Comparative Study of Informal Health Care Networks and Elderly Health Status in Argentina and Cuba

The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of informal care support networks on the health status, life satisfaction, happiness and anxiety of elderly individuals in Argentina and Cuba. Recent economic changes, demographic changes, the structure of families and changes in women?s labor participation have affected the availability of informal care. Additionally, the growing number of elderly as a percentage of total population has significant implications for both formal and informal care in Argentina and Cuba. Methods: The SABE - Survey on Health, Well-Being, and Aging in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2000 was used as the data source. The survey has a sample of 10,656 individuals aged 60 years and older residing in private households occupied by permanent dwellers in 7 cities in the Latin American and Caribbean region. My study will focus on the Buenos Aires and Havana samples in which there were 1043 individuals and 1905 individuals respectively. General sampling design was used to establish comparability between countries. Individuals requiring assistance are surveyed on their source of help and the relative impact of informal versus paid help is measured for this group. Other measures of social support (number of living children, companionship and number of individuals living in the same dwelling) are used to measure networks for the full sample. Multivariate probit regression analyses were run separately for Cuba and for Argentina to evaluate the marginal impacts of the types of social support on health status, life satisfaction, happiness and anxiety. Results: For Argentina, almost all of the family help variables positively impact good health. Getting help from most other members of the family negatively impacts satisfaction with life. Happiness is affected differently by each of the family help variables but community support increases the likelihood of being happy. Although none of the family or community help variables show statistical significance, most negatively affect anxiety levels. In Cuba, all of the social support variables have a positive marginal impact on the health status of the elderly. In this case, some of the family and community help variables have a negative marginal impact on life satisfaction; however, it appears that having those closest to the elderly, children, spouse, or other family, positively impacts life satisfaction. Most of the support variables negatively impact happiness. Receiving help from a child, spouse or parent is associated with a marginal increase in anxiety, whereas receiving help from a grandchild, another family member or a friend actually reduces anxiety. Discussion: The study highlights the necessity for enhancing the coordination of various care networks in order to provide adequate care and reduce the burdens of old age on the individual, family and society and the need for consistent support for the caregivers. More qualitative work should be done to identify how support is given and what comprises the support. The constant change and advancement of the world, and the growth of the Latin American and Caribbean region, suggests that more updates studies need to be done.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF INFORMAL HEALTH CARE NETWORKS AND ELDERLY HEALTH STATUS IN ARGENTINA AND CUBA

This study will explore familial and friend support networks and living arrangements among elderly individuals in Latin America and the impact that this type of support has on the health of the elderly individuals in the countries of interest. Using data from the Survey on Health and Well-Being of Elders (SABE) from 1999-2000, I will explore which type of support has a larger impact on overall health. I will also measure differences in unmet needs for certain health services. This topic is particularly interesting because it will help to uncover what policies are best for aiding in the healthcare of the elderly in aging population. Lastly, the investigation of this topic will allow me to draw conclusions about the most effective means of social and public policy for the elderly community and provide me with information about the role of both informal provisions of support from family and friends, and formal provisions of support from the government. My primary focus will be on Argentina, using Buenos Aires as the sample city, and Cuba, using Havana as the sample city. These two countries have increasingly aging populations, poorer resources and vast inequalities, but, extremely different political, economic and cultural situations. Comparing the two countries will further allow me to determine correlations between health and the existence of support networks, as well as provide me with information to make more general claims that may be of use in the United States. Argentina is particularly interesting to me because of my abroad experience and homestay experience with an older Argentine woman who lived alone but depended upon her family for many healthcare needs, doctors’ visits and general well-being. In Argentina, I experienced a different form of living than I am used to in the United States, where many older individuals or couples live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities rather than alone or with family. The changing economic climate of the two countries coupled with labor patterns of women returning to work at rapid rates indicates that policies cannot just rely on either the formal or informal sector but require a combination of the two sectors working together.This paper will first give background on the difference in the economies and the health care systems in Argentina and Cuba and will show why it interesting to study and compare these two countries. I will then discuss the health status of the elderly in each population as well as discuss the informal care networks and the role of family in each country. This section will then be followed by a description of the data and methods used. I will end by drawing conclusions about the study and the outcomes, and then I will attempt to make suggestions about effective health care policies for the elderly.

