scholarly journals Examining Opportunities, Challenges and Quality of Life in International Retirement Migration

Author(s):  
Yuan Min Tang ◽  
Tara Rava Zolnikov

As the world has become more interconnected due to the invention and innovation of communication and transportation technologies, more individuals than ever before have been able to travel long distances. In recent years, a growing number of physically able adults in late adulthood have chosen to move across national borders to less costly countries in order to obtain better quality of life upon reaching retirement age. In light of this under-researched but increasingly popular retirement trajectory, this research aimed to provide more insight into the opportunities and challenges that international retired migrants have encountered while retiring abroad. Through the lens of humanistic theory, this research employed a systematic review of research literature, the majority of which were peer-reviewed studies published within the last five years. The reviewed studies (n = 22) conducted spanned four out of seven continents, with heavy emphasis on Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Research results indicated that many of the international retired migrants took advantage of the opportunities of pleasant weather, lower cost of living, and various amenities offered by their host countries to enhance their quality of life by engaging in an active and meaningful lifestyle. However, language barriers, lack of social support, rising healthcare costs, increases in the cost of living, uncertain political climate, and different healthcare practices in their host countries, presented considerable challenges to many international retirees.

Author(s):  
Khee Giap Tan ◽  
Hui Yin Chuah ◽  
Nguyen Trieu Duong Luu

Purpose Malaysia and Singapore had parted more than five decades ago. Much of the existing literature concerned about the bilateral ties between two economies focusing on the political economy perspective. This paper aims to provide insights on the economic development and prospects of Malaysia and Singapore at the national level. In addition, this paper also makes a pioneering attempt at conducting a comprehensive comparative analysis between Malaysia and Singapore at the city level. Design/methodology/approach This paper offers a case study of Malaysia and Singapore by assessing their national economic competitiveness, urban standards of living and quality of life. The paper leverages on a series of indices such as the competitiveness index for ASEAN-10, the cost of living, wages and purchasing power of ordinary residents, as well as the liveable cities index to perform the analysis. Findings In terms of national competitiveness, the analysis shows that Singapore and Malaysia have been leading the ASEAN region from 2000 onwards, being the top- and second-ranked, respectively. Malaysia still lags Singapore in several aspects such as attractiveness to foreign investors and standard of living, education and social stability despite insignificant differences in the ranking. City-level analysis shows that the cost of living in Singapore is almost double of that in Kuala Lumpur, although living in Singapore is more affordable owing to the higher wage rate received by the ordinary citizens. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature in several ways. First, this paper assesses economic development in Singapore and Malaysia instead of focusing on cross-straits relations. Second, the study reflects the view that the improvement of standards of living and quality of life for ordinary residents is paramount to economic development. The competitiveness index and city-level benchmarks used in the paper reflect the standards of living and the quality-of-life dimensions. Third, the focus on city-level analysis in addition to conventional national-level analysis helps to provide policymakers with practical policy implications against the backdrop of rapid urbanisation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (12) ◽  
pp. 1021-1034
Author(s):  
Natalia Hounsome ◽  
Mersha Kinfe ◽  
Maya Semrau ◽  
Oumer Ali ◽  
Abraham Tesfaye ◽  
...  

