A Justification of Music Therapy in the Nursing Home Setting
Beckie Karras in “You Bring Out the Music in Me”: Music in Nursing Homes, 2012
In the Washington D.C. area, the Music Therapists in Gerontology group has been established to address some of these issues. This group organized over three years ago primarily as a support group and to provide a forum to share information and ideas. So far, we have undertaken two major tasks. First, we have produced a videotape now in the editing stage which highlights the ways in which Music Therapy is applied in our various clinical settings. Our second major task has been this publication. Individual members of the group are often consulted to provide resources or information for other professionals in the field of gerontology. Future projects include (1) Possible coordination with the Montgomery County Science Fair Association to encourage students to consider working on projects dealing with music and its effect on behavior, and (2) coordination with area high schools to orient students to Music Therapy as a profession, particularly in the area of geriatrics.
Introduction to the field of Gerontology
Jennifer R. Sasser, Harry R. Moody in Gerontology, 2018
Gerontology, on the other hand, is commonly defined as the scientific study of aging and old age. The term “Gerontology” is attributed to Metchnikoff, who first started using it in 1903. (Interestingly, it was a few years later when Nascher offered the term “Geriatrics” to designate the medical speciality concerned with aging issues.) However, this definition of Gerontology, while pithy and straightforward, belies the complexity of the field. Here are a few of the kinds of descriptions you might come across were you to attempt to suss a definition of Gerontology: Gerontology is both a professional practice and an academic discipline that focuses on issues and problems of old age.Gerontology is the scientific study of aging, old age and later life.Gerontology is an area of healthcare that focuses on the needs of older persons.Gerontology is a multidisciplinary field that includes perspectives on aging borrowed from other disciplines and professions, such as biology, psychology, sociology, epidemiology, public policy, nursing and social work.Gerontology is an interdisciplinary enterprise involving the integration of research, theory, and practice from across multiple disciplines.Gerontology is only in part a scientific endeavor; Gerontology also includes perspectives from the arts and humanities in order to more deeply understand the lived experience of aging and old age.
Existing Longitudinal Data Sets for the Study of Health and Social Aspects of Aging
Jason T. Newsom, Richard N. Jones, Scott M. Hofer in Longitudinal Data Analysis, 2013
Over the past several decades, an increasing number of longitudinal data sets have become publicly available that would be of interest to researchers studying aging (Boslaugh, 2007). As an interdisciplinary field, gerontology is the study of health and social aspects of aging. Many of these studies represent the culmination of a major investment of resources and the collaboration of multiple agencies or institutions, and they represent an unprecedented opportunity for researchers. These data sets have strengths that cannot be matched with the primary collection efforts of individual researchers, such as a wider array of measures, larger or more representative samples, or data that are difficult or expensive to obtain (e.g., clinical measures or death records). There are always specific aims in mind for these large studies, but, once a data set exists, it can be fodder for the investigation of hypotheses that reach well beyond the original study aims. Recognition of the potential knowledge still to be gained from existing studies is evident at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for example, which has issued a number of Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) specifically designed to encourage secondary data analysis (e.g., National Institutes of Health [NIH], 2008a, 2008b, 2009). The availability of such rich data sources to students, junior faculty, or researchers, who might otherwise lack the time or resources needed for large-scale primary data collection efforts, provides an invaluable opportunity for career development and scientific contribution. In this chapter, we review a variety of existing longitudinal data sets that are a potential wealth of information about health and social aspects of aging. Our goal is to familiarize researchers with the key characteristics of these studies so that they may identify and obtain data from those that are most appropriate for investigating their research questions.
The 100 Leading Contributors to English-Language Gerontological Journals: An International Study of Scholarly Impact
Published in Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 2023
David R. Hodge, Patricia R. Turner, Chao-Kai Huang
Gerontology is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on aging and older adults (Ayalon et al., 2021), a field that has grown in importance as the world’s population has aged (Serrat et al., 2022). In any academic field, the disciplinary literature occupies a central role (Liu et al., 2022). Scientists with a particular set of value commitments create knowledge that is disseminated in disciplinary periodicals that share those values. This process creates a distinct discourse that functions to demarcate a particular field from other disciplines (Nichols et al., 2022). In gerontology, the development of this knowledge base is informed by its commitment to understanding the aging process and its associated impact on people, programs, and policies (Shen et al., 2019). As gerontology has matured, scholars have sought to identify various aspects of the field’s knowledge production (Serrat et al., 2022), clarifying its boundaries and unique characteristics (Ayalon et al., 2021).
Gerontechnological factors affecting successful aging of elderly
Published in The Aging Male, 2020
Gerontechnology is an approach derived conceptually from gerontology and technology words, given to the whole of old age and technology work for the improvement of the daily activities of the elderly [47]. Gerontechnology is the sub-branch of Gerontology [47,48], which is interested in exploring, developing, presenting and evaluating technological products and practices that improve the life and daily activities of older people, improve their quality of life, improve their physical, mental and social capacities and situations. This approach, initiated by Graafmans and Brouwers [48], has begun to provide significant contributions to social service and old age science [48]. Gerontechnology is a multi-disciplinary approach that includes research, design, production and marketing. In the context of aging, many subjects such as scientific studies, development and implementation of products, environment, social services, consumption, law, politics, investment, etc., are included in this approach. Gerontechnology provides an analytical perspective on the versatility of aging [47].
Suggestions on Writing for JGSW’s International Audience
Published in Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 2020
We present six articles in this double issue for readers to consider. First is a study led by Dr. Christina Miyawaki reporting findings from the Vietnamese Aging and Care Survey (VACS) in the city of Houston, Texas, United States on caregiving by adult children and spouses for older adults. Second is an analysis of the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey by Dr. Cheng Shi and Dr. Bo Hu examining preferences for formal social care in rural and urban China. Following that, Dr. Ihab Girgis presents qualitative findings exploring protective factors and processes fostering resilience and buffering psychosocial distress among later-life Egyptian immigrants living in the New York City area of the United States. Next is a study by Dr. Ora Nakash and colleagues focused on understanding differences in mental health literacy between native Israelis and immigrants from the Former Soviet Union to Israel and the association between how to find mental health information and emotional distress among older adults. Our fifth and sixth articles are focused on gerontology education. Dr. Stephan Geyer and Dr. Liebe Louw consider the implications for professional training given the knowledge and attitudes of Generation Z undergraduate social work students in South Africa. Then Dr. Ahuva Even-Zohar and Dr. Shoshi Werner examine the effect of educational interventions on willingness to work with older adults among students of social work and other health professions in Israel. Finally, Sol Baik, MSW, reviews the book Families and Aging by Patricia Drentea, published by Rowman & Littlefield.
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