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Objective The term ‘culinary dependence’ denotes a situation in which someone delegates all or part of their daily meal-related activities to a third party. The present study aimed to explore nutritional risk among older people (≥65 years) with culinary dependence. Method The first survey included 559 people either living at home without help, with help unrelated to food activities, with help related to food activities or living in nursing home. The second survey included 319 people with food help provided by a caregiver, by meals-on-wheels or by a nursing home. Nutritional status was assessed with the Mini-Nutritional Assessment. Sociological background and wellness variables (health, cognitive and mental status) were collected. Results The first survey found a strong association between culinary dependence and nutritional risk. About half of the people who delegated their food-related activities were malnourished or at risk of malnutrition compared with only 4% for people with no help and 12% for people with help unrelated to food activity. According to the second survey, this prevalence varied slightly depending on who the tasks were delegated to (46% for those who had the support of a caregiver; 60% for those who used a meals-on-wheels service; 69% for those living in nursing home). According to multivariate analyses, dependence categories, depressive symptoms and cognitive status were identified as independent determinants of malnutrition. Conclusion Without inferring a causal relationship between dependence and malnutrition, there is a strong need for care structures to take into account the issue of malnutrition when developing services targeting older people.

Background Increasing numbers of scientific studies have dealt with the benefits of animal assisted intervention programs (AAI). Although many positive effects have been identified, there are still few AAI programs in nursing homes. To date, no study has investigated special the difficulties in implementing such a program. The aim of this study was to explore the representations of this type of program among caregivers. Methods This qualitative study was conducted between January and June 2019. Psychologists conducted 11 interviews with people working in nursing homes. The sample was based on different professions and on the fact that participants had already been involved in an IAA program. Results The results were organized according to two main themes: brakes and levers. The results show that the brakes were raised quickly before the implementation of the project, but once the project had been implemented, the perceived beneficial effects multiplied and all those interviewed mentioned the benefits of animals. More than half of the caregivers interviewed mentioned animals as a lever, facilitating contact with elderly people suffering from dementia. Setting up a project upstream enhanced the success of this type of program. Conclusion The benefits perceived by the people interviewed are consistent with the scientific literature. The obstacles mentioned for implementing this type of program can be reduced by a rigorous and well-thought-out project.

Objectives The aims of this study were to examine the trajectory of depressive symptoms among older French people, to investigate the role of gender in the developmental trajectory of depressive symptoms and to explore whether the linear increase in depressive symptoms might be accentuated or attenuated at time points during which the older adults’ scores on social support and health satisfaction scales were higher than their individual averages. Methods/materials Data were used from a subsample of older adults living at home who participated in a longitudinal study initiated by researchers from the University of Tours. They were collected at five time points over a 9-year period (T1: 2003; T2: 2005; T3: 2007; T4: 2009; T5: 2011). This study included 707 participants, and multilevel growth curve analysis was used on measures of depressive symptoms, gender differences, social support and health satisfaction. Results Results indicated (1) a significant positive linear effect of age on depressive symptoms; (2) that women reported significantly higher scores of depressive symptoms than men at 63 years old (i.e., intercept) and that this gender difference remained constant across age; (3) that the slope of depressive symptoms appeared to increase at time points during which participants had higher levels of social support and to decrease when they had greater health satisfaction. Conclusion This study provides pertinent information about the change of depressive symptoms in older people living at home and particularly highlights the interest in studying gender, social support and health satisfaction.

Aims and objectives To examine the impact of caregivers' street clothes on people living in special care units (SCUs). We hypothesised that caregivers wearing street clothes would improve residents' relationships with other residents and caregivers and, as a consequence, would improve their quality of life. Background Environmental factors have been recognised as important elements in the care of people with dementia. Among these factors, the importance of the caregivers' appearance and more particularly their street clothes has been raised. Design The Street Clothes study (STRECLO) was designed as a multicentre crossover observational study. Method This study was conducted in two volunteer nursing homes. It involved videotaping residents (N = 24) over a 6-month period: caregivers wore uniform and then street clothes for two consecutive three-month periods. Three outcome measures were observed as follows: (a) behaviours of residents, (b) contents of conversations and (c) proximal interactions between residents and caregivers. The STROBE checklist was used to ensure quality reporting during this observational study. Results When caregivers wore street clothes, we observed the following: (a) greater solicitation and less anxiety in residents, (b) content of conversations between residents and caregivers included more personal and less health information, and (c) more proximal interaction between caregivers and residents. Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first study which investigated the long-term effects on residents of SCU caregivers wearing street clothes. Our study demonstrated the potential benefit of not wearing uniform on the quality of life of institutionalised people with dementia. Relevance to clinical practice Given the budgetary constraints faced by nursing homes, wearing street clothes for caregivers could be readily applied to clinical practice and represents a promising way to increase the quality of life of dementia residents and their families.

