Aging Well

Here is my Abstract for Scholars Day, any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Currently, the elderly population is receiving more attention due to the aging of the baby boomer population. Innovative ways of enhancing the elderly’s wellness have been introduced with research and services focusing on improving physical activity, nutrition, and increasing social interaction and involvement. A gap in service delivery for the elderly and thus absent from current research efforts is the impact of service learning and charitable work by elders. Data will be collected using survey methodology to determine the impact of this important and beneficial activity. The purpose is to determine the impact of these activities on the elderly’s wellness. By allowing them to be involved in their community, through this involvement it may lead them to have a more positive outlook on life, spark their interest in continuing to learn, and also reduce certain stressors that come with aging. 

The Impact of Service Learning on Older Adults

            My research topic once again has changed.  This time my focus is on the area of Gerontology and how to help older adults age well.  With this topic, I would like to explore what helps keep elders living a thriving life, and continue to have a positive outlook even at older age.  There is not much research in this area, so hopefully this will be something that sparks a greater interest and I will be able to use for my thesis.

Article 1:

            There have been multiple methods used to help older adults cope with the psychosocial dimensions of aging.  Some of these include physical activity, lessons on nutrition, arts and crafts, and social events.  However, one area has been overlooked, and that is the impact of elders’ involvement in service learning and charitable work.  Although the research is slim, there is still enough evidence out there to prove why this is a critical aspect to late adulthood.  From the article “Service Learning and Older Adults,” findings have shown service learning to increase productivity in later life, the desire to continue learning, and the joy of engaging in their community and continuing to be a part of things they once were in.

Overall, the data collected is unanimous across all studies related to the impact of service learning on elders.  Not only has service learning been proven beneficial for youth, but as well as elders.  By allowing them to be involved in their community, it leads them to having a more positive outlook on life, spark their interest in continuing to learn, and also reduce certain stressors that come with aging.

Article 2:

         The research article “Through Wise Eyes: Thriving Elder Women’s Perspectives on Thriving in Elder Adulthood” focuses on a group of thirteen women who have found ways to enjoy their later years in life.  Throughout this study a general theme was discovered that vital involvement in service learning led the women to have a more positive attitude and age well.  This article was a good example of how charity work can help engage elders and be a successful method to use in group-work.

         For this study a qualitative research approach was used.  It involved interviewing women who represented a mix of different religions, social economic statuses, and education levels.  The focus for this study was to answer the question, how do people thrive in elder adulthood.  At first, the research noticed how busy the participants were in their daily lives.  Once the data was collected, the theme of involvement and service contributed to being a key factor in the thriving lives of elder adults.  All of the women interviewed believe it is important to volunteer in various organizations and events in their community, as well as have a healthy mind and body.

         Overall, this study concludes the importance of elders continuing to live eventful, productive, and thriving lives.  As studied by Erickson, the outlook of old age needs to be viewed in a new way, because it will benefit all of us.  The power of giving back to others and feeling a sense of worth is an important aspect of late adulthood.

Both of these articles relate to my research topic and include information that will be helpful with my research.  There are many factors that can contribute to an elder adult living a thriving life, and service learning is one of those.  From these findings it will hopefully help guide me in the right direction and allow me to explore a new treatment and method for older adults.

Early Childhood Maltreatment could lead to Runaway Youths and Risk of Delinquency in Adolescents

References

Min Jung, K., Tajima, E. A., Herrenkohl, T. I., & Bu, H. (2009). Early Child Maltreatment, Runaway Youths, and Risk of Delinquency and Victimization in Adolescence: A Mediational Model. Social Work Research, 33(1), 19-28. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

My research topic continues to change, once again.  My focus keeps moving from teenage pregnancy, to drug abuse, and now to juvenile delinquents.  With my new topic, I would like to explore the reasons why youth runaway from their homes.  There are a lot of contributing factors and theories that could help explain their decision to runaway, and this article helps explain some of them.

Childhood is an important part of growing up, and it is crucial to treat every child with the proper care and respect they deserve.  In this study, the researchers wanted to know if physical and psychological abuse in childhood increases the outcome of a child running away.  Also, once this is decided, the researchers continue to investigate if a teen running away will contribute to more delinquent acts as an adolescent.  The method used to collect data for this study was a longitudinal design.  This means, data is collected from the same group of people for a long period of time.  The sample size was moderate, and a good representation of the actual population.  Overall, from this study it was found that teen’s possibly use running away as a mediator of physical/psychological/sexual abuse.  Also, this can be a prediction of any future delinquency acts occurring.

This article relates to my research topic and includes information that will be helpful with my research.  There are many factors that can contribute to a teenager running away, and this article focuses on one, which is abuse.  From these findings it will hopefully help guide me in the right direction and allow me to understand this social problem more clearly.

Teratogenic Effects from the Use of Abused Drugs

The use of certain drugs during a pregnancy has been linked to causing damage to the central nervous system in the developing fetus. Exposure to alcohol, cocaine, and methamphetamines not only leads to poor brain development, but also defects in physical features. These chemical substances that cause harm to the fetus are known as teratogens. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) has been “extensively documented since the 1970s” (Roussotte, Soderberg, & Sowell, 2010, p. 379). From these studies, “much has been learned about the significant and permanent changes caused by the teratogenic effects of alcohol on the developing fetus” (Roussotte, Soderberg, & Sowell, 2010, p. 387). This study examines those effects and which drugs are the ones to blame.
Multiple studies were conducted using different types of neuroimaging and three types of abused drugs. For example, a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine was used to grasp a “better understanding of the way in which prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse impact the structure, function, and metabolism of the developing human brain” (Roussotte, Soderberg, & Sowell, 2010, p. 376). This study incorporated a control and variable group. The control group involved those who were unexposed to any of the drugs. The variable group included those who had been exposed to the drug being tested. Although several studies were conducted, the data from each was unanimous. Each reported the presence of “metabolic abnormalities in brains of children with prenatal exposure” to these three types of abused drugs (Roussotte, Soderberg, & Sowell, 2010, p. 393). The conclusion from these studies suggested that there is a relationship between brain and behavior and commonly abused drugs during the time of a pregnancy.
From this article, I learned that the research process involves many different factors. A control and variable group are always necessary, but other aspects could also cause some outcomes. For example, when testing the effects of cocaine use during pregnancy the data is debatable. Other factors not related to the use of the drug are skewing the report. Although this is a weak part of the study, there were strong aspects. The data recorded from the FAS study is very accurate and proves that alcohol is to blame for any abnormalities that may occur in the fetus.
Overall, this research has important findings. Too many women continue to smoke or drink alcohol while they are pregnant believing their actions will cause no harm. However, according to this study, negative effects can occur from continuing use of certain drugs during a pregnancy.


Roussotte F, Soderberg L, Sowell E. Structural, Metabolic, and Functional Brain Abnormalities as a Result of Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse: Evidence from Neuroimaging. Neuropsychology Review [serial online]. December 2010;20(4):376-397. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed January 24, 2011.