Health Literacy, Social Support, and Health Status Among Older Adults

Lee, Shoou Yih D; Arozullah, Ahsan M.; Cho, Young I.; Crittenden, Kathleen S.; Vicencio, Daniel P.

doi:10.1080/03601270802466629

Cited by 56 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In other disease contexts, moderation findings related to positive support and HL have been unexpected (Johnson et al, 2010; Lee et al, 2009). These studies found social support to be more strongly associated with self-reported health status (Lee et al, 2009) and medication adherence (Johnson et al, 2010) among patients with adequate HL than among patients with limited HL.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Family Members' Obstructive Behaviors Appear to Be More Harmful Among Adults With Type 2 Diabetes and Limited Health Literacy

Mayberry

Rothman

Osborn

2014

Journal of Health Communication

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Family members’ obstructive diabetes-specific behaviors (e.g., nagging/arguing or getting in the way of patients’ self-care) are associated with adults having worse glycemic control (HbA1C), with supportive family behaviors protecting against this detrimental effect. Given the role of family members in helping patients with limited health literacy (HL), patients’ HL status may moderate these relationships. We tested this hypothesis with 192 adults with type 2 diabetes. Twenty-six percent had limited HL, and limited HL was associated with more supportive family behaviors (p < .05), but not with obstructive family behaviors or with patients’ HbA1C. Adjusted stratified analyses indicated obstructive family behaviors were more strongly associated with worse HbA1C among participants with limited HL and low supportive family behaviors than for participants with adequate HL and low supportive family behaviors (adjusted simple slopes β = 0.70, p = .05 versus β = 0.36, p = .009). However, there was no association between obstructive family behaviors and HbA1C in the context of high supportive family behaviors, regardless of HL status. Involving family members in adults’ self-care without teaching them to avoid obstructive behaviors may be particularly harmful for patients with limited HL. Future research should identify intervention content to reduce obstructive family behaviors and identify which supportive family behaviors may be protective.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Family Members' Obstructive Behaviors Appear to Be More Harmful Among Adults With Type 2 Diabetes and Limited Health Literacy

Mayberry

Rothman

Osborn

2014

Journal of Health Communication

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“…Often, when elderly individuals are diagnosed with illnesses, they do not know where to turn for services; a majority of the times, a family member or a health care provider is the one who researches and provides contact information for them (Gresset, Jalbert, & Gauthier, 2005). In a recent study, Lee et al (2009) found that social support appeared to have a stronger and positive association with physical health among older adults with high literacy. Also, depending on the elderly immigrants' culture or particular family circumstances, their relationship with their children, family members and other potential contributors to their social network may be constrained or lacking.…”

Section: Social Supportmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Previous research consistently indicates that the elderly have fewer years of education (Howard, Sentell, & Gazmararian, 2006;Lee, Arozullah, Cho, Crittenden, & Vicencio, 2009) in general. Cordasco and colleagues (2009) found that only 22% of elderly had 12 or more years of education, a significantly smaller proportion in comparison to the 46% of middle-age and 50% of younger people.…”

Section: Education and English Proficiencymentioning

confidence: 96%

“…An increase in elderly immigrants' health literacy has the potential to improve their ability to understand their illnesses, follow doctors' orders, and seek other resources to help improve their overall health and quality of life. For older adults whose high rates of illnesses require them to have regular contact with the health care system, to follow complicated medical regimen, and to make important medical decisions, the negative impact of low health literacy on their health may be particularly pronounced (Lee et al, 2009). Examples of effective communication that are used in health literacy service include the use of telephone calls for prescription refills, consultation by medical experts, and/or a pill card with pictures of the pill, a medication schedule, and its side effects (Blake, McMorris, Jacobson, Gazmararian, & Kripalani, 2010).…”

Section: Print and Online Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inadequate Health Literacy among Elderly Immigrants: Characteristics, Contributing, and Service Utilization Factors

Brownell

Moon

Basham

2012

Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment

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Inadequate health literacy among elderly immigrants in the UnitedStates is an important social issue that needs immediate attention to decrease health disparities. This study examines the causes and consequences of inadequate health literacy among the elderly immigrants. Characteristics of the elderly immigrants are presented including their diverse backgrounds, physical health, mental health, and substance use. Barriers and contributing factors such as elderly immigrants' education and English proficiency, income and poverty levels, Medicare or insurance, immigration issues, and social support are also examined. The literature regarding heath literacy service options (print and online sources, health literacy training for caregivers, and church health literacy training) are reviewed. Findings from the reviewed literature indicate that immigrants' social network, particularly family members, play significant roles in their health care decision making and, thus, health literacy intervention and services should include elderly immigrants' social network.

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“…Lee et al (2009) showed that social support has a more positive impact on physical health in older adults with high health literacy. Other studies have shown that besides improvement in emotion, social support was also associated with reduction of stress, lowering of blood pressure and improved immune system which indirectly improve physical health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between social support and depression, and quality of life of the elderly in a rural community in Malaysia

Ibrahim

Din

Ahmad

et al. 2013

Asia-Pacific Psychiatry

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Introduction: This study aimed to examine the role of social support and depression in predicting the quality of life among the elderly living in a rural Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) community in Malaysia. Methods: A total of 162 elderly settlers of FELDA Sungai Tengi, aged 60 years and above, were selected by universal sampling method in this cross-sectional study. Three standardized instruments -the 12-item Short Form (SF-12), 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) and Medical Outcome Study Social Support (MOS-Social Support) -were used to assess for quality of life, depression and social support. Results: Quality of life of the elderly people in this community was high, especially in terms of physical components as compared to mental components. The mean scores for emotional role in the SF-12 was relatively the highest (90.74 Ϯ 21.59) with social functioning being the lowest (30.35 Ϯ 22.29). The results also showed that the mean value was higher for physical component summary (74.40) as compared to mental component summary (51.51). Approximately 23.5% suffered mild depression and only 2.5% had severe depression. Discussion: This study showed that the elderly FELDA settlers have a high quality of life, mainly on the physical components of life and low rate of severe depression, a positive indicator of their psychological well-being. Social support in the form of emotional/informational support, and depression were significant factors related to their good quality of life.

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Health Literacy, Social Support, and Health Status Among Older Adults

Cited by 56 publications

References 15 publications

Family Members' Obstructive Behaviors Appear to Be More Harmful Among Adults With Type 2 Diabetes and Limited Health Literacy

Family Members' Obstructive Behaviors Appear to Be More Harmful Among Adults With Type 2 Diabetes and Limited Health Literacy

Inadequate Health Literacy among Elderly Immigrants: Characteristics, Contributing, and Service Utilization Factors

Relationships between social support and depression, and quality of life of the elderly in a rural community in Malaysia

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