Biomedical subjects

A L Furstenberg

Publications and source records attributed to A L Furstenberg.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Outcome expectations for exercise scale: utility and psychometrics.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of outcome expectations for exercise specifically for the older adult (The Outcome Expectations for Exercise [OEE] Scale), and to test the reliability and validity of this measure in a sample of older individuals. This scale was developed based on Bandura's theory of self-efficacy and the work of prior researchers in the development of measures of outcome expectations. METHODS: The OEE scale, which was completed during a face-to-face interview, was tested in a sample of 175 residents in a continuing care retirement community. RESULTS: There was support for the internal consistency of the OEE scale (alpha coefficient of .89), and some support for reliability based on a structural equation modeling approach that used R2 estimates, although less than half of these were greater than 0.5. There was evidence of validity of the measure based on: (a) a confirmatory factor analysis in which the model fit the data (normed fit index [NFI] = .99, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] - .07, chi2/df = 2.8); (b) support for the hypothesis that those who exercised regularly had higher OEE scores than those who did not (F = 31.3, p < .05, eta squared = .15); and (c) a statistically significant relationship between outcome expectations and self-efficacy expectations (r = .66). DISCUSSION: This study provides some initial support for the reliability and validity of the OEE scale. Outcome expectations for exercise were related to exercise behavior in the older adult, and the OEE scale can help identify older adults with low outcome expectations for exercise. Interventions can then be implemented to help these individuals strengthen their outcome expectations, which may subsequently improve exercise behavior.

Aged↗

PubMed1992

Restoring control: empowering older patients and their families during health crisis.

Acute health crises and the care provided within the health care system often reduce control for older patients and their families. Drawing on the authors' research with hip fracture patients and work with home health teams, the discussion focuses specifically on older patients who require home health care following a hip fracture and who have family support. Successful recovery and rehabilitation of the older patient is contingent upon restoring the patients' perception of control over their recovery. Empowerment is achieved both through the content of interventions, and through the process by which health professionals work with patients and their families.

Aftercare↗

PubMed1988

Attributions of control by hip fracture patients.

Some hospitalized hip fracture patients assume responsibility for their accidents whereas others do not. Patients also differ in the control they project over their recovery and over future accidents. Patient's expressions of control may provide diagnostic clues and an avenue for social work intervention.

Accidental Falls↗

PubMed1987

Differences in outcome between black and white elderly hip fracture patients.

Because blacks make up a small proportion of the hip fracture population, little is known about how blacks' experience following hip fracture compares to that of whites. This study, a retrospective review of the medical records of 119 community residing subjects, 60 years of age and older, 37% of whom were black, admitted with a diagnosis of hip fracture to a large urban teaching hospital, investigated differences between black and white patients in factors associated with outcome following hip fracture and outcomes at time of hospital discharge. Blacks were significantly more likely than whites to exhibit a high total number of diagnoses, urinary incontinence following surgery, low admission hemoglobins and mental impairment. Blacks experienced significantly longer hospitalizations than whites, were significantly more likely to be nonambulatory at discharge and showed different patterns of discharge destination. Multiple regression and logistic regression indicated that the greater amount of illness of blacks is a consistent significant predictor of these differences in outcomes, but that race, delays to surgery and non-surgical treatment also make independent significant contributions. These findings indicate the importance of planning for the in-hospital care of black hip fracture patients, and the examination of the financial consequences of DRG's for hospitals serving black or poor populations.

Black or African American↗

PubMed1987

Mental impairment of elderly hospitalized hip fracture patients.

