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Biomedical subjects

M M Baltes

Publications and source records attributed to M M Baltes.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

Health care from a behavioral-ecological viewpoint.

While the intended thrust of this paper has been to elicidate the tremendous potential of the behavioral-ecological perspective for health care research and application, the intent has not been to underplay the important role of the biological sciences in the same venture. However, it is my contention that a behavioral-ecological approach to the study of health care has been widely neglected in health care functions and research. In terms of conventional research designs and terminology, the behavioral-ecological research implications can be summarized as follows: a behavioral-ecological perspective of health care research suggests research that is experimental rather than correlational-descriptive; that focuses, because of its naturalistic thrust, on external validity more than internal validity; that incorporates as independent design variables the environmental context in which health behaviors occur; and that allows single-subject as well as multiple-group designs as research strategy. Finally, in terms of dependent variables, the research design requires a clear identification of the observable characteristics of the target health behaviors under consideration. In summary, health research geared toward professional goals appears to profit significantly from an ecological-behavioral approach which provides a model of high explication, specificity, and objectivity for knowledge generation and immediate application.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Limitations in activities of daily living: towards a better understanding of subthreshold mental disorders in old age.

Based on a representative sample of elderly subjects, a description of the limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL) at subthreshold levels of dementia and depression is presented and compared against a sample of psychiatric non-cases and samples with specified levels of the respective illnesses. Additionally, it was analyzed whether these limitations are useful diagnostic markers with regard to subdiagnostic psychiatric disorders. Even at subthreshold levels of depression and dementia, elderly people suffer quite extensively from ADL and IADL limitations. However, multifactorial analyses indicate little evidence that these limitations are specific for psychiatric morbidity, be it at subdiagnostic or specified levels. By and large, ADL and IADL limitations in an elderly sample have to be considered instead as consequences of physical health-related comorbidity. Thus, issues regarding the treatment of ADL and IADL limitations at subdiagnostic as well as specified levels of psychiatric morbidity may not be solved from a psychiatric point of view alone, and a multifactorial, i.e., multiprofessional, perspective is strongly recommended.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Reestablishing self-feeding in a nursing home resident.

An attempt was made to teach an elderly person to reacquire and maintain self-feeding skills. A single-subject ABAB reversal strategy, including assessment for generalization, was planned as experimental design. The treatment procedure consisted of a continuous, immediate reinforcement program contingent on self-feeding responses. Fast and stable control of self-feeding was obtained. A drop in feeding behavior resulted when the patient returned to base-line procedures. The patient died before the second treatment procedure could be carried out. The study found, however, that nursing home staff could facilitate healthy behavior through better use of behavioral management skills.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Observation of dependent and independent behavior in a German old age home: the social environment as an influencing factor].

The present study was an attempt to replicate observational data on dependence vs. independence obtained from American nursing home populations. For a period of three weeks naturally occurring interactions between 39 residents of a nursing home and their social partners were observed daily. The results of the replication study support the findings concerning the interaction patterns demonstrated in the American studies. Dependent behavior of residents in the context of self-care is followed most frequently by dependence-supportive behavior of social partners; independent self-care behavior as well as passive and destructively engaged behavior of residents is followed by "no response" of social partners, while constructively engaged behavior sometimes entails engagement-supportive behavior by social partners. As for the frequency distribution of the observed behavior there is both consistency as well as divergence between the American and Berlin data. These differences are partly the result of culturally linked differences in customs and administrative habits developed in the daily routine of an institution.

Activities of Daily Living↗