International audience; The aging process is associated with physiological, sensory, psychological, and sociological changes likely to have an impact on food intake and the nutritional status. The present study aimed to explore the heterogeneity of the French older population (>65 years old) using a multidisciplinary approach. More specifically, the study aimed to highlight different typologies (i.e. clusters of individuals with similar characteristics) within the older population. We conducted face-to-face interviews and tests with 559 French older people, recruited from different categories of dependency (at home without help, at home with help, in nursing homes). Clustering analysis highlighted seven clusters. Clusters 1-3 contained ‘young’ older people (

Objectives:The objectives of the study were to examine the trajectory of spirituality among older adults, to investigate the roles of gender and religion on the developmental trajectory of spirituality, and to explore whether the linear growth of spirituality accelerated or decelerated at time points at which the participants reported high scores of social support and flexibility.Design:A five-year longitudinal study.Setting:The research used data from a longitudinal study, which follows a non-institutionalized older adults cohort of residents from France. The data used in this paper were collected at three time points (T1: 2007; T2: 2009; T3: 2012).Participants:A total of 567 participants were included in the analysis (59.44% female;Mage= 75.90,SD= 5.12).Measurements:Multilevel growth curve analysis was used measuring spirituality, satisfaction with social support, and flexibility.Results:The results indicated the following: (1) stability of spirituality over time, (2) older women reported higher levels of spirituality than older men, and those who had a religion reported higher scores of spirituality than their counterparts who had no religion (these effects were strong and clinically meaningful), (3) older adults who reported higher levels of social support and flexibility also reported higher levels of spirituality, and (4) the slope of spirituality seemed to accelerate at time points at which participants also had higher levels of social support and flexibility (these effects were rather small but of theoretical interest).Conclusion:The results of the present study help to improve the understanding of the potential benefit of encouraging the spiritual aspects of life.

Nutritional health is an essential component of quality of life among older adults. The aim of this study was to identify the predictors of nutritional status in order to identify both common and sex specific predictive pathways in an aging population. A questionnaire was administered to 464 people living at home aged 65 years and above. Part of the questionnaire contained questions about nutritional status (MNA), depression (GDS), pleasure of eating and demographic characteristics. Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships between the variables. For both sexes, results indicate that depression and pleasure of eating are related to nutritional status. In addition, different pathways were found between men and women. In particular, while pleasure of eating is affected by depression among aging women this is not the case for men. The implications of the findings for nutrition communication are discussed.

Using the dual-process model of assimilative-tenacity (TGP) and accommodative-flexibility (FGA), the study aims to identify trajectories of TGP and FGA over five time points within a 9-year period, explore the relationships between the trajectories of TGP and FGA, and explore if participants from distinct TGP and FGA trajectories differed in indicators of well-being and depression. Latent class growth analysis was used in a five-wave longitudinal design among an older population of 747 participants over 65 years. Results highlight (1) emergence of four trajectories for flexibility (low and increasing, moderate and increasing, moderately high and stable, and high and stable trajectories) and three trajectories for tenacity (low and stable, moderate and stable, and high and decreasing trajectories), (2) that older people belonging to particular trajectories of FGA are not more likely to belong to particular trajectories of TGP, and (3) that participants from the high and decreasing TGP and high or moderately high and stable FGA trajectories were characterized by high score of perceived health, satisfaction with life, and self-esteem and low score of depression moods. These results highlight that the heterogeneity in longitudinal TGP and FGA scores throughout the life span needs to be accounted for in future research.

The study aimed to develop a French version of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being short version (FACIT-Sp12), in order to provide a self-reported measure for French people in the field of gerontology. The study involving 63 nursing home residents was conducted to evaluate the construct validity, reliability, and convergence validity of the FACIT-Sp12. A confirmatory factor analysis corroborated a three-factor model (Meaning, Peace and Faith) with modifications for two items, also valid among people with cognitive impairment. Subscales showed good internal consistency and are correlated with quality of life and depression. In conclusion, the validated French version is an suitable instrument to study the maintenance and promotion of quality of life in the elderly.

