A Scoping Review of Interventions to Promote Health and Well-Being of Left-behind Children in Mainland China

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 1419-1439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao Wang ◽  
Bryan G Victor ◽  
Jun Sung Hong ◽  
Shiyou Wu ◽  
Jin Huang ◽  
...  

Abstract Approximately 65 million children in mainland China are left behind in rural areas while their parents work in the cities. Research has highlighted their health needs. However, current research on interventions for this population is unknown. The purpose of this study was to systematically review existing health service interventions for left-behind children in China. The study team identified interventions for left-behind children by conducting a comprehensive search of major academic databases for Chinese and English research. Articles were retained in the study if they were original empirical intervention studies that target health and related well-being outcomes of left-behind children. A total of eighteen unique studies met inclusion criteria. The majority of them demonstrated positive outcomes using various modalities, including education, sport and nutrition guidance and nursing services. However, the shortcomings in research design and intervention limit their replication. Intervention research for left-behind children shows an enormous gap in the knowledge about this at-risk group. Of the existing programs identified, we observe considerable promise for interventions based on inter-disciplinary approaches to services. We provide additional recommendations for conducting future research and for building collaborative relationships with social workers to better serve the needs of children.

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1536-1546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Roy ◽  
Gilles Tremblay ◽  
Steven Robertson ◽  
Janie Houle

Farming is often considered one of the most stressful occupations. At the same time, farming men symbolically represent a strong, traditional, or hegemonic form of masculinity based on stoicism, resourcefulness, and resilience to adversity. A contrast is observed between this social representation and their health status, marked by higher levels of stress, social isolation, psychological distress, and suicide than many other subgroups of men. A salutogenic approach was taken in this study to enable the investigation of the social contexts in which farming men positively engage in health-promoting behaviors that may prevent or ameliorate mental health problems. A focus was placed on how farming men cope with stress on their own, and the relationship of this to their popular image of being resourceful and resilient. Thirty-two individual in-depth interviews with farming men and a focus group with five key informants working in rural areas within the Province of Quebec, Canada, were carried out. Self-distraction and cognitive strategies emerged as the most relevant for participants. Notably, taking work breaks conflicted with the discourse of the “relentless worker” that farmers are expected to be. Pathways to positive coping and recovery implied an ambivalence between contemplation of strategies aligned with negative aspects of traditional masculinity norms in North America and strategies aligned with more positive, progressive aspects of these norms based on the importance of family and work life balance. Health promotion and future research should investigate how various positive masculine practices can be aligned with farmers’ health and well-being and that of their family.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-109
Author(s):  
Xiangnan Chai ◽  
Hina Kalyal

This study explores the relationship between cell phone use and self-reported happiness among older adults in Mainland China and whether rural/urban residence status moderates this relationship. The analysis is based on a sample of 6,952 respondents over the age of 60, from the 2010 wave of China Family Panel Studies. Findings show that using own cell phone is positively associated with self-reported happiness among Chinese older adults (odds ratio [ OR] = 1.283, p < .001). This relationship remains for respondents residing in rural areas ( OR = 1.616, p < .01) but not for their urban counterparts. Findings reflect on how the happiness of Chinese older adults has been affected by a growing shift in the traditional family values due to the unprecedented economic growth. Results also highlight the disparities between state support for older adults in rural and urban areas as well as the necessity to develop relevant policies to improve the subjective well-being of China’s rapidly growing population of older adults.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 882-903
Author(s):  
Franziska Laporte Uribe ◽  
Karin Wolf-Ostermann ◽  
Markus Wübbeler ◽  
Bernhard Holle

Objective: This study was conducted to describe care arrangements for persons with dementia (PwDs) who are living at home with the support of a dementia care network (DCN). Method: Data on the utilization of formal and informal support were collected in face-to-face interviews at baseline and 1-year follow-up with PwDs and caregivers receiving support from 1 of 13 DCNs. Results: Men with dementia were supported by twice as many informal caregivers as women (2 vs. 1, respectively, p < .001). Regional differences were found in home-care nursing services, social care groups, companion home services, and day care. The care situations were considered stable by most caregivers. Discussion: DCNs appear to contribute to a high degree of perceived stability in care situations. Future research should investigate possible gender differences in informal support networks. DCNs should continue their efforts in making low-threshold services in rural areas available and accessible.


