Exploring Chinese-Canadians' perspectives on health : a quantitative study

Chinese have unique perspectives on health and illness, which is mostly umecognized by western medicine. Immigration may contribute to problems with health consultations, inconvenience, and dissatisfaction. As the largest visible minority in Canada, Chinese- Canadians' perspectives on health should be studied in order to help Chinese immigrants adapt to a new health-care and health-promotion system, and keep them healthy. A quantitative questionnaire was designed based on the findings from a pilot study and previous literature. A hundred participants were recruited from Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, and St. Catharines. Descriptive analysis and correlation analysis were used to investigate the structure of the variables. Findings indicated that most oftheir attitudes and corresponding practices to the different health aspects were positive. The relation between dietary practices and attitude was only found in small cities. Their attitudes were impacted by their length of stay in Canada. Their attitudes to regularly timed meals and psychological consultation were related to their acculturation level, as was the regularity of their practice of dental flossing. Their self-evaluated general health levels were also found to be affected by their medical history, education level, feeling to talk about • sexual health, and smoking, particularly in the male subjects of the study. In conclusion, they realized that each health aspect w~s important to their health. However, their practices did not bear a strong relation to their beliefs. Traditional thoughts about health reseeded with time. Acculturation level did not affect most of their attitudes or practices. Under pressure, the priority of the daily health practices decreased. Older persons, those with low incomes, lower education levels or families under stress need to pay more attention to their health level. In-depth future research was recommended.

The effect of a weighted-vest strength and balance training program on obstructed walking in postmenopausal women

SUMMARY Background: Age related declines in lower extremity strength have been associated with impaired mobility and changes in gait patterns, which increase the likelihood of falls. Since community dwelling adults encounter a wide range of locomotor challenges including uneven and obstmcted walking surfaces, we examined the effect of a strength 11 and balance exercise program on obstructed walking in postmenopausal women. Objectives: This study examined the effect of a weighted-vest strength and balance exercise program on adaptations of the stance leg during obstacle walking in postmenopausal women. Methods: Eighteen women aged 44-62 years who had not engaged in regular resistance training for the past year were recruited from the St. Catharines community to participate in this study. Eleven women volunteered for an aerobic (walking), strength, and balance training program 3 times per week for 12 weeks while 7 women volunteered as controls. Measurements included: force platform dynamic balance measure of the center of pressure (COP) and ground reaction forces (GRFs) in the stance leg while going over obstacles of different heights (0,5, 10,25 and 30 cm); and isokinetic strength measures of knee and ankle extension and flexion. Results: Of the 18 women, who began the trial, 16 completed it. The EX group showed a significant increase of 40% in ankle plantar flexion strength (P < 0.05). However, no improvements in measures of COP or GRFs were observed for either group. Failure to detect any changes in measures of dynamic balance may be due to small sample size. Conclusions: Postmenopausal women experience significant improvements in ankle strength with 12 weeks of a weighted-vest balance and strength training program, however, these changes do not seem to be associated with any improvement in measures of dynamic balance.

Diversity in the fitness industry : a cross-case comparison /

This cross-case study explored the extent to which two fitness facilities were accommodating diversity with respect to age, ethnicity, gender, social class, sex-role socialization, and persons with a disability among both members and staflf. The sites were purposely chosen in a large city and a smaller city in order to provide as representative an example as possible of health clubs within a small sample population. The interview participants were selected by a combination of stratified, typical case, and snowball sampling strategies. . , .. , The intent of the exploration was a two-fold examination of diversity issues within both the membership and the staff of the organization. Data were collected and analysis was done using a triangulation method involving personal interviews, observations, and facility documentation. The results ofthe study showed that the members and staff at each facility were rather homogeneous in ethnicity, age, social class, physical ability, and physical appearance. From a membership standpoint, the environment of the sites presented the impression of being affordable only to the middle- and upper-middle classes, unwelcoming to the older, less fit, or overweight participant, economically exclusive for youth, and nonaccommodating for people with a disability. With respect to staff, the findings indicated that the fitness facilities purported to be team-oriented in theory, but were hierarchical in practice, with the major decision making being made by the male executives. The paper concludes with the recommendation that students must be given a practical toolkit for dealing with these issues in their postsecondary courses.

ERP and cardiovascular correlates of source memory discrimination in older and younger adults /

There is much evidence to support an age-related decline in source memory ability. However, the underlying mechanisms responsible for this decline are not well understood. The current study was carried out to determine the electrophysiological correlates of source memory discrimination in younger and older adults. Event-related potentials (ERPs) and continuous electrocardiographic (ECG) data were collected from younger (M= 21 years) and older (M= 71 years) adults during a source memory task. Older adults were more likely to make source memory errors for recently repeated, non-target words than were younger adults. Moreover, their ERP records for correct trials showed an increased amplitude in the late positive (LP) component (400-800 msec) for the most recently presented, non-target stimuli relative to the LP noted for target items. Younger adults showed an opposite pattern, with a large LP component for target items, and a much smaller LP component for the recently repeated non-target items. Computation of parasympathetic activity in the vagus nerve was performed on the ECG data (Porges, 1985). The resulting measure, vagal tone, was used as an index of physiological responsivity. The vagal tone index of physiological responsivity was negatively related to the LP amplitude for the most recently repeated, non-target words in both groups, after accounting for age effects. The ERP data support the hypothesis that the tendency to make source memory errors on the part of older adults is related to the ability to selectively control attentional processes during task performance. Furthermore, the relationship between vagal tone and ERP reactivity suggests that there is a physiological basis to the heightened reactivity measured in the LP response to recently repeated non-target items such that, under decreased physiological resources, there is an impairment in the ability to selectively inhibit bottom-up, stimulus based properties in favour of task-related goals in older adults. The inconsistency of these results with other explanatory models of source memory deficits is discussed. It is concluded that the data are consistent with a physiological reactivity model requiring inhibition of reactivity to irrelevant, but perceptually-fluent, stimuli.

Autonomic and electrocortical indices of performance monitoring and source memory discrimination in older and younger adults

Reduced capacity for executive cognitive function and for the autonomic control of cardiac responsivity are both concomitants of the aging process. These may be linked through their mutual dependence on medial prefrontal function, but the specifics ofthat linkage have not been well explored. Executive functions associated with medial prefrontal cortex involve various aspects ofperformance monitoring, whereas centrally mediated autonomic functions can be observed as heart rate variability (HRV), i.e., variability in the length of intervals between heart beats. The focus for this thesis was to examine the degree to which the capacity for phasic autonomic adjustments to heart rate relates to performance monitoring in younger and older adults, using measures of electrocortical and autonomic activity. Behavioural performance and attention allocation during two age-sensitive tasks could be predicted by various aspects of autonomic control. For young adults, greater influence of the parasympathetic system on HRV was beneficial for learning unfamiliar maze paths; for older adults, greater sympathetic influence was detrimental to these functions. Further, these relationships were primarily evoked when the task required the construction and use of internalized representations of mazes rather than passive responses to feedback. When memory for source was required, older adults made three times as many source errors as young adults. However, greater parasympathetic influence on HRV in the older group was conducive to avoiding source errors and to reduced electrocortical responses to irrelevant information. Higher sympathetic predominance, in contrast, was associated with higher rates of source error and greater electrocortical responses tq non-target information in both groups. These relations were not seen for 11 errors associated with a speeded perceptual task, irrespective of its difficulty level. Overall, autonomic modulation of cardiac activity was associated with higher levels of performance monitoring, but differentially across tasks and age groups. With respect to age, those older adults who had maintained higher levels of autonomic cardiac regulation appeared to have also maintained higher levels of executive control over task performance.