skip to main content

Attention:

The NSF Public Access Repository (NSF-PAR) system and access will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET on Thursday, October 10 until 2:00 AM ET on Friday, October 11 due to maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.


Title: Barriers to Preparing for Disasters: Age Differences and Caregiving Responsibilities
This study examined age differences in barriers to preparing for disasters and how caregiving responsibilities are associated with these barriers among different age groups. Using a sample of 1142 individuals from the 2017 Federal Emergency Management Agency National Household Survey, binary and multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to investigate the likelihood of encountering any or one of the two types of barriers, namely, barriers related to coping appraisal (i.e., capacity) and those related to threat appraisal (i.e., risk perception). Age was the key predictor and was categorized into five groups: 18–34, 35–49, 50–64, 65–74, and 75+. The results showed that the 18–34, 35–49, and 75+ age groups were more likely to have coping appraisal barriers than those aged between 65 and 74. In addition, being a caregiver increased the likelihood of having coping appraisal barriers. Interestingly, relative to the 65–74 age group, being a caregiver in the 18–34, 35–49, and 50–64 age groups would be more likely to have coping appraisal barriers. Our findings highlighted age patterns and heterogeneity among older adults. This study also directed attention to how disaster preparation behaviors were shaped by life course experiences.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1839516
NSF-PAR ID:
10290286
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
International journal of disaster risk reduction
Volume:
61
ISSN:
2212-4209
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Meeks, Suzanne (Ed.)
    Abstract Background and Objectives Advanced age is generally associated with improved emotional well-being, but the coronavirus 2019 pandemic unleashed a global stressor that gravely threatened the physical well-being and ostensibly challenged the emotional well-being of older adults disproportionately. The current study investigated differences in emotional experiences and coping strategies between younger and older adults during the pandemic, and whether these differences were accounted for by age differences in appraisal of the pandemic. Research Design and Methods We asked younger (n = 181) and older (n = 176) adult participants to report their stress, appraisals of the pandemic, emotions, and the ways in which they were coping with the pandemic. Results Results indicated that older adults experienced less stress and less negative affect and used greater problem-focused coping and less avoidant coping in response to the pandemic than younger adults. Furthermore, age differences in affect and coping were partially accounted for by age differences in appraisals of the pandemic. Discussion and Implications Despite their objectively higher risk of illness and death due to the pandemic, older adults experienced less negative affect and used more agentic coping strategies than younger adults. 
    more » « less
  2. Guided mainly by the social vulnerability perspective and life course perspective, this study examined age patterns of financial preparedness for emergencies and how they were contextualized by vulnerabilities at the individual and community levels. We matched data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency 2018 National Household Survey and 15 indicators of the Social Vulnerability Index at the county level. Two-level logistic regressions were conducted with the working sample, which included 4,623 respondents from 958 counties. The results showed that adults aged 18 to 44 were more likely than those aged 65 to 74 to set aside money for emergencies among Hispanics, those with minor children in the household, and in communities with higher levels of poverty, higher percentages of minorities, and higher percentages of no vehicles, but less likely to do so among the White and those with insurance. The findings were discussed within a multilevel layered vulnerability framework. 
    more » « less
  3. U.S. prisons were especially susceptible to COVID-19 infection and death; however, data limitations have precluded a national accounting of prison mortality (including but not limited to COVID-19 mortality) during the pandemic. Our analysis of mortality data collected from public records requests (supplemented with publicly available data) from 48 Departments of Corrections provides the most comprehensive understanding to date of in-custody mortality during 2020. We find that total mortality increased by 77% in 2020 relative to 2019, corresponding to 3.4 times the mortality increase in the general population, and that mortality in prisons increased across all age groups (49 and under, 50 to 64, and 65 and older). COVID-19 was the primary driver for increases in mortality due to natural causes; some states also experienced substantial increases due to unnatural causes. These findings provide critical information about the pandemic’s toll on some of the country’s most vulnerable individuals while underscoring the need for data transparency and standardized reporting in carceral settings.

     
    more » « less
  4. Abstract Objectives

    To investigate the burden of peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) in older hospitalised patients.

    Methods

    A cross‐sectional prospective observational study (2014/2015) to describe the characteristics, indications and outcomes of PIVCs among patients aged ≥65 from 65 Australian hospitals.

    Results

    Amongst 2179 individual PIVCs (in 2041 patients, mean age 77.6 years, 45% female, 58% in NSW), 43% were inserted by doctors and 74% used that day, meaning 25% were ‘idle’. Overall, 18% (393/2179) exhibited signs of PIVC‐related complications. Most commonly exhibited PIVC‐related complications were tenderness (4.1%) and local redness (1.8%). Nearly one in three (29.1%) dressings was soiled, loosened or had come off, and only 36.8% had the time and date documented on the dressing. Both infusing IV medications (aOR 1.74, 95% CI 1.28–2.38,p < 0.001) and inserting the PIVC in a non‐upper limb vein (aOR 3.40 compared to forearm [reference site], 95% CI 1.62–7.17,p < 0.001) were independently associated with PIVC failure. Phlebitis was exhibited in 7% (154) of the patients. Only infusing intravenous medications increased the likelihood of developing symptoms of phlebitis (aOR 1.61, 95% CI 1.01–2.57,= 0.05). Increasing age was inversely associated with symptoms of phlebitis. Among the 1575 patients (79%) who rated their PIVC experience using the Likert scale 0–10 (where 10 = ‘best possible’), the median score was 8 (IQR 6–10). Age in highest quartile (>84 years) was independently associated with lower likelihood of a high score (aOR 0.71, 95% CI 0.54–0.94,= 0.02).

    Conclusions

    Given 1 in 5 PIVCs were identified with having complications, further research should focus on optimising PIVC use in older patients.

     
    more » « less
  5. null (Ed.)
    Drawing from life-span psychology, we conducted two studies to test perceptions of time left in the future as an underlying mechanism for age differences in self-reported social risk taking. Study 1 included 120 younger (25–35 years) and 119 older (60–91 years) community-dwelling adults. Study 2 included 439 participants (18–85 years) mostly recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. In both studies, older age was associated with rating a lower likelihood of social risk taking (e.g., speaking about an unpopular issue) and perceiving the future as holding fewer future opportunities and being more limited. Perceptions of fewer future opportunities with aging statistically mediated age-related declines in social risk taking. Findings highlight motivational factors as key for understanding age differences in social risk taking. Implications of age differences in social risk taking on factors related to well-being, such as social support and strain, are discussed. 
    more » « less