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Item Factors Influencing the Quality of Life of Empty Nesters: Empirical Evidence from Southwest China(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2021-03-02) Wang C; Zhang B; Oláh J; Hasan M; Appolloni AQuality of life is a widely accepted concept based on the notion that people’s lives have been subject to rapid development and industrialization. This study aims to explore the impact of different factors on the quality of life of empty nesters in Southwest China. The main factors explored are resilience and social supports (SS), highlighted here from different perspectives. Moreover, the correlations between other variables and quality of life are shown here. This study experimented with a hierarchical multiple regression model from survey data with 3583 valid responses. It argued that both resilience and social supports, including family members and friends, are significantly correlated with the Chinese empty nesters’ quality of life. Family support and friend support play a significant mediating role in the association between resilience and quality of life. However, neither government nor nongovernmental support significantly influences the quality of life. Therefore, the hypothetical recommendations of this study have been partially confirmed. The findings of this study provide a more comprehensive understanding of the overall mental and physical health of Chinese empty nesters.Item Impact of Mānuka Honey on Symptoms and Quality of Life in Individuals With Functional Dyspepsia: Protocol for a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial(JMIR Publications, 2025-05-21) Ombasa L; Miller J; Ware L; Abbotts-Holmes H; Tang J; Gasser O; Fraser K; Bayer S; Kemp R; Costello R; Highton A; Evans J; Merry T; Schultz M; Frampton C; Gearry R; McNabb W; Roy N; Sarvestan JBackground: Functional dyspepsia is a common gastrointestinal condition that reduces the quality of life and increases health care costs. The lack of well-defined causes limits effective treatments. Consumers report using mānuka honey to treat gastrointestinal symptoms, although clinical evidence supporting such use is limited. Preclinical studies suggest its unique bioactive compounds may reduce gastrointestinal inflammation. Recently, 3,6,7-trimethyllumazine (Lepteridine), a natural pteridine in mānuka honey, was shown to inhibit enzymes involved in gastrointestinal inflammation in in vitro studies. Therefore, Lepteridine-standardized mānuka honey may deliver digestive health benefits. Objective: The aim of this feasibility study is to gather the data required to estimate sample size and support study logistics to design future trials. The primary objective will be preliminary assessments of the impact of Lepteridine-standardized mānuka honey on symptom severity and the quality of life in participants with mild-to-moderate functional dyspepsia. Other feasibility objectives include assessing the biological responses to mānuka honey standardized to medium and high levels of Lepteridine and measuring mānuka honey–derived metabolites in blood and urine. Methods: This is a 3-arm, parallel, controlled, double-blind, randomized feasibility study. A total of 75 healthy adults with symptoms of functional dyspepsia (Rome IV criteria) and mild-to-moderate dyspepsia severity (Short Form Leeds Dyspepsia Questionnaire) were recruited between October 2022 and September 2023. Participants were randomized into one of three groups: (1) mānuka honey standardized to contain 10 mg/kg Lepteridine, (2) mānuka honey standardized to contain 40 mg/kg Lepteridine, or (3) honey maple flavored syrup control. After a 2-week lead-in period, participants consumed 10 g of allocated intervention twice daily for 6 weeks. Throughout the study, participants completed daily bowel movement diaries and validated weekly questionnaires about their gastrointestinal symptoms and quality of life. Stool samples and 3-day diet records were collected at baseline and the end of the intervention. Blood samples were collected at baseline, weeks 2 and 4, and at the end of the intervention. In addition, 6 healthy participants without symptoms of functional dyspepsia were recruited to undergo an acute 5-hour assessment for the appearance of Lepteridine and related metabolites in plasma and urine following consumption of Lepteridine-standardized mānuka honey. The study was approved by the Northern B Health and Disability Ethics Committee. Results: Initial analysis includes 68 participants, with laboratory and data analyses being undertaken as of March 2024. The results of the primary and secondary outcomes will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Conclusions: This study will provide essential information on the potential efficacy and suitability of Lepteridine-standardized mānuka honey for designing future clinical trials investigating its effect in treating symptoms of functional dyspepsia. Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN12622001140741p; https://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=384094 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/66417Item The End of the Partnership With a Guide Dog: Emotional Responses, Effects on Quality of Life and Relationships With Subsequent Dogs.