scholarly journals A walk in the country: storying rural journeys of dementia care

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 998-998
Author(s):  
Jami Horne ◽  
Katie Aubrecht

Abstract Dementia and dementia caregiving are increasingly recognized as significant public health issues. Dementia may be more prevalent in rural communities; in part due to higher rates of population aging. In Canada the Nova Scotia provincial dementia strategy Towards Understanding (2015) emphasizes the need to address the unique realities of rural dementia care as a priority issue; however, research remains limited on this demographic in the province, and Atlantic Canada more broadly. This presentation shares findings from the Royal Bank of Canada Foundation funded study, Rural Dementia Caregiving: A Community Life Story, conducted in 2021 to address this critical knowledge gap. The qualitative research design involved a narrative review, archival research and narrative analysis of interviews that yielded rich stories of family/friend dementia caregiving in rural Nova Scotia. Stories illustrate how history, culture and identity inform dementia caregiver realities, experiences and self-perceptions. Study results also suggest that rural dementia caregiving is characterized by factors that include strong community networks and deep-rooted connections to land, culture, and heritage, which can be experienced as supportive as well as constraining. The conditions of life in rural communities, including restricted access to internet, transportation, essential services and paid care providers, pose challenges to dementia caregiving. They also provide opportunities in which networks and connections become more visible and may even be strengthened. Findings demonstrate the lived realities of rural dementia caregivers and the people they care for are unique. Addressing their needs require a distinct approach that acknowledges and can appropriately respond to these differences.

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-65
Author(s):  
Jude Egwurugwu ◽  
S.D. Ejikunle ◽  
E.I. Dike ◽  
M.C. Ohamaeme ◽  
Jude Egwurugwu ◽  
...  

Background: Cervical cancer is the 2nd commonest cancer among women worldwide and the most common cancer among women in developing countries like Nigeria. Though preventable by screening for premalignant and early cervical lesions, this is predicated on the knowledge and practice of a cervical screening. Objective: To assess the knowledge and practice of cervical cancer screening among women in Orlu, Local Government Area(LGA) Imo State, Nigeria. Materials & Methods: A community based cross-sectional study with the use of 502 interviewer – administered questionnaires was conducted among women in Orlu LGA of Imo State. All the women in the communities attending the annual August Meeting who consented were recruited for this study. Results: The study showed that the mean age of the respondents was 42±2.8years. Furthermore, 82.3% of respondents attained postsecondary school educational level, 61.8% & 21.1% were multiparous and grand multiparous respectively. Also, 80.5% of respondents have heard about cervical cancer screening. Majority (67.5%) of these respondents heard it from health care providers. There was a positive statistically significant relationship between educational status and the likelihood of having knowledge of cervical cancer screening, (p< 0.01). The level of practice of cervical cancer screening was very low among the respondents(13.5%).Though majority of the respondents have high level of educational attainment this did not reflect their practice of cervical cancer screening. Conclusion: There was high knowledge of cervical cancer and cervical screening modalities among women in Orlu but their practice of cervical cancer screening was very low. There is an urgent need to educate and encourage women on the benefits of cervical cancer screening. Key words: cervical cancer, knowledge, Practice, Orlu women, Screening.


2020 ◽  
Vol 103 (12) ◽  
pp. 1315-1324

Background: Factors related to long-term care needs have been studied widely, but there is limited research about the influence of health literacy on long-term care needs among the elderly in rural communities where the social context and care environment are uniquely different. Objective: To examine factors influencing long-term care needs among Thai elderly in rural communities. Materials and Methods: The present study used the cross-sectional design. The study sample included 477 elderly persons, who were members of the communities in Nakhon Ratchasima Province. Multi-stage random sampling was used to select participants. They were interviewed using the demographic and health information questionnaire, the Thai Geriatric Depression Scale (TGDS), the health literacy scale of Thai adults and long-term care needs questionnaire. The selected factors examined as independent variables included some demographic factors, depressive symptom, and health literacy. Results: The present study results revealed significant positive relationships existing between long-term care needs with age and depressive symptom, while negative relationships between income and health literacy were reported. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that four of nine determinants of long-term care needs: age, depressive symptom, health knowledge and understanding, and ability managing their health condition significantly predicted long-term care needs at a level of 18% (R² adjusted=0.18, p<0.001). Conclusion: The present study results showed associations between personal and health literacy factors with long-term care needs. These findings prove that it is vitally important for healthcare professionals to consider the rural elderly’s mental health status and health literacy when providing care and planning treatment. Keywords: Health literacy, Long-term care needs, Rural community


