Researching the end-of-life in old age: cultural, ethical and methodological issues

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
LIZ LLOYD ◽  
KATE WHITE ◽  
EILEEN SUTTON

ABSTRACTIncreased life expectancy has strengthened the association between old age and death, with significant implications for gerontology and for the generation of knowledge through research. The global rise in chronic disease has had a significant impact on the duration and shape of dying trajectories in old age and their variations. This development poses ethical and methodological challenges for researchers, not least because it is often difficult to establish whether an older person is ‘dying from’ as opposed to ‘living with’ one or more diseases. This paper reports a comprehensive literature review of empirical research on the end-of-life in old age, and has two inter-related themes. It explores the social and cultural contexts of death and critically analyses the methods and ethical approaches adopted by researchers. Cross-cultural studies and studies in which cultural factors were of prime interest were selected with a view to examining the concept of a ‘good death’ in old age. The paper discusses the evidence of cultural similarities and differences and the impact of social and cultural change on ideas concerning a good death. It identifies contemporary influences and pressures on end-of-life care for older people and discusses the significance of communication and the roles of families and service providers. The paper concludes by identifying substantive and methodological lessons for researchers in gerontology and suggests ways in which the impact of research might be enhanced.

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-159
Author(s):  
Józef Młyński

In an ageing society, over-60s’ problems take an important place in the social policy. The State should be prepared for various implications, both positive and negative, of the ageing of the population, and should treat the potential problems of citizens as a challenge and an opportunity for the development of social policy, and within its framework, the policy aimed at the senior citizens. The senior citizens, by all means, constitute an important age group. This type of policy should be focused on both early and late old age people, addressing their different needs and expectations. This article attempts to show the challenges and the role of social policy addressed to the seniors, both at the early and late old age, especially at the local community level. The impact of the article is analysed in the three dimensions described, i.e. a brief outline of the ageing of the population from a demographic perspective, social policy towards seniors at the early and late old age, the challenge the 60 and over pose to the local policy versus their resources.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 391-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matilde Bombardini ◽  
Francesco Trebbi

This article offers a review of the recent empirical literature on lobbying within political economy. In surveying extant research, we emphasize quid pro quo and informational issues in special interest politics and highlight crucial open questions in both. The two main unresolved methodological issues remain ( a) how to account for the impact of lobbying on which equilibrium policies are chosen and advanced and ( b) how distorted those equilibrium policies are relative to the social optimum. Of the principal open questions within political economy, a comprehensive, quantitative assessment of the welfare effects of lobbying remains one of the most elusive.


2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 360-377
Author(s):  
Zahra ABBAS

The research seeks to reveal the impact of the means of communication and cultural change among new generations and their reflection on the nature of their cultural formation - The importance of research Modern means of communication constitute a threat to traditional social values and customs and put society in front of new problems, especially among new generations. Secondly, it is one of the most effective means to effect a cultural change that pushes society to interact with contemporary culture and break traditional barriers, and its ability to threaten a system of traditional social values in society The risks it can leave on social and moral values in society, especially on young people, which makes these risks reflected in the disintegration of the national feelings of young people and their direction towards their individual interests and the search for freedom and individual achievements and a culture of interest in the overall issues in society.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S236-S237
Author(s):  
Brittany E Gaines ◽  
Debra J Dobbs

Abstract As individuals are living longer, in many cases with chronic diseases, there is an increased focus on end-of-life (EOL) planning and decision making. This includes a broad spectrum of choices including advance care planning (ACP) and turning to palliative care or hospice care. Although there has been an increase in palliative and hospice care enrollment and ACP engagement over the past decade, participation remains low for certain subgroups of the population. The purpose of this symposium is to offer insight into reasons for these varying rates of engagement by exploring determinants and barriers to EOL decision making and planning and by examining caregiver knowledge of EOL decision making and planning from the service provider perspective. The first three studies examine various types of influences in EOL decision making and planning. Inoue and colleagues explore factors associated with the length of hospice stay, and Gaines and colleagues examine the impact of environmental characteristics in ACP. Ornstein and colleagues use Denmark registry data to assess the role of kinlessness at the time of death in EOL decision making and healthcare utilization. The final presentation by Noh and colleagues examines how service providers in rural areas perceive community residents’ knowledge of ACP and palliative care. The discussion following these presentations will compare findings across different forms of EOL decision making and planning, consider the impact of the varying methodological approaches used, and highlight implications of these works for potential interventions and policies related to EOL decision making and planning.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongpeng Cao

