The Generation in the Middle: Cohort Comparisons in Assistance to Aging Parents in an American Community

Keyword(s):  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 417-417
Author(s):  
Hyo Jung Lee ◽  
Jacobbina Jin Wen Ng

Abstract This study aims to investigate whether attitude and perception on late-life death and dying, end-of-life care plans and preferences could be better understood from current values shared between aging parents and their adult children in the multi-cultural city-bound country, Singapore. We are in the process of interviewing 20 aging parent-adult child dyads. Up to date, six semi-structured interviews were completed and transcribed. We performed Content analysis to analyze the transcripts. Preliminary findings showed that both aging parents and adult children rarely discussed this issue, although parents had their own plans or preferences. The major barriers against open conversations about death and dying of aging parents include: the perception of not-yet time to talk about this issue (without knowing when the right time is) and tendency to have conversations about death in tandem with finances, but not death itself. Although specific end-of-life care plans or arrangements were not thought out thoroughly, aging parents expressed a high level of trust and reliance on close family members’ decisions regarding their end-of-life care. They tended to agree on joint decision-making process within family, even though adult children had no or unmatched ideas about their aging parents’ end-of-life wishes. This did not necessarily align with previous findings in Western countries, underscoring individuals’ control over their own death and dying process. Open conversation within family, family-involved advance care planning, or joint decision-making processes may be warranted to promote quality of life and death in older Singaporeans and well-being of their family members of all ages.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Kiesow ◽  
Lucina Q. Uddin ◽  
Boris C. Bernhardt ◽  
Joseph Kable ◽  
Danilo Bzdok

AbstractIn any stage of life, humans crave connection with other people. In midlife, transitions in social networks can relate to new leadership roles at work or becoming a caregiver for aging parents. Previous neuroimaging studies have pinpointed the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to undergo structural remodelling during midlife. Social behavior, personality predisposition, and demographic profile all have intimate links to the mPFC according in largely disconnected literatures. Here, we explicitly estimated their unique associations with brain structure using a fully Bayesian framework. We weighed against each other a rich collection of 40 UK Biobank traits with their interindividual variation in social brain morphology in ~10,000 middle-aged participants. Household size and daily routines showed several of the largest effects in explaining variation in social brain regions. We also revealed male-biased effects in the dorsal mPFC and amygdala for job income, and a female-biased effect in the ventral mPFC for health satisfaction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-98
Author(s):  
Jonathan Silin

Hope is at the heart of the educational endeavour. Yet it is a challenge for educators to sustain a sense of hope in a worried world where terrorism, mass migrations, global warming and ultra-right political movements are on the rise. Acknowledging that hopefulness always involves risk, this article identifies three pedagogical practices which support potential and possibility in children: letting go of worry, engaging in the pleasures of forgetting, and learning to wait. Drawing on his work as an early childhood educator, AIDS advocate and caregiver to his aging parents, the author suggests that self-restraint – checking the impulse to fix and remediate – may be the most effective way to help others. Leaving aside excessive rules and abstract theories enables teachers to stay in the moment and in relation with others. Rejecting a blind hope that defends against remembering the ravages of personal and social histories, the author proposes embracing a modulated or educated hope (José Muñoz) that can keep us grounded in the real, even as we imagine the world differently.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S488-S488
Author(s):  
Kent Jason G Cheng ◽  
Janet M Wilmoth

Abstract This study investigates the socio-economic determinants of informal caregiving for elderly parents in urban India, with a focus on caste differences. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models of caregiving are estimated with data from 2011 data of Osaka University’s Preference Parameters Study. Three types of caregiving are examined: helping with housework, financial assistance, and providing care. The control variables include: age, sex, marital status, wealth, religiosity, self-rated health, parents requiring care, number of siblings, and number of co-resident children. The bivariate analysis indicates that the highest caste is significantly less likely than the lowest caste to help with housework (OR=.734, SE=.127). In the fully specified models, there is not a significant difference between caste groups in the likelihood of helping with housework or providing financial assistance, but the highest caste is more likely than the lowest caste to provide care (OR=1.443, SE=.309). Being female and married significantly lowers the odds of each type of caregiving. Wealth increases the likelihood of providing help with housework and financial assistance. When both parents require care, children are more likely to provide financial assistance and help with housework, but when one parent requires care, children are more likely to provide care. Overall, sex, marital status, and wealth are the strongest predictors of helping with housework and financial assistance, whereas sex, marital status, and caste are the most important predictors of providing care. The implications of these findings for aging parents and adult children in urban India are discussed.


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