Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Aging Latinos'

The purpose of this dissertation was to understand perceived hearing loss and hearing health care use among older adults from Hispanic/Latino backgrounds using the Andersen model of health care utilization as a framework. A cross sectional analysis of audiometric and survey data from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos was used to estimate factors that characterize perceived hearing handicap and hearing aid use, and to determine hearing aid use rates in a large group of older Hispanic/Latino adults. Data came from 6970 adults aged 45 to 76. Results revealed that self-perceived hearing handicap is significantly correlated to measured hearing levels, and is characterized by health insurance status, age, sex, pure tone average, and language acculturation. Reported hearing aid use was characterized by poorer measured pure tone average of the better ear, higher Hearing Handicap Inventory – Screening scores, and current health insurance. Overall hearing aid uptake rate among included individuals was 3.7%. Hearing aid uptake rates among included individuals were low compared to rates of clinically significant hearing loss. The primary variable associated with underutilization of hearing aid uptake for those who could pose to benefit was a lack of health insurance.

This qualitative study aimed to examine the perspectives of aging held by a former male Latino gang member. A case study approach was employed. Existing research on gangs has focused on violence, the nature of gangs, and membership encompassing gangs, which provides context for gaining a better understanding of gangs on many different levels. Although, one area of gang research where little attention has been paid is the aging perspective of gang members.

The aging process was idiosyncratic for a former gang member, but threads of commonality can still be drawn to general aging concepts. Themes of skipped life stages and early maturation became poignant to his aging process, which has definitively changed as he has chronologically aged. As he has "maturated out" of a gang, major themes in his gang years have changed; family no longer means other gang members, but now means wife, children, and mother.

The purpose of this project was to locate a potential funding source and write a grant to provide home-based mental health services to Latino older adults for Beach Cities Health District, in Redondo Beach, California, the host agency for this program. An extensive literature review was conducted to investigate the best way to provide non-traditional therapeutic services to older adults. The Archstone Foundation was chosen as the most appropriate funding source.

The population of Latino older adults is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Many in this population suffer from depression but fail to access services due to language barriers and other obstacles. This program was developed to improve knowledge of depression and improve coping skills, as well as reduce symptoms of depression.

If funded, this program could provide social workers an opportunity to bridge the gap the need for and the receipt of mental health services among older Latinos. Submission of the grant was not a requirement for the thesis project.

Este artículo estudia el efecto del envejecimiento de los vecinos sobre las organizaciones locales en San Felipe, un barrio de clase media en Lima, Perú. Ilustro el efecto de este fenómeno usando el caso del control del espacio público en el barrio. Para esta investigación realicé observación participante durante un año. Durante ese año observé la dinámica de las asambleas locales, entrevisté a 46 vecinos de distintas características y observé una gran cantidad de situaciones y controversias entre vecinos en los espacios públicos de San Felipe. Encuentro que los adultos-mayores son los que imponen su punto de vista respecto al destino del barrio. Dicho resultado es sorprendente pues los adultos-mayores no son ni el grupo demográficamente más importante, ni el de mayores recursos. Sostengo que ello ocurre porque los adultos-mayores transforman el tiempo (un recurso escaso para los adultos-jóvenes, pero ampliamente disponible para los adultos-mayores) en poder organizacional. Con dicho poder organizacional, los adultos-mayores logran influir en los funcionarios municipales quienes no sólo defienden el punto de vista de los adultos-mayores respecto al espacio público, sino que además lo transforman de acuerdo al mismo.
In this article, I study the effect of aging of neighbors on local organizations in San Felipe, a middle-class neighborhood in Lima, Peru. I elaborate on this effect by using the case of the control of public space in the neighborhood. I conducted participant observation during a year. During that year, I observed the dynamics of local organizations’ meetings; I interviewed 46 residents of different characteristics; and I observed a large amount of situations andcontroversies among actors in San Felipe’s public space. I find that senior residents are the ones who impose their point of view about the neighborhood’s fortune. This result is surprising considering that senior residents are neither the most numerous group in the neighborhood, neither the one with higher resources. I claim that that happens because senior residents transform time (a scarce resource for young-adult neighbors, though abundant for the seniorneighbors) into organizational power. With that organizational power, senior residents are able to influence on the municipality’s functionaries who not only defend the discourse of senior residents regarding the use of public space, but also transform it according to this discourse.