Life on the Edge: Patterns of Formal and Informal Help to Older Adults in the United States and Sweden

Objectives Our objective in this study was to compare assistance received by individuals in the United States and Sweden with characteristics associated with low, moderate, or high 1-year placement risk in the United States. Methods We used longitudinal nationally representative data from 4,579 participants aged 75 years and older in the 1992 and 1993 waves of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) and cross-sectional data from 1,379 individuals aged 75 years and older in the Swedish Aging at Home (AH) national survey for comparative purposes. We developed a logistic regression equation using U.S. data to identify individuals with 3 levels (low, moderate, or high) of predicted 1-year institutional placement risk. Groups with the same characteristics were identified in the Swedish sample and compared on formal and informal assistance received. Results Formal service utilization was higher in Swedish sample, whereas informal service use is lower overall. Individuals with characteristics associated with high placement risk received more formal and less informal assistance in Sweden relative to the United States. Discussion Differences suggest formal services supplement informal support in the United States and that formal and informal services are complementary in Sweden.

The Role of Fraternal Organisation in Migration and Informal Labour Organisations in Mining Communities: Cornwall, the Keweenaw, and California Compared

During the second half of the nineteenth century fraternal and benevolent associations of numerous descriptions grew and prospered in mining communities everywhere. They played an important, but neglected role, in assisting transatlantic migration and movement between mining districts as well as building social capital within emerging mining communities. They helped to build bridges between different ethnic communities, provided conduits between labour and management, and networked miners into the non-mining community. Their influence spread beyond the adult males that made up most of their membership to their wives and families and provided levels of social and economic support otherwise unobtainable at that time. Of course, the influence of these organisations could also be divisive where certain groups or religions were excluded and they may have worked to exacerbate, as much as ameliorate, the problems of community development. This paper will examine some of these issues by looking particularly at the role of Freemasonry and Oddfellowry in Cornwall, Calumet, and Nevada City between 1860 and 1900. Work on fraternity in the Keweenaw was undertaken in Houghton some years ago with a grant from the Copper Country Archive and has since been continued by privately funded research in California and other Western mining states. Some British aspects of this research can be found in my article on mining industrial relations in Labour History Review April 2006

CHANGE FOR GOOD? AN ASSESSMENT OF THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN PERCEIVED BENEFITS BY ENGOS AND USER SATISFACTION OF SOLAR BOTTLE LIGHTS IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS OF DHAKA CITY, BANGLADESH

A major challenge for a developing country such as Bangladesh is to supply basic services to its most marginalized populations, which includes both rural and urban dwellers. The government struggles to provide basic necessities such as water and electricity. In marginalized urban communities in Bangladesh, in particular informal settlements, meeting basic needs is even direr. Most informal settlements are built to respond to a rapid immigration to urban centers, and are thought of as ‘temporary structures’, though many structures have been there for decades. In addition, as the settlements are often squatting on private land, access to formalized services such as electricity or water is largely absent. In some cases, electricity and water connections are brought in - but through informal and non-government sanctioned ways -- these hookups are deemed ‘illegal’ by the state. My research will focus on recent efforts to help ameliorate issues associated with lack of basic services in informal settlements in Bangladesh – in this case lack of light. When the government fails to meet the needs of the general population, different non-government organizations tend to step in to intervene. A new emphasis on solar bottle systems in informal urban settlement areas to help address some energy needs (specifically day-time lighting). One such example is the solar bottle light in Bangladesh, a project introduced by the organization ‘Change’. There has been mixed reactions on this technology among the users. This is where my research intervenes. I have used quantitative method to investigate user satisfactions for the solar bottle lights among the residents of the informal settlements to address the overarching question, is there a disconnect between the perceived benefits of the ENGO and the user satisfaction of the residents of the informal settlements of Dhaka City? This paper uses survey responses to investigate level of user satisfaction and the contributing factors.