Self-report measures of depression are highly important tools used in research and in various healthcare settings for the diagnosis of different levels of depression. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is the first and the most popular scale used to screen for late-life depression. It is endorsed by the Royal College of Physicians and the British Geriatric Society (1992). The purpose of the present research was to investigate whether scores on the GDSFor this purpose, a trait-state model (stable trait, autoregressive trait, and state model) was applied to GDSOur findings revealed a general pattern of a major proportion of stable trait (69%) and autoregressive trait (22%) variance and a very smaller amount of state variance (9%) in the GDS scores across 6 years. Age and gender (i.e. being female) were shown to be positively linked to more stable trait variance.Depression, as assessed with the GDS

Background previous research has shown that tendencies to tenaciously pursue goals (TGP) and flexibly adapt goals (FGA) relate to well-being of older people. Objectives this study aimed to identify subpopulations of elderly people with different coping profiles, describe change in participants' profiles over time and determine the influence of coping profiles on well-being over a 5-year period. Methods latent profile transition analysis (LPTA) was used in a three-wave longitudinal data collection measuring flexibility, tenacity, depression, self-rated health and life satisfaction among an elderly population over 65 years old. Results three coping profiles were identified. Profile 1 was characterised by participants with high flexibility and tenacity scores, Profile 2 with moderate flexibility and low tenacity scores and Profile 3 with low flexibility and moderate tenacity scores. Results indicate stability of these profiles over time, with Profile 1 being the most adaptive in terms of ageing well. Conclusion high flexibility and tenacity in older people is a stable coping profile that is associated with successful ageing.

International audience; OBJECTIVES:The unexpected positive relationship between aging and happiness was called "the paradox of well-being," which is still a matter of debate. This study examined longitudinal change in life satisfaction (LS) in older adults.METHODS:LS was assessed with the satisfaction with life scale, in a sample of individuals (N = 899; aged 62-95 years, at first occasion; M = 72.73, SD = 5.68) for a period of 8 years (5 waves of data). A multiple indicator (e.g., second order) growth modeling was used to assess change in LS.RESULTS:Findings from both unconditional and conditional model (in which time-invariant, i.e., age, gender, and education, and time-varying, i.e., self-perceived health, covariates were incorporated in the model) indicated a linear increase in LS for the 8-year period. As expected, the results showed significant random variation in both intercept and slope, indicating that participants start at different levels and change at different rates.DISCUSSION:Our findings contribute to the debate concerning the paradox of well-being, which calls for explanation. There are few theories that provide some explanation (e.g., the socioemotional selectivity theory). However, to enhance researchers' understanding of developmental changes that contribute to the paradox of well-being, a more integrative theoretical model is needed.

Background:Religious and spiritual issues are clearly important to the older adult population and may play a positive role in maintaining health and recovering from illness. This study systematically reviewed the literature examining the effects of religion and spirituality on health outcomes such as cognitive functioning, coping strategies, and quality of life in people with dementia.Methods:First, 51 articles with defined keywords were collected from online databases. Then, using inclusion and exclusion criteria, 11 articles were selected. These were classified according to methodological quality before being analyzed one by one.Results:The findings highlight the benefits of spirituality and religion on health outcomes. Three articles showed that in participants who used their spirituality or religion more, through their faith, their practices and in maintaining social interactions, their cognitive disorders tended to reduce or stabilize. In the other eight articles, use of spirituality or faith in daily life enabled people to develop coping strategies to help accept their disease, maintain their relationships, maintain hope, and find meaning in their lives, thereby improving their quality of life.Conclusions:Spirituality and religion appear to slow cognitive decline, and help people use coping strategies to deal their disease and have a better quality of life. This literature review allows us to take stock of research over the last decade on spirituality/religion and health outcomes. The benefits observed should be considered with caution and included in rigorous experimental research in the future.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between flexible goal adjustment and life satisfaction (as an enduring component of subjective well-being) using six-year longitudinal data from a sample of older adults.Methods: The study included 704 participants aged 63–97 years assessed four times over a six-year period. Simultaneous and lagged models were specified and estimated using structural equation modeling.Results: Both simultaneous and lagged coefficients indicated that a high score on flexible goal adjustment significantly predicted subsequent levels of life satisfaction.Conclusion: In line with successful aging theory, our findings support the view that the ability to adjust personal goals flexibly is a central resource when unattainable goals are encountered and it contributes to well-being in old age.

