The life satisfaction of elderly Chinese widows living alone and those living with adult children

Care of China's elderly population is of concern due to its projected growth as well as to changes in elder care patterns related to shifting social and economic conditions. Increases in life expectancy and, therefore, in the duration of widowhood, particularly for women, magnifies this concern. Studies that examine the living arrangements and life satisfaction of elderly widows in China are limited. This study of 147 elderly widows, both men and women, examined differences in the life satisfaction of those who live with their adult children and those who live alone. This study also examined whether the relationship between living arrangement and life satisfaction was moderated by levels of family and community support. According to study findings, elderly widows living alone have higher life satisfaction than those living with their adult children, and this effect remains with the introduction of controls for health status, family support, community support, gender, age, income and educational level. Further, neither family nor community support moderate the relationship between living arrangement and life satisfaction, although each exerts a direct effect on life satisfaction.     

浅析老年女性个案工作的方法与技巧

在老龄化进程中，老年妇女问题在老年问题中慢慢凸显，她们承受着性别与年龄的双重歧视，生活质量普遍比男性老人低。笔者拟从社会工作和社会性别视角来分析老年女性个案工作的方法与技巧，以帮助老年女性树立新的希望，得到更多的支持和理解。充分享受晚年生活。     

Caring for the Elderly Widowed--the Burden on their Supporters

Summary This paper examines how caring for elderly widowed people affectsthe lives of their ‘familiars’. This study is partof a larger national study on widowhood in old age carried outby the Institute for Social Studies in Medical Care. The familiarstended to be the children of the widowed, particularly theirdaughters. Children of the widowed, again often daughters, weremore likely than other familiars to suffer life restrictionsbefore and after the death because of the care and support givento the deceased and the surviving spouse. In addition to theircaring role familiars were often committed to full or part-timeemployment and most also had their own families to support.The care they provide for the elderly is not always withoutcost. The contribution towards community care given by suchinformal helpers deserves greater recognition and the social,psychological and financial costs thus incurred merit greaterrelief. As the help is needed by a minority only of such informalcarers, adoption of a policy relieving them as far as possibleof the costs they incur, would not involve intolerable financialoutlays.     

Health and Well–Being in the Young Old and Oldest Old

Most individuals experience a decline in health status during old age. Paradoxically, there are proposals that older adults nevertheless maintain a positive sense of well–being, an indicator of successful aging. Data from the Berlin Aging Study (BASE: Baltes & Mayer, 1999), a locally representative sample of men and women aged 70 to 100+ ( N = 516, M = 85 years), suggest that cumulative health–related chronic life strains set a constraint on the potential of oldest old individuals to experience the positive side of life. The young old in BASE reported significantly higher positive SWB than did the oldest old. Chronic illness and functional impairments (e.g., vision, hearing, mobility, strength) limit well–being especially in very old age.     

The Ontology of Ageing

Correspondence to Professor Neil Thompson, 1 Worcester Road, Bangor on Dee, Wrexham LL13 0JB, Wales, UK. E-mail: neil{at}maynard.u-net.com Summary Ageist ideology presents old age as a time of dependency anddisengagement, a withdrawal from life, rather than a part oflife. While this can be recognized as a stereotypical view ofageing, its influence has to be acknowledged as profound andfar-reaching. This raises a number of questions about the ontologicalstatus of old age—that is, questions about the natureof old age as a feature of human existence. This paper focuseson two particular aspects of the ontology of old age: selfhoodand loss. The notion of self is one that has received considerableattention in social theory as a result of the postmodernistcritique in recent years. However, little or no attention hasbeen paid to the role of selfhood in old age. Old age can beseen as a stage in the life course characterized by loss or,more specifically, a variety of losses. Loss is also a significantfactor in relation to selfhood in particular and ontology ingeneral, especially as loss so often involves a loss of meaning.     

