Correlates of Depression Among the Soviet Jewish Immigrant Elderly

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study examined the prevalence rates of depressive symptoms among the elderly Soviet Jewish immigrants living in Southern California. Structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 50 self-identified Jewish elderly immigrants from the former Soviet Union, assessing their level of depression, health status, primary need areas, and family support. According to the results, 72% of the respondents reported mild to severe levels of depression. Age and satisfaction with the family assistance turned out to be significantly correlated with the level of depression among this group. Implications for human services practice with vulnerable older immigrant populations are discussed.     

Social Service Needs of Hispanic Immigrants

Abstract

Large numbers of poor Hispanic immigrants have come to the U.S. in recent years with many social service needs. This qualitative, pilot study of Hispanic immigrants in the Washington Heights community in New York City identifies their perceived needs and barriers for accessing services. Seven face-to-face interviews with community-based professionals and four focus group interviews with thirty Hispanic immigrants provide the data. Both groups of informants report many unmet service needs, especially in the areas of health care and housing. Data support the view that Hispanic immigrants often require micro-and macro-level advocacy that can best be performed by Spanish speaking social workers.     

The Perspectives of Older Greek-Australians Toward Changes in the Nature of Family Support: Implications for Family Care Policies

Internationally, public policies encourage “aging in place,” and the majority of older Australians requiring care in the community receive informal care, supplemented by publicly subsidized formal services. The effect of contemporary social changes on informal care in aging migrant communities is poorly understood. This articles explores the perceptions of older Greek-Australians toward changes in the nature of family support. Bicultural and bilingual researchers carried out in-depth interviews (n?=?27) and five focus groups (n?=?63 total participants) with older Greek-Australians in modern Greek. While “cultures of care” remain among Greek-Australian families, the means for a family to assist have shifted, and these compromises are met with considerable powerlessness among older Greek-Australians. Implications for policy include the need to better involve older migrants and their families in decisions about their care needs, potentially involving consumer-directed care models. Service providers may also need to adopt the use of new technologies to communicate with increasingly time-pressured family members.     

Retired and Making a Fresh Start: Older Russian Immigrants Discuss their Adjustment in Israel

Social research on immigrants has usually centred on working age groups or youth, while studies on retired immigrants were typically driven by the social work, geriatric, or nursing agendas, centring on the issues of health, stress, social, and medical services. Trying to explore migration in old age from a broader sociological perspective, this qualitative study addressed different aspects of the socio‐cultural adjustment of older Russian immigrants of the 1990s in Israel. Drawing on group discussions and in‐depth interviews conducted in two major urban centres, the study covers senior immigrants' attitudes toward the host Israeli society; material privations and coping tools; intergenerational families; patterns of social organization, communication, and cultural consumption; ties with places of origin in the former Soviet Union (FSU); and the perceived sum total of losses and gains from migration. The findings indicate that older immigrants have developed multiple ways for meaningful identification with Israel and generally perceived their resettlement experience as difficult but positive. As their social networks were limited to the Russian immigrant community, most elders did not see their poor knowledge of Hebrew as a major integration obstacle. The main reported difficulties were in the areas of housing, low income, and weakening ties with younger family members.     

Language Reversion among People with Dementia from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds: The Family Experience

Abstract

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) older people with dementia, along with their families, face many unique challenges and have unique needs. One such challenge is language reversion, an issue that has received little research attention. This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study of the experiences of family members of people with language reversion emanating from dementia. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with seven participants. The study found that the presence of language reversion created additional challenges for family members of someone with dementia, particularly if the family member did not share the person's first language. Community-based aged care services have the potential to offer valuable support, but barriers of negative past experiences, lack of communication, stigma, cultural understanding, and locality need to be overcome. While further research is recommended, these findings have implications for both policy and social work practice in community-based aged care with CALD populations.     

Geographic distance and intergenerational relationships in Chinese migrant families

ABSTRACT

This study examines the effect of adult Chinese migrants’ geographic distance from home on their intergenerational relationships with parents who remain behind. We compared monetary and family care support as well as emotional relationships among four parent-child groups: older adults and international migrant children, older adults and internal migrant children (who migrated to other cities in China), older adults and coresiding children, and older adults and local children (living in the same city as their parents). Data were derived from 332 older adults in Beijing, China, with at least one child who migrated to another country or city. Results from chi-square tests, anaylsis of variance (ANOVA) tests, and regression analyses indicate that international and internal migrant children maintain similar intergenerational relationships with their parents, and that both of those groups are less likely than coresiding and local children to have family care exchanges and emotionally close relationships with their parents. The results may help professionals develop supportive services and policies for older adults in migrant families.     

Family Structure and Patterns and Psychological Adjustment to Immigration in Israel

Abstract

The research examines the relationship of family structure (couple-based or single-parent, with or without a grandparent) and family patterns (role division, decision making, and quality of marriage) with the psychological adjustment (satisfaction, and emotional state) of immigrants. The sample included 236 new immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia who came to Israel between 1990 and 2001. The findings indicate that the couple-based structure adapts better than the other family structures. The single-parent structure had a very low rate of adjustment. Presence of a grandparent was found to contribute to the adjustment of the single-parent family, but hinder the adjustment of couple-based families. The discussion addresses family resilience among immigrants and highlights the special difficulties of the single- parent family.     

