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In this issue

• Stats: 20% of LGBTQ older adults in SF fear senior services
• Supervisor support in customer conflicts curbs staff turnover
• Back pain recovery expectations linked to actual outcomes
• Carry naloxone to help with opioid overdose: FDA
• Time, space and attitude impact collaborative workspaces
• Tech Talk: Juniper's top 10 tech trends for 2020

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Stats: 20% of LGBTQ older adults in SF fear senior services

One in five LGBTQ older adults in San Francisco don't use aging services because they feel unsafe or unwelcome, according to a recently released report, “Accessing Aging Services Needs Assessment of LGBTQ Senior Health in San Francisco.” Other barriers include mobility limitations (nearly 50%) and difficulty accessing transportation (25%). It's likely that results would be similar or more pronounced in cities or regions that are less tolerant of gender differences, and active-aging organizations should be aware that these potential clients and customers are in need but may not easily walk through the door.

A market survey conducted for the report found that 66% of respondents live alone. The most requested programs and services included social activities (66%), adult education (51%), wellness programs (51%) and case management (33%). Many who participated in focus groups for the report said they experienced poor quality care (including long waits), discrimination from service providers, homophobia, transphobia, racism and a lack of specialist HIV care. Nonprofits On Lok and Openhouse are collaborating to address these issues. Grace Li, On Lok CEO, stressed the importance of co-designing relevant programs by and for LGBTQ older adults and providing "inclusive services that focus on social, wellness and educational programs."

SOURCES: On Lok (December 9, 2019); University of California, San Francisco/Jason Flatt, PhD, MPH, Institute of Health and Aging, UCSF (December 9, 2019)

KEYWORDS: Leadership, Management, Career development, Employee wellness
To download the full report, “Needs assessment of LGBTQ senior health in San Francisco,” click here
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Supervisor support in customer conflicts curbs staff turnover

How supervisors manage customer conflict helps determine how long workers stay on the job, according to a University of British Columbia (UBC) study. The findings are relevant to active-aging organizations, where conflicts are known to develop between constituents and all levels of service providers.

Previous studies have shown that dealing with problematic customers can lead to emotional exhaustion, negative moods, poorer physical health, reduced performance and lower job satisfaction, according to the authors.

The current study involved close to 2,000 employees in restaurants, call centers and retail. "We were able to predict who was going to quit based on their experience of customer mistreatment and emotional exhaustion. You can see it coming," said UBC Sauder School of Business professor Danielle van Jaarsveld, lead author of the study.

How supervisors responded to front-line customer service staff made a big difference when it came to employee retention, the authors. found. When the surveyed workers felt their supervisors treated them with dignity and respect, listened to their concerns, and supported them when dealing with demanding customers, they were far more likely to stick around.

"Whether you quit isn't just about the customer; it's what's called an interaction effect -- that is, the customer mistreatment is buffered when the manager treats you fairly," explained study coauthor Daniel Skarlicki, also a professor at UBC Sauder School of Business. "So if you get berated by a customer and your boss says 'that's disrespectful, I'm going to support you,' it reduces the effect of that customer mistreatment."

The authors suggest that turnover can be reduced by ensuring supervisors treat employees with dignity and respect, having regular conversations with their employees, and training employees on how to deal with abusive customers.

SOURCES: University of British Columbia – Sauder School of Business (December 4, 2019); Journal of Service Research (online October 28, 2019). Unpacking the Relationship Between Customer (In) Justice and Employee Turnover Outcomes: Can Fair Supervisor Treatment Reduce Employees’ Emotional Turmoil? https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670519883949

KEYWORDS: Housing, Construction, Market segments
To read the abstract, click here
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Back pain recovery expectations linked to actual outcomes

An individual’s expectations for recovery from back pain are related to their likelihood of returning to work and may affect other outcomes as well, a Cochrane Review revealed. This is important because organization staff can help promote positive expectations, regardless of a constituent’s age or functional status.

Researchers combed the literature through March 2019 and identified 60 relevant studies with information on more than 30,000 people with low back pain. They looked at people's expectations of their own recovery and how that was related to their pain, limitations in activities and return to work one year after their back pain episode.

They examined three types of recovery expectations: general expectations of recovery (e.g., will your back pain last only a short time?), self-efficacy expectations (e.g., do you believe you will be able to return to your normal activities?) and treatment expectations (e.g., will physical; therapy improve your back pain?).

