week 2 Flashcards
who is Jim Mann
Diagnosed with alzheimers in 2007 (mild case or slow acting)
Active researcher
who is Olive Bryanton
2018 PhD dissertation was titled, “Pioneers in Aging: Voices of women 85 years and older aging in place in rural communities.” she was 81 when she did her PhD
why is EDI important?
you cannot have a high quality health system without equity
describe health equity
Health equity allows people to reach their full health potential and receive high-quality care that is fair and appropriate to them and their needs, no matter where they live, what they have or who they are.
Health care equity is a sub-set of health equity. It is the part of health equity that focuses on the health system’s ability to provide equitable health care.
describe health equality
Health equality is a high-quality health system recognizes and respects social, cultural and linguistic differences. “Equity” should not be confused with “equality.”
describe the two objectives of Tri-Agency Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan for 2018-2025
Objective 1: fair access to tri-agency research support - equitable and inclusive access for all members of the research community to granting agency funding opportunities
Objective 2: equitable participation in the research system - influence the achievement of an inclusive post-secondary research system and culture in canada
how can ageism be combatted?
policy and law: can address discrimination and inequality based on age and protect the human rights of everyone, everywhere
educational activities: include instruction that transmits information, knowledge and skills, as well as activities to enhance empathy through role-playing, simulation and virtual reality
intergenerational interventions: aim to foster interaction between different generations
how many Canadians under the age of 65 are currently living with a young onset of dementia?
approximately 16,000
differentiate between dementia and alzheimers
term “dementia” doesn’t actually refer to one, specific disease. rather, it’s an overall term for a set of symptoms that are caused by disorders affecting the brain.
alzheimers is a specific brain disease that accounts for 60-80% of dementia cases
describe mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
a condition in which people have more memory or thinking problems than other people their age.
symptoms of MCI are not as severe as those of Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.
people with MCI can usually take care of themselves and carry out their normal daily activities.
describe alzheimers
a chronic neurodegenerative disease that destroys brain cells, causing thinking ability and memory to deteriorate over time
not a normal part of aging and is irreversible
suspected to by caused by the amyloid cascade (hypothesis)
what is the typical age of onset for alzheimers
65 years old, but as early as 30
what are the types of dementia? briefly describe
alzheimers: most common
young onset dementia: before 65 years of age
vascular dementia: when the brain’s blood supply is blocked or damaged, causing brain cells to be deprived of oxygen and die
lewy body dementia: abnormal ‘Lewy bodies’ deposits of protein called alpha-synuclein inside of the brain’s nerve cells
frontotemporal dementia: group of rare disorders that primarily affect the areas of the brain associated with personality and behaviour
mixed dementia: more than one type of dementia
LATE-NC: most recently identified form of dementia, noted for its close similarity to Alzheimer’s
what are the symptoms of dementia
Memory loss, both short-term and long-term
Difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language that are severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities
Changes in mood or behaviour.
what are the methods used to diagnose dementia
CT (computerized tomography) scan and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) take images of the brain.
SPECT (single proton emission computed tomography) shows how blood is circulating to the brain.
PET (positive electron tomography) shows how different areas of the brain respond during activities like reading and talking. This scan is usually done after 45 minutes of rest.
Sleep tests measure brain activity to determine levels of cognitive performance and brain aging.
Psychiatric and psychological evaluations
what are the 7 stages of dementia
1) no cognitive impairment
2) very mild cognitive decline
3) mild cognitive decline
4) moderate cognitive decline
5) moderately sever cognitive decline
6) severe cognitive decline
7) very severe cognitive decline
what are the 4 medications for alzheimers? what do they do?
Aricept™ (brand name) or Donepezil (generic name)
Reminyl ER™ (brand name) or Galantamine (generic name)
Exelon™ (brand name) or Rivastigmine (generic name)
Ebixa® (brand name) or Memantine (generic name)
prevent decline in learning and memory by protecing brain cells and preventing breakdown of brain chemicals
what can explain age-related decline in cognitive performance?
by morphological and functional changes in the brain.
number of cortical neurons (thus the thickness of the gray matter) and also of intra- and intercortical connections decrease, so that brain networks thin out.
as a consequence, exchange of information between and cooperation of local, regional and supra-regional brain structures is impaired or lost
morphological brain aging pattern is called the ‘first-in, last-out’ hypothesis, which means that the brain regions that develop earlier are also less affected by age-related decline than those that develop later
define cognitive reserve
brain actively tries to compensate for functional losses with the help of already established, successful cognitive processes and individual strategies
define resilience specific to this course
constructs of brain reserve, cognitive reserve, and functional compensation are used to explain the preservation of cognition in the presence of (pathological) brain alterations
what are metamodels
provide a framework for the theories researchers propose, for the hypotheses they generate, for how they design their research, for the samples of participants they include in their studies, and for the method they use to analyze the data they collect
why is scientific research never completely objective
individual researchers subscribe to different metamodels. may explain a bit of why their findings may conflict. scientific research is never completely objective because it is always driven by a viewpoint
what are the 3 types of metamodesl
mechanistic
organismic
contextual
describe the mechanistic metamodel
uses a machine metaphor to study developmental processes
research tends to focus on organism’s reaction to external environmental forces instead of the role an organism plays in constructing the environment.
