WELFARE INSTITUTIONS IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE: The fate of the elderly in contemporary South Asia and pre-industrial Western Europe

2003 ◽  
pp. 197-215
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Welfare Institutions

scholarly journals Assessing the causes for a relatively lower caseload of Covid-19 in South Asia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anum Niazi ◽  
Shandana Kifayat ◽  
Nasir Javed ◽  
Muhammad Salar Khan
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
National Governments

In the wake of the ongoing spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of affected persons has already surpassed 6 million globally. Advanced healthcare systems in North America and Western Europe have registered the highest number of cases. On the contrary, some of the weakest healthcare systems of the world, including those in South Asia, have observed significantly fewer cases of Covid-19. This article assesses the potential causes of a relatively lower caseload and lethality caused by Covid-19 in South Asia. Some of the key factors which might be creating favorable conditions for the relatively lower and less lethal spread of the virus in South Asia include an inconducive climate, reduced percentage of the elderly population, possible immunity due to existing disease trends, unfavorable blood group distribution, early lockdown restrictions, and lesser inbound and outbound movements as compared to Europe and North America. These observations are subject to discussion because most of the research is still preliminary, and the landscape of the disease is still shifting significantly on a daily basis. Lower incidence of Covid-19 in South Asia might well relate back to inadequate testing facilities and weak reporting protocols. The stigma associated with the illness and misinformation regarding treatment and healthcare administration might further lead to underreporting of the Covid-19 caseload. Various factors such as poverty, high population density, a large informal economy, and poor sanitation make South Asia particularly vulnerable. All these factors, combined with the recent easing of lockdown restrictions in the region, could lead to spikes in rates of Covid-19 infections. Therefore, we suggest the local governments collaborate and share technical and healthcare expertise to devise and implement comprehensive strategies to stop the spread of the disease. South Asia should swiftly mobilize local resources, quickly ramp up capabilities, and thoroughly implement the proposed guidelines. The public should practice prevention and precaution. The national governments (with the help of community elders and scholars) should address stigma related to Covid-19. Finally, the international community must increase its technical assistance to mitigate the threats of the pandemic in populous South Asia.

Stages for implementing the “Moscow Longevity” program

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 65-72
Author(s):  
MARINA V. KORNILOVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Training ◽  
Senior Citizens ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Active Lifestyle ◽  
Welfare Institutions ◽  
Cultural Sites ◽  
New Period

The article examines the work of the “Moscow Longevity” state project/program. The analysis is carried through on the assessments given by the elderly residents of Moscow, as well as specialists from social welfare institutions responsible for the implementation of the program. The program is newly established and has been working in Moscow for over two years. The author names 4 stages for the implementation of the program: preparatory, trial, main, and “special” stages. This staging is based on the existing legal acts regulating the implementation of the project, as well as on the analysis of sociological research. The primary sources of data are: interviews conducted by the author with elderly residents of Moscow regarding the “Moscow Longevity” program (April-May 2020); surveys and focus groups conducted by the author during her work at the Moscow Institute of Additional Professional Training of Social Workers (2016-2017). The article examines statistics and publications in the mass media concerning the success of the “Moscow Longevity” project. Elderly Muscovites and employees of social organizations highly appreciated the ongoing activities, noting their relevance and timeliness, both for involving senior citizens in an active lifestyle and for adapting the elderly to a new period of life “for themselves”. Participants of the program take computer courses, study foreign languages, attend dance lessons, go to sports classes, develop artistic and aesthetic skills, master tourism, and visit cultural sites in Moscow. However, the program also has significant drawbacks, eliminating which requires significant material and technical resources as well as personnel work. Each year the participants voiced the same problems associated with the poor condition of the premises and the lack of an individual approach to activities’ organization. The “special” stage related to the situation with the coronavirus pandemic revealed a lack of computer skills among the program participants (despite the conducted computer classes) and inability to quickly adapt to new conditions.

Causes of Death

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Anderson ◽  
Corinne Roughley
Keyword(s):  
Heart Disease ◽  
Pulmonary Tuberculosis ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Whooping Cough ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
World War Two ◽  
World War ◽  
The Past ◽  
Disease Mortality

The principal reported causes of death have changed dramatically since the 1860s, though changes in categorization of causes and improved diagnosis make it difficult to be precise about timings. Diseases particularly affecting children such as measles and whooping cough largely disappeared as killers by the 1950s. Deaths particularly linked to unclean environments and poor sanitary infrastructure also declined, though some can kill babies and the elderly even today. Pulmonary tuberculosis and bronchitis were eventually largely controlled. Reported cancer, stroke, and heart disease mortality showed upward trends well into the second half of the twentieth century, though some of this was linked to diagnostic improvement. Both fell in the last decades of our period, but Scotland still had among the highest rates in Western Europe. Deaths from accidents and drowning saw significant falls since World War Two but, especially in the past 25 years, suicide, and alcohol and drug-related deaths rose.

