Blog # 12

As we have discussed in class, different cultures have different expectations who should be the main caregiver. The article that I would like to discuss with the class was written by the professor of the University of Victoria and the President of Canadian Association on Gerontology and compares the differences in Canadian and Chinese caregiving. According to the article family members are the dominant care system in all societies, providing an estimated 75 per cent of all care.

The article corresponds with what was presented in the class that in Chinese culture husband’s wife is the main caregiver for his parents, while the husband provides the monetary and emotional support. However, according to this article this trend is slowly changing in Chinese society - daughters, even when married, are more and more their own parents’ care providers than it used to be. This change is attributed to the successful implementation of the one-child policy; therefore family caregiving to older adults among Chinese families seems to be getting more similar to caregiving among Canadian families.

There are several key differences between Chinese and Canadian caregiving. Chinese older adults are more likely to live with their children even while they themselves are still married, while it is unlikely for Canadians, who would live with their children only after losing a spouse and getting health problems that impair their independence. Moreover, Chinese children are more likely to begin helping the elders with activities of daily living even before their health warrants it. It is offered as a sign of respect for their parents’ age; while Canadian parents stay independent as long as possible. In addition, Chinese sons tend to be more involved in their parents’ care even when daughters are involved. The article explains it with the historical role of males in Chinese society. Often, not always, health-care decisions are handed to the son and not the older adult themselves because the son is granted the privilege of the decision-making on the behalf of the whole family. However this trend is slowly changing because many families have just one daughter due to the one-child policy.

The article acknowledges the fact that all families are different and it is extremely hard to generalize about a certain ethnic or racial group and their views on caregiving. However the current cultural attitude towards caregiving is slowly changing in the Chinese society due to decreasing fertility rates in certain areas of the country (for example, Hong Kong), and the main concern now is about the societal arrangements that will provide care to the childless elders that has so long been provided by adult children.

Questions for the class:

How would you feel about living with your husband’s elder parents and be the main care provider for them?

What do you think are some changes in American society that might affect the existing caregiving arrangements in the nearest future?

If you have siblings, have you ever discussed with them who would be the care provider for your parents?

Link for the article:

http://www.theprovince.com/life/Essay+Cultural+diversity+caregiving+older+adults/5534561/story.html

Blog # 11

During the last few class sessions we were talking about the caregiving and specifically the benefits for the caregiver. As we have learned from the current event presentation caregiving is a long-term process and no one can be completely prepared for it, but it is highly recommended for the family members to have a conversation before the crisis in order to be more prepared. Even though we tend to think of caregiving as something almost negative and very stressful, at the same time it is the time to establish new relations, and even reconcile with your family members.

The article that I found was published just yesterday and talks about the results of the on-line survey that was conducted in the beginning of the month. The survey was conducted among 2,574 adults ages 18 and older. The purpose of the survey was to show the concerns that people who expect to be caregivers have, and the results were truly surprising – the number one concern listed was financial burden. 36 percent of the participants stated that they were not financially prepared to be a caregiver. The next two concerns (which got the same percentage) were time issue, and lack of the expertise about the disease or condition.

According to the article, it is expensive to be a caregiver, and the annual cost of caregiving is approximately $5,500 (based on the study by the National Alliance for Caregiving). Based on these findings it is easy to assume that people with a lower income would worry more about the potential financial burden than people from more affluent families, but the article showed that this assumption is not always true. About 35 percent of the research participants who said that they were unprepared for caregiving financially had annual household incomes of less than $35,000. At the same time 22 percent of people from more affluent families (with an income of more than $75,000) were also unprepared for the financial burden of being a caregiver.

In one of the classes we mentioned few burdens of the caregiving, including, but not limited to, time issues, increased workload, stress, multitasking. The article in turn made an excellent point that caregivers are bombarded with the information that they need to learn in a short period of time, including the information about the condition, the specific needs of a family member, strategies to manage financial resources, and their own lives. That is why 23 percent of participants listed lack of expertise as one of their major concerns.

Finally the article suggests that the best option is the home health care and since nearly 44 million Americans are taking care of an older family member at any given time, the caregiving issues were and still are widely researched and discussed. Finally the article provided very surprising findings - 89 percent of people age 50 and older want to remain in their homes and receive medical services as they age. I have always thought of the U.S. as a place where the vast majority of elders are dreaming to be in the nursing homes and long-term care facilities, because that is how it is portrayed to us, especially all the advertisements of these nursing homes that look like a paradise, but apparently American elders would rather get care from relatives.