This study used data from the 2008 wave of the Health and Retirement Study to examine variations in relationships among selected psychosocial characteristics, race/ethnicity and expectations of nursing home utilization in the United States, with a particular focus on Latino/a subgroups. This study sought to test a modified version of the Andersen and Newman model of health service utilization. Findings revealed that expectations of nursing home utilization remained lower among Latino/as than in the Non-Latino White sub-groups, even when levels of need, enabling, and predisposing factors were controlled for. However, for Mexican Origin respondents (who are often arbitrarily combined with other individuals of various Latino nationalities as one homogenous group) never differed significantly from the White reference group. The inclusion of the selected psychosocial characteristics (attitudes towards one's own aging, personal mastery, religiosity, and perceived family support/ family satisfaction) increased the explanatory power of regression models tested. Having a high sense of personal mastery, as well as having a more positive attitude towards one's own aging, were associated with lower expectations of nursing home use. An important implication of this study is that the Latino/a population in the United States should not be treated as a homogenous, pan-ethnic group, particularly in regards to health service use. Also, psychosocial characteristics are relevant when considering expectations for nursing home use

Thesis advisor: Sara Moorman
This research examines social support transfers, social support networks and psychological well-being among older adults (aged 60+) in five countries in Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay. It is based on the following three research questions: 1) How is network structure associated with the receipt of financial and instrumental support among older adults in Latin America?; 2) What motivates the provision of financial or instrumental support to older adults in Latin America?; and 3) Do support transfers from kin and non-kin differently affect psychological well-being among older adults in Latin America? These questions are answered using data from the Survey on Health, Well-Being, and Aging in Latin America and the Caribbean (SABE), which includes information on over 7,000 older adults living in private homes in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Mexico City (Mexico) or Montevideo (Uruguay). Additionally, the study examines data on over 50,000 members of older adults' household and family networks. Findings confirm the importance of network structure for the receipt of both financial and instrumental support among older adults in Latin America. They also suggest a dynamic perspective of support provision throughout the region, where members of older adult's networks jointly navigate a mix of motivating factors to provide support to older adults in need. Lastly, results highlight the importance of kin support for the psychological well-being of older adults throughout the region. The findings presented in this dissertation provide an important first step in understanding elder support and psychological well-being in Latin America, and offer a strong foundation for future assessments throughout the region
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Sociology

This dissertation was designed using a qualitative research mode of inquiry that utilized a mixed methodology approach. This dissertation was an ethnographic narrative study tracking eight young women who were “aging out” or forced to leave their orphanage in Peru, where most of them had spent a majority of their lives. The study examined the way in which a collaborative art community could support the participants as they narrated their lives over a 16-month period of time through photojournaling and social media outlets.

This study relied upon interviews, on-site observations, personal journaling, and photographing, in addition to an overall thematic analysis of the output of each of the eight participants and two nuns. From these data, six key themes emerged concerning the outcomes of each young girl’s continuing life at the Hogar and their endeavors outside of the orphanage. The focal points of this study were community building via art making and building of personal aesthetic, community engagement, reflection on self-identity, cross-cultural art education, and shared experience via photo-art narratives and social media.

This research also examined the role of collaborative art experiences in helping these young women structure new identities and form collaborations with their peers designed to sustain them into their future lives. This dissertation studied not only the formation of singular identities but how these functioned within a collaborative identity that supported the young participants as they moved out of their orphanage and forward into the outside world.

Aquesta tesi estudia les condicions de salut de la gent gran des d'un enfocament socio-funcional en diferents contextos demogràfics i geogràfics a través dels seus quatre capítols. A l'anàlisi de la supervivència s'apliquen diferents enfocaments metodològics com a contribució empírica en l'estudi de la dinàmica de la salut, fent ús del disseny longitudinal de diferents enquestes europees i llatinoamericanes. A cada capítol, també es destaca una especial atenció a la influència dels arranjaments de vida en els canvis de salut, ja que és un factor fonamental en les trajectòries de la salut envelliment
La presente tesis comprende el estudio de las trayectorias de salud, desde el enfoque socio-funcional, de la población adulto mayor en diferentes contextos demográficos y geográficos a través de sus cuatro capítulos y se utilizan diferentes aproximaciones metodológicas en el análisis de supervivencia como una aportación empírica en el estudio de las dinámicas de salud, haciendo uso de datos longitudinales de diferentes encuestas de Europa y América Latina. En cada capítulo se analiza con especial atención la influencia de los arreglos de convivencia sobre los cambios de salud como un determinante fundamental en las trayectorias de salud en el envejecimiento.
This thesis studies the health conditions of the elderly population from a socio-functional approach in different demographic and geographical contexts through its four chapters. Different methodological approaches are applied in survival analysis as an empirical contribution in the study of health dynamics, making use of the longitudinal design of different European and Latin American surveys. In each chapter, special focus is also given to the influence of living arrangements on health changes as it is a fundamental determinant in health trajectories in ageing.