Families' Values and Attitudes Regarding Responsibility for the Frail Elderly

Abstract

This study examines the norms and values associated with care to disabled and frail aging parents, in particular those with regard to the sharing of responsibilities for care between families and formal services, and this within three age cohorts in Quebec, Canada. It is based on a telephone interview of 1,315 people. Factor analysis yielded four factors: (1) family responsibility; (2) uncompromising family obligations; (3) acceptance of services; (4) distrust of services. Analyses of the data indicate that all three age cohorts consider that families have responsibilities for their aging family members, at the same time that they score very high on the acceptance of service scale. This article discusses these seemingly paradoxical results and their implications for aging policy.     

Wraparound Services: An Effective Intervention for Families Impacted by Severe Mental Illness

ABSTRACT

Children and families impacted by severe mental illness (SMI) have multiple strains that effect family functioning, child safety, and parental rights. Traditional services for children and families struggling with severe mental illness have not achieved success in improving family functioning and keeping families intact. Wraparound is a philosophy and a system of care with a promising evidence base that could enhance collaboration of child welfare, mental health, and community services to work more effectively with families impacted by SMI.     

Ethical Issues in Child Custody and Dependency Cases

Abstract

The emotional and psychological risks to children of high conflict divorce have led to the increased involvement of mental health professionals in child custody cases. Numerous service models (Greenberg & Gould, 2001; Johnston, 2000; Johnston & Roseby, 1997) have been developed to assist divorcing families in minimizing family conflict and supporting children'S needs. This underscores the need for judges and attorneys to understand the ethical and professional standards that underlie competent mental health practice in forensic cases. The practices of mental health professionals providing court-related services may have a substantial impact on the validity of their professional opinions, the effectiveness of services provided to children and families, and children'S development and adjustment. The authors suggest core ethical and clinical issues to be considered by all psychologists who work in the context of custody disputes. It is hoped that these professional practice suggestions will also be useful to attorneys and judicial officers in assessing the quality of mental health professionals' opinions.     

Family support in late life: A review of the literature on aging,disability, and family caregiving

ABSTRACT

For older adults and people with disabilities in the United States, family caregiving is an important part of remaining at home and in the community. As care recipients and caregivers age, family dynamics change, and the health, social, and financial impacts of this (largely unremunerated) work have implications for individuals, families, and social policy. In this review, the authors map the literature across multiple fields related to disability and aging to understand caregiving in late life, what it means to be an older caregiver and/or to care for older people. The authors summarize the findings of 97 articles to address the care, services, and supports family caregivers provide for older adults; negative and positive impacts for caregivers serving in this role; supports that family members use or need; and societal impact of family caregiving. Much of the literature describes the work family caregivers provide and negative impacts of caregiving. Less attention is devoted to caregiving benefits, supports used by family caregivers, and societal impacts. The authors conclude with an agenda for future research that attends to the need for research that includes: more diverse samples, new types of caregivers, longitudinal data, qualitative data and analysis, and comparative research.     

Family Support for the Elderly in China

ABSTRACT

With the introduction of economic reforms, families in China are challenged by a variety of family-related problems. Demographic and social changes are affecting both the capacity and willingness of the family to provide care for the elderly. The Chinese Government is aware of the importance of the family in the welfare of its citizens, and has promulgated a series of laws and regulations prescribing family obligations. Yet formal services supporting families are extremely underdeveloped, and it is urgent that the government formulate an effective policy to facilitate, support, and maximize family care.     

Zoning,Accessory Dwelling Units,and Family Caregiving

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between zoning regulations and co-residential family caregiving in the United States. It first provides an overview of U.S. housing policies, especially zoning. We then describe major changes in family structure and composition in the United States with their implications for caregiving and discuss how multigenerational housing options, particularly accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in single-family homes, can help support family caregiving. After an overview of zoning policies and actions that inhibit ADU production, we document current trends, incorporating information from a small non-random study of ADU activity we conducted in 2004. Finally, we present recommendations for promoting more multigenerational housing as a supplement to other family support programs (e.g., dependent care assistance, family caregiver payments) and as a source of affordable, supportive housing for those families choosing co-residence as their eldercare solution.     

“A Family for Every Child”: Discursive Constructions of “Ideal” Adoptive Families in Online Foster Adoption Photolistings That Promote Adoption of Children From Foster Care

ABSTRACT

Despite documented cultural and institutional preferences for biological family ties, approximately 100,000 children await adoption in the U.S. foster care system. Child welfare professionals have the important task of finding these children permanent families, yet little is known about this process or how “ideal” adoptive families are constructed. Thus, this study critically examines photolistings (N = 104) from www.afamilyforeverychild.org. Findings indicate that discursive constructions of “forever family,” based on chosen family structure and familial performance, counter biology-based understandings of family. Practical applications that might open untapped opportunities to connect children with permanent families are discussed.     