Objective The emergence of positive psychology propelled scientific interest in the causal relationships between subjective well-being (SWB; e.g., happiness, life satisfaction [LS], positive affect) and physical health. However, it is becoming a controversial topic. Indeed, dependent on approach, LS is either considered a cause (top-down) or an effect (bottom-up). The aim of the present study was to investigate both cross-lagged and simultaneous effects between LS (as an enduring component of SWB) and physical health (as measured by self-perceived health and self-reported diseases), using 8-year longitudinal data from a sample of older adults. Method The study included 899 participants aged 64 to 97 years and assessed 5 times over an 8-year period. Cross-lagged and simultaneous models were specified and estimated using structural equation modeling. Results Both cross-lagged and simultaneous coefficients indicated that poor health significantly predicted subsequent levels of life dissatisfaction, but LS did not predict subsequent levels of health. Conclusions These findings contradict, at least in our older sample, the postulates of positive psychology, and support the bottom-up approach to well-being as well as the popular adage, "As long as you've got your health."

International audience; The aim of the study was to develop a French version of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire(DEBQ) in order to provide a self-report measure for French people in the field of gerontology. A shortversion of the DEBQ was administered to 262 participants aged 65 years and older. Single and multigroupconfirmatory analyses were carried out. The fit measures for the three-factor model and the factorialinvariance models with respect to age, sex and BMI status were satisfactory. Three subscales of DEBQhad satisfactory internal consistency. Regarding age, the results showed significant differences in emotionaleating and restrained eating. Concerning sex, women had higher mean scores for emotional eatingand restrained eating than men. Finally, the overweight older people had higher scores for emotional eatingthan the normal-weight participants. The short version of DEBQ should provide a useful measure forresearchers and clinicians who are interested in exploring eating behaviours among the elderly

This study examines the relationships between negative life events and tenacious goal pursuit (TGP) and flexible goal adjustment (FGA), two fundamental modes of self-regulation suggested by Brandtstädter, and their effects on mental health.TGP/FGA, negative life events and depression were assessed in 670 elderly people living in the community. Hierarchical regressions were carried out to examine the effects of the two self-regulation modes and negative life events on depression.Findings demonstrate the role of TGP and FGA in coping with negative life events. While both FGA and TGP were related to depression, FGA was found to have beneficial effects for the participants who had encountered negative life events. With age, people become less tenacious, but no conclusive relationship was found between flexibility and age.Our findings support the importance of both modes of coping for the mental health of older adults. In particular, the ability to adjust goals was shown to be critical as a way of preventing the development of depressive symptoms following negative life events.

RÉSUMÉL’objectif de notre étude était de valider en langue française l’échelle des expériences de spiritualité quotidienne (EESQ) auprès d’une population âgée française. Deux études ont été menées afin d’examiner les propriétés psychométriques de l’EESQ. Les résultats de l’analyse factorielle (Etude 1–2) et de l’analyse factorielle confirmatoire (Etude 2) ont mis en évidence l’unidimensionnalité de l’échelle. La fidélité interne (Etude 1–2) ainsi que la fidélité temporelle (Etude 2) sont satisfaisantes. Comme prévu, des scores élevés ont été mis en corrélation avec la satisfaction de vie et l’évaluation de sa santé. En revanche, aucune corrélation n’a été mise en évidence avec la dépression. Cette étude préliminaire met en évidence les bonnes propriétés psychométriques de l’EESQ et semble être un bon outil d’investigation pour tous les chercheurs et professionnels intéressés par le maintien et la promotion du bien-être et de la spiritualité chez les âgés.

There are three competing conceptions concerning the relationship between positive illusions and mental health: the 'traditional' mental health model, according to which an accurate perception of the self and the world is a cornerstone of psychological well-adjustment; Taylor and Brown's Social Psychological Model on mental health, which assumes that positive illusions promote good mental health; and Baumeister's Optimal Margin Theory, which states that too much accuracy is harmful to mental health, as are exaggerated illusions. These three models were evaluated in the elderly (n = 857 retirees ages 60-95) using the youthful bias, which is the illusion of being younger than one's real age. As a whole, the Social Psychological Model obtained the strongest support. Retirees who harboured an exaggerated youthful bias (more than 15 years) reported more satisfaction with leisure time, higher self-esteem, better perceived health, and less boredom proneness than those who felt as old as they were or who, except for perceived health, entertained a moderate youthful bias (between 1 and 15 years).