Author(s):  
Feng Wang ◽  
Jingjing Lu ◽  
Leesa Lin ◽  
Xudong Zhou

Abstract Background One in seven members of China’s population are migrants. There are an estimated 41 million children left behind in rural areas who are living without one or both of their parents. The impact of two- and single-parent migration on child mental health and risk behaviors is unclear. The aim of this study was to compare the mental health and risk behaviors among children whose parents are either both migrating (B-LBC), have one parent migrating (O-LBC) or those whose parents do not migrate (N-LBC). Methods This study was a cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire conducted in rural areas with high proportions of left behind children (LBC) in Anhui Province, southeast China. The tools used were the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaires, Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Young’s Internet Addiction Test for Chinese. Results Full data were available for 699 B-LBC, 552 O-LBC and 741 N-LBC. After adjusting for gender, age, grade, number of siblings and self-rated socio-economic status, B-LBC were significantly more likely to have higher emotional symptoms scores (B(SE) = 0.36(0.11), p < 0.01), higher hyperactivity scores (B(SE) = 0.22(0.11), p < 0.01) and higher total difficulties scores (B(SE) = 0.79(0.29), p < 0.01) than N-LBC. B-LBC were also more likely to be an addicted internet user (OR(95%CI) = 1.91(1.33, 2.76), p < 0.01) compared to N-LBC. However, there were no identified differences between O-LBC and N-LBC or between O-LBC and B-LBC in any measures. Conclusions Our findings found that living with one parent or both parents was associated with better mental health and fewer risk behaviors than was being separated from both parents. Future research is needed to consider the implications of these findings for policies and programs to protect LBC, especially for those with two migrating parents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 606-616
Author(s):  
Higinio Fernández-Sánchez ◽  
Jordana Salma ◽  
Patricia Marisol Márquez-Vargas ◽  
Bukola Salami

Introduction: Despite the research on left-behind children, less is known about left-behind women across transnational spaces. The purpose of this scoping review was to assess the extent, range, and nature of the existing body of literature on left-behind women whose partners have migrated across borders. Method: This scoping review was guided by the five-step approach of Arksey and O’Malley. Fifty-four articles that focused on left-behind women across transnational spaces were included. Data were synthesized using descriptive statistics and conventional content analysis. Results: Left-behind women were primarily from Mexico ( n = 13) and the migrants’ place of destination was primarily the United States ( n = 14). We identified two major themes: (a) women’s social, economic and cultural conditions and (b) women’s well-being. Discussion: We identified significant knowledge gaps regarding left-behind women in the context of transnational migration. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shatabdi Saha ◽  
Rupak Goswami ◽  
Sujit Kumar Paul

Male out-migration from rural to urban areas has amplified worldwide in the face of economic globalisation. Migration literature for long has engaged with the life of migrants at the destination and their support for the left-behind families in the form of remittances. Explicit scholastic undertaking for the left-behind women and their life experiences has started to receive attention only recently. We take stock of the existing literature to examine this social process and debate it within a women empowerment-disempowerment framework. Following a systematic review of the ‘migration left-behind nexus’ literature, we find a clear trend of transformation in the gender role of women everywhere, especially in the form of ‘feminisation of agriculture’. This process is largely moderated by the nature and amount of remittances received at source. The resultant well-being and empowerment of women is shaped by the socio-cultural context within which migration takes place. Both positive and/or negative outcomes for left-behind women are recorded in the literature, although its choice as a conscious decision and its subsequent permanence in a society is debatable. We expect a deeper engagement of future research that takes up the migration-led women empowerment issue within the context of the general social transformation process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Visvizi ◽  
Miltiadis D. Lytras

This Special Issue of Sustainability was devoted to the topic of “Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being, and Happiness”. It attracted significant attention of scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers from all over the world. Locating themselves at the expanding cross-section of the information systems and policy making research, all papers included in this Special Issue contribute to the debate on the exploitation of advanced information and communication technologies (ICT) for smart applications and computing for smart cities and rural areas research. By promoting a thorough scientific debate on multi-faceted challenges that our villages, cities, urban and rural areas are exposed to today, this Special Issue offers a very useful overview of the most recent developments in the multifaceted and, frequently overlapping, fields of smart cities and smart villages research. A variety of topics including well-being, happiness, security, Open Democracy, Open Government, Smart Education, Smart Innovation, and Migration have been addressed in this Special Issue. In this way they define the direction for future research in both domains.


Water Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 686-701
Author(s):  
Abdul Majeed Nadeem ◽  
Muhammad Zahid Rafique ◽  
Khuda Bakhsh ◽  
Muhammad Sohail Amjad Makhdum ◽  
Shaoan Huang

Abstract The current study is designed to see the effects of water access on the well-being of the farming community in rural areas of Pakistan. The data were collected from 300 households of ten villages in rural Faisalabad, Pakistan where the population is facing serious water quality and access issues due to industrial pollution, lack of clean water supply system and limited access to fresh water for agricultural use. We employed ordinary least square and ordered probit methods to measure the association between water access variables and households’ well-being. We found that source and quality of drinking water, access to irrigation water, and percentage of crop water requirement fulfilled, and water expenses were statistically significant influencing the households’ well-being. The study concluded that water access conditions strongly influence the life satisfaction and water access conditions must be considered in future research. Acknowledging the contribution of village-level economic activities to economic growth, a strong policy is proposed to re-evaluate the existing rural water supply strategy to enhance the households’ well-being and enhance livelihood generation among neglected pro-poor farmers in rural areas of Pakistan.


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