Family Structure and Quality of Life of Elders in Rural China: The Role of the New Rural Social Pension

Using data from a survey in Ankang district of Shaanxi province of China in 2011, this article examines the protective effect of the New Rural Social Pension (NRSP) on quality of life of rural elders, as well the moderating effect on association between family structure and quality of life. An instrumental variable approach is used. NRSP is shown to significantly improve the quality of life of rural elders, and a robustness check shows that this effect is consistent across different sets of subgroups. Compared with the elders who have at least one son, the quality of life of those who are childless or have only one child is significantly lower. The NRSP is more likely to significantly improve the quality of life of one-child elders. In addition, the associations between the NRSP and the different facets of quality of life of the elders are significant except for the facet of sensory abilities.     

Lift Every Voice: Voices of African-American Lesbian Elders

Old lesbians of African descent have experienced racism, heterosexism, homophobia, and ageism. This article explores the topics of aging, ageism, heterosexism, and minority stress among older African-American lesbians. The narratives and subsequent analysis offer significant contributions to the dialogue regarding Black aging lesbians in the aging and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities generally and in the African-American and African-American lesbian communities specifically.     

Environmental Exposures to Metals in Native Communities and Implications for Child Development: Basis for the Navajo Birth Cohort Study

Two disparate statistics often cited for the Western United States raise concern about risks for developmental disabilities in Native American children. First, 13 of the states with the highest percentage of Native American population are located in the Western United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2010 (U.S. Census Briefs, January, #C2010BR-10). Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-10.pdf [Google Scholar]). Second, more than 161,000 abandoned hard-rock mines are located in 12 Western states (General Accounting Office, 2014 General Accounting Office. (2014, July 14). GAO-11–834T: Abandoned Mines. Information on the number of hardrock mines, cost of cleanup, and value of financial assurances. Statement of Anu K. Mittal, Director, Natural Resources and Environment Team, Testimony before the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-834T [Google Scholar]). Moreover, numerous studies have linked low-level metals exposure with birth defects and developmental delays. Concern has emerged among tribal populations that metals exposure from abandoned mines might threaten development of future generations.     

Toward a Culturally Informed Rehabilitation Treatment Model for American Indian/Alaska Native Veterans

American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) have a long tradition of military service, allying with Western forces in North America since the 1700s. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that AI/AN veterans experience higher rates of overall disability and service-related disability than veterans of other races and ethnicities. It is not clear, however, that AI/AN veterans with disabilities are receiving effective, culturally informed rehabilitation services. This article examines the incidence of disability among contemporary AI/AN veterans, considers barriers to effective treatment, and points out model programs tailored to the particular needs of this population, with attention to the historical and cultural context of AI/AN military service.     

欠发达地区农村养老模式探析——衢州市枫村花村养老的经验研究

家庭养老在欠发达地区的农村已经弱化,主要原因是社会变迁、社会流动、社会竞争和家庭结构的变化;社区养老的覆盖面太窄,发挥作用小;社会化养老还存在着接受的问题。该地区农村养老面临严峻的挑战。     

Resilience in low-income African American women living and aging with HIV

Women are living with HIV into middle and older age and are likely to face multiple comorbidities and stressors as they age. This study focused on understanding how women who experience multiple forms of oppression and ongoing adversity are still able to adapt and stand strong. Using a theoretical framework of resilience and a feminist research ideology, interviews of eight middle-aged and older African American women living with HIV were analyzed. Despite experiences of HIV-related discrimination, trauma, and violence, these women demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt and maintain support. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Self-Assessment and Change in One's Profession: Notes on the Phenomenology of Aging Among Mid-Life Women

Using data from a pilot study of mid-life, mid-career women in nursing, this research note suggests further exploration of women's work roles in understanding subjective assessments of self and aging. The analysis shows that among the nurses studied, dynamics of occupational or professional change were related to views of self in the future. These issues of change rather than age graded norms for achievement were paramount in the nurses' self assessment.     

Gender,Widowhood, and Long-Term Care in the Older Mexican American Population

SUMMARY

The objective of this study is to examine the influences of gender on long-term care service use among older Mexican American widows and widowers. Our analysis is based on a sample of 773 widows and 183 widowers from the Longitudinal Study of Elderly Mexican American Health (H-EPESE). In this sample widows resemble widowers in terms of demographic and health characteristics. However, widows report more financial strain than widowers and a greater welfare dependency (SSI) and Medicaid use. Among those who suffered diminished health, widows were more likely than widowers to use community-based long-term care services whereas widowers were more likely to enter a nursing home. Widows also had more instrumental and socioemotional support than widowers. Serious cognitive and functional impairment, though, places widows and widowers at the same risk of institutionalization. We end with a discussion of the policy implications of these findings.     

“Difficult,Messy, Nasty,and Sensational”

Feminist publishing played an important role in the feminist art movement of the 1970s and into the 1980s, and Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics was a key journal in this landscape. This paper argues that Heresies is important not only because it was a forum for some of the most influential feminist art women of the period, but because it experimented with an editorial structure that required participants to reckon with the discomforts of difference. Editors of the periodical took seriously the feminist critique of hierarchically structured organizational cultures and both promoted and practiced collective publishing. Moreover, through an emphasis on editorial statements, I consider how Heresies gives expression to the affective entanglements of the women involved in Heresies' specific form of collaboration and collective feminist politics. An examination of the editorials as sites of affective intensity helps to come to an understanding not of what women were thinking, writing, and making, but how they may have felt about their work and their relationships with women with whom they worked.     

Color capital: Examining the racialized nature of beauty via colorism and skin bleaching

Colorism, like whiteness is capital, is rooted in the institution of slavery and has resulted in the preference of light skin. Because colorism is part of the historical construction of whiteness, the consumption of whiteness is commodified through various markets. Current manifestations of racialized beauty, that is, skin bleaching and photo editing apps such as FaceTune and Snap Chat reinforce colorism and impact conceptualizations of beauty. This literature review surveys how colorism and racialized beauty are reproduced to reinforce whiteness as a form of capital.