Abstract We conducted an implementation research study to integrate a holistic package of physical health, mental health and psychosocial care for podoconiosis, lymphatic filariasis and leprosy into routine healthcare in Gusha cluster, Guagusa Shikudad district, northwest Ethiopia. The healthcare package included training patients in lower limb hygiene and skin care and provision of shoes, hygiene supplies and medication. The implementation activities included training events, workshops, awareness raising, self-help groups, supportive supervision, staff secondments and advisory board meetings. The cost of implementing the care package in Gusha cluster, with a population of 30 558 people, was 802 655 Ethiopian birr (ETB) (£48 159) and the cost of delivering care to 235 participants was 204 388 ETB (£12 263), or 870 ETB (£52) per person. There was a 35% decrease in the mean disability scores (measured using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0) and a 45% improvement in the dermatology-specific quality of life (measured using the Dermatology Life Quality Index) at the 3-month follow-up compared with baseline. There were reductions in the number of days with symptoms, days off usual activities/work and days with reduced activity due to illness, all of which were statistically significant. Our pilot suggests that integration of the care package into routine healthcare in Ethiopia may be effective in improving health-related quality of life and disability and reducing time out of economic activity due to illness.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron N. Winn ◽  
Matthew Kelly ◽  
Shannon Ciprut ◽  
Dawn Walter ◽  
Heather T. Gold ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-71
Author(s):  
Henry O’Lawrence ◽  
Rohan Chowlkar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the cost effectiveness of palliative care on patients in a home health and hospice setting. Secondary data set was utilized to test the hypotheses of this study. Home health care and hospice care services have the potential to avert hospital admissions in patients requiring palliative care, which significantly affects medicare spending. With the aging population, it has become evident that demand of palliative care will increase four-fold. It was determined that current spending on end-of-life care is radically emptying medicare funds and fiscally weakening numerous families who have patients under palliative care during life-threatening illnesses. The study found that a majority of people registering for palliative and hospice care settings are above the age group of 55 years old. Design/methodology/approach Different variables like length of stay, mode of payment and disease diagnosis were used to filter the available data set. Secondary data were utilized to test the hypothesis of this study. There are very few studies on hospice and palliative care services and no study focuses on the cost associated with this care. Since a very large number of the USA, population is turning 65 and over, it is very important to analyze the cost of care for palliative and hospice care. For the purpose of this analysis, data were utilized from the National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS), which has been conducted periodically by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Descriptive statistics, χ2 tests and t-tests were used to test for statistical significance at the p<0.05 level. Findings The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was utilized for this result. H1 predicted that patients in the age group of 65 years and up have the highest utilization of home and hospice care. This study examined various demographic variables in hospice and home health care which may help to evaluate the cost of care and the modes of payments. This section of the result presents the descriptive analysis of dependent, independent and covariate variables that provide the overall national estimates on differences in use of home and hospice care in various age groups and sex. Research limitations/implications The data set used was from the 2007 NHHCS survey, no data have been collected thereafter, and therefore, gap in data analysis may give inaccurate findings. To compensate for this gap in the data set, recent studies were reviewed which analyzed cost in palliative care in the USA. There has been a lack of evidence to prove the cost savings and improved quality of life in palliative/hospice care. There is a need for new research on the various cost factors affecting palliative care services as well as considering the quality of life. Although, it is evident that palliative care treatment is less expensive as compared to the regular care, since it eliminates the direct hospitalization cost, but there is inadequate research to prove that it improves the quality of life. A detailed research is required considering the additional cost incurred in palliative/hospice care services and a cost-benefit analysis of the same. Practical implications While various studies reporting information applicable to the expenses and effect of family caregiving toward the end-of-life were distinguished, none of the previous research discussed this issue as their central focus. Most studies addressed more extensive financial effect of palliative and end-of-life care, including expenses borne by the patients themselves, the medicinal services framework and safety net providers or beneficent/willful suppliers. This shows a significant hole in the current writing. Social implications With the aging population, it has become evident that demand of palliative/hospice care will increase four-fold. The NHHCS have stopped keeping track of the palliative care requirements after 2007, which has a negative impact on the growing needs. Cost analysis can only be performed by analyzing existing data. This review has recognized a huge niche in the evidence base with respect to the cost cares of giving care and supporting a relative inside a palliative/hospice care setting. Originality/value The study exhibited that cost diminishments in aggressive medications can take care of the expenses of palliative/hospice care services. The issue of evaluating result in such a physically measurable way is complicated by the impalpable nature of large portions of the individual components of outcome. Although physical and mental well-being can be evaluated to a certain degree, it is significantly more difficult to gauge in a quantifiable way, the social and profound measurements of care that help fundamentally to general quality of care.