(Frontiers Media S.A., 2021-04-22) Lloyd J; Budge C; La Grow S; Stafford K; Hart LAGuide dogs are mobility aids that facilitate independent travel of people who are blind or visually impaired. Additional benefits imparted to the guide dog handler include companionship, and increased: social-function, self-esteem and confidence. Some evidence shows that the end of the guide dog partnership can result in reduced mobility, and may have profound psychosocial effects on the handler due to feelings of bereavement and loss of self-esteem. However, this evidence is limited. This study examined the experiences and feelings of 36 people across New Zealand, who experienced the ending of at least one partnership with a guide dog (77 pairings), to explore issues arising at the end of the partnership and how this may impact on relationships with subsequent dogs. Results indicate that the majority of handlers experienced a reduction in their quality of life due to a decrease in independent mobility followed by the loss of a friend and companion, curtailment of social interactions, and loss of self-esteem/confidence. The end of the partnership affected people in different ways. Most handlers "accepted" the partnership had ended, but some felt guilty or angry with the guide dog school. Most applied for another dog immediately, as the need for mobility was high, while others preferred to wait and a smaller number did not reapply. Feelings at this time also affected the handlers' relationships with subsequent guide dogs, with over a quarter expressing a negative effect. Retiring a guide dog (for whatever reason) is not only difficult for the handler, but also for the handler's family, friends, co-workers, and doubtlessly, the dog. The majority of handlers expressed feelings of extreme grief when the partnership ended, whether it was successful or not. Feelings of extreme grief were more common for first than subsequent dogs. The depth of emotion was compared to losing a family member or other loved one, which has been reported in some person and pet relationships. A better understanding of issues surrounding the end of the partnership, including the human-animal bond, will help inform the guide dog industry of how best to support their clients during this time and when transitioning to another dog. Findings may be applied to other service/assistance dog users and the pet owning community.Item The Psychosocial Impacts of Co-Designed Healing Gardens Among Aged Care Residents With and Without Dementia in Nigeria(Taylor and Francis Group, LLC., 2024-10-13) Akindejoye F; Ezedinma U; Röhr SHealing gardens are green spaces that support the interaction of humans and elements of nature to improve well-being and quality of life. However, little is known about healing garden use and outcomes in African countries. This study aimed to design a healing garden intervention and measure its impact on psychosocial factors and quality of life of residents and care staff within two residential aged care facilities in Lagos, Nigeria. Each facility's staff completed the psychosocial measurement tools by proxy for participants between ages 60 and 99, with or without dementia, at baseline and three months following interaction with the garden and completed the garden use observational survey to determine the effect on and use of the garden by care staff and residents. Results revealed an improvement in the quality of life and experiences of agitation but no beneficial change in depression among residents with and without dementia. Further, care staff reported a positive benefit of the garden on their work-life experience and the residents' well-being. This study provides the base for future research on assessing the impact of healing gardens on persons living with dementia in Africa.Item The agency domain and behavioral interactions: assessing positive animal welfare using the Five Domains Model.(Frontiers Media S.A., 2023-11-02) Littlewood KE; Heslop MV; Cobb ML; Padalino BAnimal welfare denotes how an animal experiences their life. It represents the overall mental experiences of an animal and is a subjective concept that cannot be directly measured. Instead, welfare indicators are used to cautiously infer mental experiences from resource provisions, management factors, and animal-based measures. The Five Domains Model is a holistic and structured framework for collating these indicators and assessing animal welfare. Contemporary approaches to animal welfare management consider how animals can be given opportunities to have positive experiences. However, the uncertainty surrounding positive mental experiences that can be inferred has resulted in risk-averse animal welfare scientists returning to the relative safety of positivism. This has meant that aspects of positive welfare are often referred to as animal 'wants'. Agency is a concept that straddles the positivist-affective divide and represents a way forward for discussions about positive welfare. Agency is the capacity of individual animals to engage in voluntary, self-generated, and goal-directed behavior that they are motivated to perform. Discrete positive emotions are cautiously inferred from these agentic experiences based on available knowledge about the animal's motivation for engaging in the behavior. Competence-building agency can be used to evaluate the potential for positive welfare and is represented by the Behavioral Interactions domain of the Five Domains Model. In 2020, The Model was updated to, amongst other things, include consideration of human-animal interactions. The most important aspect of this update was the renaming of Domain 4 from "Behavior" to "Behavioral Interactions" and the additional detail added to allow this domain's purpose to be clearly understood to represent an animal's opportunities to exercise agency. We illustrate how the Behavioral Interactions domain of The Model can be used to assess animals' competence-building agency and positive welfare. In this article, we use the examples of sugar gliders housed in captivity and greyhounds that race to illustrate how the agentic qualities of choice, control, and challenge can be used to assess opportunities for animals to exercise agency and experience positive affective engagement.Item Longitudinal study : the impact of COVID-19 on older New Zealander’s psychological wellbeing : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Health Science (by