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 237437352110180
Author(s):  
Robin E. McAtee ◽  
Laura Spradley ◽  
Leah Tobey ◽  
Whitney Thomasson ◽  
Gohar Azhar ◽  
...  

Millions of Americans live with dementia. Caregivers of this population provide countless hours of multifaceted, complex care that frequently cause unrelenting stress which can result in immense burden. However, it is not fully understood what efforts can be made to reduce the stress among caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD). Therefore, the aim of this pretest–posttest designed study was to evaluate changes in caregiver burden after providing an educational intervention to those caring for PWD in Arkansas. Forty-one participants completed the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale before and after attending a 4-hour dementia-focused caregiving workshop. The analysis of the means, standard deviations, and paired t tests showed that there was an increase in the confidence and competence in caring for PWD 30 to 45 days after attending the workshop. Health care providers need to understand both the vital role caregivers provide in managing a PWD and the importance of the caregiver receiving education about their role as a caregiver. Utilizing caregiver educational programs is a first step.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 60-61
Author(s):  
Johan Suen

Abstract For holistic interventions and research on dementia, it is fundamental to understand care experiences from the perspectives of carers, care recipients, and care professionals. While research on care dyads and triads have highlighted the effects of communication and interactional aspects on care relationships, there is a lack of knowledge on how individual-contextual and relational factors shape the provision and receipt of care in terms of decision-making processes, resource allocation, and expectations of care outcomes. Thus, this paper sheds light on (i) how carers negotiate care provision with other important life domains such as employment, household/family roles and conflicts, as well as their own health problems, life goals, values, and aspirations for ageing; (ii) how older adults with dementia perceive support and those who provide it; (iii) the structural constraints faced by care professionals in delivering a team-based mode of dementia care; and, taken together, (iv) how community-based dementia care is impeded by barriers at the individual, relational, and institutional levels. Findings were derived from semi-structured interviews and observational data from fieldwork conducted with 20 persons with dementia (median age = 82), 20 of their carers (median age = 60), and 4 professional care providers. All respondents were clients and staff of a multidisciplinary and community-based dementia care system in Singapore. Our analysis indicates the impact of dementia care is strongly mediated by the interplay between institutional/familial contexts of care provision and the various ‘orientations’ to cognitive impairment and seeking support, which we characterised as ‘denial/acceptance’, ‘obligated’, ‘overprotective’, and ‘precariously vulnerable’.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-25
Author(s):  
Soleil Chahine ◽  
Gordon Walsh ◽  
Robin Urquhart

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the psychosocial needs of cancer survivors and examine whether sociodemographic factors and health care providers accessed are associated with needs being met. Methods: All Nova Scotia survivors meeting specific inclusion and exclusion criteria are identified from the Nova Scotia Cancer Registry and sent an 83-item survey to assess psychosocial concerns and whether and how their needs were met. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages) and Chi-square analyses are used to examine associations between sociodemographic and provider factors and outcomes. Results: Anxiety and fear of recurrence, depression, and changes in sexual intimacy are major areas of concern for survivors. Various sociodemographic factors, such as immigration status, education, employment, and internet use, are associated with reported psychosocial health and having one’s needs met. Having both a specialist and primary care provider in charge of follow-up care is associated with a significantly (p < 0.05) higher degree of psychosocial and informational needs met compared to only one physician or no follow-up physician in charge. Accessing a patient navigator also is significantly associated with a higher degree of needs met. Conclusions: Our study identifies the most prevalent psychosocial needs of cancer survivors and the factors associated with having a higher degree of needs met, including certain sociodemographic factors, follow-up care by both a primary care practitioner and specialist, and accessing a patient navigator.


