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As the ageing population in China continues to grow, more people will be living with long-term health conditions and require support from family care-givers. This scoping review therefore aims to explore sources of stress and coping mechanisms adopted by care-givers of older relatives living with long-term conditions in mainland China. Literature searches were conducted in English (CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and SCOPUS) and Chinese (CNKI, WANFANG DATA, CQVIP and CBM) databases between October and November 2019. The searches focused on the stressors and coping mechanisms utilised by family care-givers residing in the community. Narrative synthesis was used to identify themes within the data. Forty-six papers were included: 20 papers from English and 26 from Chinese databases. Six themes captured stressors: care-giving time (N = 22), financial resources (N = 17), role and personal strains (N = 42), preparedness (N = 4), social roles (N = 10) and lack of adequate formal support (N = 22); and one theme captured coping (N = 14). Unmet needs of care-givers of older relatives in mainland China were found to be extensive. Only a few studies had attempted to explore the causal link between stressors, coping and the influence of culture. Findings underscore the significance of adequately capturing intricacies around care-givers' unmet needs, rather than generalising on the basis of culture. Qualitative studies are critical to providing a better understanding of the relationship between stressors, coping and resources afforded to care-givers by their cultural environment. Having such understanding is crucial to inform the development of competent care, which promotes self-efficacy and self-actualisation in care-givers in mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence that immigrants tend to be underserved by the health-care system in the hosting country is well documented. While the impacts of im/migration on health-care utilisation patterns have been addressed to some extent in the existing literature, the conventional approach tends to homogenise the experience of racialised and White immigrants, and the intersecting power axes of racialisation, immigration and old age have been largely overlooked. This paper aims to consolidate three macro theories of health/behaviours, including Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, the World Health Organization's paradigm of social determinants of health and Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Service Use, to develop and validate an integrated multilevel framework of health-care access tailored for racialised older immigrants. Guided by this framework, a narrative review of 35 Canadian studies was conducted. Findings reveal that racial minority immigrants' vulnerability in accessing health services are intrinsically linked to a complex interplay between racial-nativity status with numerous markers of power differences. These multilevel parameters range from socio-economic challenges, cross-cultural differences, labour and capital adequacy in the health sector, organisational accessibility and sensitivity, inter-sectoral policies, to societal values and ideology as forms of oppression. This review suggests that, counteracting a prevailing discourse of personal and cultural barriers to care, the multilevel framework is useful to inform upstream structural solutions to address power imbalances and to empower racialised immigrants in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a policy shift towards personalisation of adult social care in England, much attention has focused on individualised support for older people with care needs. This article reports the findings of a scoping review of United Kingdom (UK) and non-UK literature, published in English from 2005 to 2017, about day centres for older people without dementia and highlights the gaps in evidence. This review, undertaken to inform new empirical research, covered the perceptions, benefits and purposes of day centres. Searches, undertaken in October/November 2014 and updated in August 2017, of electronic databases, libraries, websites, research repositories and journals, identified 77 relevant papers, mostly non-UK. Day centres were found to play a variety of roles for individuals and in care systems. The largest body of evidence concerned social and preventive outcomes. Centre attendance and participation in interventions within them impacted positively on older people's mental health, social contacts, physical function and quality of life. Evidence about outcomes is mainly non-UK. Day centres for older people without dementia are under-researched generally, particularly in the UK. In addition to not being studied as whole services, there are considerable evidence gaps about how day centres are perceived, their outcomes, what they offer, to whom and their wider stakeholders, including family carers, volunteers, staff and professionals who are funding, recommending or referring older people to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ageing population has been rapidly growing over recent years. Theoretically, religion seemingly plays an important role in improving older people's health. This study examines whether believing in religion is related to better health conditions among Chinese older adults through a meta-analysis. Two researchers independently extracted the studies from a comprehensive database and grey literature search and evaluated their scientific quality. From the 3,777 potentially eligible papers, just 76 were selected. The pooled effect size detected no significant difference between Chinese religious and non-religious older adults' overall health and wellbeing. Dividing the outcomes into different categories, religious older adults reported both a higher level of anxiety (Hedge's g = −0.392, 95% confidence interval (CI) = −0.494, −0.290; p = 0.004) and yet a higher level of happiness (Hedge's g = 0.342, 95% CI = 0.074, 0.610; p = 0.018). Having a higher proportion of females in the sample is related to a smaller effect size in overall health outcomes (β = −2.205, 95% CI = −3.800, −0.613; p = 0.007) and social support specifically (β = −4.660, 95% CI = −6.261, −3.058; p < 0.0001). This study is among the first to synthesise the quantitative evidence regarding health differences between older religion believers and non-believers in China. It calls for future studies investigating the pathways underlying the religion–health relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the evidence for environmental influences on older adult health and activity participation, identifies current knowledge gaps and limitations within this literature, and offers recommendations for future research via a systematic appraisal of 83 quantitative and qualitative studies. A Cochrane-type review procedure was followed, which incorporated structured database searches, inclusion and exclusion criteria, quality appraisal of included studies, and peer review. The review findings identify support for both personal and environmental influences on health and activity participation in later life. Reported personal influences include ethnicity and cultural norms, energy and motivation, sex, age, education, genetic heritage, self-efficacy, and personal financial circumstances. Reported environmental influences on activity participation include climate, level of pollution, street lighting, traffic conditions, accessibility and appropriateness of services and facilities, socio-economic conditions, aesthetics, pedestrian infrastructure, community life, exposure to antisocial behaviour, social network participation, environmental degradation, level of urbanism, exposure to natural settings, familiarity