Mental impairment recorded at admission, following surgery and at discharge was assessed by studying the hospital records of 98 community residing persons, 60 years and older (mean age 76.2), hospitalized for a hip fracture and discharged alive. Of the total sample, the proportion mentally impaired following surgery was 33%. In a subsample of 74 patients for whom data were known at admission and after surgery, 15% were identified as persistently mentally impaired at admission and post-surgery, 26% were impaired only post-surgically and 59% had no recorded impairment either at admission or after surgery. Length of hospitalization (LOS) differed significantly among these three impairment groups, with persistently impaired having significantly longer stays (mean number of days = 53) than the never impaired (mean number of days = 24) and the newly impaired (mean number of days = 38) falling in between (p less than 0.005). Mental impairment continued to exhibit a significant and independent relationship with length of stay even when age and total diagnoses were held constant. The substantial prevalence of mental impairment during hospitalization, coupled with the increased length of stay in patients exhibiting impairment persisting from time of admission or newly evident after surgery, underscore the importance of mental status for recovery. Findings suggest that assessing the progression of mental impairment over the course of a hospital stay yields more accurate information about the relationship of mental status to recovery indicators and that accurate assessment of impairment at admission identifies a patient group at high risk for increased lengths of stay.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗

PubMed1986

Expectations about outcome following hip fracture among older people.

This paper reports on two studies, based on ethnographic interviews, of expectations about recovery from hip fracture. Interviewed were community residing elderly who had not experienced a hip fracture and 11 hospitalized hip fracture patients aged 59 to 85 years. Community elderly foresaw permanent impairment and social death. Hip fracture patients altered their expectations in response to observed progress and communications from health professionals. Perceptions of their own functional health also shaped these expectations. Several ways are suggested for social workers to use their observations of patients' expectations, and how they are constructing them, to guide interventions.

Aged↗

PubMed1984

Lay consultation of older people.

The study of lay consultation has drawn attention to how social interaction supports, validates and influences the perception and response to health problems. Until now, such research has not considered how the particular circumstances of older people alter the process, i.e. (1) disruption of support networks, (2) experience of chronic rather than acute illness and (3) suffering of diseases shared by a sizable proportion of their agemates . Using case study data, the authors show how everyday discussions of health problems lead to the transmission to the sufferer of new information about the health condition, the reinforcement of health actions and in some cases attempts to persuade or to intervene actively. The authors use the case study material to identify variables shaping the process of consultation and suggest the importance of this process in the adaptation of older people to declining health.

Aged↗

PubMed1984

Social work and AIDS.

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a new contagious disease for which no cause or cure is known at present. The majority of people who have contracted AIDS is gay men. This paper examines individual and societal responses to this illness and to homosexuality that create issues for social work practice. These are unique to AIDS and at the same time exemplary of issues in all of health care. General principles of practice are applied to the specifics of dealing with AIDS and social work tasks with patients, families and significant others, health care staff, the community and policy makers are identified.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Model testing for reliability and validity of the Outcome Expectations for Exercise Scale.

BACKGROUND: Development of a reliable and valid measure of outcome expectations for exercise appropriate for older adults will help establish the relationship between outcome expectations and exercise. Once established, this measure can be used to facilitate the development of interventions to strengthen outcome expectations and improve adherence to regular exercise in older adults. OBJECTIVES: Building on initial psychometrics of the Outcome Expectation for Exercise (OEE) Scale, the purpose of the current study was to use structural equation modeling to provide additional support for the reliability and validity of this measure. METHODS: The OEE scale is a 9-item measure specifically focusing on the perceived consequences of exercise for older adults. The OEE scale was given to 191 residents in a continuing care retirement community. The mean age of the participants was 85 +/- 6.1 and the majority were female (76%), White (99%), and unmarried (76%). Using structural equation modeling, reliability was based on R2 values, and validity was based on a confirmatory factor analysis and path coefficients. RESULTS: There was continued evidence for reliability of the OEE based on R2 values ranging from .42 to .77, and validity with path coefficients ranging from .69 to .87, and evidence of model fit (X2 of 69, df = 27, p < .05, NFI = .98, RMSEA = .07). CONCLUSION: The evidence of reliability and validity of this measure has important implications for clinical work and research. The OEE scale can be used to identify older adults who have low outcome expectations for exercise, and interventions can then be implemented to strengthen these expectations and thereby improve exercise behavior.

Aged↗