A relaxation technique enhances psychological well-being and immune parameters in elderly people from a nursing home: A randomized controlled study

Background: The aging process involves a decline in immune functioning that renders elderly people more vulnerable to disease. In residential programs for the aged, it is vital to diminish their risk of disease, promote their independence, and augment their psychological well-being and quality of life. Methods: We performed a randomized controlled study, evaluating the ability of a relaxation technique based on Benson’s relaxation response to enhance psychological well-being and modulate the immune parameters of elderly people living in a geriatric residence when compared to a waitlist control group. The study included a 2-week intervention period and a 3-month follow-up period. The main outcome variables were psychological well-being and quality of life, biomedical variables, immune changes from the pre-treatment to post-treatment and follow-up periods. Results: Our findings reveal significant differences between the experimental and control groups in CD19, CD71, CD97, CD134, and CD137 lymphocyte subpopulations at the end of treatment. Furthermore, there was a decrease in negative affect, psychological discomfort, and symptom perception in the treatment group, which increased participants’ quality of life scores at the three-month follow-up. Conclusions: This study represents a first approach to the application of a passive relaxation technique in residential programs for the elderly. The method appears to be effective in enhancing psychological well-being and modulating immune activity in a group of elderly people. This relaxation technique could be considered an option for achieving health benefits with a low cost for residential programs, but further studies using this technique in larger samples of older people are needed to confirm the trends observed in the present study. Trial registration: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number Register ISRCTN85410212.

Transnational parenting and the well-being of Angolan migrant parents in Europe

Studies on the transnational family highlight the emotional difficulties of migrant parents separated from their children through international migration. This article consists of a large-scale quantitative investigation into the insights of transnational family literature by examining the well-being of transnational parents compared with that of parents who live with their children in the destination country. Furthermore, through a survey of Angolan migrant parents in both the Netherlands and Portugal, we compare the contexts of two receiving country. Our study shows transnational parents are worse off than their non-transnational counterparts in terms of four measures of well-being – health, life satisfaction, happiness, and emotional well-being. Although studies on migrant well-being tend to focus exclusively on the characteristics of the receiving countries, our findings suggest that, to understand migrant parents' well-being, a transnational perspective should also consider the existence of children in the migrant sending country. Finally, comparing the same population in two countries revealed that the receiving country effects the way in which transnational parenting is associated with migrant well-being.

Dynamics of economic well-being : labor force and income, 1990 to 1992 /

Mode of access: Internet.

Toward equality of well-being : strategies for improving minority health : strategic planning and coordination process.

S/N 037017-024-01504-1 (GPO).

Crime, suicide and social well-being in your state and city

"Texas Christian University diamond jubilee edition."

Dynamics of economic well-being : health insurance, 1992 to 1993 : who loses coverage and for how long? /

Mode of access: Internet.

An essay on the history and management of literary, scientific, and mechanics' institutions and especially how far they may be developed and combined, so as to promote the moral well-being and industry of the country /

Half-title (p. [i-ii]) : Society of Arts. Prize essay on literary, scientific, and mechanics' institutions.

Land nationalisation, its necessity and its aims : being a comparison of the system of landlord and tenant with that of occupying ownership in their influence on the well-being of the people /

"First ed. ... 1892; second ed. ... 1896; third ed. ... 1902; fourth ed. ... 1906."

Dynamics of economic well-being : income, 1992 to 1993 : moving up and down the income ladder /

Mode of access: Internet.

Recent economic changes and their effect on the production and distribution of wealth and the well-being of society,

Mode of access: Internet.

A treatise on the passions and affections of the mind, philosophical, ethical, and theological. In a series of disquisitions, in which are traced, the moral history of man, in his pursuits, powers, and motives of action, and the means of obtaining permanent well-being and happiness.

Half-titles, also special title-pages; v. 1: An ethical treatise on the passions ... Bath, 1810. v. 2: Ethical questions; or, Speculations on the principal subjects of controversy in moral philosophy ... London, 1817. v. 3: An ethical treatise on the passions ... Bath, 1807. v. 4: Theological disquisitions ... London, 1812. v. 5: A theological disquisition, on the characteristic excellencies of Christianity ... London, 1813.

The economic well-being of the old old : family unit income and household wealth /

"February 1993."

Noncash income, equivalence scales, and the measurement of economic well-being /

"October 1994."