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People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) experience a gradual loss of functional abilities that affects all facets of their daily life. There is a lack of longitudinal studies on coping styles in relation to the disease progression among people with PD. The aim of this study was to explore how coping styles in PD evolve over a 3-year period. Data from the longitudinal project “Home and Health in People Ageing with PD” was utilized (N = 158), including baseline and 3-year follow-up assessments. Coping was captured by ratings of 13 different coping styles. A factor analysis was conducted to analyse patterns of coping styles. Stability and change were analysed for each of the 13 styles with respect to the course of the disease. The factor analysis revealed four coping patterns: pessimistic, optimistic, persistent and support-seeking. The stability of each coping style over time ranged from 75.3% to 90.5%. Those who experienced a worsening of the disease were most inclined to change their coping style (p = 0.006). The results suggest that even when facing severe challenges due to PD in daily life, coping styles remain relatively stable over time. However, a worsening in PD severity appeared to trigger a certain re-evaluation of coping styles.
The present study concerns the development of a computerized tool targeting housing accessibility issues. A user-centered approach involving professionals from the housing sector and senior citizens from four European countries resulted in a fully functional prototype of a mobile application (app) including an apartment database. The app raises awareness on housing accessibility and has the potential to support decision making and strengthen all citizens regardless of functional capacity to be more active in their endeavors for a satisfying housing solution. Further refinements and additional features are needed to enhance the potential benefits; they include addressing potential challenges facing senior citizens, developing interactive features that allow users to provide input and adapting to different national contexts to make the app applicable for the European market.
The physical housing environment is important to facilitate activities of daily living (ADL) for older people. A hindering environment may lead to ADL dependence and thus increase the need for home services, which is individually restricting and a growing societal burden. This study presents simulations of policy changes with regard to housing accessibility that estimates the potential impact specifically on instrumental activities of daily living (I-ADL), usage of home services, and related costs. The models integrate empirical data to test the hypothesis that a policy providing funding to remove the five most severe environmental barriers in the homes of older people who are at risk of developing dependence in I-ADL, can maintain independence and reduce the need for home services. In addition to official statistics from state agencies in Sweden and Germany, we utilized published results from the ENABLE-AGE and other scientific studies to generate the simulations. The simulations predicted that new policies that remove potentially hindering housing features would improve I-ADL performance among older people and reduce the need for home services. Our findings suggest that a policy change can contribute to positive effects with regard to I-ADL independence among older people and to a reduction of societal burden.