Cultural Reflections (Asynchronous - Online Only)
Featured On What Level Do Social Institutional Regulations Prevent Poverty Risk in Women?: An Evaluation of Social Benefits in Chinese Women View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session XiuZhen Ding, Jia Xu
This study explores how far specific institutional regulations towards social benefits in the context of social policies could prevent women-poverty risk in China in the fourteenth-nineteenth century and how far these benefits interact with each other. The paper relates particularly to two perspectives of social benefits, “Outside Marriage Benefits” and “Inside Marriage Benefits”. In the theoretical debate over women’s living situation in ancient China, women are often considered as appendant attached to the family. We argue that specific social policies towards the above-mentioned benefits helped to reduce women’s poverty risk in China and different benefit approaches interact with each other. In order to evaluate this theoretical assumption, this research investigates the generosity of the social benefits from two perspectives. “Outside Marriage Benefits” include owning fortune from the original family, dowry, assistance benefit from public property from the clan and government assistance subsidy and job income. The benefit defined as “Inside Marriage Benefits” include widow’s inheritance benefit and single-mothers’ benefits. This paper introduces a multi-dimensional approach to measure the generosity of social policy towards these social benefits and poverty risks of Chinese women. The empirical study is based on analysis of institutional regulations of social policy and historical records. It turns out that we get a better understanding of how women made their living in the entirely male-dominated society and how social policies prevent or leave gaps open to women-poverty risk if we analyze the role of different combination of women’s social benefits.
Collaborative Care among Staff, Informal Caregivers, and Residents in Canadian Long-term-care Facilities: Reflections on Stories in a Co-Created Ethnography View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Margaret Oldfield, Charlotte Lee, Lori Schindel Martin
Andrea’s mother just died. Feeling that Petal, her mother’s care aide, will understand her grief, Andrea asks, “Do you think she knew I was here? I told her she’s a good mother. Did she hear me?” Petal clasps Andrea’s hand, nods, but hesitates to say more. She worries about being disciplined for exceeding her scope of practice. Meanwhile in the dining room, resident Kate reminds aide Bonnie not to give fellow-resident Nancy milk, which makes her sick. These collaborative-care examples occur in settings that are simultaneously residences, workplaces, and second homes for informal caregivers—within highly-regulated, cost-containing contexts. Nonetheless, regulators expect residents’ care to be person-centred and experientially rich. Therefore, getting staff, informal caregivers, and residents to collaborate can be challenging. Although studied in hospitals, little is known about collaborative care among stakeholders in nursing homes. Our co-created ethnography aims to illustrate and mirror this collaboration. In our study, we reflect on stories from our observations as family members from diverse disciplines. We will also examine power in collaborative care. Our narrative analysis draws from theories of emotional labour (Hochschild), critical consciousness (Friere), critical disability studies (Oliver), person-centred/relational care (Kitwood), and interprofessional collaboration (Clark). Our work deepens understanding of collaborative care and can spark audience discussion about how long-term-care policies and practices might change to increase collaboration. This, in turn, could increase the valuing of emotional labour, help staff and informal caregivers flow through turbulence, enhance community among residents, improve relational care and residents’ quality of life.
Meaning of Work and Images of Old Age in Personnel from Elderly-related Services: An Analysis of Free Descriptors View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Miguel Angel Sahagún Padilla, Mariana Villanueva Rosales
This study is aimed at exploring the links between meaning of work and images of old age in personnel from elderly-related services. A questionnaire of free descriptors was administered to a sample of 240 participants working in health care, residential care, day centers, and leisure activities. Free descriptors were coded in terms of content and valence and then summited to correspondence analysis. Results include the prevalence of descriptors with a positive valence, particularly in the case of meaning of work. Three categories of meaning of work—satisfaction and wellbeing, commitment and motivation, and ethics and humane behavior—and two categories of images of old age—experience, wisdom and legacy, and warmth and kindness—had the highest frequencies. Outcomes of correspondence analysis include five forms of relation between meaning of work and images of old age: formality, transactions, relationships, compassion, and results. Implications of these findings and limitations are discussed.
Exploring the Impacts of Ageing with HIV: A Study of Six Women Within a Trinidadian Context View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Samantha Thomas
Social work intervention plays an important role in providing psychosocial support to women ageing with HIV. Women’s experiences were explored and master narratives that formed cultural norms challenged. Elements of the global definition of Social Work in relation to practice with this population were critically examined. The aim is to highlight experiences and raise awareness, arousing national attention and action, as conversations addressing ageing are scarce. An increased ageing population has caused economic and social challenges. A critical approach that leads to social justice can be implemented in service provision for women ageing with HIV. Intervention shows anti-oppressive practice can restore power. Intervention reveals social work a safe space to foster consciousness raising among women. Feminist participatory action research was used with interviews and talking circle methods. Talking circles created a space for consciousness raising and unsilencing issues. Women also planned and executed action to regain their power, evaluation was done through reflection. Women ageing with HIV possess the ability to negotiate their challenges, build strength and resilience through consciousness raising and support. Limitations affected this process while interacting in outdoor spaces, as well as geographic location. National conversations must include women ageing with HIV, and social workers have a role in challenging structural inefficiencies that cause social injustice. A social justice approach was used in intervention and new knowledge created for further research. Recommendations for future practice lies in an intergenerational approach, creation of safe spaces, restructuring social service delivery and inclusion of a gendered perspective from policy standpoint.