Purpose From the perspective of customer segmentation, most scholars show more interest in the very important person (VIP) customer’s service experience and satisfaction; however, the way in which ordinary customers view VIP services has received less attention. Based on fairness heuristic theory and social comparison theory, this study aims to examine the impact of the social visibility of VIP services on ordinary customers’ satisfaction and explored the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions of this effect. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments were conducted, Study 1 verified the main effect and mediating effect, Study 2 tested the moderating effect. Findings The results show that the social visibility of VIP services decreases ordinary customers’ satisfaction and perceived fairness mediates this effect. The deservingness of VIP status moderates the connection between social visibility and perceived fairness. Research limitations/implications This research changes the objects of VIP services research and focuses on ordinary customers as its main group and expands the scope of social comparisons among customers. Practical implications The findings expand the scope and perspective of research on VIP services and provide guidance to service providers to reduce ordinary customers’ feelings of unfairness so as to improve customer satisfaction. Originality/value This study explores the effect of the social visibility of VIP services on ordinary customer satisfaction from the perspective of perceived fairness, as well as the underlying mechanism and boundary conditions of the effect.


Target ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Monzó-Nebot

Abstract Remarkable efforts have been made in Translation and Interpreting Studies to test the subservient habitus hypothesis formulated by Simeoni (1998) in his seminal work. In the face of increasing evidence that translators tend to reproduce a given society’s or community’s prevalent norms and contribute to the stability of such norms (Toury 1978), subversive translation practices have been reported (Delabastita 2011; Woods 2012) and indeed promoted as a way of fostering social and cultural change (Levine 1991; Venuti 1992). However, insights into how translators’ subservient or subversive habitus develop and depart from each other are still lacking. In order to shed light on this gray area, this article scrutinizes the contrasts between the habitus of professional legal translators who acquiesce to and who reject the norms governing their positions in the field. Special attention is given to those who decide to abandon the translation field. Their behavior is examined by relating habitus to forms of socialization and studying the implications of their strategies. Based on a case study drawn from interview data, this article focuses on the social practices of resistance and rebellion vis-à-vis subservience, and the impact of both on translation workplaces, work processes, and translators’ futures.


2013 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Turriziani ◽  
Carlo Barone ◽  
Alessandra Cassano

Le Cure Palliative sono una risposta alla crescente necessità di assistenza per i malati affetti da patologie inguaribili, la cui presa in carico è spesso gravata dall’inadeguatezza della rete sociale e familiare, dalla scarsità delle risorse a loro destinate e dalla carenza formativa degli operatori sanitari. Sebbene il percorso istituzionale di questa nuova disciplina sia a buon punto, la conoscenza dei suoi principi fondanti è ancora molto limitata sia da parte dei cittadini sia, ancora più sorprendentemente, da parte degli stessi operatori, che ancora vedono nelle Cure Palliative una medicina della consolazione e della frustrazione. Al contrario, questa disciplina trova il proprio centro nella dignità dell’uomo fino alla fine della vita, proponendosi di rispondere in maniera globale a tutti i suoi bisogni e a quelli del nucleo familiare. Se il centro di tale risposta assistenziale è l’uomo, allora è necessario rendere lo stesso paziente in grado di identificare le proprie necessità ed entrare così nel processo decisionale sulla propria cura. Per giungere a questo tipo di relazione di cura, sinergica e consapevole, e ad una reale condivisione delle responsabilità si deve necessariamente passare attraverso una progressiva presa di coscienza della condizione di malato. Tale percorso deve essere guidato in primis da un medico formato in tal senso. Chi si avvicina al fine vita ha infatti bisogno di cure di alta qualità, che rispondano a tutte le sfere della persona coinvolte nella malattia, di continuità nell’assistenza e di relazioni terapeutiche stabili e mature. Parimenti, anche l’operatore che vive l’assistenza al fine vita deve avere gli strumenti adeguati per non danneggiarsi e lasciarsi sopraffare dall’intensità di queste relazioni. Da questo contesto nasce la necessità di un Master di studi che sviluppi competenze specialistiche e colmi il vuoto formativo in modo uniforme come primo passo verso un profondo e necessario cambiamento culturale. ---------- Palliative Care is an answer to the growing need of care for patients suffering from incurable diseases, whose management is often burdened by the inadequacy of the social and family networks, by limited resources and poor training of health workers. Although the institutional pathway of this new discipline is on its way, the knowledge of its founding principles is still very limited both among citizens and, even more surprisingly, among the same operators, who still see Palliative Care as a “consolation and frustration medicine”. On the other hand, this discipline focuses on the dignity of men till the end of life, trying to give a global answer to all their needs and those of their families. If the center of the health care response is the human being, then it should be the same patient to be able to identify his needs and thus to enter into the decision-making process. In order to achieve this level of care relationship, synergistic and aware, and a real sharing of responsibilities, patients must go through a gradual understading of their own disease condition. A trained physician should guide patients through this foundamental journey. In fact, people approaching the end of life do indeed need high quality care, which should meet all their inner spheres, but also continuity of care and stable and mature therapeutic relationships. Similarly, every health worker who lives patients’ end of life should have proper tools not to be damaged and not to be overwhelmed by the intensity of these relationships. In this context, a Master in Palliative Care is meant to develop specialized skills and fill the educational gap and it should be the first step towards a deep and claimed cultural change in our country.


