Rural Aging during COVID-19: A Case Study of Older Voluntarism

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Amber Colibaba ◽  
Mark W. Skinner ◽  
Elizabeth Russell
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Rural Regions ◽  
Older Volunteers ◽  
Rural Aging

Abstract During large-scale crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the precarity of older people and older volunteers can become exacerbated, especially in under-serviced rural regions and small towns. To understand how the pandemic has affected “older voluntarism”, this article presents a case study of three volunteer-based programs in rural Ontario, Canada. Interviews with 34 volunteers and administrators reveal both challenging and growth-oriented experiences of volunteers and the programs during the first wave of COVID-19. The findings demonstrate the vulnerability and resiliency of older volunteers and the adaptability and uncertainty of programs that rely on older voluntarism, as the community and its older residents navigate pandemic-related changes. The article advances a framework for understanding the pandemic’s impacts on older voluntarism in relation to personal, program, and community dimensions of sustainable rural aging. Further, it explores ways that older volunteers, organizations that depend on them, and communities experiencing population aging can persevere post-pandemic.

scholarly journals Transnational families and the circulation of care: a Romanian–German case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELISABETH SCHRÖDER-BUTTERFILL ◽  
JULIA SCHONHEINZ
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Family Support ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Migrant Children ◽  
Transnational Families ◽  
Transnational Family

ABSTRACTThis article contributes to our understanding of transnational family relationships and the circulation of care. We are interested in understanding how large-scale emigration affects the support and care of older people in the origin country. Using in-depth interviews and participant observation, we examine the significance of transnational family support for older people, and the ways in which migrant children and other kin care for elderly relatives from afar. Our case study is of the Transylvanian Saxons, a German-speaking minority in Romania, who experienced mass-exodus to Germany following the end of socialism in 1990. The lapse of time since the exodus allows us to examine how transnational family practices evolve, and what the challenges are to maintaining family-hood over time and distance. Contrary to expectations, we find that material family support from Germany to Romania is not significant and has declined. Care, by contrast, remains an important part of what most transnational families provide, although practices of ‘caring about’ are more prevalent than hands-on ‘caring for’. Counter to optimistic accounts of transnational family care in the literature, we argue that the difficulties and challenges for older people of being cared for by distant family members are fundamental, and strong transnational family ties are not an inevitable outcome of migration.

scholarly journals Reflections on Industrial Heritage Transformation in Slovakia (based on a Case Study)

Politeja ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5(74)) ◽  
pp. 193-203
Author(s):  
Viera Krešáková
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Rural Regions ◽  
Industrial Heritage ◽  
Poor Condition ◽  
Tourist Destinations ◽  
Positive Economic ◽  
Surrounding Landscape ◽  
Important Position

In the paper, we have a look at one of the most popular and most used forms of protection of industrial heritage today: transformation. Central Slovakia is the region with the most industrial monuments and sites in Slovakia and many of them are more or less aesthetic elements of the local landscape since the Middle Ages. However, except of some popular destinations, Central Slovakia does not belong among the regions with high attendance of domestic and foreign tourists. Several industrial monuments are in poor condition and located in remote places where tourists rarely venture. In this article, we would like to point out transformation and adaptive reuse as an appropriate form of protection for industrial monuments and have a closer look at the potential of rural regions and small towns. As a positive example of a conversion, we analyze the Čiernohronská Forest Railway in Čierny Balog in more detail. We focus not only on its positive economic and aesthetic impact on the surrounding landscape and people’s lives, but also on building prestige and an important position of the rural and unattractive touristically region in comparison with popular and prestigious tourist destinations.