Author(s):  
Eli Natvik ◽  
Målfrid Råheim ◽  
Randi Sviland

AbstractBased in narrative phenomenology, this article describes an example of how lived time, self and bodily engagement with the social world intertwine, and how our sense of self develops. We explore this through the life story of a woman who lost weight through surgery in the 1970 s and has fought against her own body, food and eating ever since. Our narrative analysis of interviews, reflective notes and email correspondence disentangled two storylines illuminating paradoxes within this long-term weight loss process. Thea’s Medical Weight Narrative: From Severely Obese Child to Healthy Adult is her story in context of medicine and obesity treatment and expresses success and control. Thea’s Story: The Narrative of Fighting Weight is the experiential story, including concrete examples and quotes, highlighting bodily struggles and the inescapable ambiguity of being and having one’s body. The two storylines coexist and illuminate paradoxes within the weight loss surgery narrative, connected to meaningful life events and experiences, eating practices and relationships with important others. Surgery was experienced as lifesaving, yet the surgical transformation did not suffice, because it did not influence appetite or, desire for food in the long run. In the medical narrative of transforming the body by repair, a problematic relationship with food did not fit into the plot.


Dementia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 1299-1307
Author(s):  
Caroline Vafeas ◽  
Elisabeth Jacob ◽  
Alycia Jacob

A diagnosis of younger onset dementia requires specific care tailored to the individual and the family. Dementia care workers often do not have the skills and experience necessary to offer this care within the residential and community environment. This article reports the development of an interactive resource to educate those employed to care for people living with younger onset dementia. Prescription for Life, a talking e-Flipbook was developed and piloted in two states of Australia. Feedback from the pilots was incorporated in the resource prior to a national rollout. The project was supported by an expert panel, including experts from national aged care providers.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanina Dal Bello-Haas ◽  
Allison Cammer ◽  
Debra Morgan ◽  
Norma Stewart ◽  
Julie Kosteniuk

Author(s):  
Adhi Surya Perdana

Tourism is now seen as a sector popular in the national economy and the world,where one of the motor industry style of contemporary capable of providing social servicescommunity, especially in the village of Genito in providing natural attractions and agro, aswell as the opportunities of economic growth in terms of employment opportunities, income,the standard of living and to enable the local production sector. The purpose of this studywhich is to identify the factors driving and inhibiting natural attractions as well as therestructuring and agro tourism. Problems include the lack of accessibility of land and thedifficulty of the motor vehicle to the location of natural and agro. This is a qualitative study,which describes the study explanation about the state of the field findings and submit thequestionnaire contained structured questions addressed to the public ranging fromcommunity leaders, stakeholders of the village administration, the offender driving tourism,and tourists with the total respondents as many as 30 people, using the method of randomsampling incidental. The study results showed that the natural attractions and tourism in thevillage of Genito there are two attractions that nature tenure is owned by forestry andagricultural land supported rural communities that provide beauty agro tourism.Restructuring of natural attractions such as swimming pools, fish ponds and objects whoseexistence Selfie nestled in the woods with Sukorini name. Restructuring of the naturalattractions in the form of a pool is an innovation village government.


2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Cameron

AbstractForms of medical regulation in Nepal are shown to limit health knowledge transmission in the name of protecting the people from health care providers both familiar and trusted. Within the last four years Nepal's Ministry of Health implemented controversial legislation requiring Ayurvedic medical practitioners to register with the government in order to practise medicine and to prepare plant-based medications. Traditional practitioners find the age and lineage requirements for those not holding medical certification in Ayurveda potentially devastating to their profession, and they have launched an active campaign resisting the new professionalisation requirements. These actions can be seen to result from the convergence of a rising modern Nepali state bureaucracy, the people's desire for a country free of high rates of morbidity and mortality, and the powerful ideology of Western-based health care modernisation guiding health development. I draw on recent research in Kathmandu and in two rural communities to summarise the role of Ayurveda in Nepal's health care, to analyse the politics behind the legislation and the traditional healers' response, and finally to suggest the legislation's impact on health care.


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