Author(s):  
Lucy Bland ◽  
Lesley Hall

This article discusses the impact of eugenics in Britain. It discusses eugenics as a biological way of thinking about social, economic, political, and cultural change. It gives scientific credibility to prejudices, anxieties, and fears that are prevalent primarily among the middle and upper classes. It delineates the tensions between “classic” and “reform”, although this is only one modality along which to align the complex factors that polarized the society—some of them ideological, some of them about tactics, and some based on personalities. It gives a detailed description of the differentiation of societies' activities into study and practice. The social problem group; research into contraceptive methods; family allowances; race mixture; and immigration are discussed. The practices are divided into negative and positive. Finally, this article concludes that eugenicists see feeblemindedness as hereditary, emblematic of degeneracy, and contributes to numerous social problems, such as poverty and unemployment.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Metwaly Ali Mohamed Edakar ◽  
Ahmed Maher Khafaga Shehata

Purpose The rapid spread and severity of the coronavirus (COVID-19) virus have prompted a spate of scholarly research that deals with the pandemic. The purpose of this study is to measure and assess the coverage of COVID-19 research on social media and the engagement of readers with COVID-19 research on social media outlets. Design/methodology/approach An altmetric analysis was carried out in three phases. The first focused on retrieving all papers related to COVID-19. Phase two of the research aimed to measure the presence of the retrieved papers on social media using altmetric application programming interface (API). The third phase aimed to measure Mendeley readership categories using Mendeley API to extract data of readership from Mendeley for each paper. Findings The study suggests that while social media platforms do not give accurate measures of the impact as given by citations, they can be used to portray the social impact of the scholarly outputs and indicate the effectiveness of COVID-19 research. The results confirm a positive correlation between the number of citations to articles in databases such as Scopus and the number of views on social media sites such as Mendeley and Twitter. The results of the current study indicated that social media could serve as an indicator of the number of citations of scientific articles. Research limitations/implications This study’s limitation is that the studied articles’ altmetrics performance was examined using only one of the altmetrics data service providers (altmetrics database). Hence, future research should explore altmetrics on the topic using more than one platform. Another limitation of the current research is that it did not explore the academic social media role in spreading fake information as the scope was limited to scholarly outputs on social media. The practical contribution of the current research is that it informs scholars about the impact of social media platforms on the spread and visibility of COVID-19 research. Also, it can help researchers better understand the importance of published COVID-19 research using social media. Originality/value This paper provides insight into the impact of COVID-19 research on social media. The paper helps to provide an understanding of how people engage with health research using altmetrics scores, which can be used as indicators of research performance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 298
Author(s):  
Biljana Nackovska – Veljkovikj

The need for implementation of monitoring, evaluation and supervision in the system of social protection, in fact, stems from the need to modernise the organisation and work methodology of the providers. Service providers are often required or given support in developing ways to monitor the services provided (monitoring) and in the assessment and evaluation of the results of those services (evaluation). Supervision focuses on the fact how the work is done to quantitatively and qualitatively acceptable level. The following have been defined as research priorities in this area: the impact of monitoring, evaluation and supervision for better social service and determining the status for their application in institutions of social protection in the Republic of Macedonia. This paper explains its three components (areas): monitoring, evaluation and supervision in the social work. The objectives of their implementation are the welfare of the beneficiary, improving the quality of work and professional development of professional workers through the preservation and development of professional standards and the standards of a given service.


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