with local environment and others. Recommendations for future research include the need for innovative research methods; involvement of older adults as research collaborators; investigation of wider aspects of the active ageing concept; in-depth assessment of the environmental characteristics of areas; investigation of the pathways leading from environment to health and activity participation; and more theoretically informed research or increased contribution of research to theory development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Nowadays, the social participation of seniors represents a central challenge for both individuals and collectivities. The participative perspective is indeed present in most of the contemporary discourses on ageing, and is viewed both as a way to manage the current demographic juncture and as a promising direction for enhancing seniors’ wellbeing and achievements. This article examines 32 programmes aimed at fostering the social participation of seniors that were both implemented and evaluated, and whose results were published between January 1970 and August 2011. Based on each programme's approach, a typology of social programmes is proposed. The programmes are grouped in five categories, ranging from programmes offering an individualised approach to socio-political programmes. Classification is based on the various ways the concept of social participation is defined and acted upon by the reviewed programmes. Far from being neutral, each category suggests a specific representation of the social roles of seniors. In addition, the paper discusses how the proposed typology can guide both policy and practice, linking identity and agency issues to organisational and structural considerations. Three uses for the typology are suggested: as a policy-making support, as an evaluative framework, and as an experimental space for community practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose is to give an overview of the extent, range and nature of existing definitions of the concept 'ageing in place'. Providing such an overview may be helpful, for policy makers, researchers, communities and service providers, to make sense of the versatility and uses of the concept, and allow the improvement and increase the success of efforts to contribute to the quality of life of older people. The overview was created using Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review methodology. Out of 3,692 retrieved articles, 34 met the inclusion criteria. These studies concentrate on the following five key themes concerning 'ageing in place': 'ageing in place' in relation to place, to social networks, to support, to technology and to personal characteristics. Each of these key themes consists of other aspects, like physical place and attachment to place for the keyword place. This study concludes that the concept 'ageing in place' is broad and can be viewed from different (i.e. five) key themes. A more thorough understanding of 'ageing in place' provides knowledge about the existing key themes and aspects. These findings might provide practical support for professionals and governments when they develop their policies about 'ageing in place' integrally and to develop fit policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As consumer-directed care programmes become increasingly common in aged care provision, there is a heightened requirement for literature summarising the experience and perspectives of recipients. We conducted rapid evidence reviews on two components of consumer experience of home- and community-based aged care: (a) drivers of choice when looking for a service (Question 1 (Q1)); and (b) perceptions of quality of services (Question 2 (Q2)). We systematically searched MEDLINE and EMBASE databases, and conducted manual (non-systematic) searches of primary and grey literature (e.g. government reports) across CINAHL, Scopus, PsychINFO, and Web of Science, Trove and OpenGrey databases. Articles deemed eligible after abstract/full-text screening subsequently underwent risk-of-bias assessment to ensure their quality. The final included studies (Q1: N = 21; Q2: N = 19) comprised both quantitative and qualitative articles, which highlighted that consumer choices of services are driven by a combination of: desire for flexibility in service provision; optimising mobility; need for personal assistance, security and safety, interaction, and social/leisure activities; and to target and address previously unmet needs. Similarly, consumer perspectives of quality include control and autonomy, interpersonal interactions, flexibility of choice, and safety and affordability. Our reviews suggest that future model development should take into account consumers' freedom to choose services in a flexible manner, and the value they place on interpersonal relationships and social interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of identity in older adults' decision-making about assistive technology adoption has been suggested but not fully explored. This scoping review was conducted to understand better how older adults' self-image and their desire to maintain this influence their decision-making processes regarding assistive technology adoption. Using the five-stage scoping review framework by Arksey and O'Malley, a total of 416 search combinations were run across nine databases, resulting in a final yield of 49 articles. From these 49 articles, five themes emerged: (a) resisting the negative reality of an ageing and/or disabled identity; (b) independence and control are key; (c) the aesthetic dimension of usability; (d) assistive technology as a last resort; and (e) privacy versus pragmatics. The findings highlight the importance of older adults' desire to portray an identity consistent with independence, self-reliance and competence, and how this desire directly impacts their assistive technology decision-making adoption patterns. These findings aim to support the adoption of assistive technologies by older adults to facilitate engagement in meaningful activities, enable social participation within the community, and promote health and wellbeing in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family relationships are important for wellbeing across the lifecourse and are known to be important for people living with dementia, bringing benefits to self-esteem and identity, as well as providing support for people living at home. Recent research has explored the impact of dementia upon relationships. Much of this research is qualitative in nature and rarely included in systematic reviews, however, it has the potential to provide significant contributions to understanding the interplay between family relationships and dementia and to inform interventions. A systematic synthesis of qualitative research concerning the impact of dementia upon family relationships was undertaken, using thematic synthesis. Eleven articles were reviewed, which address the perspectives of people living with dementia and their spouse and/or adult children. The aims of this review are to illuminate what is currently known about the reciprocal influences between family relationships and dementia from the perspectives of the family (including the person with dementia); and to consider the implications of these findings for research and practice. Four super-ordinate themes were identified: ‘a shared history’, ‘negotiating the impact of dementia upon the relationship’, ‘openness and awareness’ and ‘shifting sands’. This synthesis contributes to an emerging field but also highlights gaps in current understanding of the impact of dementia upon relationships and in providing appropriate interventions. Implications for research and practice are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]