Greater numbers of persons will enter retirement outside of marriage or with a checkered marital history. Given the traditional health benefits of marriage, these changes in the population's marital life course may foretell changing demands for eldercare in addition to adverse health consequences. Here, the authors provide new evidence on the specific aspects of health associated with marriage for a nationally representative survey of retirement age adults. An important aspect of the authors' analysis is the assessment of whether the benefits of marriage hold equally for women and men, major race/ethnic groups, and persons with different marital histories. Data from the Health and Retirement Survey are used to evaluate how marriage is associated with major chronic illnesses, functional limitations, and disability. Findings document that marriage benefits health across a broad spectrum of fatal and nonfatal chronic disease conditions, functioning problems, and disabilities. Moreover, benefits of marriage are widely shared across demographic groups.
Study findings support the active treatment of weight problems in older adults. Future directions for research in this area should address effective weight management interventions targeting issues related to older individuals.
This study examines the relationships between health-related quality of life and activity engagement among residents in two continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). Prior research indicates that involvement in activity is an important correlate of healthy aging among other community-dwelling elders, and this finding is expected to hold in CCRCs. Time spent engaged in discretionary activities, specifically active, passive, and outside retirement community activities are expected to be associated with better health-related quality of life across multiple dimensions. Data were collected from 167 independent living and assisted living residents in two CCRCs in a large Midwestern metropolitan area. Activity engagement was measured via a self-report questionnaire. Health-related quality of life was measured using the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), which generates eight health subscales (e.g., physical functioning, social functioning, pain). Based on ordinary least squares regression models, the results indicate that discretionary activities, in particular more active types of activity, are positively associated with higher healthrelated quality of life. These findings have implications for health and activity promotion in CCRCs.
BackgroundMany employers use screenings to identify and recommend modification of employees' risk factors for type 2 diabetes, yet little is known about how often employees then engage in recommended behaviors and what factors influence engagement. We examined the frequency of, facilitators of, and barriers to engagement in recommended behaviors among employees found to have pre-diabetes during a workplace screening.MethodsWe surveyed 82 University of Michigan employees who were found to have pre-diabetes during a 2014 workplace screening and compared the characteristics of employees who 3 months later were and were not engaged in recommended behaviors. We interviewed 40 of these employees to identify the facilitators of and barriers to engagement in recommended behaviors.Results3 months after screening, 54% of employees with pre-diabetes reported attempting to lose weight and getting recommended levels of physical activity, had asked their primary care provider about metformin for diabetes prevention, or had attended a Diabetes Prevention Program. These employees had higher median levels of motivation to prevent type 2 diabetes (9/10 vs 7/10, p<0.001) and lower median estimations of their risk for type 2 diabetes (40% vs 60%, p=0.02). Key facilitators of engagement were high motivation and social and external supports. Key barriers were lack of motivation and resources, and competing demands.ConclusionsMost employees found to have pre-diabetes through a workplace screening were engaged in a recommended preventive behavior 3 months after the screening. This engagement could be enhanced by optimizing motivation and risk perception as well as leveraging social networks and external supports.
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