Roles of mutual help of local community networks in community health activities: Improvement for the quality of life of older people in Thailand

Objectives: This study aimed to describe work and activities of community networks focusing on the improvement of the quality of life (QOL) of older people in Thailand.The understanding of the work can help enhancing the community development and strengthening of local communities and their networks.Methods: Qualitative methods including in-depth interview,observation,and focus group discussion were employed to the study.64 participants participated to the study and were recruited from 4 key actors within the community.Content analysis was used to analyze the obtained data.This study was conducted in 6 local administrative organizations (LAOs) which selected from the outstanding areas of the project.Each LAO represents one sub-district of the regions of Thailand namely;(1) the upper north,(2) the lower north,(3)the upper eastern,(4) the lower eastern,(5) the central and (6) the south.Results: The findings of this study were categorized into three main themes: (1) Social capital including people in the community,social groups,and organizations,(2) Mutual help/collaboration activities composed of six sets of activities related to social capitals working on the improvement of QOL of older people,and (3) Impacts of the mutual help/collaboration activities on older people and local communities who help to improve of QOL of older people.Conclusion: The findings are important features for the community development.These themes should be recommended for community nurses,health related groups and organizations for the improvement of QOL of older people in the community.

Age-trends in Cognitive Function and Quality of Life: Sex Differences in a Community Population in Taiwan region,China

Population aging has developed into a significant area of concern in developed countries, especially in relation to thepreservation of functional independence and the quality of life (QoL). However, information on the contribution ofsex differences in quality of life and cognitive function is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate potentialdifferences in cognitive function and QoL between males and females. For this study, we recruited 382 healthy subjectsaged 19–79 years from communities in Southern Taiwan region,China. Cognitive function and QoL were assessed using the UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment, Brief Version (UPSA-B) and World Health Organization Quality ofLife Instruments (WHOQOL-BREF), respectively. The effects of sex, age groups, and interaction of sex and ageon the UPSA-B and WHOQOL-BREF scores were examined. We found that the financial and communicationdomains of the UPSA-B showed declining trends with age in both sexes, although these trends were more obviousin females than in males. In the domain of Physical Capacity, QoL showed an age-increased trend in males, whileQoL in the Environment domain showed an age-increased trend in females. Regarding the relationships betweencognitive function and QoL, we found that the financial skill and communication skill of UPSA-B was positivelycorrelated to the psychological well-being domain of WHOQOL-BREF, in males of age <40 years. In conclusion,our findings demonstrate differential relationships between cognitive function and QoL between males and females,which could serve as a basis for further study between cognitive function and quality of life in communities.

Relationship between life satisfaction and sympathovagal balance in healthy elderly males at home at night

The aim of this study is to clarify how well-being correlates with autonomic nervous system (sympathovagal) balance in healthy elderly males at home at night awake and resting. The RR-interval and body acceleration of 39 healthy elderly male subjects were recorded with an ambulatory device for 72 hours. The normalized high-frequency (0.15 - 0.4 Hz) power (HFnu) of RR-interval variability (sympathovagal balance index) was calculated from 10 min long data sets that satisfied all of the following conditions: 1) average body acceleration was less than 30 mG, 2) the subject was at home, 3) the subject was awake, and 4) more than 95 percent of the time-series of instantaneous heart rate was within 40 to 160 [bpm]. Subjects recorded their subjective well-being level, including life satisfaction level, on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) questionnaire. We investigated the correlation between the subjective well-being level and mean HFnu. A significant negative correlation between life satisfaction level and mean HFnu (r = –0.47, p = 0.004) was observed. This result implies that sympathovagal balance becomes the predominant state of the sympathetic nervous system in healthy elderly males with relatively high life satisfaction while at home at night awake and resting.