Language ideology in an endogamous society: The case of Daghestan

Studies of multilingual systems found in Indigenous small-scale communities often assume that exogamous marriages are the norm in such societies and contribute to their linguistic diversity. This paper is an account of the language ideology of endogamous societies in rural highland Daghestan (Northeast Caucasus). By studying language policing and language choice in infrequent mixed marriages, the paper uncovers the beliefs that support endogamy and reveals issues of linguistic identity and attitudes toward the usage of the matrilect within the family and the village. Interviews show that in-married women do not bring new languages to the villages, because they quickly acquire the local language new to them and use it with all their in-laws and their children. A strong association between villages and languages together with the ideology supporting linguistic homogeneity within the village contributes to the maintenance of the regional linguistic diversity.     

Informal workers and Kenya’s National Hospital Insurance Fund: Identifying barriers to voluntary participation

This article investigates the barriers to informal workers’ voluntary participation in Kenya’s national health insurance scheme – the National Hospital Insurance Fund. Based on primary data from both qualitative and quantitative methods, we find that the key determinants of enrolment include social factors, such as marital status, which create demand for insurance, and the role of informal workers’ associations that promote the voluntary uptake of health insurance and prevent default through contribution support. Participation barriers and reasons for inactiveness stem from the nature of informal work characterized by irregular earnings, which combine with apprehension about having to pay penalty charges for the late payment of premiums, inadequate levels of knowledge about health insurance schemes, institutional constraints such as complex registration procedures, as well as premium costs and poor-quality services, all of which discourage enrolment or the reactivation of lapsed membership. There is thus a need for health insurance schemes, such as Kenya’s National Hospital Insurance Fund, to educate informal workers on insurance services and protocols and to improve services to encourage uptake and reduce default behaviour.     

Connecting and engaging with health and social care: Exploring the core components of a telephone and web-mediated family navigation prevention service

Early engagement with health care, mental health care, and social services can promote the well-being of children and families. How practitioners can best support family engagement with these services however remains largely unknown. To address this gap in knowledge, data from a voluntary 12-week telephone and web-mediated family navigation preventive intervention called Navigate Your Way were subject to mixed-methods analysis. Twenty-nine caregivers and five family navigators contributed data to the study. Thematic analysis of weekly navigator check-ins, participant closing interviews, navigator discharge notes, and lab meeting notes was conducted and followed by quantitative analysis of navigator effort across project activities. Results were then mixed to illuminate the essential conditions for supporting family connection to health care, mental health care, and social services. Qualitative analysis identified themes related to empathic engagement and person-centred navigation as central to connecting families to needed services. Quantitative analysis of navigator effort identified participant outreach, weekly check-ins, service identification, and ongoing supervision as essential navigation activities. Together, providing an environment that is supportive, consistent, flexible, person-centred and tailored to families' specific needs are important for connecting to health and social care.