thesis) in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Rahman, JodieBackground: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was identified in December 2019 and rapidly spread across the globe. Lockdowns, social isolation and distancing, and mask mandates were among the responses introduced to prevent the spread of the virus. Extensive global research has demonstrated that the implementation of protective measures had a significant adverse psychological effect on older adults, who are widely seen as a particularly vulnerable demographic group susceptible to the disease. Consequently, this population was subjected to more stringent and lengthier restrictions. The short and medium psychological impact of COVID-19 and its response have been well documented in academic literature. However, little is known about the enduring effects over an extended period of time. Aim: To explore the long-term psychological impact of COVID-19 on older New Zealander. In addition, explore changes in psychological wellbeing indicators across the three years and the variations linked to socio-demographic characteristics. Method: Participants (M= 69 years) were drawn from the longitudinal study of older adults (N=6,454 [n = 1,963 Māori]). Data from three waves (2020, 2021 and 2022) were used. Psychological wellbeing was assessed with measures of Loneliness (using the de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale), Depression (using the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), Anxiety (using the General Anxiety Inventory), Mental Health (using the Short Form Health Survey), and Quality of Life (using the World Health Organisation Quality of Life measure and the Control, Autonomy, Self-realisation, Pleasure scale). Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted, followed by a Spearman's rho correlation, direct regression analyses and a series of repeated measures Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were conducted to address the research questions. Results: In 2021, a comparative decline was observed in all measures, followed by an improvement in 2022, with the exception of Anxiety which was similar across all three years. Bivariate correlations demonstrated significant associations between psychological wellbeing indicators and socio-demographic variables. Logistic Regression revealed Age, Employment, and SES as key predictors of psychological wellbeing among older New Zealanders. However, when considering the subsequent ANCOVA results across Time, Age, and Socioeconomic status emerged as the most salient predictors. The interaction effects between Time and Age, as well as Time and Socioeconomic status , indicated that the relationship between psychological wellbeing outcomes and Time varied with different Ages and based on their level of Socioeconomic status. These interactions showed that those with lower Socioeconomic status in 2022, and who were younger consistently experienced the highest levels of Loneliness, Depression and Anxiety and lowest levels of Mental Health and Quality of Life across Time. Furthermore, those aged 75 and above, and those with low Socioeconomic status, did not recovery as quickly as the other groups in 2022. Conclusion: This study offers insights into the psychological wellbeing of older adults in New Zealand. Collectively, it highlights their resilience, with Age being recognised as a protective factor; though, those 75+ did not recover as quickly as the other groups in 2022. However, as this demographic is not a single homogenous group, other socio-demographic factors greatly influenced their outcomes. The study illustrated that being employed can function as a safeguard during disruptive events such as a worldwide pandemic, highlighting the need for policy measures focused on enhancing job prospects for older adults. Furthermore, the study revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the existing disparity across socioeconomic categories. It is important that policymakers and healthcare organisations prioritise support and resources for those in disadvantaged communities to ensure equitable access to mental health services to reduce their vulnerability to adverse outcomes, especially during a crisis such as a pandemic.Item Quality of Life Measurement in Dogs and Cats: A Scoping Review of Generic Tools(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-02-08) Fulmer AE; Laven LJ; Hill KE; Paterson MQuality of life (QoL) assessment in companion animals is an essential aspect of veterinary medicine that helps guide treatment decisions and ensures optimal animal welfare. Veterinarians and pet owners can use disease-specific or generic QoL assessment tools to evaluate an individual animal's QoL. The aim of this scoping review was to identify and assess published generic QoL assessment tools suitable for use in either dogs or cats. A literature search identified 82 relevant publications, nine of which contained appropriate generic QoL assessment tools in accordance with inclusion and exclusion criteria. Each tool was assessed for evidence of psychometric evaluation including statistical analysis, reliability and validity. Commonly included items were determined to highlight potential important aspects of dog or cat QoL. Five of the nine publications used a statistical method such as factor analysis to determine tool design and structure. Although at least one aspect of reliability and validity was assessed for seven of the tools, none were validated across all measures. Two of the publications contained minimal to no statistical analysis. Common items for both dogs and cats included those regarding activity level, the desire for interaction and appetite. In addition, common items for cats included those regarding mood and grooming. This scoping review identified and evaluated currently available generic QoL assessment tools, providing a reference point for future tool development