The environments we grow old in present a challenge to be adaptive to our changing needs and limitations. Environments, in the context of this paper, are the spaces, products and product service systems that we engage with, alone or with others, within and outside the home. A design coalition (Manzini, 2015) was generated between a number of…

Introduction: This study was conducted to analyze the effect of the smoking habit on the physical fitness of elderly male subjects. Material and Method: The study was conducted on 849 (age 68.7 ± 6.1 years, height 169.4 ± 6.4 cm, 76.4 ± 11.00 kg) elderly male volunteers who could independently perform their daily activities and did not suffer from…

In Poland, as well as in many other European countries, the proportion of older people is steadily growing. This phenomenon is related to numerous challenges faced by the countries. It is also worth pointing out that there is an increasing interest in ageing subjects, especially education in late adulthood. The issues related to education of older…

Background: Conversational breakdowns are a persistent concern for older adults with hearing impairment (HI). Previous studies in experimental settings have investigated potential causes of breakdowns in conversations with a person with HI, and effective strategies for repairing these breakdowns. However, little research has explored the causes of…

Purpose: In this study, we investigated the emotion perceived by young listeners with normal hearing (YNH listeners) and older adults with hearing impairment (OHI listeners) when listening to speech produced conversationally or in a clear speaking style. Method: The first experiment included 18 YNH listeners, and the second included 10 additional…

Purpose: Even older adults with relatively mild hearing loss report hearing handicap, suggesting that hearing handicap is not completely explained by reduced speech audibility. Method: We examined the extent to which self-assessed ratings of hearing handicap using the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE; Ventry & Weinstein, 1982)…

Purpose: The objective of the current study was to investigate the effects of age and vocal loading on the respiratory and laryngeal systems. Method: Fourteen younger (M = 20 years) and 13 older (M = 75 years) healthy individuals participated in a 40-min vocal loading challenge in the presence of 70-dB background noise. Respiratory kinematic and…

Purpose: Behavioral speech modifications have variable effects on the intelligibility of speakers with dysarthria. In the companion article, a significant relationship was found between measures of speakers' baseline speech and their intelligibility gains following cues to speak louder and reduce rate (Fletcher, McAuliffe, Lansford, Sinex, &…

This article discusses findings from a qualitative longitudinal study of dignity in later life, which focused on the perspectives of older people at a time when their need for help and support was increasing as a result of long-term illness. It reflects critically on the methodology for its ability to generate knowledge about this eventful and…

The purpose of the article is to substantiate educational strategies of collaboration, research and mentoring skills development in preservice teachers facilitating older adults' learning of ICT with the use of problem-based practice-oriented adult learning activities. The study involved students of Ukrainian and Polish universities who were in…

The present study aimed at contributing to the science-practice gap regarding the application of evidence-based actions for maximising training effectiveness in corporate practice. Training and development professionals employed at companies from diverse branches of industry and among the best employers in Germany were assessed cross-sectionally…

Background: Little is known about how older parent caregivers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds experience caring for their family member with intellectual disability into late life. Method: In-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with N = 19 family caregivers aged 50-91 from ten Italian and four Greek…

This exploratory research documents the use of the web conference technology WebEx™ to expand the variety of focus group data collection methods. Drawn from four synchronous online focus groups with older adults from across Canada, who create and use online personal learning networks to enhance and support their informal self-directed learning…

Objectives: From a longitudinal perspective, the direction of the relationship between cognitive functioning and well-being in old age, both conceptually and empirically, is still under debate. Therefore, we aimed to disentangle the different longitudinal relationship patterns proposed and whether those differed between young-old and old-old…

The early twentieth century was a unique period of time in China's contemporary history. It has been marked as the beginning of China's modernization and liberalization. The circumstances and the long-term impacts of this political reform were certainly disputed. China's schooling materials mostly only indicate the bright side of the social…