Some business leaders find it challenging to manage individuals from different age groups; this is an issue, as organizations in many developed countries become more age-diverse. The purpose of this single case study was to provide business leaders with information about strategies top-level business executives and team leaders at a large company in Curaçao (a developed island nation in the Caribbean) use for enhancing productivity of an age-diverse workforce. The conceptual framework of this study consisted of generational theory of Mannheim. A key tenet of the generational theory includes that belonging to the same generational unit, generational location, and generational actuality shapes the beliefs, values, and attitudes of members of a generational cohort collectively. Data from interviews and company documentation that included an annual report, business guide, and performance management documentation were coded and analyzed using NVivo software, and member checking was used to enhance the trustworthiness of interpretations. Key themes that emerged from data analysis include the need to use communication strategies, foster equal treatment of employees, implement employee development plans, and adopt a structured approach for addressing issues related to age-diversity. Implementation of the different strategies and recommendations identified in this study might aid business leaders in their effort to manage an age-diverse workforce and increase workplace productivity. Implications for social change include the potential to improve empathy and relations between individuals from different generations and the cultivation of a more cohesive society.

This study investigated learning and memory performance similarities and differences between healthy, Spanish-speaking older adults of Hispanic/Latino descent and English-speaking Caucasian older adults. It explored the possibility that the novelty of verbal memory tasks, along with cultural and educational differences, may lead to performance differences in Spanish-speaking older adults' effective use of organizational strategies, such as semantic clustering. It hypothesized that an alternative strategy instruction, which provided explicit detail on how to use the effective semantic clustering strategy, would reduce differences observed between the Hispanic and Caucasian groups. Forty-eight healthy, Spanish-speaking older adults and 55 healthy, English-speaking older adults were administered list-learning tasks in their dominant language. Under standard task instruction, Spanish-speaking older adults with low levels of formal education learned fewer words on the task than Caucasian and Hispanic participants who had higher levels of education. Hispanic participants, regardless of educational levels, also utilized semantic clustering recall at lower rates than Caucasian participants under standard instruction. When provided with explicit strategy instruction, both groups showed reduced list learning, and Hispanic older adults demonstrated reduced response to strategy manipulation compared to Caucasian participants. Finally, in the Hispanic older adult sample, the quality of their formal education and level of acculturation were identified as important predictors of verbal learning outcomes. These findings highlight the need to continue to examine the complex role of demographic and cultural variables on verbal learning and memory processes, as they may impact the assessment of pathological processes such as dementia, as well as the development of effective cognitive interventions for diverse elders.

abstract: This dissertation explored how immigrants cope with and thrive in old age by utilizing social networks, and the hindrances which may prevent this. Through ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews at two senior centers in Phoenix, Arizona with a high concentration of an ethnic minority group - Asian and Latino, I describe what makes the Asian dominant center more resource abundant than its Latino counterpart given prevalent tight public funding. Both centers have a large number of seniors disenfranchised from mainstream institutions who bond together via similar experiences resulting from shared countries/regions of origin, language, and migration experience. The Asian center, however, is more successful in generating and circulating resources through "bonding" and "bridging" older immigrants who, therefore benefit more from their center affiliation than the Latinos at their center. The abundance of resources at the Asian center flowing to the social networks of seniors are attributed to three factors: work and volunteer engagement and history, the organization of the center, and individual activities. At both centers seniors bond with each other due to shared ethnicity, language, and migration experience and share information and companionship in the language in which they feel most comfortable. What differentiated the two centers were the presence of several people well connected to individuals, groups, and institutions beyond the affiliated center. The presence of these "bridges" were critical when the centers were faced with budgetary constraints and Arizona was experiencing the effect of ongoing immigration policies. These "bridges" tend to come from shared ethnicity, and better social positions due to cumulative factors which include but are not limited to higher education, professional occupation, and work and volunteer history. I have also presented cases of individuals who, although have developed expertise from past work experiences and individual activities, have limited contribution to the resource flow because of the differences in ethnicity. The study also explored a gendered life course and its impact on the social network for older Asian and Latino immigrants.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Sociology 2014

This dissertation was designed using a qualitative research mode of inquiry that utilized a mixed methodology approach. This dissertation was an ethnographic narrative study tracking eight young women who were “aging out” or forced to leave their orphanage in Peru, where most of them had spent a majority of their lives. The study examined the way in which a collaborative art community could support the participants as they narrated their lives over a 16-month period of time through photojournaling and social media outlets. This study relied upon interviews, on-site observations, personal journaling, and photographing, in addition to an overall thematic analysis of the output of each of the eight participants and two nuns. From these data, six key themes emerged concerning the outcomes of each young girl’s continuing life at the Hogar and their endeavors outside of the orphanage. The focal points of this study were community building via art making and building of personal aesthetic, community engagement, reflection on self-identity, cross-cultural art education, and shared experience via photo-art narratives and social media. This research also examined the role of collaborative art experiences in helping these young women structure new identities and form collaborations with their peers designed to sustain them into their future lives. This dissertation studied not only the formation of singular identities but how these functioned within a collaborative identity that supported the young participants as they moved out of their orphanage and forward into the outside world.