The effects of socioeconomic inequalities of working life on health: implications for an ageing population

Abstract

This study examines suggestions that inequalities in health related to socioeconomic status (SES) will increase in older age. A representative sample of the New Zealand population aged 55–70 years (N = 6662) responded to a postal questionnaire with measures of health (SF-36), SES, and health-related behaviours. Hierarchical multiple regressions supported predictions that the SES of working life will continue to influence physical and mental health in early old age. The strongest predictor was self-reported economic living standards. This subjective measure of SES is an important construct for future investigations of health and wellbeing among older people in an ageing population.     

论医疗改革的伦理本位

从哲学视角反思始于1999年的医疗改革失败的根本原因,探讨医疗改革成功的基础是中国当代哲学需直面的时代课题。研究发现,医疗制度设计过度理性、伦理缺失是导致改革失败的最核心的原因。为此,构建医疗卫生改革的伦理内涵,回归医改的伦理本质是中国医疗改革成功的哲学基础。     

新生心理普查对心理危机筛查及心理建档的作用分析

新生心理健康普查是大学生心理健康教育工作的常规工作之一．在这项工作的深入开展过程中呈现了诸多问题,而解决问题的关键在于认识心理测验的有限性,认识心理危机预警因素的复杂性,重新审视新生心理普查的目标,重新定位新生心理普查的功能,将筛选心理危机目标转化为心理健康服务目标,将心理档案建设工作拓宽延伸,充分发挥各级力量,始终贯穿于学生的大学生涯期间。     

艺术教育对高职学生积极心理品质培养的作用探析

高校大学生心理健康教育是以学生为中心,旨在培养学生良好的心理品质,促进学生身心全面和谐发展和素质全面提高的教育活动。在心理健康教育过程中,艺术教育以其独特的教育形式、丰富的教育内容和良好的教育效果日益受到心理教育工作者的重视。但在当前高职院校尤其是工科类院校中,由于各种主客观因素所限,艺术教育在心理健康教育中的作用尚难充分发挥。通过分析积极心理学视野下的艺术教育与心理教育,探讨了艺术教育在培养高职院校大学生积极心理品质中的作用。     

Economic Independence and Union Formation in Sweden

Although sociologists, demographers, and economists are generally agreed that economic independence enhances the likelihood that men will marry, there is disagreement concerning its effect on women. The view that economic independence weakens women's incentive to marry has probably been the most influential, although it has been subjected to few rigorous empirical tests with individual-level data. In the present paper we examine the predictors of forming a first cohabiting union, of progressing from this union to marriage, and of marrying without previously cohabiting by applying hazard regression to event-history data from the 1992 Swedish Family Survey, supplemented by earnings data extracted from the national taxation register. We test a battery of measures that reflect people's past, current, and potential attachment to the labour market. We find that the correlates of union formation for women are largely indistinguishable from the correlates of union formation for men, and that far from being less likely than other women to cohabit or to marry, women with a greater degree of economic self-sufficiency are more likely to do so.     

Long-term effects of childbearing on mortality: Evidence from pre-industrial Sweden

This paper presents an analysis of the impact of childbearing history on later-life mortality for ever-married men and women using historical micro-level data of high quality for southern Sweden. The analysis uses a Cox proportional hazards model, estimating the effects on old-age mortality of number of births and timing of first and last births. By studying the effects of previous childbearing on mortality by sex and social status, we also gain important insights into the mechanisms relating childbearing to mortality in old age. The results show that number of children ever born had a statistically significant negative impact on longevity after age 50 for females but not for males. Analysis by social group shows that only landless women experienced higher mortality from having more children, which seems to indicate that the main explanations are to be found in social or economic conditions specific to females, rather than in the strictly biological or physiological effects of childbearing.     

Formerly Homeless,Older Women's Experiences with Health,Housing, and Aging

The perspectives of formerly homeless, older women are absent in the academic literature on aging and homelessness. In this study, a group of formerly homeless women, aged 45 years and older were surveyed (N = 15) and interviewed (n = 11) about their experiences with health, housing, and aging. The qualitative themes to be explored include the women's perceptions of their current health, coping with low incomes, dealing with addictions to alcohol and drugs, and the importance of supportive housing and other community services. The female participants' views on adapting to home, planning for their elderly years, and views on growing older are also explored.     

When it hurts I think: Now the baby dies. Risk perceptions of physical activity during pregnancy

BackgroundA decrease in the level of physical activity from pre-pregnancy to pregnancy seems to be a general problem, despite the obvious health benefits of physical activity. Quantitative studies indicate that pregnant women's fears might explain why they reduce their level of physical activity, but still no qualitative research has investigated the experiences influencing these women.QuestionTo explore healthy women's perceptions of risk associated with physical activity during pregnancy.MethodAn interpretive narrative approach was used to gain insight into pregnant women's personal stories and lived experiences. Five Danish pregnant women aged 26–36 years participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews between September and December 2010. The analysis method was based on two types of narrative inquiry: (1) a narrative analysis to cover the story, and (2) a paradigmatic analysis to cover the themes.FindingsMost of the pregnancy stories highlighted a specific experience, which made the women anxious. These experiences were: previous miscarriages, fertility treatment and shortened cervix. Also bodily challenges and pain scared the women, such as hypertonic pelvic muscles, Braxton Hicks contractions, abdominal pain, exhaustion, and shortness of breath. The stories also described the impacts of women's relatives and friends on their perceptions of risk.ConclusionSpecial consideration should be given to pregnant women who have had negative experiences in previous pregnancies and bodily challenges, which make them anxious and discourage them from being physically active. Healthcare professionals could also pay attention to the fact that women's relatives and friends play a major role in women's perceptions of risk.     

"I Do" or Don't:

Although the health and social benefits of physical activity have been well documented, a majority of females at every life stage are insufficiently active to acquire those benefits. Explanations for this lack of commitment to physical activity have not been found. Marriage, as a social role and life circumstance, has been neglected as a possible explanation for the inactive lie patterns of women. This paper highlights the available scientific evidence on the relationships of marital status and spousal influence with the leisure-time physical activity of women throughout the lifespan. Research showed that women's leisure-time physical activity decreased upon marriage. The major factor in the maintenance of healthy levels of exercise for married women at all ages appeared to be a physically active and supportive spouse.     

Experiencing menopause in the UK: The interrelated narratives of normality,distress, and transformation

ABSTRACT

We investigated the experience and perspectives of menopause among 48 UK mothers through qualitative in-depth interviews. Interviews were analyzed thematically then explored using social science theories. Three interdependent narratives emerged: menopause as a normal, biological process, distinct from self and social transitions; menopause as struggle, an “idiom of distress” expressing upset, identity loss, shame, and social upheaval; and menopause as transformative and liberating, arising from biopsychic and relational changes. Some women followed a predictable “rite of passage” trajectory with transformation emerging from distress, but not all: Menopause arises from a complex interplay of personal predicament, somatic change, and sociocultural context.