Deciding to Institutionalize: Caregiving Crisis,Intergenerational Communication,and Uncertainty Management for Elders and Their Children in Shanghai

This phenomenological study integrated crisis theory, social identity theory, and uncertainty management theory to conceptualize the decision-making process around institutionalization among nursing home residents and their children in Shanghai. I conducted face-to-face, semistructured interviews with 12 dyads of matched elders and their children (N = 24). The findings suggest that caregiving crises triggered intergenerational communication about caregiving alternatives and new arrangements, although each generation had different stances and motivations. Children finalized the decision by helping their parents to manage the uncertainties pertaining to institutionalization. This study sheds light on caregiving decision-making dynamics for the increasing aging population across cultures.     

Caregiving and Our Inner Elder

Abstract

Dutch Priest Henri Nouwen, who died in 1996, has a large following of devoted readers. Though not formally a gerontologist, he wrote one small book, Aging: The Fulfillment of Life, full of remarkable insights into the meaning of growing old. Two approaches to caring for older people have special resonance. First, a person must appropriate his or her own aging, coming to grips with one's aging self. Secondly, one must allow the old person to enter into one's own life. Incorporating these two principles into service of elders gives it a spiritual value that goes beyond merely routine contact.     

Preparing Social Work Students to Work with Grandparents in Kinship Care

Summary

Grandparents in kinship care represent an expanding population of older adults assuming primary parenting responsibilities for their grandchildren at a time when many grandparents may also be experiencing developmental changes accompanying their own aging process. Research documents a lack of social workers prepared to respond to the needs of an aging population in general, and grandparents in kinship care in particular, as curricular content on this population has been limited in undergraduate and graduate social work programs. This article describes an infusion model proposed for an undergraduate social work program's GeroRich Project designed to introduce content on an aging population in four foundation courses to expand students' knowledge of older adults and grandparents as kinship care providers.     

Is brief daily body–mind–spirit practice desirable for staff who provide services for elderly people? Two pilot studies with care and professional workers

A symptoms-focused approach had only limited short-term effects in addressing burnout. A new trend is toward a positive approach in fostering well-being in the workplace. The current study piloted a daily body–mind–spirit practice programme which provided a 15-minute small-group meeting with staff who provide services for elderly people, towards the end of every workday for one month at two study sites. Repeated measures of burnout, daily spiritual experience (DSE) and engagement were taken at pre-intervention, post-intervention (the intervention lasted for one month) and one month after intervention. The two groups, home help workers and professional staff respectively, showed different patterns in burnout reduction and increase of DSE.     

Looking for best practice in caring for disabled children: a case of socialized foster care in China

This study focuses on the problems associated with caring for children with cerebral palsy (CWCP) in Chinese State Children's Welfare Institutions (SCWIs). It considers how to place these children with foster families and also provide them with the best rehabilitation services. In a pilot project, one SCWI trained foster parents as rehabilitators and provided services to CWCPs living with foster families in selected rural communities. The practice was very successful over the last decade, and more than 600 CWCPs in these communities are growing up happily. Hence, specialized foster care projects could be a solution for all SCWIs in China, where most of the institutionalized children are disabled.     

Post Acute Care of the Elderly in Singapore What Factors Influence Use of Services?

This research focused on understanding the factors associated with utilization of post-acute care services in Singapore and how these are woven into family care as well as the lived experience of elderly persons and their families. The multi-method study applied Andersen's model and the quantitative results of the 299 elderly Singaporeans surveyed showed medical and physical conditions, perceived health and utility, knowledge and previous use of service, ethnicity, family size, paid help, housing type, and living arrangement as significant factors. Qualitative results from interviews of a subsample of 13 elderly and their family members and focus group discussions of providers consistently pointed affordability of services as an important factor. Findings surfaced the question of service accessibility and its implications on practice, policy, and research.     

Unemployment,Medicaid provisions,the mental health industry,and suicide

This study examines the association between unemployment, Medicaid provisions, the mental health industry, and adult suicides in nine US northeastern states from 1999 to 2009. Results show that increased unemployment is associated with more Medicaid beneficiaries and higher health care spending per beneficiary with no significant relationship with Medicaid mental health spending. The Medicaid beneficiary rate is positively associated with the number of mental health clinics, mental health and substance abuse social workers, mental health counselors, and psychiatrists, with no significant association with mental health physician offices or psychologists. Unemployment is also related with increasing suicide rates for the overall population and White non-Hispanics, aged 16–64, with the worst association for White non-Hispanic males. The composition of the mental health industry is also associated with suicide rates. Maintaining an appropriate mix of mental health facilities and professionals to prevent, diagnose, and treat mental health disorders remains a critical public health challenge.     

《太阳照在桑干河上》与丁玲的创作个性

曾有学者认为《太阳照在桑干河上》是丁玲失去创作个性的产物。本文从不久前公开发表的丁玲一篇佚文入手,联系该长篇小说创作与出版过程中的曲折经历,对其体现的作者创作个性作了较为具体扼要的分析,证明它仍具有丁玲作品一贯的大气和锋芒;并通过相关材料的独家披露,澄清了《桑干河上》何以能获得斯大林文艺奖这一文学史上经常引起猜测和遭致误解的谜团。     

英汉亲属称谓差异与翻译

从英汉两民族的自然地理、政治、伦理等方面出发,对比英汉亲属称谓语在年龄和辈分、父系和母系、性别、血亲与姻亲以及亲属称谓与泛化等方面的差异,并针对翻译中出现的问题提出了亲属称谓语的翻译方法,如归化法、概括法、简化法﹑统一法﹑直译法等。     

中国古典私家园林对医院户外景观设计的启示

随着医学模式的转变和人们对就医环境要求的不断提高,户外景观设计也越来越成为医院建设和改造的重点。而作为“景观疗养”的典范,有着悠久历史的中国古典私家园林在营造理念、体现人文关怀及设计手法方面对现代医疗机构有着重要的启示意义,能激发人们强烈的心理归属感。另外,对古典私家园林成功作法的借鉴,应该建立在对现代人生活方式、行为模式深刻理解的基础之上。只有这样,才能设计出真正满足使用者需要、有中国特色的医院户外景观。