using this, attempts could be made to minimize negative aspects of aging through control of the environment
their approach to the study of development is to break down a complex phenomenon into parts and then to study each one separately.
describe the organismic metamodel
uses a biological metaphor. belief that development originates from within the organism and that the developing organism acts upon the environment.
environment isn’t ignored but it is not the main focus
development is directed toward some goal, it occurs in a series of stages in which new and different structures emerge.
organismic researchers focus on patterns of abilities or other characteristics as well as on the nature of the structures underlying such patterns.
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. researchers would emphasize the importance of complex and constantly changing developmental phenomena that occur within a larger framework.
emphasizes qualitative changes in development. main focus is on variation in the structures, or pattern, of characteristics at different points of the adult life span. older organisms are not viewed as having either a lesser or a greater quantity of a characteristic or ability. rather, characteristics and abilities are assumed to be qualitatively different at different stages of life
describe the contextual metamodel
view the organism and the environment as being in continual interaction
a dialectical process, meaning that a constantly changing organism develops within a constantly changing environment
those using contextual metamodels often look beyond the age variable. would look into variables such as years of education, prior experience, present lifestyle, socioeconomic status, etc
describe the life-span developmental perspective
draws on all 3 metamodels, but is most similar to the contextual model.
considers development to be a multifaceted, ongoing process
development processes can show both gains and losses over the life span. however, the proportion of gains to losses changes as people grow older
because the model assumes individuals develop in their own way, research would follow the same people over time to assess intraindividual change (change within the individual).
the life-span perspective can be applied to any aspect of development (e.g. cognitive, social, biological) but it is more often applied to the study of intellectual abilities.
describe the age variable in developmental research
can be viewed as categorical (18-24) or continuous (18+)
what should be considered when conducting developmental/aging research
age: chronological age/maturational level
cohort: generation; the lives of people in a particular cohort are influenced by state of medical knowledge available when they were infants, young children, adolescents, and adults
time of measurement: conditions that prevail when the research is conducted. e.g. work status/family status
conditions could also be related to test methods/revisions
what are the 4 types of research design? when should they be used? what are the confounding factors?
cross sectional: most commonly used when two or more age groups are studied
- confounding: age & cohort
longitudinal: individuals are followed over time and tested on two or more occasions
- confounding: age & time of measurement (& attrition due to participants dropping out)
time lag: individuals of a particular chronological age group are tested at two different times, usually years or decades apart (individuals of the same age group who are tested at different times are members of different cohorts because they were born at different times). it is not considered a developmental study because all study participants are members of the same age group
- confounding: cohort & time of measurement
sequential: involved combination of the cross-sectional, longitudinal, or time-lag comparisons
- no confounding
what are the types of sequential research designs? what are they a combination of? best in what situation?
cohort-sequential: simultaneous cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. longitudinal studies are conducted on two different cohorts. design isolates, age and cohort effects. however, time of measurement effects can’t be isolated, so this design is best when a researcher expects that time of measurement effects will be trivial
time-sequential: two or more cross sectional comparisons at two or more times of measurement. design isolates the effects of age and time of measurement, but cohort effects can’t be isolated. design is useful if the main concern is separating the effects of age and time of measurement and a researcher can assume the cohort effects will be trivial
cross-sequential: two or more cross sectional and longitudinal comparisons. effects of cohort and time of measurement are isolated, but the effect of age is not. this design is useful if the main concern is separating the effects of cohort and time of measurement
what are the approaches to conducting aging research?
experimental
quasi-experimental
descriptive
newer
describe the experimental approach to conducting research
variables are independent or dependent. research manipulates the independent variable that has at least two categories or levels.
there is random assignment of research participants to the various levels of the independent variable (factor). this makes it possible to make cause-and-effect statements regarding the influence of the independent variable on the outcome as measured by the dependent variable
describe the quasi experimental approach to conducting aging research
if research participants are not randomly assigned to levels of a categorical approach. therefore, cause-and-effect statements can’t be made
age is a quasi-experimental factor
describe the descriptive approach to conducting aging research (categorical and continuous variables)
research does not attempt to manipulate any variables, so variables are neither independent or dependent
data collected on the variables of interest and the relationship is studied between them
if age is a categorical variable (e.g., young, middle-aged, and older groups), there may be interest in determining whether the relationship between the other variables follows the same pattern or a different pattern for the separate age groups.
if age is a continuous variable, then there may be an interest in determining whether the other variables increase, decrease, or remain the same with increasing age
