Offer Emanuel Edelstein
As a gerontologist and a public-health social worker, his primary research passion is improving the quality of life of individuals with chronic conditions, mainly older adults. Dr. Edelstein have three major fields of interest: Health behaviors, cognitions and emotions: Over the past several years, he focused on how patients’ cognitive perceptions and emotional reactions to the challenges of chronic conditions may influence their health behavior and ultimately their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). He also examined the access to high- quality and available health care, health behaviors in diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds; Substance use (psychotropic medications and medical cannabis) and prevention of falls among the elderly. He specifically interested in falls prevention and associations with intake of psychotropic medications. A sub-stream of his interest in substance use is medical cannabis (MC). He is interested in attitudes and knowledge of older-adults and students in welfare and health professions regrading with the use of MC in the elderly population; Burden of care, quality of life and informal caregiving: The extended life expectancy is associated with age-related chronic conditions. These conditions pose notable challenges related with everyday conduct of sufferers, which ultimately may require support from formal and informal caregivers. In the last three years, he addressed core issues of burden of care, emotional and physical reactions among caregivers in diverse ethno-cultural groups.