and validation.Item “What Would You Do?”: How Cat Owners Make End-of-Life Decisions and Implications for Veterinary-Client Interactions(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2021-04-13) Littlewood K; Beausoleil N; Stafford K; Stephens CCats are the most common companion animals in New Zealand. Advances in veterinary care means that cats are living longer and there are many older cats. End-of-life decisions about cats are complicated by owner–cat relationships and other psychosocial factors. Our study explored the ways in which end-of-life decisions were being made by owners of older and chronically ill cats in New Zealand and the role of their veterinarian in the process. Qualitative data were gathered via retrospective semi-structured interviews with 14 cat owners using open-ended questions. Transcripts of these interviews were explored for themes using template analysis and nine themes were identified. Four were animal-centered themes: cat behavior change, pain was a bad sign, signs of ageing are not good, and the benefits of having other people see what owners often could not. Five were human-centered themes: veterinarians understanding owners’ relationships with their cat, normalizing death, the need for a good veterinarian to manage end of life, veterinary validation that owners were doing the right thing, and a strong desire to predict the time course and outcome for their cat. End-of-life decision making is complex, and the veterinarian’s role is often poorly defined. Our owners appreciated the expertise and validation that their veterinarian provided but continuity of care was important. Future research aimed at exploring the veterinarian’s perspective during end-of-life decision making for cats would be a valuable addition to the topic.Item Two Domains to Five: Advancing Veterinary Duty of Care to Fulfil Public Expectations of Animal Welfare Expertise(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2021-12-08) Littlewood KE; Beausoleil NJ; Kinobe RTVeterinarians are animal health experts. More recently, they have been conferred a leading role as experts in animal welfare. This expectation of veterinarians as welfare experts appears to stem from their training in veterinary medicine as well as professional contributions to welfare-relevant policy and law. Veterinarians are ideally situated to act as animal welfare experts by virtue of their core work with animals and potential influence over owners, their roles in policy development, compliance, and monitoring, and as educators of future veterinarians. However, since its inception as a discipline over 70 years ago, animal welfare science has moved beyond a two-dimensional focus on nutrition and health (biological functioning) towards an understanding that the mental experiences of animals are the focus of welfare consideration. The Five Domains Model is a structured and systematic framework for more holistically considering conditions that contribute to the animal's internal state and its perception of its external situation, and the resultant mental experiences. The Model can be used to better align veterinary animal welfare expertise with contemporary understanding of animal welfare science and improve welfare literacy within the veterinary profession. Improved understanding of animal welfare science is likely to lead to increased confidence, competence, and empowerment to act as experts in their daily lives.Item Depression and loneliness as mediators of purpose in life and quality of life in older adults : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Distance, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Williams, AleishaObjective: Worldwide populations are aging. This can potentially be a valuable resource to both the older individual and their communities or an ethical burden. A key factor in determining the potential opportunities that arise from these extra years of life is well being. It is therefore important to understand determinants that foster healthy aging and well being through maximising functional ability and enabling engagement in things that matter to them. This study utilises Quality of Life as a holistic measure of a well-being in older age. The existing literature has provided some support for Purpose in Life, Loneliness, and Depression as being associated with each other; it also suggests they are important pre determinants of older adult Quality of Life. Based on previous literature it is possible the relationship between Purpose in Life and Quality of Life is partially mediated by Loneliness and Depression. Method: A structural equation model tested the longitudinal relationship between Purpose in Life and Quality of Life, and the potential parallel mediating effect of Loneliness and Depression, while controlling for Age, Gender, Marital Status, Social Support, Social Isolation and Socioeconomic Status. Sample: The analysis used observational survey-based secondary data obtained from three waves of the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement Study. The participants represented older adults living in New Zealand, aged 55 years and over. Results: Correlational analysis found significant correlational relationships between the latent variables. Regression analysis found positive direct (B = .243) and indirect total effect (B = .227) relationships between Purpose in Life and Quality of Life. However, indirect effects were not significant when one mediator was controlled for. Conclusion: The current research supports prior findings that Purpose in Life predicts future Quality of Life in older adults and offers an important contribution towards future interventions aimed at older adult well-being. The mixed mediating results suggest further research is needed to understand the role of Loneliness and Depression as potential pathways between Purpose in Life and Quality of Life.