scholarly journals Perceptions on Connecting Respite Care Volunteers and Caregivers

Author(s):  
Solange Campos-Romero ◽  
Valeria Herskovic ◽  
Carolina Fuentes ◽  
Esmeralda Abarca

The most common requirement for informal caregivers is to experience a respite or temporary break from their caregiving routine. Some initiatives have been undertaken to provide respite care through volunteer providers. We report on a qualitative study carried out in Santiago, Chile, to learn about the willingness of potential volunteers to provide respite care for bedridden older persons, as well as their willingness to use information and communication technologies (ICT) to connect to caregivers in a low-income neighbourhood within their own geographic district. A trustworthy institution that mediates the volunteer–caregiver relationship is considered to be important by potential volunteers. Potential volunteers were found to be willing to use ICT to provide respite care, sharing basic information about themselves. However, they were also aware of the digital skill gap that may exist between them and the caregivers and were distrustful of unknown websites that could connect them to care recipients.

Author(s):  
Jasmine M. Harvey

The emergence of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) has generated much debate both in and out of academia in relation to theories ranging from economic advancement to imperialism. In the context of the ‘low-income’ economies, a dominant discourse associated with ICTs persists. The discourse of development predicts that nations which have joined the global market will use ICTs to harness global knowledge that will enable them to be competitive and therefore attain development. This has led to change in policy from international to local as ICTs are embraced as the next big development tool. Recently however, there have been reports of more failures of ICTs initiatives than success as professionals in the industry complain about unsustainability of the systems. A genuine issue is that so far analysis of this discourse has tended to be economically or technically deterministic, with little attention paid to social and cultural perspectives. In order to understand how the role of norms, practices and politics of people in particular communities play in this discourse in ‘low income’ economies, over 1000 semi-qualitative questionnaires were analysed from five geographical locations in The Gambia. A key conclusion that has emerged from the research is that there are different attitudes towards the ICTs in the different locations, which vary from full acceptance to rejection of ICTs. Such diverse reactions are underpinned by the religion and information ecologies in which gender plays a critical part. This result challenges the ICT4D agenda, and might be applied to reports of unsustainable ICT initiatives, especially in Africa.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Scarafiotti ◽  
Martha Cleveland-Innes

Higher education is engulfed in change. At the same time that institutions of higher education are endeavoring to transform themselves by integrating information and communication technologies into curriculum delivery, student profiles are changing. Low income-ethnic populations are among the fastest growing segment of 18–24 year old students; male enrollments are lagging in comparison to female; and the “digital natives” have arrived. Also, as the Internet provides students with access to a myriad of global educational opportunities, the potential for serving virtual foreign students increases. These changes present challenges and opportunities to institutions of higher education, which strive to serve their constituents through fully online and blended learning formats and aspire to extend education to new markets as well. This paper raises implications for online learning related to changing student populations. It presents two fundamentals crucial for ensuring student success, as well as, access in an online environment. Finally, it recommends two change strategies.


2008 ◽  
pp. 389-396
Author(s):  
Antonio Santos

The purpose of this article is to propose a methodology to increase information literacy among people who attend telecenters in low-income communities in Mexico. The Mexican government created telecenters, or community technology centers, as part of a national project under which adults lacking basic education who are isolated and living under economically and technologically marginal standards are granted access to educational materials and work training in the form of printed, audiovisual, and electronic media (CONEVyT, 2001). Our research group evaluated the Mexican telecenter program as part of a nationwide qualitative diagnostic study, which represented the initial stage of a three-year research project conducted by the Information and Communication Technologies for Education and Community Development research group at the Universidad de las Americas-Puebla in Mexico for the National Institute for Adult Education. The results of this study combine with the concepts of information literacy and socioconstructivist pedagogy to form the basis for the present proposal.


Author(s):  
Antonio Santos

The purpose of this article is to propose a methodology to increase information literacy among people who attend telecenters in low-income communities in Mexico. The Mexican government created telecenters, or community technology centers, as part of a national project under which adults lacking basic education who are isolated and living under economically and technologically marginal standards are granted access to educational materials and work training in the form of printed, audiovisual, and electronic media (CONEVyT, 2001). Our research group evaluated the Mexican telecenter program as part of a nationwide qualitative diagnostic study, which represented the initial stage of a three-year research project conducted by the Information and Communication Technologies for Education and Community Development research group at the Universidad de las Americas-Puebla in Mexico for the National Institute for Adult Education. The results of this study combine with the concepts of information literacy and socioconstructivist pedagogy to form the basis for the present proposal.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley Shrum ◽  
Antony Palackal ◽  
Dan-Bright Dzorgbo ◽  
Paul Mbatia ◽  
Mark Schafer ◽  
...  

