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University of the Third Age at the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, the University of South Bohemia
45-46Views:60The goal of the paper is to present almost 30 years of activities of the University of the Third Age at the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, the history of which started in 1992.
The first discipline called Care of Humans and their Health was opened by the University of South Bohemia in the academic year 1992/93. The elderly were offered an educational six-term health and social program, while three hours of direct lessons and two counseling sessions a week (“senior Thursday) were subsidized. The students had to sit for unmarked and marked examinations, and to process and defend a thesis at the end of their study. In July 1995, 28 graduates were awarded a certificate on an extramural education in a festive ceremony. The implementation of the discipline of Care of Humans and their Health confirmed that even a non—professional leisure-time education could be provided at an “academic” level. A comprehensive view of education enabled to identify areas that should be taken into consideration during the education of elderly adults. They include areas relating to computer and functional literacy, cultivation of leisure time, culture of the interpersonal mutuality, and the human being (looking for the sense of life and higher goals).
In the course of the thirty-year history of the University of the Third Age many activities have developed and the conception has extended. The new educational subject called Man in Health, Disease and Distress was transformed into a two-stage program offering the choice of the length and type of the educational program. The option A represented the choice of an integral and topically closed discipline while the options B and C represented the choice of the educational demandingness and inclusion in the European educational program called SoLiLL: Self-Organized Learning in Later Life. Furthermore, a conception of an extending program called Quality of life in the Old Age and other programs were offered to the elderly living in our region. As a part of the project activities, the elderly were involved in the projects of Phare a Interreg IIIA. The conception of the University of the Third Age at the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences of the University of South Bohemia enables the applicants to complete an integral educational program, lecture blocks/cycles with various topics, and, at the same time, a unique research program called “Golden Path” focused on the Czech-Austrian border area can be completed. The uniqueness of the educational research program is evidenced by two translated monographs called “Wallern und Wallerer (Volary a Volarští - Volary citizens and Volary)“ and „Der Goldene Steig“ (Zlatá stezka – Golden Path) by the indisputably most important expert and researcher of the Golden Path, a historian living in Bavarian Waldkirchen. -
Democratic values – discriminative practices regarding to the status of the elderly
64-76.Views:133The scientific study of gerontology in Hungary has a short history. Perhaps that is why the
meaning of gerontology is erroneously restricted to the type belonging to biology and medical
sciences by many. The present study argues that human and social science gerontology does
have reasons for its existence. We outline the specific areas of research done by philosophy
and ethics in connection with the situation of the existence of people, especially that of the
elderly and describe what their mission consists of. We analyse the history of Western
philosophical thinking and the moral ideas and values formed by this thinking in thousands of
years. The basic principles of modern democratic societies are constituted by these ideas:
liberty, equality, justice, brotherhood, human dignity and human rights. In practice these
rights are often violated, for example the elderly people are discriminated against their age,
which violates their equality and justice as well as human dignity. Their disadvantageous
situation is obvious in the economy, politics, culture, education and relations between
generations. The task of ethics is the principle criticism of these practices along the Western
values thus contribution to the formation of human conditions. The demographic crisis of the
continent is viewed by the EU as based on modern age policy, aids, projects and classical
Western values. -
Comparison of sociodemographic characteristics in nursing home residents and community-dwelling elders
19-29Views:104Purpose: This study aimed to compare the sociodemographic characteristics in nursing home residents and community-dwelling elders.
Methods: This descriptive study consisted of 342 older people between October and November 2019 (nursing home = 79, community-dwelling = 263). The data were collected by “Questionnaire Form for Individuals Living in Nursing Homes” and “Questionnaires for Individuals Living in Community-Dwelling." Comparisons between groups were made with the chi-square test. Descriptive characteristics were presented as numbers, percentage, mean, standard deviation, min. and max. scores.
