Through Gendered Lens: Explaining Chinese Caregivers' Task Performance and Care Reward

The Chinese cultural norm of xiao, or filial piety, has long been held responsible for the practice of familial caregiving for older parents. Yet few explore the gendered nature of such a cultural practice in the current changing economic dynamics. Using data collected in 1997-1999 from 110 Chinese caregivers who were caring for physically dependent elder parents, this researcher explores the influence of changing economic conditions and Chinese cultural values in caregiver task performance and reward. Findings suggest that Chinese caregiving is highly gendered: Women are more likely to be unemployed and provide more personal care than men; sons are not more likely than daughters to provide financial assistance for parents. Chinese cultural values are playing an important role sanctioning caregiver task performance. Caregivers who believed in patrilocal norms provided more financial assistance; caregivers who reported higher social pressure provided more personal care. While the caregivers' report of social pressure is positively related to the caregivers' performance in personal care tasks, it is negatively related to caregiver reward. The author further explores the gendered implications for the changing economy and culture in China.

Managing finances for a fulfilled Canadian retirement

Finances play an important, if not pivotal, role in a healthy retirement. Managing money, knowing where one stands financially, forecasting needs for the lifestyle of choice, are all necessary activities to leading a fulfilling happy retirement. Until the basic needs of life are met, the greater joys of socializing, esteem, and fulfillment cannot be achieved. In Canada there are pensions for seniors available according to certain requirements. Knowledge of these pensions is essential before retiring. Knowing how to evaluate one's worth and forecast future needs is necessary to achieve the anticipated retirement so frequently cherished. By planning early and managing decisions and actions effectively, an individual can ensure the best possible retirement.

Do patients who mismanage their funds use more health services?

One rationale for establishing programs that help patients manage their funds is that such patients make extensive use of expensive inpatient services. We surveyed the money management habits of 406 inpatients and determined their use of Veterans Administration (VA) services and related costs over the subsequent year. In multivariate analyses, there was no statistically significant relationship between need for money management and service use or cost. The misspending of funds for drugs may precipitate hospitalization for some outpatients. However, in a sample of hospitalized patients, mismanagement of funds was not associated with longer length of stay or increased service use following discharge.

Retirements at risk: employees lack a comprehensive, realistic view of resources and needs

Employees who are following conventional retirement-planning advice will be in for a rude awakening as they approach retirement and discover that they can't afford to retire just yet or are likely to outlive their retirement funds. The article discusses how we have arrived at this point, what the implications are, and what both employers and employees can do to remedy the situation.

Characteristics of third-party money management for persons with psychiatric disabilities

OBJECTIVE

The study examined different types of third-party money management arrangements for persons with psychiatric disabilities and consumers' perceptions of their finances in the context of these arrangements.

METHODS

Clinical and demographic data were collected through structured interviews and record reviews for 240 persons with a diagnosis of a psychotic or major affective disorder who had been involuntarily hospitalized and were awaiting discharge on outpatient commitment in North Carolina. All consumers were receiving Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance.

RESULTS

Third-party money management arrangements were reported by 102 (41 percent) of the study participants. A majority (77 percent) of these consumers had their finances managed by a family member. Consumers with third-party money managers were more likely to have a median annual income below 5,000 US dollars, to have a diagnosis of a primary psychotic disorder, and to have substance use problems. Most participants with third-party money managers reported that they received sufficient money to cover basic expenses, although about half also perceived having insufficient money to participate in enjoyable activities.

CONCLUSIONS

Given that treatment for severe mental illness emphasizes social skills training and development of social support networks, financial limitations could undermine therapeutic efforts. It is important that clinicians consider the role of financial concerns when assessing consumers. Additional research should be conducted to better understand the role of financial variables in providing effective mental health services.

Economic role of solidarity and social capital in accessing modern health care services in the Ivory Coast

At the beginning of the 1990s, health service reforms were implemented in public health institutions in most African countries South of the Sahara. In the Ivory Coast, the imposition of user fees for public services was adopted in 1994. Such fees require each person to have adequate financial resources in order to access modern health care services. Many poor people--despite their poverty--are able to access modern health care services that have become quite expensive. The factor that allows this access lies within the solidarity of parents, friends or members of a social network. In Africa, illness is a social phenomenon and a state of illness is negative. The sick human being is one who cannot fully participate in community life. The treatment of a sick person is, then, an act, which is tied to the systems of life, which are produced and maintained collectively. Once the causes of illness are identified and consequences evaluated, it is the entire family or group that participates in the finances which bring about treatment. In this study, we show the role of social capital in the processes of financial solidarity for access to modern health care services that now require payment. Our investigation provides valuable insights on the role of social capital with respect to social strategies and community financing mechanisms for the acquisition of modern health care in Africa.

Controllers and noncontrollers: a typology of older Americans and their caregivers' approaches to managing the private funding of long-term care

Virtually all the parents of the baby boom generation are now elderly, and baby boomers are facing long-term care as a real-life, intensely personal problem. The inadequacies of the American long-term-care system for meeting the needs of anyone--regardless of age, illness, or disability-are widely discussed. Many of these inadequacies relate to the financing of long-term care. In this study, the authors focus on older Americans' reactions to this issue and, in particular, how life course events and family background affect their ability to privately finance care. Using qualitative data, the authors propose highlyfocused views of individual responses to the current long-term care system in the United States.

Personal finances of urology residents in Canada

PURPOSE

We examined how Urology residents in Canada manage their personal finances.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A survey instrument was designed to elicit information on demographics, expenses, savings and incomes. The questionnaire was completed by 40 Urology residents attending the 2000 Queen's Urology Exam Skills Training (QUEST) program.

RESULTS

Twenty-eight residents (70%) had educational debt (median debt $50 000). Seventeen residents (45%) paid credit card interest charges within the last year. Four residents (10%) maintained an unpaid credit card balance > $7500 at 17% annual interest rate. Twenty-six residents (67%) contributed to Registered Retirement Savings Program (RRSP) accounts. Seventeen residents (44%) contributed to non-RRSP retirement accounts. Nineteen residents (50%) budgeted expenses. Median resident income was $45 000. Thirteen residents (34%) had cash reserves < $250.

CONCLUSION

Many residents save little, and incur substantial debt over and above educational loans. Many residents would benefit from instruction concerning prudent financial management. Residents should be informed of the consequences of low saving and high debt.