AbstractThis ten year study suggests that the digital divide in connectivity may have largely closed for the scientific community in parts of the world that were previously unconnected. Almost a decade ago Ynalvezet al. (2005) examined the diffusion of information and communication technologies (icts) in the knowledge production sectors of three developing areas, using data collected at the turn of the millennium. We supplement this data set with a similar survey ten years later. Our analysis addresses the extent to which research communities in three low-income areas (Kenya, Ghana, and Kerala) now have access toicts, providing the first longitudinal data on changes in access to computers, email, and the Internet. In contrast to 2000, where the majority of scientists viewed themselves as users of email but with shared and irregular access to computers and the Internet—access to technology has become almost universal, though significant regional differences remain.


1970 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyudmyla I. Bilousova ◽  
Natalia V. Zhytienova

The article is dedicated to the problem of the formation of the teens’ cognitive interest to the subjects of natural sciences and mathematical cycle by means of computer support. The paper analyzes the literature on the problems of using information and communication technologies in education and describes in detail the essence of the concept of "computer support", different types of basic (information, software, communications), the functions of computer support in the learning process (information, tools, simulation, visualization, automation, communication, analytical), identifies the main modes of application which include: independent, indirect, subsidiary), and analyzes the problems of studying the phenomenon of cognitive interest, finds ways for its development.


Author(s):  
Ana Marr ◽  
Lin Yan

Microfinance, defined as the provision of small-scale financial services for low-income populations, has widely been regarded in alleviating poverty and facilitating social inclusion. While much has been debated on the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on social inclusion, paucity remains on how ICTs contribute to microfinance in developing countries. Social inclusion, particularly in the sense of increasing access to microfinance, is important to entrepreneurs in developing countries, especially among women entrepreneurs in rural areas. A major challenge is to understand how ICTs contribute to microfinance, both in terms of reaching to a large population, and in providing efficient and effective services. This chapter investigates the role ICTs play in facilitating microfinance in developing countries. To do so, the current literature on ICTs and social inclusion and the literature on microfinance are reviewed in order to provide an integrated conceptual framework on how ICTs contribute to microfinance in enhancing social inclusion in developing countries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Niknam ◽  
Omid Pournik ◽  
Zahra Rojhani Shirazi ◽  
Naghmeh Ebrahimi ◽  
Roxana Sharifian

Introduction: Regular physical activity is effective in the treatment of low back pain. However, adherence to these exercises is difficult. Nowadays, the health care industry is using various forms of ICT to provide services to patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to survey the willingness and use of information and communication technologies among people with low back pain.Method: This is an analytical study conducted in 2017. In this study, 200 samples low back pain were collected by use of convenience sampling method. The data collection tool was a checklist.Result: Nighty-nine percent of the participants used mobile phones based on Android; in addition, 51% of people stated that they were familiar with the Internet. Also, people with the mean age and standard deviation of 37 ± 9 were willing to use ICT tools more compared with people with the mean age and standard deviation of 45±13; in addition, they had a high willingness to use ICT tools and low willingness to use traditional tools (p<0.001).Conclusion: In general, the results showed that a large number of people with low back pain were willing to use ICT tools to receive care services (like exercise therapy). The majority of people with low back pain used social networks and they had smart phones based on the Android whose services were used widely. So the technologies such as smartphones, laptops, social networks and internet services could be used for e-learning.  


Author(s):  
Cosette Castro ◽  
Cristiana Freitas

In this chapter, we will debate about the free-to-air model of interactive digital television (iTVD) developed in Brazil, about its characteristics, and the interactive digital audiovisual content produced for this type of television. In the Introduction, we reflect about different aspects of the social and economic uneven development of Latin America and Caribean, especially in Brazil. We also discuss about the concepts of innovation, strategic development, and how we believe that it is necessary to include communication, education and culture inside the debates about innovation and technology. After this, we show the Brazilian model of free-to-air digital television, a unique model in the world, because of its middleware Ginga, a Brazilian technology developed in open source, that permits free interactivity, mobility, interoperability, multiprogramming, accessibility and portability for everyone. In the third part, we focus on the BRAZIL 4D Project, developed by Communications Company Brazil (EBC), a public company, using free-to-air interactive digital public television and telecommunications to offer information, fiction, and public services to low-income population through remote control. This Project contributes to the social and digital inclusion of Brazilian people without access to information and communication technologies (ICTs), about 14.5 million of families or 60 million of low-income people.


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