Adaption and adjustment of military spouses to overseas postings: An online forum study

Little research has examined the impact of being an accompanying spouse on British military foreign postings. The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the experiences of 13 military spouses from 11 different overseas locations. Data were collected via an online forum and thematic content analysis was conducted. Key findings revealed that, regardless of the location, reactions to overseas posting varied considerably and were related to the military spouse's personality and personal circumstances, as well as their relationship with family, husband and their support networks. Spouses experienced a loss of control over their lives that was in some cases psychologically distressing. The findings corroborate and extend the findings from a previous study that was limited to one location, further highlighting the need for pre-established support resources from the military and healthcare professionals to be readily accessible for all military spouses. Importantly, such support provision may also facilitate the military spouse in regaining some control over their everyday life, enhancing their well-being and the experience for the family.

The impact of foreign postings on accompanying military spouses: an ethnographic study

As part of an ethnographic study, the impact of foreign postings on spouses who accompany military personnel was explored. Individual interviews and focus groups with 34 British military spouses based in one location in southern Europe were conducted. Key findings suggested that reaction to a foreign posting was a reflection of personal attitudes, prior experiences, support, ability to adjust to change and strength of relationship with the serving spouse and community. For many the experience was positive due to the increased opportunity for family time, for others this helped to compensate for the difficulties experienced. Some military spouses experienced significant distress on the posting, particularly if the family was not well-supported. The potential implications of military spouses not adapting to foreign postings have significant implications for healthcare practice. Provision of more appropriate support resources before and during the posting would facilitate the transition for the military spouse and their family.

Ritual, identity and nation: when the historian becomes the high priest of commemoration

This paper questions the use of 'memory', 'remembering' and 'collective memory' as a conceptual tool in historical study. It will ague that a synchronic model for commemorative practice needs to be highlighted, and in doing so questions the role of historians in commemorative practice.

Keeping it in the Family: Surviving Political Exile, 1870-1917

A sentence of exile was a regular feature of the Russian revolutionary’s underground career. In order to survive this punishment and continue their struggle against Tsarism, revolutionaries relied on help from their fellow exiles, their party, the Political Red Cross and, often, their families. Historians have rarely acknowledged the role of kin in supporting the revolutionary movement and very few studies have noted the attempts by families to mitigate the worst aspects of a sentence of exile. This article explores the ways in which spouses and siblings, parents and children obtained concessions from the Tsarist authorities regarding their loved ones’ sentences of exile, helped off-set the poverty to which many exiles were reduced, and, above all, combated the sense of loneliness and depression to which those in exile were exposed. This article argues that such familial support had a collective and positive impact on revolutionaries’ experience of exile. More broadly it provides an illuminating case study of the blurred space between public and private which the revolutionary occupied and highlights the way in which the movement depended on help from sympathisers and family members in order to function effectively on a daily basis.

Individual and couple decision behavior under risk: evidence on the dynamics of power balance

This article reports results of an experiment designed to analyze the link between risky decisions made by couples and risky decisions made separately by each spouse. We estimate both the spouses and the couples' degrees of risk aversion, we assess how the risk preferences of the two spouses aggregate when they make risky decisions, and we shed light on the dynamics of the decision process that takes place when couples make risky decisions. We find that, far from being fixed, the balance of power within the household is malleable. In most couples, men have, initially, more decision-making power than women but women who ultimately implement the joint decisions gain more and more power over the course of decision making.

Caregiving and its impact on families of the terminally ill

Changes in the health care system have meant that increasing numbers of the terminally ill receive the majority of their care at home. The purpose of this paper was to document patterns of informal and formal care provided to the terminally ill and assess the impact caregiving has on family members. One hundred and fifty-one family caregivers were recruited for interviews from two community-nursing agencies in an urban region of the province of Ontario, Canada. The majority of respondents 119 (79%) were the female spouses of the patient. The numbers of caregivers providing assistance in specific functional activities were: bathing, 133 (88%); mobility, 123 (81%); dressing and undressing, 114 (76%); toileting, 101 (67%), and assistance at night 97 (64%). Sixty-two (41%) respondents reported that they had been providing some form of caregiving for over one year. They also reported that physical demands in caregiving increased substantially during the last three months of the care recipient's life. As family caregivers provided more assistance in activities of daily living they were at greater risk of reporting high caregiver burden. The results of this paper identify the types of care provided by family caregivers of the terminally ill and the impact these demands have on the family caregiver.