Results: The average age of the elderly living in a nursing home was 77.35±7.40 (min: 66, max: 97). Before coming to the nursing home, 38.0% lived with their spouses. The average age of community-dwelling older people was 70.90±5.57 (min: 65, max: 88). Of community-dwelling older people, 81.7% lived with their families. There was a significant difference between both groups regarding age, income status, having a child, having a physical disability, using dentures, ability to maintain activities of daily living, self-confidence, sleep problems, social activity, smoking rates, and history of visiting a nursing home (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Compared to the community-dwelling older people, the elderly living in a nursing home were more senior, lonely, had a lower income, had higher physical disabilities, had lower social activity and self-confidence, had more sleep problems, and smoked.
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25 years in the geroeducation: Facts with subjective background
2-12.Views:152Több mint 50 éve kezdtem orvosi hivatásom gyakorlását. Az orvos a teljes értékű
gyógyításban az emberrel, mint bio-pszicho-szociális egységgel kell foglalkozzék, azaz
holisztikus szemlélettel kell megközelítse az egészséggel kapcsolatos problémákat.
Tevékenységem mindennapi gyakorlata rávezetett erre – a ma már sokat hangoztatott, de a
valóságban kevéssé megnyilvánuló – mentalitásra. 35 éve, amikor egy főleg időseket ellátó
kórházi osztály vezetője lettem, egyértelművé vált számomra, hogy ez a szemlélet különösen
érvényes az idős korosztály kezelése során. Az is evidenssé vált, hogy nem a már a
megbetegedett, elaggott idősnél kell kezdeni az odafordulást, hanem amikor még fiatalabb,
egészségesebb és még tud tenni azért, hogy teljesebb életet éljen, gondoljon a későbbi testi,
lelki bajok megelőzésére és így majd később és kevésbé elesett állapotban igényel komolyabb
kezelést. Ebben a folyamatban kiemelkedő szerepe van az ismeretek bővítésének, szorosabb
(egészségügyi, idősödési tanácsadás), és tágabb értelemben (aktivitást találni időskorban)
egyaránt -
Challenges to Mental Health Security and Safety of Older Adults in the U.S.
3Views:103Although rates of Covid-19 infection are lower for older adults, the mortality rates are higher than all other ages. While the health challenges are evident, the mental health effects of the pandemic are less evident. The term “compassionate ageism” has been used to describe protection of all older adults as vulnerable groups, however it overlooks individual factors that may mitigate risk and enhance mental health aspects of coping with the realities of the pandemic. Isolation and separation from families and once enjoyed activities, whether residing in their own homes or long-term care facilities, has taken an immeasurable physical and mental health toll on older adults. Safety and security for mental health as well as physical health must be considered in any strategy to try mitigate the effects on the quality of life of older adults during this critical time in our history.
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A telemedicina szolgáltatás térhódítása a pandémia idején
127-137Views:187During the pandemic, the role of information and telecommunications in health care became particularly important. An alternative way of communicating between the doctor and his/her patient has been through online forms of communication and the tools commonly used in everyday cases where a face-to-face meeting is not absolutely necessary, or in an emergency, a face-to-face meeting may be preceded by a remote consultation. In this situation, diagnosis is a huge responsibility and an ethical burden for the physician. Although this can be facilitated by the findings of the laboratory, the previously completed imaging diagnostics, and the online systems that create direct communication, there are also conditions for the development of a new diagnosis that can be confirmed by perception. During the coronavirus pandemic, efforts were made to minimize the number of personal doctor-patient encounters in the primary and outpatient care systems to curb the epidemic, in order to curb the epidemic. In cases where a personal relationship between the doctor and the patient has already been established, the patient’s relationship between the doctor and the patient has already been established, the patient’s medical history is known and they are forced to use telemedicine, they are practicing their profession in the best sense. The usefulness of telemedicine during the pandemic has been demonstrated, and its further development is a major challenge for both informatics and medicine.
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Introduction
Views:60Dear Reader,
The Gerontology Days 2021 is the 14th annual scientific conference at the Faculty of Health of the University of Debrecen, which is unique not only because it is the only conference with a long history in this field organised by a Hungarian university, but also it is characterized by the diversity of the disciplines involved and by the diversity of the participants as well.
In addition to academic researchers, lecturers and PhD students, professionals working in the field of elderly care and supporting for the elderly and other interested people listen to the lectures, participate in discussions, symposia and round tables.
