Scale into Korean.

The purpose of this study was to establish the equivalence and to examine the psychometric properties of a Korean translation of the Caregiving Satisfaction Scale (CSS). A convenience sample of 44 bilingual Koreans was selected. The Cronbach's alpha for the English and Korean versions were .87 and .90, respectively. There was significant mean difference between items 3 and 12 of the English items and their Korean translations. Pearson's Correlations demonstrated that 13 of the 15 CSS items had significant correlations (r = .35-.75, p < .05) between two versions. The correlation between total scores of both versions was .86 (p < .001). Overall, none of the items would be regarded as having unacceptable numeric properties. According to the fine process for translation, back-translation, and bilingual field test, the Korean version of the CSS appears to have concrete construct validity and reliability for use in measuring caregiver satisfaction in the Korean population.

Memory awareness among Japanese nursing facility residents.

One hundred and seventeen elderly residents of seven geriatric health facilities located in Tokyo participated in this study. The Mini-Mental State, Metamemory in Adulthood, Geriatric Depression Health Scale and demographic questionnaires were used in face-to-face interviews. The subjects were 32 males and 85 females, with a mean age of 83.08 years. Depression was found to be a key factor for explaining metamemory. Depression accounted for 17% of the variance in capacity and 23% in change. There were no differences between the mild cognitive impairment group and the cognitively intact group on achievement, capacity, change, locus and strategy subscales. When depression was considered as a moderating factor, a difference arose between two cognitive levels. History of stroke was not related to metamemory in this study; however, future studies should emphasize memory awareness in brain injury residents since 41% of the sample had a history of CVA.

Self-reported health-promoting behaviors of black and white caregivers.

The purpose of this study was to describe the behaviors that caregivers report carrying out to maintain their own health, and to compare the health-promoting behaviors of Black and White caregivers. Although many studies have examined health-promoting behaviors, few have examined health promotion among caregivers. Reported studies of caregivers' health-promoting behaviors have not compared cultural groups. The sample for this study was selected by random digit dialing, and included 136 Black and 257 White caregivers of frail elders. Content analysis of respondents' answers to the open-ended question, "In general, what do you do to stay healthy?" was used to address the research questions. Most caregivers reported specific behaviors they engaged in for the purpose of staying healthy. Although most of their behaviors addressed physical health, caregivers also mentioned behaviors that contribute to mental and spiritual health. Both differences and similarities were found in Black and White caregivers' self-reported health behaviors, which have important implications for nursing practice and research in the future.

Aging and immigration: Who are the elderly?

"The present article joins two generally separate streams of research, gerontologic and immigration research in the United States. The paper considers data from several studies of seniors in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1990s; the 'Black and White Caregivers' and the 'Use of Services of Black and White Elderly'. These are considered not in terms of their original research goals, but rather in terms of a reflective examination of assumptions regarding the identity of the elders and caregivers that framed the two studies." The authors conclude that identifying elderly people by race tends to conceal rather than clarify ethnic and cultural differences among this population.

Religiosity and perceived rewards of black and white caregivers.

Using data from a larger study of caregivers of the elderly, this study explores the extent to which religiosity variables function as mediators of the effects of situational/demographic factors on perceived caregiver rewards. In the parent project, random digit dialing was used to select 136 Black and 255 White caregivers of community-dwelling elders for face-to-face interviews. Regression analyses revealed that Black caregivers perceived higher levels of rewards than Whites and the relationship between race and perceived rewards was mediated by comfort from religion and prayer. Blacks and Whites with more education reported fewer perceived rewards than caregivers with less education.

Geriatric mental health interventions in the home.

Geriatric mental health treatment should be considered an integral part of the services provided by home health care agencies or community mental health centers. Public policy is needed to cover in-home psychiatric services to caregivers and elders, one way to respond effectively to their needs. This policy should include the provision of adequate numbers of geriatric mental health specialists who are specifically trained for work with the aged in their homes.

Nursing care in Alzheimer's disease.

The care of patients with AD has had an major impact on the practice of nursing. Nurses are concerned with identifying the special care needs of a dementia patient and developing appropriate nursing interventions to maintain the patient's quality of life. AD is a major challenge for clinical nursing and nursing research because of the degenerative nature of the disease and its subsequent functional impairment.

Racial differences in self-assessed health problems, depressive cognitions, and learned resourcefulness.

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in self-assessed health problems, depressive cognitions, and learned resourcefulness in functionally independent older adults, including 30 Black and 30 White elders age 65 and over. Data were collected during structured face-to-face interviews. The two groups were similar in age, gender, education, and income. Results revealed that White elders reported more physical health problems than Blacks, but the types of problems were similar. While White elders reported more depressive cognitions, Black elders were significantly more resourceful. Most importantly, a strong association between depressive cognitions and learned resourcefulness was found for both Black and White elders. Findings highlight the importance of developing strategies to teach or reinforce learned resourcefulness in Black and White elders in order to prevent depression and promote mental health. This study recommends further investigation of racial differences in cognitive-behavior strategies constituting learned resourcefulness, using larger and randomly selected samples.