Depression and Missed Work among Informal Caregivers of Older Individuals with Dementia

Although providing informal care can negatively affect caregiver emotional health and lead to depression, the association between caregiver depression and missed work is unknown. We use data from the National Longitudinal Caregiver Survey to examine the relationship between caregiver depression and missed work among informal caregivers for older veterans with Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia. Two-part models are used to estimate the expected hours of work missed among working caregivers. Caregiver depression is statistically significantly associated with the likelihood and amount of time missed at work, resulting in an average of an extra half-day of work missed per month. While the effect of caregiver depression on work missed is modest, it represents another possible benefit from interventions to support caregivers.     

The Impact of Public Expenditure and Fiscal Policies on Britain's Children and Young People

Looking at all key areas of the lives of children and young people, and most Government departments, this article reviews the research evidence on the benefits and costs of increasing investment in children, and a redirection of some economic policies that have an indirect impact on children. It concludes that much more could be done to enhance the well-being of children, but it would need a willingness to increase both public spending and taxation. It is based on ‘All Our Futures: the Impact of Public Expenditure and Fiscal Policies on Britain's Children and Young People’, commissioned and published by Barnardo's (Holtermann, 1995).     

Towards an Affirmation Model of Disability

In this paper we argue that a new model of disability is emerging within the literature by disabled people and within disability culture, expressed most clearly by the Disability Arts Movement. For the purposes of discussion we call it the affirmative model. It is essentially a non-tragic view of disability and impairment which encompasses positive social identities, both individual and collective, for disabled people grounded in the benefits of lifestyle and life experience of being impaired and disabled. This view has arisen in direct opposition to the dominant personal tragedy model of disability and impairment, and builds on the liberatory imperative of the social model. Critiques of the latter have been consistently expressed as, or interpreted as, re-affirmations of personal tragedy, particularly in relation to impairment. In this analysis the affirmation model addresses the limitations of the social model through the realisation of positive identity encompassing impairment, as well as disability.     

American forestry professionalism in the third world: Some preliminary observations

Forestry, with its fulsomely developed and articulated worldview, provides an excellent case study of cultural and professional biases in projects intended to aid developing countries. Much of the forestry professional's received wisdom is defined by the ideology of the progressive era conservation movement: a preeminent emphasis on technical expertise as the basis for decision making; a related tendency to prefer comprehensive government planning and to denigrate the expertise and priorities of local resource users, who are seen as political advocates serving their own interests; a preference for managing trees, for lumber and as distinct from other forest and tree uses. This mindset leaves the forester in a poor position to understand the uses which forest users in other cultures see as important, to utilize the expertise of locals in the design and implementation of proposed aid programs, and to enquire meaningfully into alternative systems of land and tree tenure which will determine the success of those programs. Foresters are not the only professionals with trained incapacities; however, greater sensitivity to the settings in which aid projects will succeed or fail would be especially useful for western-trained foresters working in nonwestern forests, and for local foresters trained in western concepts and priorities.A version of this paper appeared inEconomic and Political Weekly, Bombay, India.     

“We Actually Trust the Community:” Examining the Dynamics of a Nonprofit Funding Relationship in New Zealand

Funding relationships in nonprofit management are increasingly defined by a philosophy of rational management, characterized by measurement of outputs and benchmarking, which represents an audit culture system (Burnley, Matthews, & McKenzie, 2005). There is concern that these approaches are constantly undermining the mission of community service nonprofit organizations (Darcy, 2002). In this research, we analyzed the management of funding relationships by examining dynamics within a nonprofit funding relationship in New Zealand. Through focus groups we explored the relationship between 17 representatives from nonprofit organizations and four Board members of a funding Trust. The management of this funding relationship was characterized by an appreciation of the diverse nature of nonprofit organizations, a balance between trust and control, and communication. We suggest that elements of these dynamics could be incorporated into nonprofit funding relationships in order to challenge an over-reliance on audit culture systems, and to re-establish relationships characterized by interaction between nonprofit organizations and their funders. Finally, we call for future research in this area.     

Long-term treatment of emotionally disturberd adoptees and their families

A review of literature on outpatient treatment of emotionally disturbed adoptees is presented. Key issues in adoption therapy are discussed. A model featuring long-term support for adoptive children and their families is described with a menu of accompanying clinical strategies. Applications in mental health settings and directions for research are reviewed.