“Aging is beautiful and graceful:” exploring college students’ perceptions of aging, older adults, and future older selves

Ekwonye, Angela U.; Malek, Abigail; Farah, Iqra; Nguyen, Stephanie; Chonyi, Tenzin; Ponce-Diaz, Valerie; Hearst, Mary O.

doi:10.1080/03601277.2022.2164642

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 40 publications

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“…Governments around the world have proposed active aging policies, hoping to enable older adults to spend their later years in a positive, successful, and health-optimizing way (Antunes, & Maia, 2023;Walker, 2009; World Health Organization [WHO], 2002). The aging process is a natural phenomenon of living things, just like the blooming and withering of owers, it is a natural cycle (Ekwonye et al, 2023;Verdoodt et al, 2023). However, after aging, cells have poorer recovery capabilities and weakened immunity, thus increasing the chance of contracting diseases (Kim et al, 2014;Zadworna, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development of Indoor Natural Elements Had Relaxing Psychophysiological Effects on Older Adults in Taiwan During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Chung,

Chen,

Lee

et al. 2024

Preprint

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While the COVID-19 pandemic has affected all types of people, older adults have been disproportionately affected. Therefore, during this period we developed an indoor program inspired by art and natural elements (plant essential oils [EOs]) intended to create a relaxing effect akin to a forest atmosphere to enhance their psychophysiological health. There are for 30 Taiwanese older adults (range, 59-79 years) participated in the study. We combined art activity (still-life painting of vegetables) with breathing Pseudotsuga menziesii and Lavandula angustifolia EOs during a 100-minute experiment involving still-life painting and the inhalation of 2.5% diffused EOs. The research shows physiological measures (heart rate, normalized low-frequency heart oscillations, ratio of low- to high-frequency heart oscillations, high-beta waves, and gamma waves) decreased;correspondingly, an increased standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals, normalized high-frequency heart oscillations, and high-alpha waves were observed, indicating relaxation physiological state. Subjective psychological assessments using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory–Stateyielded lower post-test scores, further supporting relaxation effects. The psychophysiological data from this study provide important scientific evidence for the physical and mental health benefits of indoor nature-based activity programs for older adults, thereby improving their quality of life.

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