Values as an Obstacle to Economic Growth in South Asia: An Historical Survey

1967 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 588-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morris David Morris
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Economic Organization ◽  
Historical Survey ◽  
Value System ◽  
The World ◽  
And Performance

There are two widely held explanations for South Asia's failure to attain the level of economic performance achieved by the now developed countries of the world: One is that British imperial policy frustrated economic growth after 1750; the other is that the Indian value system and die social structure that reflected that value system were obstacles to economic growth. It is worthy of note that both interpretations tend to visualize pre-1750 South Asia at a level of economic organization and performance at least equal to that of western Europe in 1750, with the economic gap appearing only subsequently.

Cardiac rehabilitation in the elderly patient in eight rehabilitation units in Western Europe: Baseline data from the EU-CaRE multicentre observational study

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 1052-1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Prescott ◽  
Nicolai Mikkelsen ◽  
Annette Holdgaard ◽  
Prisca Eser ◽  
Thimo Marcin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Coronary Artery ◽  
Cardiac Rehabilitation ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Stable Coronary Artery Disease ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Risk Factor Control ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Artery Disease ◽  
The Eu

Background Due to the progressive deconditioning, comorbidities and higher complication rates, elderly patients are in particular need of cardiac rehabilitation. We compared elderly patients (65+ years old) participating in cardiac rehabilitation, focusing on baseline characteristics, risk factor control and functional assessment. Methods The EU-CaRE study is a prospective study comparing cardiac rehabilitation in eight centres across Western Europe. Consecutive patients with acute coronary syndrome, stable coronary artery disease and heart valve replacement undergoing cardiac rehabilitation were included. Results Of 1633 patients (median age 72 years) participating, 54% had acute coronary syndrome, 33% had stable coronary artery disease and 13% followed valve replacement. Fifty-five per cent had undergone percutaneous coronary intervention and 29% coronary artery bypass grafting. Characteristics varied across centres: 23% (17–27%) were women, 4% (0–12%) were of non-European origin and 16% (4–32%) were living alone. Median time from index event to start of cardiac rehabilitation varied from 11 to 49 days ( p < 0.001). Mean VO2peak was relatively low (16 mL/kg per min) and varied significantly between the participating centres, largely unaffected by multivariable adjustment. Overall patients received guideline recommended treatment: 93% (87–97%) were on a statin and 70% (55–85%) an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker. However, risk factor control was inadequate: 58% had three or more risk factors not controlled. Conclusion EU-CaRE provides a snapshot of the elderly population with heart disease participating in cardiac rehabilitation across countries in Western Europe. Risk factors and exercise capacity indicate the continued need for cardiac rehabilitation in these patients. Of concern, the lag-time to start of cardiac rehabilitation needs improvement in many centres.

The Structured Dependence of the Elderly as a Recent Development: Some Sceptical Historical Thoughts

1984 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard M. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Population History ◽  
High Fertility ◽  
Structural Determinants ◽  
North West ◽  
Kinship System ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of

ABSTRACTThere has recently emerged in the writings of those who have adopted an overtly ‘radical’ approach to social work and the welfare state, a coherent interpretation of how the status of older persons is lowered in the course of the development of industrial capitalism. The focus in these recent writings is on the social creation of dependent status and the structural determinants of the competitive relationship between elderly individuals and younger adults in the labour market. This paper reviews the arguments of this school of thought arguing firstly that it fails to take sufficient account of the longer term population history of England, suggesting that the contrast between the middle and later twentieth century and the nineteenth century is apparently so marked largely because of the atypicality of the latter period when high fertility and rapid demographic growth produced an historical minimum for the proportion of the elderly in the total population. A second failure in this recent radical or marxist research is that it also does not take sufficient account of the kinship system in north west Europe which appears to have created a situation of structured dependency of the elderly on the collectivity irrespective of the specific mode of production. Pre-industrial north west Europeans exhibited a striking contrast in this particular cultural trait with many, indeed most non-industrial societies outside Western Europe or regions populated by emmigrants from that area.

Recent Changes in Suicide Rates in Selected Eastern European and Other European Countries

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Sartorius
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
European Countries ◽  
World Health ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Elderly Age ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Health Organization

Recent major political changes in Eastern European countries might have affected their suicide rates. For this article, suicide statistics available to the World Health Organization were used to compare data from eight Eastern European countries to those from seven countries in Northern or Western Europe. Comparisons were made between 1987 and 1991/92 data using total suicide rates for each country, rates by gender, and rates for the elderly (age 75 and older). The total rates indicated an increase in suicide in Eastern European countries and a decrease in other European countries. The ratio of male-to-female suicides in the Eastern European countries increased during this time as well, more than in other European countries. Among those over the age of 75, however, rates of suicide in Eastern European countries decreased; this pattern was less clear in the European countries chosen for comparison. The article discusses the role of economic, cultural, and health service factors affecting these trends.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document