Volunteer decision making by older people: A test of a revised theory of planned behavior

This study was designed to test the utility of a revised theory of planned behavior in the prediction of intentions to volunteer among older people. Such a perspective allowed for the consideration of a broader range of social and contextual factors than has been examined in previous research on volunteer decision making among older people. The article reports the findings from a study that investigated volunteer intentions and behavior in a random sample of older people aged 65 to 74 years living in an Australian capital city. Results showed that, as predicted by the revised theory of planned behavior, intention to volunteer predicted subsequent reported volunteer behavior. Intention was, in turn, predicted by social norms (both subjective and behavioral), perceived behavioral control, and moral obligation, with the effect of attitude being mediated through moral obligation.

Referral to post-acute care following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the Australian context

The study aimed to describe the types of care allocated at the end of acute care to people diagnosed with TBI and to identify the factors associated with variations in referral to care. A retrospective analysis of medical records of 61 patients was conducted based on a sample from two hospitals. While 60.7% of the study sample were referred to formal rehabilitation care, this was primarily non-inpatient rehabilitation care (32.8%). Discriminant analysis was used to determine medical and non-medical predictors of referral. Results indicated that place of treatment and age contribute to group differences and were significant in separating the inpatient rehabilitation group from the non-inpatient and no rehabilitation groups. Review by a rehabilitation physician was associated with referral to inpatient rehabilitation but was not adequate to explain referral to non-inpatient rehabilitation. An in-depth exploration of post-acute referral is warranted to improve policy and practice in relation to continuity of care following TBI.

Estimating the cost of contact for non-resident parents: A budget standards approach

Most Western countries have, for some time, provided income support and/or taxation relief to parents with children in their care. The significant amount of research into the costs of children to couple and sole parent households has been important in assessing and developing family support policies. Changing societal expectations about the level of involvement of fathers in child rearing activities has highlighted the need to understand the costs facing usually male non-resident parents in having contact with their children. The budget standards methodology is used in this paper to estimate the costs for non-resident parents exercising regular contact with their children. Costs of contact are found to be high. For contact with one child for 20 per cent of the year, costs of contact represent about 40 per cent of the costs of that same child in an intact couple household with a medium income and more than half of the costs of that child in a household with low income. Household infrastructure and transportation is the reason for high costs. One implication of this finding is that the total cost of children substantially increases when parents separate. The article discusses some policy implications of these findings. This research is of relevance to social security, taxation, family law and child support policies and administration.

Are we too busy to volunteer? The relationship between time and volunteering using the 1997 ABS Time Use Data

Time availability is a key concept in relation to volunteering, leading to organisations and governments targeting those outside paid work as a potential source of volunteers. It may be that factors such as a growth in female participation in the labour market and an increase in work hours will lead to more people saying they are simply too busy to volunteer This paper discusses how social and economic change, such as changing work patterns, are impacting on time availability. Using the 1997 ABS Time Use data, it identifies a predictive model of spare time by looking at demographic, life stage and employment related variables. Results confirm that those outside paid work, particularly the young, males and those without partners or children, are the groups most likely to have time to spare. These groups do not currently report high rates of volunteering. The paper concludes by questioning the premise that people will volunteer simply because they have time to spare. This is just one component of a range of motivations and factors that influence the decision to volunteer.

Becoming mother and father in late adoption: a case study

Adoption in Brazil has long been related to practices of not disclosing the child`s history and origins, which become a family secret. As a consequence, most couples who apply for adoption prefer newborns. Late adoption is still an uncommon practice and requires a `family project` which accepts a different family model, new meanings of motherhood and fatherhood, and different ways of building affectionate bonds. It is important to investigate how a man and a woman become parents under those circumstances. This study aimed to follow up the emergence of adoption, motherhood and fatherhood meanings, in the discursive practices involved in the construction of adoptive parenthood in the Brazilian setting. This paper presents important meanings regarding parenthood produced by a couple who adopted two sisters, aged 4 and 5 years. Analysis revealed that to better understand the late adoption process, the meanings that emerge in the discursive practices should be considered. Those meanings pervade and circumscribe the family relationships, influencing how the individuals constitute their roles in the family. It is through the analysis of this dialogical process of construction that it is possible to identify the challenges in late adoption and to unravel the process of constructing affectionate relationships.

'Lots of little kindnesses': valuing the role of older Australians as informal volunteers in the community

This paper describes the ways in which older people contribute to their communities and families as informal volunteers. It challenges current ways of thinking that assign an economic value to the productive activities undertaken by older people. Using qualitative data from a study of older people resident in Queensland, Australia, the paper explores the ways that older people contribute to their families and to the community and the outcomes associated with these activities. Two specific themes emerged from the data: first, the ways' in which older people contribute to strong inter-generational relations, and second, how they provide essential mutual support that permits many older people to remain living in the community. These contributions, while often small in themselves, are in aggregate critical both to family functioning and to the maintenance of sustainable and healthy communities. Many are reciprocal interactions that add value to the lives of individuals and offer positive social roles in later life, and they may be particularly important for those from minority cultural backgrounds or at risk of social isolation. The findings suggest that older people are integral to community and civil society and, therefore, that social policy should respond to the ageing of Australia's population and recognise the positive contributions of older people, rather than emphasising the costs of demographic change.

Child psychiatry takes to the streets: A developmental partnership between a university institute and children and adolescents from the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Objective: High levels of domestic violence, mental illness, and alienation from authorities are associated with high incidence of children/adolescents living on the streets in low and middle income countries. The Equilibrium Project (Programa Equilibrio) was created to facilitate social reintegration through a virtual partnership between an academic psychiatric institute and highly vulnerable children and adolescents living on the streets, in group shelter with supervision, and in other high risk situations. Methods: Descriptive presentation of qualitative data and analysis of preliminary empirical data collected over a 24-month period. Results: Dialogue between academic professionals, street children, and city officials shaped The Equilibrium Project over the last 2 years. The program has progressively moved from a professional clinic setting to a community-based but protected activity center with recreational and professional services and an emphasis on linkage with social service agencies, city government and law enforcement officials in an academic research context. A total of 351 patients have been served of whom virtually all were neglected by their parents, 58.4% report physical or sexual abuse, 88.89% have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, 40.4% drug use. After 2 years of operation, 63.5% (n = 223) successfully completed or continue in treatment and 34.8% (n = 122) were reunited with their families. Conclusions and Practice implications: Program development guided by consumer input led to a successful program offering professional services in a protected community setting that facilitates social reintegration by providing ""go between"" services integrating relationships between alienated consumers and formal psychiatric, pediatric, social service, and criminal justice systems. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.