Author(s):  
Temitope Ben-Ajepe ◽  
Ifechukwu Benedict Nwogu ◽  
Damilola Quazeem Olaoye ◽  
Abdulhafeez Ayodele Mustapha ◽  
Theogene Uwizeyimana ◽  
...  

AbstractAfrica as a continent has experienced a continuous increase in the cost of healthcare as its demands increase. With many of these African countries living below the poverty threshold, Africans continue to die from preventable and curable diseases. Population increases have led to an increase in demands for healthcare, which unfortunately have been met with inequitable distribution of drugs. Hence, the outcomes from healthcare interventions are frequently not maximized. These problems notably call for some economic principles and policies to guide medication selection, procurement, or donation for population prioritization or health insurance. Pharmacoeconomics drives efficient use of scarce or limited resources to maximize healthcare benefits and reduce costs. It also brings to play tools that rate therapy choice based on the quality of life added to the patient after a choice of intervention was made over an alternative. In this paper, we commented on the needs, prospect, and challenges of pharmacoeconomics in Africa.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002076402110102
Author(s):  
Ruth Abraham ◽  
Marja Leonhadt ◽  
Lars Lien ◽  
Ingrid Hansen ◽  
Edvard Hauff ◽  
...  

Background: Women are more vulnerable to mental health problems than men after migration, but little is known about the influence of religiosity/spirituality on their quality of life. The purpose of this study was to explore religiosity/spirituality, in relationships with various domains of quality of life, among female Eritrean refugees staying in Norwegian asylum centres. Method: A questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics was used together with the World Health OrganizationQuality of Life – Spirituality, Religiosity and Personal Beliefs (WHOQOL-SRPB) questionnaire, which assesses religiosity/spirituality and domains of quality of life. A total of 63 adult female Eritrean refugees who had been granted asylum but were still living in asylum reception centres located in southern and central Norway participated. Results: Religiosity/spirituality was independently associated with psychological quality of life ( B = 0.367, p < .001), level of independence ( B = 0.184, p = .028), social quality of life ( B = 0.500, p = .003), environmental quality of life ( B = 0.323, p < .001) and overall quality of life ( B = 0.213, p < .001), but not with physical quality of life ( B = 0.056, p = .679). There were no significant differences between religious affiliations on religiosity/spirituality or quality of life measures. Conclusion: Consistent with previous research, this study highlights the correlation between religiosity/spirituality and overall quality of life. We recommend a longitudinal follow-up study of similar populations, after they are resettled and integrated into their host countries, to understand the associations between quality of life and religiosity/spirituality over time.