They found good evidence that positive recovery expectations are related to a higher likelihood of returning to work. They also found some evidence that people with positive recovery expectations were more likely to recover from pain and increase their activities. No studies showed that positive expectations were related to worse low back pain outcomes, meaning there is no downside to encouraging positive expectations.

SOURCES: Cochrane Library (November 25, 2019). Individual recovery expectations and prognosis of outcomes in non‐specific low back pain: prognostic factor review. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011284.pub2

KEYWORDS: Cannabidiol, Physical wellness, emotional wellness
To read the abstract, click here
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Carry naloxone to help with opioid overdose: FDA

The US Food and Drug Administration released a consumer update, underscoring its stance that anyone can save a life during an opioid overdose by giving naloxone, a drug that can be sprayed into the nose or injected. Organizations should have the drug on hand, since an overdose can occur even inadvertently with prescription medication. Examples of opioids include oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, heroin and fentanyl.

“We want everyone who may witness an opioid overdose – family members, friends, neighbors, and others close to people who use opioids – to have access to naloxone and to feel confident using it during an emergency. Without naloxone, the risk of an overdose being fatal is significant,” Douglas C. Throckmorton, MD, Deputy Director for Regulatory Programs at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an FDA communication.

Although naloxone is a prescription medicine, many states allow consumers to get it directly from a pharmacist, without an individual prescription, by putting a “standing order” in place. This allows access to naloxone to anyone who thinks they might need it, either for themselves or for someone else who might be at risk for an overdose.

SOURCE: US Food and Drug Administration Stakeholder Update (December 12, 2019)

KEYWORDS: Retirement, Psychology, Emotional wellness
To read the full article, click here
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Time, space and attitude impact collaborative workspaces

A new report from global research company Leading Edge Forum in London, UK, investigated a range of digital and hybrid working environments to determine how they influence issues of trust, communication and culture. This is important as active-aging organizations are moving to construct new headquarters and other work spaces using varying types of collaborative environments. The report, entitled "Reconfiguring the collaborative workspace: making the most of time, space and attitude," is based on 50 hours of interviews with people working in a wide range of environments at different organization levels.

The researchers found that time, space and attitude are three key drivers of productivity. While it's worth reading the full summary, in a nutshell, the authors advise that organizations seeking to maximize the productivity of asynchronous and distributed teams should consider the following:

Time: Find a rhythm that encourages some synchronicity across the entire team, whether that's regular in-person meetings, periodic virtual hangouts, or something else. This will reduce the complexity of back-and-forth communications, particularly across large groups.

Space: A degree of autonomy over one's working environment goes a long way. Everyone likes a lot of light and a view of green plants – there were no surprises in the data as far as those features go. But having the right kind of space for the right job, and the ability to choose aspects of one's environment even if that choice is limited, gives employees a sense of self-directedness at work.

Attitude: The way people speak about and behave regarding the first two principles provide clues to the third. This is how leaders can find out what is really driving their organizational performance. The key is digging under the surface to discover not only what people say but the fundamental shared worldview that resonates throughout the organization. By coming to grips with this, the authors say, teams have the opportunity to enact deep change in how they work together.

SOURCE: Leading Edge Forum (December 10, 2019). Reconfiguring the collaborative workspace: Making the most of time, space and attitude

KEYWORDS: Brain health, Supplements, Physical wellness
To read a summary of the report, click here
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Tech Talk: Juniper's top 10 tech trends for 2020

Juniper Research has taken a deep dive into tech trends for 2020, and both the slide deck and white paper are worth reviewing. Several trends are especially relevant to the active-aging industry. For example, the researchers found that the consumer robotics market – including social robots - may be poised to grow with the use of a subscription model. What will this mean for homes and organizations? Privacy concerns regarding voice assistants in smart homes will be addressed, the report says, and more local processing power will improve the customer experience. Also, of interest: Google is expected to leverage Fitbit (which it recently acquired) to mount a challenge to the Apple Watch. On the entertainment side, Netflix is expected to produce and air more localized, tailored content. Does this represent an opportunity for the industry?

The full report is costly, but the free white paper and slides go into quite a bit of detail and are worth reading and thinking about, particularly for organizations seeking to gain an edge in the Boomer market.

SOURCE: Juniper Research

KEYWORDS: Technology, Physical wellness, Heart health
To download the white paper and slide deck, click here and register

--reported by Marilynn Larkin

Suggestions? Email mlarkin@icaa.cc
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Disclaimer

ICAA Research Review shares knowledge and information. The newsletter is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not medical advice. The ICAA encourages you to make health and business decisions based upon your own research and in partnership with a qualified professional.