Differences in Internet Usage - Social Inequality and Informal Education

In the public debate the internet is regarded as a central resource for knowledge and information. Associated with this is the idea that everyone is able and even expected to serve himself or herself according to his or her own needs via this medium. Since more and more services are also delivered online the internet seems to allow its users to enjoy specific advantages in dealing with their everyday life. However, using the internet is based on a range of preconditions. New results of empirical and theoretical research indicate the rise of a social divide in this context. Within the internet, different ways of use can be identified alongside social inequalities. Boundaries of the "real life" are mirrored in the virtual space e.g. in terms of forms of communification and spaces for appropriation. These are not only shaped by invidual preferences but particularly by social structures and processes. In the context of the broader debate on education it is stated that formal educational structures are to be completed by arrangements which are structured in informal respectively nonformal ways. Particularly the internet is suggested to play an important role in this respect. However, the phenomenon of digital inequality points to limitations consolidated by effects of economic, social, and cultural ressources: Economical resources affect opportunities of access, priorities of everyday life shape respective intentions of internet use, social relationships have an impact on the support structures available and ways of appropriation reproduce a specific understanding of informal education ("informelle Bildung"). This produces an early stratification of opportunities especially for the subsequent generation and may lead to extensive inequalities regarding the distribution of advantages in terms of education. Thus the capacity of the virtual space in terms of participatory opportunities and democratic potentials raises concerns of major relevance with respect to social and educational policy. From the perspective of different disciplines involved in these issues it is essential to clarify this question in an empirical as well as in a theoretical way and to make it utilizable for a future-orientied practice. This article discusses central questions regarding young people's internet use and its implications for informal education and social service delivery on the basis of empirical findings. It introduces a methodological approach for this particular perspective and illustrates that the phenomena of digital divide and digital inequality are as much created by social processes as by technical issues.

Landscapes of Education and the New Role of Social Work International Models of How to Combine Formal, Non-formal and Informal Education

Landscapes of education are a new topic within the debate about adequate and just education and human development for everybody. In particular, children and youths from social classes affected by poverty, a lack of prospects or minimal schooling are a focal group that should be offered new approaches and opportunities of cognitive and social development by way of these landscapes of education. It has become apparent that the traditional school alone does not suffice to meet this need. There is no doubt that competency-based orientation and employability are core areas with the help of which the generation now growing up will manage the start of its professional career. In addition and by no means less important, the development involves individual, social, cultural and societal perspectives that can be combined under the term of human development. In this context, the Capability Approach elaborated by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum has developed a more extensive concept of human development and related it to empirical instruments. Using the analytic concept of individual capabilities and societal opportunities they shaped a socio-political formula that should be adapted in particular to modern social work. Moreover, the Capability Approach offers a critical foil with regard to further development and revision of institutionalised approaches in education and human development.

Digital Systems for Open Access to Formal and Informal Learning

Today, Digital Systems and Services for Technology Supported Learning and Education are recognized as the key drivers to transform the way that individuals, groups and organizations “learn” and the way to “assess learning” in 21st Century. These transformations influence: Objectives - moving from acquiring new “knowledge” to developing new and relevant “competences”; Methods – moving from “classroom” based teaching to “context-aware” personalized learning; and Assessment – moving from “life-long” degrees and certifications to “on-demand” and “in-context” accreditation of qualifications. Within this context, promoting Open Access to Formal and Informal Learning, is currently a key issue in the public discourse and the global dialogue on Education, including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Flipped School Classrooms. This volume on Digital Systems for Open Access to Formal and Informal Learning contributes to the international dialogue between researchers, technologists, practitioners and policy makers in Technology Supported Education and Learning. It addresses emerging issues related with both theory and practice, as well as, methods and technologies that can support Open Access to Formal and Informal Learning. In the twenty chapters contributed by international experts who are actively shaping the future of Educational Technology around the world, topics such as: - The evolution of University Open Courses in Transforming Learning - Supporting Open Access to Teaching and Learning of People with Disabilities - Assessing Student Learning in Online Courses - Digital Game-based Learning for School Education - Open Access to Virtual and Remote Labs for STEM Education - Teachers’ and Schools’ ICT Competence Profiling - Web-Based Education and Innovative Leadership in a K-12 International School Setting are presented. An in-depth blueprint of the promise, potential, and imminent future of the field, Digital Systems for Open Access to Formal and Informal Learning is necessary reading for researchers and practitioners, as well as, undergraduate and postgraduate students, in educational technology.