Health locus of control has been shown to influence how individuals approach their health and health-related decisions. The present study examined the variables predictive of older adults' health locus of control. A total of 261 adults aged 54-84 years completed a questionnaire about their health, approach to health, and background information about themselves. The results revealed that demographic indicators, health-related variables, and psychological variables-particularly health risk tolerance, future time perspective, health self-efficacy, and emotional instability-were related to older adults' health locus of control. Findings have implications for programs aimed at modifying older adults' health locus of control.Keywords Health locus of control . Older adults . PersonalityLocus of control has been used to understand how health-related beliefs are related to health status, behaviors, and recovery time (Boyle and Sielski 1981;Johansson et al. 2001;Luszczynska and Schwarzer 2005). Wallston et al. (1978) multidimensional health locus of control measure assesses three different aspects of health locus of control: internal (i.e.; belief that there is a relationship between behaviors and health state), powerful others (i.e.; belief that the actions of other individuals such as medical professionals largely determine health outcomes), and chance (i.e.; belief that there is a relationship between luck or fate and health status). With respect to older adults, health locus of control has been shown to impact health status and health behaviors (Boyle and Sielski 1981) including participation in preventive health programs that delay or reduce complications due to common chronic diseases associated with aging (Bell et al. 2002;McDonald-Miszczak et al. 2000).
For many older adults having access to affordable health care is a major concern. The present study's goal was to examine what factors were related to individuals' knowledge of late-life health insurance. A total of 131 women and 116 men (all aged 55-71) answered questions about private, Medicare, Medigap, and long-term care insurances. In addition, they answered demographic, personality, and health status questions. Results revealed that different factors are related to men's and women's knowledge of late-life health insurance options implying genderspecific educational interventions would be more effective than current educational interventions.
This study examined elder mentors' and students' roles, functions, and satisfaction with the Elder Mentorship program at the Graduate Center for Gerontology, University of Kentucky. The Elder Mentorship program matches gerontology doctoral students with older adults in the community. Parallel surveys were constructed to evaluate the program from the perspectives of elder mentors and student mentees. Data were analyzed using descriptive frequency analyses, with open-ended questions analyzed thematically. Results show that students and elder mentors were mostly satisfied with their experiences. Elder mentors perceived their participation more positively than did student mentees. Future programs utilizing the elder mentorship model may benefit from matching students and elder mentors in terms of shared interests.
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