Thank you very much for the feedback (praise, criticism, suggestion, request) which are sent to us during and after the Conference!
In this Special Issue of the scientific journal, you can read the abstracts of the lectures given at the Conference.
First, a short summary of the plenary lecture of Prof. Dr. Miklós Tóth, followed by the extracts of English lectures and abstracts in Hungarian are available on this platform.
We are also looking forward to meeting you at the conference of Gerontological Days 2022!
Ágnes Bene
Editor of the Special Issue -
70+ new role in online space
66-72Views:143As a case study, the author uses his own example to show how a new role can bring positive changes in the life of a retired person. In his case, the activity in old age is a family inheritance. His father worked as a proofreader and multi-lingual translator until he died at the age of 83. His grandfather won a competition for modern methods of teaching physics when he was 82.
After retiring as an electrical engineer, at the age of 65, the author became known on the Internet, mainly among young people. Based on his somewhat sad smile he was given the name Hide the pain Harold, the internet users started making funny memes from his photos. Initially, he did not accept his new role, tried to fight it. It took several years to realize that what he could not change, had to be at the forefront of it. At the age of 72, he created a website for his fans. He started working to replace the not always positive message of the memes to carry a positive point of view. The basic idea of his philosophy, that is the smaller or bigger annoyances of life should not be taken too seriously, they should be overcome with a sad smile, resonated among young people. He already has more than half a million followers worldwide. The popularity gained in this way has changed his daily life. Through invitations, he visited many countries around the world from Siberia to South America. His previously more introverted personality became more open to public appearances. Keeping up with the events of the world, new technical possibilities and the way of thinking of young people mean a steady occupation for him. His history is one-off and unrepeatable, but it provides an example of the positive consequences a career change in old age. -
Early recognition of dementia within the family
17-18Views:95The awareness of communities with dementia in Western Europe has moved closer to recognizing priority issues such as the environment or climate change. Dementia-friendly communities how have a history of 30 years and have achieved significant results through their work, both for those affected by the disease and those not directly affected. It probably affects many families, the topic is also getting into the spotlight in Hungary.
Without specific and detailed statistics and databases, dementia currently exists in the latent zone. The vast majority of the literature defines dementia as a diesease for which there is no treatment or cure. The effect of dementia is considered primarily as problems in the brain that negatively affect clear thinking, memory processes and result in additional emotional turbulence. Dementia is known as an age-related condition.
In general, dementia is identified as senility, incorrectly. Dementia can occur in different areas and at different levels in individual patients. As a result, families affected by the disease often face serious difficulties in identifying the disease. Without proper and detailed knowledge of the diagnosis, many families struggle with the situation of self care solutions at home. This personal involvement not only imposes a significant financial and emotional burden on the family but also often leads to separation and isolation, which can have additional negative effects on the disease itself and even on the mental health of the patient’s family members.
The global extent of dementia is generally known only to experts in the field, and to this day there is still a lack of adequate representation in the wider social dialogue. There is a unique and innovative incentive in Gyöngyös where Matralab’s integrated care centers offer day-care activities and solutions to support and provide experts advice to families with dementia. The project is implemented at the regional level, where 25 municipalities start monitoring the conditions and impacts of dementia in the region. As dementia is a prevalent and identifiable condition, affected families need help and support at the widest possible level.
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Bölcs öregedés az életút alkonyán
180-199Views:197The study highlights what impression the quality of our life history has on our elderly ourselves. With this complex presentation of the aging process, a more nuanced diagnosis could be made about the versatility of ageing, thus more effective prevention and care programs could be carried out. The recognition and application of the positive philosophy of life outlined in the study contribute to maintaining good mental health of the elderly.
Practical relevance. The results of the research can be primarily utilzed in care institutions, nursing homes and retirement clubs. It can effectively help the physical, spiritual and mental care of elderly people and help them accept their problematic life situation. The study might be utilized in practice on elementary and intermediate andragogy trainings and on vocational courses (social worker, specialist nurse, therapist).