Financial Changes and Health During COVID-19 in the National Health and Aging Trends Study

This study tested associations between income decline and financial difficulty with mental health (lack of feeling anxious/depressed, recurring thoughts/nightmares, avoiding activities/thoughts, feeling jumpy/on guard) and sleep quality during COVID-19 among a national sample of 3,188 older adults. Approximately 8% of US older adults reported income decline and 6% reported financial difficulty. Although income decline and financial difficulty rates were both statistically significantly higher among those financially strained before COVID-19 (19% and 34%, respectively), income decline was more common among those with incomes ≥200% of the poverty threshold (9%) whereas financial difficulty was more common among those with incomes <200% poverty (10%). Adjusting for sociodemographic, health and depressive symptoms before COVID-19, financial difficulty was associated with worse mental health (b= -2.39, p<0.001) and sleep quality (b=-0.820, p<0.001), but income loss was not (b= -0.685, p=0.092 and b= -0.405, p=0.082, respectively). Timely interventions are needed for older adults reporting COVID-19 financial difficulty.

Ending the Insurgency

In summer and autumn 1905 the deadlock was broken, by a series of moves on the part of Venizelos, Howard and his colleagues, with help from Sfakianakis. Since there could be no concession of union, a solution had to be built around the need for internal reforms. The result was an agreed proposal that an International Commission of experts should visit Crete to report on administrative and economic reforms. This solution met the main needs of all parties except the prince, though the details concerning how to deal with gendarmes who had gone over to the insurgents, and the surrender of arms, were resolved only with difficulty. Venizelos saw the proposal as a justified step back from the insurgency's demand for full union to something in substance and practice close to union. In reaching this solution the prince, who had tried the patience of the consuls, was virtually shut out. The International Commission under the respected Edward Law swiftly formed its views in February 1906 and reported, recommending administrative and financial changes. Still more important, in a confidential letter Law stated that Union with Greece was the only viable solution for Crete. Venizelos's calculation that the commission would advance his agenda was thus justified.

Od instytucji publicznej do organizacji pozarządowej. Zmiana w zarządzaniu zespołem artystycznym na przykładzie Chóru Polskiego Radia

From a Public Institution to a Non-Governmental Organization. Changes in the Management of an Artistic Team on the Example of the Polish Radio Choir The article presents the process of organizational and financial changes taking place in the Polish Radio Choir since 2012. The author is looking for an answer to the following question: can the Polish system of public support for culture accommodate regular activities of an artistic team as part of an NGO? For the purposes of the article, a SWOT analysis has been carried out among the current staff of the team, which has made it possible to understand the effects of the changes. The outcome of the analysis (along with the author’s commentary) is presented in the summary of the article. Słowa kluczowe: culture management, NGO, non-governmental organization, Polish Radio Choir, cultural policy, financing of culture, cultural institution, organizational change, artistic team, zarządzanie kulturą, organizacja pozarządowa, Chór Polskiego Radia, polityka kulturalna, finansowanie kultury, instytucja kultury, zmiana organizacyjna, zespół artystyczny

PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF MOBILE BANKING IN RURAL AREAS

The conducted research concerned prospects for the development of mobile banking in Poland. The article is a fragment of this research and concerns prospects for the development of this banking in rural areas. The aim of the research was to determine the expectations of mobile banking customers living in rural areas and the likely directions of changes in non-cash payments. The research period for rural areas concerned the years 2016-2018. The research covered the Polish banking sector. In addition, from January to March 2019, a questionnaire was carried out among 250 clients of banks living in rural areas. The research established that customers most often use mobile banking to check account balances and make payments at online stores. Customers in mobile banking appreciate comfort, time saving, being cash free and the freedom to make payments. The expectations of mobile banking users relate to: continuous increase of Internet coverage, improvement of security for telephone theft, increasing the possibility of using the BLIK service, adapting mobile applications to older generation smartphones and further price reductions of remote banking services. Therefore, it is almost certain that technical, organizational and financial changes in mobile banking in rural areas will head in this direction.

Experiences of Patients Diagnosed and Living With Metastatic Breast Cancer in Kumasi, Ghana: A Lesion to Learn From Low-Middle Income Country

Background: Breast cancer is a leading cause of death among women in Ghana. About 50% of cases seen at the oncology directorate are breast cancer-related, and 85% of these cases present in advanced stage with very poor prognosis and high mortality. Objectives: To explore and describe the experiences of patients diagnosed and living with metastatic breast cancer. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study design was used to involved breast cancer patients at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital who comes from various social and ethnic groups as well as geographically distinct areas from the vast territory of the Ashanti region and the Northern part of Ghana. Convenient sampling was used to select 120 participants for the study using semistructured questionnaire. Data of their social and demographic background and experiences living with metastatic breast cancer were obtained after seeking informed consent. Results: The study revealed that 12% of participants diagnosed and living with metastatic breast cancer experience loneliness and devastated, 22% experience fear and anxiety, while 35% experience stigma from both family and the society. Moreover, feeling of anger and hopelessness also account for 15%, 11% experience financial changes, while 5% of participants experience both physical and emotional pain with their diagnosis and treatment. Recommendations were made for policy makers, health care professionals, and other researchers. These include the need for intensified metastatic breast cancer awareness campaigns, educating health care providers on the need for professional counseling on metastatic breast cancer and the need to organized support groups, so that patients could contact each other. Emphasis should be placed on training of nurses to deal with issues relating to metastatic breast cancer. Conclusion: Generally, fear and anxiety, stigma, feeling of loneliness, devastated, anger and hopelessness, emotional and physical pain and financial changes are the variables that explain the experiences of women diagnosed and living with metastatic breast cancer. Some support groups has shown an improvement, therefore efforts to raise public awareness of metastatic breast cancer should be continued. The current study became imperative to fill this identified gap and improve health interventions and health outcomes for metastatic breast cancer patients in future.