Author
Listed:
- Emmie A. M. Verspeek
(Tilburg University)
- Maximilian Haas
(University of Geneva
UniDistance Suisse)
- Yvonne Brehmer
(Tilburg University
Karolinska Institutet)
- Manon A. Scheppingen
(Tilburg University)
- Nadine Bender
(University of Geneva)
- Matthias Kliegel
(University of Geneva
University of Geneva
Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research)
- Alexandra Hering
(Tilburg University
University of Geneva
University of Geneva)
Abstract
A relocation to a nursing home is a major life transition in older age, with potential impacts on cognitive functioning and quality of life. In line with psychosocial models of successful aging, we investigated how older adults adapted to this major life transition. Using data collected at nine nursing homes in Geneva, Switzerland, we studied changes in cognitive functioning (i.e., short-term, long-term, and working memory, verbal fluency, prospective memory, and inductive reasoning) and quality of life (i.e., emotional and social loneliness, depressive symptoms, and purpose in life) in cognitively healthy older adults. Moreover, we exploratorily studied whether relational resources (e.g., participation in activities) impacted these changes. Forty-seven nursing home residents, aged 59 to 99 years (M = 85.55, SD = 9.43, 36 women), completed a neuropsychological test battery and self-report questionnaires approximately one, three, and six months after relocation. Repeated Measures ANOVAs indicated that short-term and long-term memory declined and (emotional) loneliness increased during the first three months after relocation. Yet, no differences were found between the first and last assessment of those indicators. Other factors did not show significant changes over time. Exploratory analyses revealed that visits of friends and participation in activities may play an important role in the impact of- and adaptation to this life transition. Although our results suggest preserved psychosocial adaptational capacities in nursing home residents, we should remain vigilant for the potential negative short-term and long-term impacts of major life transitions in this vulnerable population of older adults.
Suggested Citation
Emmie A. M. Verspeek & Maximilian Haas & Yvonne Brehmer & Manon A. Scheppingen & Nadine Bender & Matthias Kliegel & Alexandra Hering, 2025.
"Changes in cognitive functioning and quality of life after relocation to a nursing home: a prospective longitudinal study of Swiss nursing home residents,"
European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 1-11, December.
Handle:
RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:22:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10433-025-00869-7
DOI: 10.1007/s10433-025-00869-7
Download full text from publisher
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to
for a different version of it.
Corrections
All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:22:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10433-025-00869-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through
the various RePEc services.