Mental health of older adults : the development and testing of a model
- Authors: Turner, Jayne
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The high rates of depression and suicide among older adults have given rise to research which aims to identify factors that protect older people from mental illness. Recently, Bailey and McLaren (2005) developed and tested a model which investigated the relationships between engagement in various leisure activities performed alone or with others, sense of belonging, depression, and suicidal ideation. The present study examined an extended version of the mental health model, incorporating the additional variables of perceived freedom in leisure and physical health status. A sample of Australian males and females (N = 379) aged 65 years and over (M age = 77.23, SD = 7.48) completed the Perceived Freedom in Leisure Questionnaire, the Yale Physical Activity Survey,the Duke Health Profile, the Sense of Belonging Instrument, the Centre for Epidemiological Studies-Depressive Scale, and the Suicide Subscale of the General Health Questionnaire. Results indicated that the model was invariant for gender, and accounted for 56% of the variance in suicidal ideation. The model indicated that physical health had direct relationships with each variable in the model. Perceived freedom in leisure predicted engagement in physical activity, sense of belonging-antecedent, and depression, whereas sense of belonging psychological state predicted depression and suicidal ideation. Results suggest that interventions aimed at improving older adults’ perceptions of freedom and personal choice with regard to their leisure experiences, maintaining optimal health, and increasing opportunities to foster feelings of belonging and relatedness with others, should protect against the development of mental ill health.
- Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)
- Authors: Turner, Jayne
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The high rates of depression and suicide among older adults have given rise to research which aims to identify factors that protect older people from mental illness. Recently, Bailey and McLaren (2005) developed and tested a model which investigated the relationships between engagement in various leisure activities performed alone or with others, sense of belonging, depression, and suicidal ideation. The present study examined an extended version of the mental health model, incorporating the additional variables of perceived freedom in leisure and physical health status. A sample of Australian males and females (N = 379) aged 65 years and over (M age = 77.23, SD = 7.48) completed the Perceived Freedom in Leisure Questionnaire, the Yale Physical Activity Survey,the Duke Health Profile, the Sense of Belonging Instrument, the Centre for Epidemiological Studies-Depressive Scale, and the Suicide Subscale of the General Health Questionnaire. Results indicated that the model was invariant for gender, and accounted for 56% of the variance in suicidal ideation. The model indicated that physical health had direct relationships with each variable in the model. Perceived freedom in leisure predicted engagement in physical activity, sense of belonging-antecedent, and depression, whereas sense of belonging psychological state predicted depression and suicidal ideation. Results suggest that interventions aimed at improving older adults’ perceptions of freedom and personal choice with regard to their leisure experiences, maintaining optimal health, and increasing opportunities to foster feelings of belonging and relatedness with others, should protect against the development of mental ill health.
- Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)
Generalist telephone counselling and referral call data as a social indicator : a lifeline to social support?
- Authors: Watson, Robert
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The aim of this Australian Research Council Linkage doctoral project with industry partners UnitingCare-Lifeline Ballarat and Lifeline Australia was to investigate whether calls to Lifeline – a generalist telephone counselling and referral service – could be used as valid and reliable social indicators of health. The Lifeline Australia service receives approximately 1,000 calls a day and key details of each call are recorded on its Client Services Management Information System (CSMIS). A number of research questions directed this study: (1) What are the characteristics or attributes of callers to Lifeline?; (2) How do the patterns of calls to Lifeline vary spatially?; and (3) What is the statistical relationship between calls to Lifeline and other measures of community health? This thesis presents a detailed descriptive summary and analysis of Lifeline’s national CSMIS call data (N = 90,128 cases) from 01-04-2003 to 29-06-2003. It explores this and other sources of call data, such as the Telstra Exchange data, for their potential to be used as social indicators. The project created a model of generalist telephone counselling and referral use (MGTCRU). The MGTCRU was used as a theoretical base to a call rate indicator, named the Lifeline Indicator of Social Need (LISN), which reflects the community’s capacity to provide social support to its most socially isolated residents. The LISN was found to have useful attributes and a potential for use as a social indicator of community strength. The call rate indicator showed a statistically significant relationship with the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia, measures of socio-economic disadvantage, and suicide rates. However, the CSMIS database was found to have certain limitations. The thesis presents recommendations for this situation to be addressed. While acknowledging that there are limitations to telephone counselling call data it is clear that these call data can be used to create cost effective, rapid, reliable, and potentially valid social indicators. This thesis has made a number of significant empirical and theoretical contributions to knowledge on telephone counselling and referral. The descriptive summary of the CSMIS data provided in this thesis might be used in innovative ways by social researchers. The LISN could be used on its own or included in other social indices. The MGTCRU provides a theoretical framework for understanding telephone counselling and referral services use and may assist these services to organise their operations and meet the needs of their callers. This project may have particular application to a current upgrade of Lifeline Australia’s telephony and call data systems.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Watson, Robert
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The aim of this Australian Research Council Linkage doctoral project with industry partners UnitingCare-Lifeline Ballarat and Lifeline Australia was to investigate whether calls to Lifeline – a generalist telephone counselling and referral service – could be used as valid and reliable social indicators of health. The Lifeline Australia service receives approximately 1,000 calls a day and key details of each call are recorded on its Client Services Management Information System (CSMIS). A number of research questions directed this study: (1) What are the characteristics or attributes of callers to Lifeline?; (2) How do the patterns of calls to Lifeline vary spatially?; and (3) What is the statistical relationship between calls to Lifeline and other measures of community health? This thesis presents a detailed descriptive summary and analysis of Lifeline’s national CSMIS call data (N = 90,128 cases) from 01-04-2003 to 29-06-2003. It explores this and other sources of call data, such as the Telstra Exchange data, for their potential to be used as social indicators. The project created a model of generalist telephone counselling and referral use (MGTCRU). The MGTCRU was used as a theoretical base to a call rate indicator, named the Lifeline Indicator of Social Need (LISN), which reflects the community’s capacity to provide social support to its most socially isolated residents. The LISN was found to have useful attributes and a potential for use as a social indicator of community strength. The call rate indicator showed a statistically significant relationship with the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia, measures of socio-economic disadvantage, and suicide rates. However, the CSMIS database was found to have certain limitations. The thesis presents recommendations for this situation to be addressed. While acknowledging that there are limitations to telephone counselling call data it is clear that these call data can be used to create cost effective, rapid, reliable, and potentially valid social indicators. This thesis has made a number of significant empirical and theoretical contributions to knowledge on telephone counselling and referral. The descriptive summary of the CSMIS data provided in this thesis might be used in innovative ways by social researchers. The LISN could be used on its own or included in other social indices. The MGTCRU provides a theoretical framework for understanding telephone counselling and referral services use and may assist these services to organise their operations and meet the needs of their callers. This project may have particular application to a current upgrade of Lifeline Australia’s telephony and call data systems.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
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