Ethnic Minority Communities and Elderly Care in Japan: An Ethnography of Inter-generational Space View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jackie Kim Wachutka
Although Japan ranks among the highest in the world for its elderly population, the presence of aging minorities has received little attention. According to Japan’s Ministry of Justice in 2020 there were 2,933,137 foreigners, a 7.4% increase from 2019. With a growing number of foreigners, the fact that many will settle permanently, age, and die in Japan is a reality. Currently, the “foreign” elderly within Japan’s peripheries face another kind of challenge in their aging process. The historical realities of forced occupation, colonization, poverty, migration, and tragic consequences of war, separation, refuge, and unexpected “homecoming” presents another dimension – aging in a foreign land. Witnessing a need to care for their elders, younger generation of Japan’s minority communities have begun to build multi-cultural, multi-ethnic care services. In senior daycare facilities, home-visiting services, and community outreach, the care-givers and minority seniors highlight crucial factors such as ethnic identity, language, food-culture, gender, familial relationships, socio-economic status, education-level, religious beliefs, and communal memories of migratory experiences as an integral part of “ethnic care”. Knowing the barriers that minority elderly face – illiteracy, discriminatory experiences, isolation, and stigma of being different – has direct influence on the quality of care provided, as well as mental health and physical well-being of foreign seniors. This paper presents ethnography of minority senior-care services of Zainichi Koreans, Japanese war-orphan returnees from China, Vietnamese refugees, and a mixture of Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese elderly, who reveal the interwoven complexities of aging in Japan.
Perspectives on Great-grandparenthood: A Systematic Review View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Emily Schuler, Cristina Maria De Souza Brito Dias
Within an aging world the role of great-grandparents appears as a possibility in contemporary multigenerational families, that is, families with at least four generations. However, it appears that there are still many questions around the role. Thus, the aim of this study was to research the roles that great-grandparents assume in intergenerational relationships that occur in the family and beyond it, through a systematic review. The search was carried out with the keyword “great-grandparents”, combining it with descriptors such as “older adult”, “intergenerational relationship” and family, in the following national and international databases: Periódicos Capes, Pepsic, Scielo, Latindex, Directory of Open Acess Jornals (DOAJ), Pubmed, PsycNEt, Redalyc and the Capes thesis and dissertation database. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, twelve articles were selected for analysis. Three categories may be seen throughout the articles; 1) Issues related to aging; 2) Intergenerationality: contact and care; 3) Types of great-grandparents' legacy. Cultural perspectives arose in the discussion considering nationality of the reviewed studies. The results point out that the role of great-grandparents occurs mainly in old age, being permeated by intergenerational relations with the aim of transmitting a legacy to the next generations. Great-grandparents appear linked with other generations, clearly denoting that intergenerationality is base for the possibility of this role.
Neighborhood Outdoor-shared Spaces and Mental Well-being of the Elderly: The Case of a Low-rise Neighborhood in Delhi View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Shreya Shukla, Tina Pujara
We are headed towards an Urban Aging Society. The built environment not only has a major impact on the mobility, independence and QOL of elderly but also directly influences their mental well-being. Many elderly tend to spend an ample amount of time in the outdoor-shared spaces of their neighborhoods, which is why these spaces need to promote social and physical well-being. India has started to focus on the QOL of its citizens too, although specific focus on mental well-being requires attention especially for the vulnerable groups like elderly. This study aims to find out what elements and qualities of neighborhood outdoor-shared spaces can facilitate mental well-being of the elderly in the case of a low-rise neighborhood. The selected case is of Sheikh Sarai, a low-rise high-density gated neighborhood located in Delhi, India. The research conducted was qualitative and primarily empirical. The interaction between the spaces and the elderly was critically observed and the activities observed were mapped. Interviews were conducted to understand their perceptions of well-being. Neighborhood design strategies regarding outdoor-shared spaces, which promote mental well-being of the elderly, were formed. There are very few practical guidelines for designers/planners concerning mental well-being. As elderly prefer to ‘age in place’, this study intends to bring the focus on improving their mental well-being via design at a neighborhood level. This study may influence others to research further in this field and focus on various target groups within the elderly spectrum, which can be used to incorporate their needs in the built environments.
