His and Her Retirement: Effects of Gender and Familial Caregiving Profiles on Retirement Timing

Objectives Retirement timing has been linked to a host of outcomes for individuals, families, and societies. The present study predicted retirement timing using profiles of preretirement family caregiving and gender. Method Using longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study, cluster analysis was used to create profiles of preretirement family caregiving (operationalized as time and financial transfers to aging parents and adult children). These profiles, as well as gender, were used to predict later retirement timing. Results Four distinct preretirement caregiving profiles were evident. All profiles retired, on average, earlier than their full eligibility for Social Security benefits. A main effect of caregiving profile, but not gender, was evident. The Eldercare profile, which was characterized by high levels of time and financial transfers to aging parents, retired the earliest. There was not a significant interaction between caregiving profile and gender. Discussion When men enacted female-typical caregiving roles, their retirement timing resembled women’s. Eldercare, in particular, was associated with earlier retirement timing. Implications for individual retirement decision-making and policy are discussed.

CONFIGURING A FAMILY FRIENDLY INPATIENT SETTING

The hospital facilities are not structures designed just to accommodate clinical functions and facilities, however they are combination of organized systems working together to meet other diverse functional requirements within the hospital complex. For the hospital to meet the requirements of such wide range of issues, attention has to be paid to each and every component making the hospital whole from the early stages of the design process, especially user needs and preferences. Among the patient’s needs is social support from family. Family presence and participation in caring for their relatives have been identified to have significant impact on restoration, however little or no consideration is given for their accommodation. This study is aimed at exploring the space-activity patterns of familial caregiving activities in a hospital ward spaces that will guide design process. Principles of behavioural mapping was employed in male and female wards of one of the tertiary hospitals in Nigeria. Findings shows that four major spaces within the ward setting where such activities are dominant. Thus proper planning and configuration of such spaces with provision for family will go a long way in promoting and encouraging their presence and participation that will consequently improve restoration.

Personhood-Based Dementia Care: Using the Familial Caregiver as a Bridging Model for Professional Caregivers

With biomedicine at the forefront of our culture's understanding of illness, true healing is often neglected. It has become common practice to place elderly persons with Alzheimer's disease in nursing homes or long-term care facilities that do not always regard the sufferers' well-being as a top priority. This article draws from familial caregiving roles as a basis for understanding personhood, which I take to be a bridge between the world of a caregiver and the world of an Alzheimer's sufferer. Furthermore, through the modeling of professional caregiving strategies, I show how one might form meaningful relationships in long-term care facilities, and likewise provide the aging and afflicted person with forms of healing.