A Family With Autosomal-Dominant Progressive Sensorineural Hearing Loss

1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Halpin ◽  
Barbara Herrmann ◽  
Margaret Whearty
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
The Family ◽  
Patient Will ◽  
Language Pathology

The family described in this article provides an unusual opportunity to relate findings from genetic, histological, electrophysiological, psychophysical, and rehabilitative investigation. Although the total number evaluated is large (49), the known, living affected population is smaller (14), and these are spread from age 20 to age 59. As a result, the findings described above are those of a large-scale case study. Clearly, more data will be available through longitudinal study of the individuals documented in the course of this investigation but, given the slow nature of the progression in this disease, such studies will be undertaken after an interval of several years. The general picture presented to the audiologist who must rehabilitate these cases is that of a progressive cochlear degeneration that affects only thresholds at first, and then rapidly diminishes speech intelligibility. The expected result is that, after normal language development, the patient may accept hearing aids well, encouraged by the support of the family. Performance and satisfaction with the hearing aids is good, until the onset of the speech intelligibility loss, at which time the patient will encounter serious difficulties and may reject hearing aids as unhelpful. As the histological and electrophysiological results indicate, however, the eighth nerve remains viable, especially in the younger affected members, and success with cochlear implantation may be expected. Audiologic counseling efforts are aided by the presence of role models and support from the other affected members of the family. Speech-language pathology services were not considered important by the members of this family since their speech production developed normally and has remained very good. Self-correction of speech was supported by hearing aids and cochlear implants (Case 5’s speech production was documented in Perkell, Lane, Svirsky, & Webster, 1992). These patients received genetic counseling and, due to the high penetrance of the disease, exhibited serious concerns regarding future generations and the hope of a cure.

Jobs for older people: Case study of a legislative triumph.

1983 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-322
Author(s):  
Edward F. Howard
Keyword(s):  
Older People

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner--A case study in large-scale design integration

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. McMullin ◽  
A. R. Jacobsen ◽  
D. C. Carvan ◽  
R. J. Gardner ◽  
J. A. Goegan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Design Integration ◽  
Scale Design

Disruptive innovation and operationalization in local and sustainable food systems: Examining the University of Toronto-Local Food Plus partnership

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-139
Author(s):  
Lori Stahlbrand
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
The University

This paper traces the partnership between the University of Toronto and the non-profit Local Food Plus (LFP) to bring local sustainable food to its St. George campus. At its launch, the partnership represented the largest purchase of local sustainable food at a Canadian university, as well as LFP’s first foray into supporting institutional procurement of local sustainable food. LFP was founded in 2005 with a vision to foster sustainable local food economies. To this end, LFP developed a certification system and a marketing program that matched certified farmers and processors to buyers. LFP emphasized large-scale purchases by public institutions. Using information from in-depth semi-structured key informant interviews, this paper argues that the LFP project was a disruptive innovation that posed a challenge to many dimensions of the established food system. The LFP case study reveals structural obstacles to operationalizing a local and sustainable food system. These include a lack of mid-sized infrastructure serving local farmers, the domination of a rebate system of purchasing controlled by an oligopolistic foodservice sector, and embedded government support of export agriculture. This case study is an example of praxis, as the author was the founder of LFP, as well as an academic researcher and analyst.

Algorithm of combining chromatography mass spectrometry-untargeted profiling and multivariate analysis for identification of marker-substances in samples of complex composition

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (7) ◽  
pp. 12-19
Author(s):  
I. V. Plyushchenko ◽  
D. G. Shakhmatov ◽  
I. A. Rodin
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Complex Composition ◽  
Unified Protocol ◽  
Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Marker Substances ◽  
Selection Testing ◽  
Untargeted Profiling

A viral development of statistical data processing, computing capabilities, chromatography-mass spectrometry, and omics technologies (technologies based on the achievements of genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) in recent decades has not led to formation of a unified protocol for untargeted profiling. Systematic errors reduce the reproducibility and reliability of the obtained results, and at the same time hinder consolidation and analysis of data gained in large-scale multi-day experiments. We propose an algorithm for conducting omics profiling to identify potential markers in the samples of complex composition and present the case study of urine samples obtained from different clinical groups of patients. Profiling was carried out by the method of liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. The markers were selected using methods of multivariate analysis including machine learning and feature selection. Testing of the approach was performed using an independent dataset by clustering and projection on principal components.

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