Chapter 2. Intervention Continued

SUMMARY

This chapter describes the case management process-a process for assisting individuals and families with multiple service needs-and its use in various fields of practice including mental health, human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), and services for older adults. It addresses the role of the case manager as the person responsible for ensuring the timely and adequate delivery of suitable community-based services. The integration of formal services with informal care by family and friends as an intervention strategy is also discussed.     

Mexican immigration and health care: a political economy perspective.

This paper examines the case of Mexican immigrants in the United States and their access to medical services within a political economy of health framework. Such an approach stresses that the provision of health care is independent of health factors per se and that access to health care is not equally distributed throughout a population. The first section reviews the three major concepts influencing medical anthropologists working within a political economy framework: the social origins of illness; the allocation of health resources; and fieldwork in Third World countries. The analysis then focuses upon the reasons for limiting immigrants' access to health care, followed by an examination of the socioeconomic characteristics of Mexican immigrants, including an undocumented immigration status, which limit their access to health care. Finally, the consequences of limited access to health services are suggested, including a low utilization of preventive health services resulting from the high cost of care combined with the immigrants' generally low income, lack of medical insurance and fear of using U.S. health services.     

From Caregivers to Caretakers: The Impact of Family Roles on Ethnicity Among Children of Korean and Chinese Immigrant Families

Scholars have long examined the effects of family and community on ethnicity, but they have less to say on why some children may be more receptive to the positive influences of ethnic communities than siblings within the same family. As more immigrants struggle to adapt to the needs and demands of the new global economy, many families are turning to alternative caregiving arrangements that significantly impact the long-term ethnic identities of the second generation. The article considers how adult-age children of immigrants negotiate the emotional disconnects created by these varying contexts of care depending on their individual role within the family and how it shapes their views on ethnicity and culture in their own adult lives. The study focuses in-depth on fourteen semi-structured, in-person interviews with adult-age children of Asian immigrant families in the NY-NJ metropolitan area. Depending on their social status, children of immigrants are integrated into their families: as cultural brokers expected to mediate and care for their family members, as familial dependents who rely on their parents for traditional caregiving functions, or as autonomous caretakers who grow up detached from their parents. I argue that because of their intense engagement with family, cultural brokers describe their ethnic-centered experiences as evoking feelings of reciprocated empathy, whereas on the other end, autonomous caretakers associate their parents’ ancestral culture with ethnocentric exclusion. Depending on how they are able to negotiate the cultural divide, familial dependents generally view their parents’ culture and immigrant experiences through the hierarchical lens of emulation.     

The Savings Approach to Financing Long-Term Care in Singapore

Summary

Singapore is grappling with provision of services for the current generation of older people at the same time as building the foundation for the coming generations of elderly. In this article, I analyze four sets of factors that are shaping long-term care policy and financing in ways that are almost unique to Singapore. First, current developments can only be understood in the context of the Central Provident Fund (CPF) that was established by the Government of Singapore in the 1950s to ensure that the working population saved for retirement; the Medisave and related schemes for financing health care were subsequently developed alongside the CPF. Most recently, the existing funding arrangements have been extended to some long-term care services, and options for further extensions are under consideration. Second, the government's philosophy of maintaining the primacy of family support for the elderly has been expressed through a number of initiatives that provide financial and other incentives to families, combined with an emphasis on community care. The third factor is the relationship between government and the voluntary welfare organizations that are the major providers of institutional and community services. Finally, a series of government-sponsored reviews and advisory councils have provided for widespread consultation on policy options. These developments are directed to achieving a multi-pillar approach in which intergenerational transfers through taxation will be limited, and the role of individual savings and insurance will be increased.     

The Perceptions of Welfare Reform by Michigan Families Whose Children Have Disabilities and Welfare Caseworkers

Abstract

This article examines family and caseworker perceptions of welfare reform and services as they relate to families who have a child with a disability. Interviews were conducted with 39 families and 77 caseworkers. Family questions addressed their perceptions of the welfare system, factors impacting their self-sufficiency, and their perceptions of needed program changes. Caseworker questions addressed their perceptions of welfare practices and policies and their education needs related to serving families who have children with disabilities. Familial perceptions of the welfare system were validated by caseworker reports. Implications for service improvement are discussed.     

“Being Indian,” “Being American”

Summary

This is a cross-cultural study that seeks to understand an aspect of Asian Indian women's realities by exploring concepts such as: attitudes toward gender roles, level of stress in their lives, and their ethnic identity. It compares Asian Indian women raised in the U.S. (n = 45), with women born and raised in India (n = 50) and with European American women in the U.S. (n = 50). Additionally, excerpts from in-depth interviews with Asian Indian women in the U.S. are included. Most Asian Indian women in this study feel that they are both Indian and American and feel the two can be very well combined. However, they have problems with their families for not being Indian enough, especially on issues regarding marriage, career choice, and dating. The study found that “being Indian” might be different for the first generation Indian immigrants and the Asian Indian women who were born and raised in the U.S. These Asian Indian women are striving to claim a new identity for themselves, one which is both Indian and American.