Support Systems of American Urban Widowhood

The life a woman develops in marriage becomes more or less disorganized with the death of her husband. Many characteristics of a society, a community, and a woman influence the degree of disorganization of her life with the death of her husband, and the direction and form of her life that emerges after the period of mourning and heavy grief is over. Aspects of a widow's life that I and my colleagues have studied include her support systems, social roles, lifestyle, and self-concept. These aspects are built gradually, or changed dramatically, as a result of disorganizing events followed by reorganizing processes. This paper examines the support systems American urban women have developed in widowhood.     

城市随迁老人的精神生活与社区融入

随迁老人是指与进城子女一起生活而户籍在农村的老年群体。本文在实地调查的基础上,从闲暇时间利用、社区活动参与、社区情感和心理认同等方面描述老人的精神生活状况,发现该群体精神生活单调、很少参与社区活动、对城市社区的认同度低。要改善随迁老人的精神生活,必须通过社区融入的方法,组织多样化的社区活动,扩大老年人社会交往的范围,帮助他们重新构建一个新的社交网络,从而改善他们的精神生活状态。     

Functional Capacity and Self–Evaluation of Health and Life of Oldest Old in China

This study is based on survey data from a sample of 8,805 elders aged 80–105 in 22 provinces of China. Rural oldest old are significantly more active in daily living than urban oldest old; adaptation is perhaps the major explanation of this difference. Female oldest old are seriously disadvantaged in functional capacities and self–reported health as compared with their male counterparts. Percentages of being active in daily living, having good physical performance, normal cognitive function and well–being drop dramatically from age 80–84 to 100–105. Proportion reporting satisfaction in current life, however, remains almost constant from age 80–84 to 90–94 and declines slightly afterwards. This may suggest that being more positive in self–feeling of life is one of the secrets of longevity.     

在社区老年服务中成长

以"服务学习"为指导,"老年社会工作"课程为平台,组成老年服务小组,对中国西部老人的生活现状、服务需求进行了有计划的诊断与实务,就西部服务学习模式进行了有益的探索。     

The Long‐Term Effects of Spousal Care Giving on Survivors' Well‐Being in Widowhood*

Objective. Previous research suggests that bereavement and adjustment to widowhood are long term and should be studied as processes rather than as static outcomes. We analyze how spousal care giving affects survivors' depressive symptoms 18 and 48 months into widowhood. Method. We use three waves of data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) Survey and estimate OLS regression equations to determine the long‐term effects of spousal care giving on widow(er)s' well‐being. Results. At 18 months, more burdensome spousal care giving predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms, while greater caregiver stress predicted lower levels. Specific characteristics of the caregiving situation were no longer significant predictors of well‐being 48 months into widowhood, although care giving itself had an ameliorative effect on level of symptoms. Conclusions. The results highlight the dynamic nature of bereavement and suggest that the effects of spousal care and characteristics of the care situation on depressive symptoms during widowhood are not linear over time. We discuss the implications of our findings for the conceptualization of the relationship between care giving and bereavement.     

《北京女报》与清末北京女子教育初探

《北京女报》是清末北京地区第一家妇女报纸,宣扬"兴女学"和"女子平权",在北京地区有开通风气之功。该报既是清末北京女子教育发展的热情记录者,更是推动它发展的积极力量。但是该报以维护风俗名教为己任,固守性别伦理边界,在总体上又显得保守。     

Experiences of Women on Public Assistance

Although much has been written regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of the various antipoverty programs, very little information is available on the recipients' perceptions of and experiences with these programs. This article addresses this issue and presents qualitative results of interviews with 8 recipients of both cash assistance (e.g., Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) and in-kind assistance (e.g., Section 8 housing). The average age of the participants was 37.5; all were females with children from 2 to 5 years old. Overall, the major themes that emerged include lack of work programs, difficulties in forming a permanent family life with a partner, feelings of shame and disrespect, an insecure future, and a sadness regarding life's outcome. These findings suggest that antipoverty programs should focus not only on financial concerns but also on the individual's desire to be a contributing member of society.     

