As the aging population in Colombia grows, caring for older adults falls not just to family but also to the community including friends and religious organizations. While there is very little research on ageism in Colombia, it is increasingly urgent to understand the role of social support of the growing older population. Two studies were conducted with a community sample in Bogotá, Colombia. In a pilot study, we developed a measure of positive and negative stereotyping of older adults. In the main study with participants aged between 54 and 83, we explored the relations among endorsement of positive and negative stereotypes, anxiety about aging, perceived and expected physical and mental health, and expectations of social support. We found that perceived lack of social support and negative stereotyping significantly predict more anxiety towards aging, while positive evaluations of one's own mental health predict less anxiety. Surprisingly, greater expectations of social support predict more aging anxiety. In turn, aging anxiety and positive stereotyping predicted evaluations of mental (but not physical) health. Additionally, poorer evaluations of physical health, aging anxiety and negative stereotyping (though only marginally) significantly predict greater expectations of social support. Implications of the findings are discussed.

<p align="justify">El presente es un estudio cualitativo cuyo objetivo principal fue analizar las representaciones sociales (RS) del cáncer y de la quimioterapia en el paciente oncológico adulto, en específico explorar el conocimiento, describir el campo de representación y las actitudes del paciente oncológico sobre estos dos objetos de representación, igualmente analizar la experiencia de estos pacientes en el proceso de enfermedad. Participaron de manera voluntaria 40 pacientes con cáncer; algunos de ellos fueron entrevistados en profundidad y todos realizaron un ejercicio de asociaciones libres. El análisis se realizó categorizando y triangulando los datos, los cuales se interpretaron teniendo como marco teórico de referencia la Teoría de las Representaciones Sociales (TRS), específicamente la perspectiva procesual. Se encontró que las RS del cáncer y de la quimioterapia continúan siendo negativas, lo que de alguna manera explica que aún en la actualidad se mantengan respuestas de ansiedad y sufrimiento en quienes reciben el diagnóstico de cáncer y reciben quimioterapia.</p>

The population of older adults is rapidly increasing throughout the world, particularly in Latin American countries. This increase makes it imperative to examine psychosocial perceptions and expectations of aging among these populations, which to date have received little research attention. This study aims to test two models of the associations among psychosocial perceptions, expectations of aging, and religiosity among 544 individuals (52.4% female) whose age ranged from 18 to 59 years (M = 31.7) living in Bogota, Colombia. The first model examines associations among psychosocial perceptions and psychosocial aging outcomes, while the second examines associations between these constructs and religiosity. The first model indicates that three major psychosocial predictors (social support, positive and negative aging stereotypes) are uniquely associated with three psychosocial aging outcomes (expected aging-related support, aging anxiety, expected health). The second model indicates that higher religiosity is associated with higher perceived current social support and expected aging-related support, greater endorsement of positive aging stereotypes, and lower reported aging anxiety. Results extend the literature on psychosocial perceptions and expectations of aging to Colombia and suggest that religiosity may play an important role in shaping psychosocial expectations and perceptions of aging in Colombia.

Objective: To review in databases the relevant literature of adherence to chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer; which bring high biological, psychological, social and cultural costs and have been related to lower adherence rates. Method: A search in different databases was performed to identify relevant articles related to the key words. Results: A significant percentage of patients do not adhere to cancer treatments and the consequences of not doing it can unleash in a major risk of death or disease progression, then it is essential to approach this topic and take into account different variables of biological, psychological and social impact on the behavior of adherence or not adherence to the treatments; including the side effects, motivation, decision-making ability, emotional condition, autonomy and life philosophy of each patient. This research contributes to the health staff have more elements to approach this problem and so his interventions are more effective being able to increase the patient´s adherence. Conclusions: Adherence is a multifactorial and multi-determined construct, which has been extensively studied in non cancer treatments (e.g. AIDS) and there is few investigation that supports the efficacy of the psychological interventions to approach not adherence and to promote the adherence to cancer treatments.

No abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic is a significant global issue that has exacerbated pre‐existing structural and social inequalities. There are concerns that ageism toward older adults has intensified in conjunction with elevated forms of other “isms” such as ableism, classism, heterosexism, racism, and sexism. This study offers a systematic review (PRISMA) of ageism toward older adults interacting with other isms during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Articles were searched in 10 databases resulting in 354 ageism studies published between 2019 and August 2022 in English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish. Only 32 articles met eligibility criteria (ageism together with other ism(s); focus on the COVID‐19 pandemic); which were mostly review papers ( n = 25) with few empirical papers ( n = 7), reflecting almost all qualitative designs ( n = 6). Articles discussed ageism with racism ( n = 15), classism ( n = 11), ableism ( n = 9), sexism ( n = 7), and heterosexism ( n = 2). Authors represented numerous disciplines (gerontology, medicine, nursing, psychology, social work, and sociology) and countries ( n = 14) from several continents. Results from this study underscore that ageism intersects with other isms in profoundly negative ways and that the intersections of ageism and other isms are understudied, requiring more research and intervention efforts.

Esta investigación cualitativa tuvo como objetivo develar las representaciones sociales (RS) del cáncer y la quimioterapia en 25 familiares de pacientes oncológicos adultos con quienes se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad y asociaciones libres. Se utilizó el programa Atlas.ti para el análisis de los datos, con base en la teoría de las RS. Se encontró que el familiar del paciente cumple un papel protagónico; tiene funciones diversas como el acompañamiento y la contención y está tan implicado como el paciente en el proceso de enfermedad. Así, los familiares representan el cáncer y la quimioterapia de manera predominantemente negativa, lo que favorece la presencia de ansiedad y la percepción de sufrimiento.

Experiences of caregivers of boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: "When I look at him, my world falls apart"Experiencias de cuidadoras de niños con Distrofia Muscular de Duchenne:"Cuando lo volteo a mirar, se me une el cielo con la tierra"