2019 ◽  
pp. 91-97

Análisis de las actitudes hacia la actividad minera en la comunidad de Combayo, región Cajamarca Analysis of attitudes towards the mining activity in Combayo’s community, Cajamarca Region Jorge L. Vásquez pacheco Universidad Inca Garcilaso de la Vega Empresa de Servicios Organizacionales, Educativos y Comunitarios Green planet DOI: https://doi.org/10.33017/RevECIPeru2010.0026/ RESUMEN Estudio de tipo descriptivo que aplica la metodología transversal mediante una escala original de actitudes, tipo Likert, compuesta inicialmente de 32 reactivos, reducidos a 29 ítems tras el análisis estadístico por medio de la correlación item-test. Dicha escala obtuvo un coeficiente Alfa de Cronbach de ,938, determinando así su consistencia y su validez para el propósito del presente estudio. Los participantes fueron 120 pobladores oriundos de la comunidad de Combayo, región Cajamarca, cuyas edades fluctuaban entre 18 a 60 años (hombres y mujeres), elegidos al azar. No se dio preferencia a uno u otro sexo y todas las dudas fueron resueltas de manera personalizada. Asimismo, tras la aplicación del instrumento se realizaron entrevistas breves a un subgrupo (30) elegido de manera aleatoria con el fin de complementar y contrastar la información obtenida y conocer así si el comunero de Combayo fundamenta la posición que asume. Se obtuvieron cinco factores: calidad de vida, desarrollo comunal, prospección comunal, bienestar psicológico y bienestar físico, cuyos indicadores han permitido establecer los niveles de aprobación respecto a la actividad minera, con los siguientes resultados: para el 80%, la actividad minera es desfavorable; para el 14%, la actividad minera es favorable; mientras que para el 6%, la influencia de la actividad minera le resulta neutral. Se concluye que a pesar de la actitud desfavorable hacia la actividad minera en su comunidad, los pobladores la aceptan a nivel conductual, pues mediante las entrevistas se pudo conocer que en general percibían que dicha actividad podía contribuir a su bienestar pero a costa de su calidad de vida (primer factor), siendo mayor la consideración (puntajes de las medias aritméticas) que tienen respecto al desarrollo de su comunidad (segundo factor), la prospección comunal (tercer factor), el bienestar psicológico (cuarto factor) y el bienestar físico (quinto factor). Sin embargo, dicha consideración disminuye respecto a factores contribuyentes a mejorar su calidad de vida. De esta expresión se puede notar que los comuneros de Combayo tienen mayor interés por la obtención de resultados a corto plazo y de satisfacción inmediata respecto a los beneficios que esperan obtener del desarrollo de actividades mineras en su comunidad, lo cual evidencia la presencia de una disonancia cognitiva en dicha comunidad, puesto que estarían reconociendo sus necesidades y también el costo de satisfacer las mismas. Descriptores: actitud, actividad minera, comunidad, disonancia cognitiva. ABSTRACT This is a descriptive study that applies a cross research methodology through the application of an original scale of attitudes, likert like, composed originally of 32 reagents, reduced to 29 items after the statistical analysis through the item-test correlation. The scale obtained a cronbach alpha coefficient of, 938 thereby determining the consistency and validity for the purpose of this study. The participants were 120 people natives from the combayo’s community, region cajamarca, ranging in age from 18 to 60 years (men and women) selected randomly. no preference was given to any gender and all doubts were resolved in an individual manner. also, after application of the instrument brief interviews were conducted with a subgroup (30) randomly chosen in order to complement and contrast the information obtained, thus disclosing whether the villager from combayo has a basis for the position taken. We looked into five factors: Quality of life, community development, community prospecting, psychological wellbeing, and physical wellbeing. Where indicators serve to establish approval levels on mining, with the following results: For 80% of the subjects mining is unfavorable, for 14% of the subjects mining is favorable, and for 6% of the subjects the influence of mining is neutral. We conclude that despite the negative attitude towards mining in this community, residents accept it since they generally perceived that this activity could contribute to their welfare but at the cost of their quality of life (First Factor), but it is of their greater consideration (scores of arithmetic mean) the development of their community (second factor), the communal prospects (third factor), the psychological wellbeing (fourth factor), and physical wellbeing (Fifth Factor). nevertheless, such consideration falls on contributing to improve their quality of life. one can see that the commoners of combayo are more interested in obtaining short-term results and immediate satisfaction regarding the benefits expected from the development of mining activities in their community, which shows the presence of cognitive dissonance in that community since they would be recognizing their needs and also the cost of meeting them. Keywords: attitude, mining activity, community, cognitive dissonance.


2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Limona

Fall-related injuries are a serious public health issue among older adults. In addition to having a significant impact on our economy, these injuries are associated with considerable morbidity. Each year, 1 out of every 3 adults aged 65 and older fall; of these adults, 10% to 20% sustain serious injuries such as fractures or head traumas. Such injuries account for about 6% of medical expenditures for adults 65 years and older. Pharmacist interventions can prevent falls, thereby improving the quality of life of these older adults, preserving their independence, and significantly reducing health care costs.


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