Learning Experiences of Older Volunteers in a Community-based Social Program for People with Dementia

Abstract

This qualitative study aimed to explore older adults’ perspectives on volunteering in an activity-based social program for community-dwelling people with dementia called Stepping Stones. Semi-structured interviews were individually conducted with eight older adults who had volunteered in Stepping Stones. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze interview data. Four themes related to learning experiences of older volunteers in Stepping Stones emerged. These themes include (a) self-growth and confidence in working with people with dementia; (b) understanding dementia, people with dementia, and needed support for people with dementia and their families; (c) desire not to develop dementia, while recognizing that anything can happen in old age; and (d) exercising person-centered approaches and taking on advocacy roles. Findings suggest that older volunteers gain feelings of personal growth and confidence in working with people with dementia, better understanding, and enhanced attitudes toward people with dementia through volunteering in an activity-based social program for people with dementia. Older adults will be able to fill the needs of community programs for people with dementia, while experiencing benefits from volunteering and learning in later life. Further research is needed to examine to what extent having previous dementia experiences make their experiences and learning different.     

Differences Between Men and Women in Social Relations, Resource Deficits, and Depressive Symptomatology During Later Life in Four Nations

This article examines gender differences in social relations and resource deficits in France ( N = 553), Germany ( N = 516), Japan ( N = 491), and the United States ( N = 514). These data, from regionally representative samples, indicate few gender differences in quantity or quality of social relations, but that women are more likely than men to experience widowhood, illness, and financial strain. In all countries, more deficits and more negative social interactions are associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Interestingly, among women in France and Japan but not among men in any country, quality of social relations offsets the negative consequences of resource deficits. Findings suggest that quality of social relations may have important implications for helping people, particularly women, cope with resource deficits common in late life.     

AUSTRALIAN WAR WIDOWS: A CASE STUDY TO CHALLENGE PUBLIC POLICY

This paper explores public policy in relation to war widows. The effects of public policy are rarely analysed from an individual's perspective. The paper draws on interview data to analyse the case study of a 51 year old Vietnam War widow and compares this to the experiences of six other war widows. Findings are part of a larger study on widowhood. Life histories were gained through unstructured interviews and then constructed as case studies that enabled an analysis of the relationship between the individual lived experience of the women and broader social forces that influence this. The findings suggest that women may feel differently about being categorised as ‘war widows’ in public policy and the reasons for this are varied. The paper suggests that an extension of this study be conducted to more fully explore the reasons for the differences in war widows to inform future policy review/revision.     

Exploratory Study on Challenges Faced by Ageing Persons with Physical Disabilities

With a longer life expectancy, adults with lifelong physical disabilities face a double challenge of experiencing physical ravages brought on by normal ageing in addition to a deterioration of their pre-existing disabilities. This exploratory study seeks to uncover whether older adults with lifelong physical disabilities are buffered with sufficient financial, familial, social, and spiritual resources to deal with this double challenge. More dialogue should be initiated to prepare vulnerable older adults with lifelong physical disabilities for their old age before they are swept away by the tsunami of unexpected problems resulting in them needing more social support in their old age.     

Caregiving Around the Clock: How Women in Nursing Manage Career and Family Demands

Nursing is considered a woman friendly profession; however, career advancement in nursing, as in other fields, is predicated on masculine models of promotion, making mobility difficult for working mothers. To learn more about how women negotiate caregiving responsibilities at home and at work, focus groups were conducted with 26 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and aides. Three themes emerged from these discussions: tension between the value nurses assigned to paid caregiving and societal devaluation of this work; "costs" of paid caring and emotional labor on family life; and the presence of both obstacles to and opportunities for career advancement. Caregiving experiences were shaped by professional status. Implications for women's well being and career advancement are discussed.