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• Dementia and family. The role of Alzheimer cafe in reducing the burden of caregiving families

  34-46.

  G. Kiss

  Views:

  379

  In the last years, the international researches have turned towards families caring for elderly people with dementia /see the works of Zarit et al. 1985, 2005; Aneshensel et al. 1995; and Kaplan 1996/. The majority of these researchers analysed the stress burden of the caring family member and its consequences, role conflicts, and the tensions in the caregiving family (Zarit et al. 1985; Aneshensel et al. 1995; Kaplan 1996; Zarit et al. 2005). The revelation that in terms of Romania, we know nothing or almost nothing about the burden of families caring for elderly people with dementia and its effect on the primary carer, played was an important factor in the choice of topic. This is why, in a vast empirical analysis, in Transylvania, 50 interviews and questionnaire surveys were made with people caring for elderly with dementia in their own homes and 50 families whose relatives with dementia have been moved to a long-term residential home in the past 12 months from the time of the survey. Gathering data took three years (2015–2017). The research included the inquiry interview with the primary caregiver family member, in which we assessed the functional barriers and the psychosocial difficulties (Szabó 2000). The analysis of the levels of social skills was built upon this, and it unfolded the main characteristics of self-sufficiency, existing social skills, and social adaptation. This survey pointed out the everyday tasks in which the client requires help. With regard to family care, we have also analysed the independent living ability of people with dementia. These three angles offered the guidelines for the assessment of “objective burden” of the caring family member. Reviewing the distribution of caring tasks within the family is based on this, which helps us finding out who the key persons are, the ones undertaking the primary caregiving duties. For analysing the formation of roles within the family, we have devised our own criteria (Szabó–Kiss 2015). Starting from the objective burden, in regard to the “subjective burden”, we have obtained valuable indications about the emotional effect of caregiving family member. The detailed assessment of self-sufficiency through which we have analysed the measure of functional degradation of people living with dementia, was added to the devices of the analysis (Szabó 2000). The internationally approved scale of memory and behavioural problems (Zarit 1985) is connected to this, which measures the distractive attitude of the person living with dementia and its effect on the primary caregiver. The survey of the primary caregiver’s burdening is also connected (Zarit 1985), and so is the assessment of the negative and positive attitude towards the caregiving tasks (Farran et al. 1999). A six-step focus group is added to the devices of the research, in which the primary caregivers, by hearing each other’s cases and following thematic questions, open up more easily about the critical periods of caregiving and the pivotal factors of institutional placement.

• Elderly care in Nigeria

  93-98

  Imole Omowunmi Bello

  Views:

  58

  This paper presents a review of works on care and support for the aged which is apt for current academic and public policy discourse in Nigeria. The major focus explicated in this review include the concept of care and support, overview of ageing, features and problems of ageing, nature and sources of care and support, the extent to which the elderly depend on their children/extended family, work and old age.

• The impact of COVID-19 on the online shopping habits of the elderly - a study in two regions

  146-158

  Ivett Stumpf-Tamás

  Views:

  241

  COVID-19 significantly affected the lives of people, including the elderly, who tried to reduce their personal relationships, especially during quarantine periods. Their daily lives have changed, including their consumer behaviour. The basis of my research was the longitudinal research of the Gerontology Department of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Debrecen. In the summer of 2021, I made an interview research covering two regions, in which I searched for answers for example the COVID-19 epidemic affected the lives of members of elderly organizations, how their habits changed, for example regarding the use of digital devices and consumption in general. Based on the results, it can be said that while in 2020 the members of the organizations kept in touch with each other mainly by telephone during the pandemic, in 2021 there were almost the same number of those who used traditional telephones and those who preferred online contact. Online communication and Internet use have probably become more widespread because older people have become more open to the online world. In the examined period, the willingness of the elderly to use digital devices increased and their opportunities broadened, for example through the (often forced) development of their competences. This is also true for online purchases. As in all age groups of domestic consumers, online consumption has also increased among the elderly. In their case, this is mainly influenced by their opportunities related to digitalization. The main advantage of digitalization for the elderly is that it is much easier for them to keep in touch with each other, including with family members who live far away, while one of the disadvantages is that not all elderly people can afford to have the appropriate competencies, technical conditions and internet access.