Background Coping strategies play a key role in modulating the physical and psychological burden on caregivers of stroke patients. The present study aimed to determine the relationship between the severity of burden of care and coping strategies amongst a sample of Iranian caregivers of older stroke patients. It also aimed to examine the differences of coping strategies used by male and female caregivers. Methods A total of 110 caregivers of older patients who previously had a stroke participated in this descriptive and cross-sectional study. The Zarit Burden Interview and Lazarus coping strategies questionnaires were used for data collection. Questionnaires were completed by the caregivers, who were selected using convenience sampling. The collected data were analyzed using Pearson's correlations and independent t-tests. Results The mean age of participants was 32.09 ± 8.70 years. The majority of the caregivers sampled reported mild to moderate (n = 74, 67.3%) burden. The most commonly used coping strategies reported were positive reappraisal and seeking social support. Results of the independent t-test showed that male caregivers used the positive reappraisal strategy (t(110) = 2.76; p = 0.007) and accepting responsibility (t(110) = 2.26; p = 0.026) significantly more than female caregivers. Pearson’s correlations showed a significant positive correlation between caregiver burden and emotional-focused strategies, including escaping (r = 0.245, p = 0.010) and distancing (r = 0.204, p = 0.032). Conclusions Caregivers with higher burden of care used more negative coping strategies, such as escape-avoidance and distancing. In order to encourage caregivers to utilize effective coping skills, appropriate programs should be designed and implemented to support caregivers. Use of effective coping skills to reduce the level of personal burden can improve caregiver physical health and psychological well-being.

The findings support the feasibility and efficacy of a simple and inexpensive resistance training program to improve lower-limb muscle strength and dynamic balance among the institutionalized older adults.

Background:Given that happiness is an important construct to enable adolescents to cope better with difficulties and stress of life, it is necessary to advance our knowledge about the possible etiology of happiness in adolescents.Objectives:The present study sought to investigate the relationships of emotional intelligence, depressive symptoms, and happiness in a sample of male students in Tehran, Iran.Materials and Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of high school students in Tehran in 2012. The participants comprised of 188 male students (aged 16 to 19 years old) selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method. For gathering the data, the students filled out assessing emotions scale, Beck depression inventory-II, and Oxford happiness inventory. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive and analytical statistics in statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software.Results:The findings showed that a significant positive association existed between high ability of emotional intelligence and happiness (P < 0.01). Conversely, the low ability of emotional intelligence was associated with unhappiness (P < 0.01), there was a positive association between non-depression symptoms and happiness (P < 0.05), and severe depressive symptoms were positively associated with unhappiness (P < 0.01). High ability of emotional intelligence (P < 0.01) and non-depression symptoms (P < 0.05) were the strongest predictors of happiness.Conclusions:These findings reinforced the importance of emotional intelligence as a facilitating factor for happiness in adolescences. In addition, the findings suggested that depression symptoms may be harmful for happiness in adolescents.

Background: Flourishing is related to positive outcomes for physical and mental health, as well as overall wellbeing. The aim of the present study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Flourishing Scale (FS) among a sample of older participants in Iran. Methods: In this validation study, 300 older people were selected by cluster sampling method. Data were collected using a checklist for demographic characteristics, the FS, and the Oxford happiness questionnaire. The validity (face, content, convergent, and construct) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha, test-retest) of the FS was evaluated in this cross-sectional study. Results: The exploratory factor analysis demonstrated a one-dimensional structure consisting of 8 items with an eigenvalue of 3.583. The model had a good fit [χ 2 = 52.983, p < 0.001, χ 2 /df = 2.944, GFI = 0.958, CFI = 0.915, IFI = 0.949, TLI = 0.919, AGFI = 0.948, and RMSEA = 0.081, SRMR = 0.086] with all factor loadings greater than 0.5 and statistically significant. A test of concurrent validity showed a direct and significant association between the FS and the Oxford happiness questionnaire (r = 0.647, p < 0.001). The results of the reliability tests confirmed that the values of Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.819) and testretest (0.821) were acceptable. Conclusion: The Persian version of the FS demonstrated suitable validity and reliability among a sample of older participants.

Background and Objective: Family caregivers of stroke patients suffer from a high caregiving burden that affects their quality of life. Telenursing can provide caregivers and patients with services at the lowest cost and full access. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the impact of telenursing on the quality of life of caregivers of older stroke patients. Methods: A total of 79 family caregivers of older stroke patients participated in this randomized clinical trial. The samples were selected from caregivers of older stroke patients admitted to a teaching hospital in Qazvin, Iran. They were randomly divided into two groups. The intervention group participated in an educational intervention for 12 weeks through telephone follow-up and social media. The Barthel Scale and the 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36) were used for data collection. The chi-square and independent and paired t-tests were used to analyze the data. Findings: The mean age of 79 caregivers participating in the study was 46.16 ± 11.32 years. No significant differences were found between the two groups at baseline. However, the independent t-test showed significant differences in the psychological subscale (p<0.001) between the intervention and control groups after the intervention. In addition, the results of the paired t-test showed significant improvements in the intervention group in physical (p<001) and psychological (p<0.001) subscales. Conclusion: The results of the current study support the effectiveness of telenursing in improving the quality of life of caregivers of older stroke patients.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVESNutrition is a determinant factor of health in elderly people. Independent living in elderly people can be maintained or enhanced by improvement of nutritional behavior. Hence, the present study was conducted to determine the impact of Health Belief Model (HBM)-based intervention on the nutritional behavior of elderly women.SUBJECTS/METHODSCluster-random sampling was used to assess the sample of this clinical trial study. The participants of this study attended a 12-week nutrition education program consisting of two (2) sessions per week. There was also a follow-up for another three (3) months. Smart PLS 3.5 and SPSS 19 were used for structural equation modeling, determination of model fitness, and hypotheses testing.RESULTSThe findings indicate that intervention had a significant effect on knowledge improvement as well as the behavior of elderly women. The model explained 5 to 70% of the variance in nutritional behavior. In addition, nutritional behavior was positively affected by the HBM constructs comprised of perceived susceptibility, self-efficacy, perceived benefits, and barriers after the intervention program.CONCLUSIONThe results of this study show that HBM-based educational intervention has a significant effect in improving nutritional knowledge and behavior among elderly women.

Background: Elder abuse is an important public health problem. The present study was aimed to determine the rate of domestic abuse and its relationship with demographic characteristics among elderly people referred to Primary Health Care (PHC) centers in Shiraz, Iran, 2018. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 older people aged 60 years old and above who referred to 22 PHC centers of Shiraz. The data were collected using demographic characteristics questionnaire, Katz index, the domestic elder abuse questionnaire, and elder neglect checklist through face-to-face interview and observation methods. Backward linear regression model was used for analyzing the data. Results: The results indicated that 52.5% of the participants were female and 51.8% aged 60-69 years old. A total of 159 cases (39.8%) reflected at least one form of elder abuse or neglect. The results indicated that 21% of the participants (n = 84) were abused by their own children. Care neglect was the most reported form (42.8%), followed by psychological abuse (41.3%), emotional neglect (38.8%), and financial abuse (34.3%). The most common types of neglect were motion limitations (25%) followed by the dental problems (23.8%). The results also showed a significant relationship between domestic elder abuse and level of income (p = 0.017), having a house (p = 0.028), type of perpetrator (< 0.001), and insurance status (p = 0.027). Conclusions: The results revealed a considerable rate of domestic abuse against elderly people, causing a serious risk for their health and security.

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