At the end of 2013, the number of elderly people over 65 years of age in Taiwan was over 2.5 million, comprising nearly 11.15% of the population. The elderly face a variety of challenges, including health needs, health problems, and adjusting to aging. In particular, healthcare professionals often overlook the underlying psychological and social needs and problems of the elderly. Thus, quality of care for the elderly has become a crucial issue of concern.
This issue of The Journal of Nursing Research includes 9 original articles, including 2 submitted by colleagues in China and Hong Kong. Among these are 4 articles that address elderly issues. In Chen-Chun Niu, Hui-Man Huang, Yun-Ying Hung, and Hsiu-Li Lee's study, the authors explore the relationship of interpersonal intimacy and meaning of life among elderly institutionalized veterans. As these senior veterans were separated from their homes in Mainland China due to war, most are single and have few intimate or close interpersonal relationships. The elderly are relatively more prone to doubting the meaning of life and to losing confidence in the value of life. Depressive disorder is expected to become a top-2 disease in the world by 2020 and to be particularly prevalent among the elderly. The study by Chang et al. examines the association between regular exercise and depressive symptoms, finding that both elderly men and elderly women who regularly exercise show reduced depressive symptoms. Regular exercise should be an important part of their daily routine. Sleep disturbance is also a common problem for elderly. Lin et al.'s study identified interesting findings between genders. Moreover, one intervention study evaluates the effect of an individualized learning therapy on dementia patients.
A further three articles in this issue evaluate the psychometrics of measurements. The other two articles relate to nursing students and pregnant women. All are written to provide new insights into their respective issues.
In a final perspective session on the technology evaluation framework, Dr. Lee provides valuable new insights into the health information technology and health information system, which has already been widely applied in healthcare settings.