Caregiving at the end of life:perspectives from spousal caregivers and care recipients.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine the perspectives of both the spousal caregiver and care recipient on the caregiving experience in home-based palliative care. METHODS: A qualitative research strategy involving home-based face-to-face interviews with older palliative care patients and their spousal caregivers was used to examine the caregiving experience. RESULTS: Ten spousal caregivers and care recipient dyads participated in the study. Most informal caregivers viewed caregiving as an extension of the family relationship where caregiving responsibilities evolved over time. Spousal caregivers identified many negative reactions to caregiving, such as fatigue or weariness, depression, anger and sadness, financial stresses, and lack of time. Care recipients acknowledged the emotional and financial strain and expressed concern for their spouses. Both caregivers and care recipients were appreciative of home care services although they identified the need for additional services. They also identified difficulties in communication with formal providers and poor coordination of care among the various services. Both caregivers and care recipients disclosed some challenges with informal supports, but on the whole felt that their presence was positive. Additional positive aspects of caregiving reported by spouses included strengthened relationship with their spouse and discovering emotional strength and physical abilities in managing care. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: Health care and social service professionals need to recognize and understand both caregiver and care recipient perspectives if they are to successfully meet the needs of both members of the dyad.

Living and coping with Parkinson's disease: Perceptions of informal carers

A review of the literature highlights the important role informal carers play in the provision of palliative care in the community. In order to explore the caring experience of relatives with Parkinson's Disease (PD), interviews were conducted with 26 informal family caregivers. Interviews were taped, transcribed and subjected to content analysis. All caregivers were spouses, the majority female (n=17) and all were responsible for providing physical, social and emotional care in the home. Although they viewed care giving as their role and duty, the results highlight the widespread burden of providing care on the emotional and physical health of the caregivers. The financial implications for providing care were outlined, with many reporting difficulty in accessing benefits. From the point of diagnosis, which had a huge emotional impact on relatives and carers, carers did not feel health professionals integrated them within the caring journey. Since diagnosis, carers commented on the lack of continued and coordinated care plans for relatives, resulting in symptoms being mismanaged and care opportunities for relatives and carers missed. Stereotypes of the meaning and timing of palliative care were common with many viewing it as being synonymous with cancer and not applicable to a person with PD. As the well-being of the informal carer directly influences the care of the person with PD, support interventions are required to relieve their burden, maximize outcomes and ensure targeting of services. © The Author(s) 2010.

Automaticity of cognitive biases in addictive behaviours: Further evidence with gamblers

Objectives. The hypotheses that automatic, non-volitional, attentional and memory biases for addiction-related constructs exist is tested with compulsive gamblers.

Design. An independent groups design was employed. Processing of gambling, compared to neutral and drug-related information was examined in 15 gamblers recruited from new members of Gamblers Anonymous. Comparisons were made with the performance of their spouses (N = 15) to help distinguish addiction mechanisms from more non-specific emotional experiences with gambling, and an independent control group (N = 15), recruited from the staff and students of a university department.

Methods. A modified Stroop procedure was first employed. Automative cognitive interference was assessed relatively, by comparing colour-naming times on the gambling, drug and neutral Stroops. A subsequent word-stem completion task of implicit memory was then used to assess selective and automatic priming of the gambling constructs in memory.

Results. Only the gamblers showed selective and automatic interference for gambling-related constructs on the Stroop task. Spouses behaved like the control group on this task. An implicit memory bias for gambling-related words was statistically detected only in the gamblers compared to the control group, although the trend was similar in the comparison with spouses. Further evidence for the specificity of these effects was obtained in subgroup comparisons involving fruit-machine with racing gamblers.

Conclusions. Results are generally consistent with an automaticity in the cognitive biases gamblers show for gambling-related information. implications for cognitive understanding and treatments are highlighted.

North by Northwest: The Life and work of Liam McCormick:Donegal Calling

I became an architect because my father was an architect, and I returned to Donegal to practice architecture because Liam McCormick was able to make great buildings there. My father's first job after graduating was with Liam in Derry in 1958, so architecture and Liam McCormick have been with me since I was a child. When I was six years old I remember Creeslough church being completed. I remember my aunt being concerned and asking my father why the curtains were fitted in the priest's house in Creeslough before the roof was added. He explained to her it was a flat-roofed house and, as such there would be no conventional roof! I was fascinated by the idea and how such an important building could be inspired by Muckish mountain.

The Psychological and Health Consequences of Caring for a Spouse With Dementia:A Critical Comparison of Husbands and Wives

Caring for someone with dementia can be demanding, particularly for spouses living with the care recipient. The main goal of this study was to clarify differences in the experience of caregivers who were husbands and wives with respect to burden, health, healthy behaviors, presence of difficult care recipient behaviors, social supports, and the quality of the premorbid relationship. The results of this study support research demonstrating a difference between the caregiving experiences of women and men. It is becoming increasingly apparent that female gender is a marker that places them at increased risk of high burden and less support.