Questions for the class:

1) As a potential caregiver what is your major concern?

2) Out of the three concerns listed in the article, which one would you rate the highest?

3) According to the article “42 percent of respondents say the word "nervous" best described how they felt about their current or future responsibility of being a caregiver for an elderly loved one”, how would you describe your feelings about your future responsibility of being a caregiver?

Link to the article:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/many-americans-concerned-about-being-financially-ready-to-serve-as-caregivers-for-elderly-loved-one-new-amedisys-poll-shows-32-not-at-all-prepared-for-responsibility-2011-11-14

Blog # 10

The article that I would like to discuss with the class today relates to our last week discussion of dating in later life. As we have learned from the current events presented in class elders do use Internet and dating websites to find a dating partner and possibly a future spouse. The article How to Find Love Later in Life contains an interview with the Washington Post columnist who published a book based on her year-long research at the Stanford Center on Longevity. According to her point of view there are substantial differences between dating in your 30s and 60s. People in their 60-s are much less pressured into relation and finding a mate, therefore they can spend more time trying to find the right partner, moreover, many people at these age have already accomplished so called adult tasks that society expects them to accomplish (e.g. financial stability, independence, raised children), so they can freely choose the path they would like to take in their relations. Another difference that I find important is that people at this age are much less influenced by their parents’ views of an “ideal” partner; therefore they can expand the pool of potential candidates without worrying about parental disapproval. Additionally friendship is crucial at this age; therefore you are looking for the qualities of a good friend and not just physical appearance. I think that people at this age have different beauty standards and expectations from relations comparing to those of people in 20s.

From my point of view the author made some interesting statements, for example, that people in their second or third relations often feel the need to compete with the first relations, and it is of paramount importance for the couple to acknowledge that each of them had a previous life before this later life relation. I believe it would be especially difficult for a never-married person to enter relations or marriage in later life with a person who is divorced or widowed. Finally the author talks about the typical mistakes that seniors make, for example, they focus only on their dating partner and do not have a sufficient network of friends. As we have discussed in class, the circle of friends narrows down with age, as your friends move away to the nursing home, or pass away and you have much less of a chance to create new friendships. The article suggests that a person should have about eight or ten people in his circle, and if a person has below three, he/she leads an isolated life.

Questions for the class:

1) Can you think of other unique differences (not mentioned in the article) between dating in 50s, compared with 20s and 30s?

2) What do you think are some obstacles for dating in later life?

3) The article mentioned the number of friends in the circle. How many people should an elder have in his/her network friends not to be considered isolated?

4) Where do you think elders can meet their potential dating partners? What will be the easiest and safest place?

Article Link:

http://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/articles/2009/02/20/how-to-find-love-later-in-life

Blog # 9

I have never heard about the widowhood effect and was fascinated to learn about the reasons of this phenomenon. The topic of widowhood is not widely discussed in Russia, and media never gives any attention to the stories related to the elder widows but comparing to countries like India, at least there is no tradition of putting widows in a separate category.

The article that I would like to discuss this week will bring an international perspective to the topic of the week on widowhood. The article that I picked was written by the former Head of the Department of Philosophy, Cotton College, Guwahati and is devoted to the social status of widows in India. Studying and living in the U.S. it is easy not to know about the cultures that treat widows like second-class citizens and lock them in separate communities. India, which is a highly segregated society even in the 21^st century, determines the conditions of the widows based on the traditions that are closely related to religion. Therefore, widows are marginalized from the families and communities, because historically Hindu women are responsible for husband’s health and therefore are blamed for his death as well. The article calls the death of a husband “the social death of a wife” because suddenly her life becomes restricted.

Historically Russian and American society did not stigmatize widows to the extent of the Indian culture because the codes of conduct and traditions are much less strict. In India a woman without a husband is incomplete, and even though nowadays they are not burned along with their dead husband, the life that they lead is truly miserable. I have read in other articles that there is a special city in India that is called Vrindavan, and around 20,000 widows are living there and waiting to die. Even though the laws allow remarriage it is totally against the Indian customs, therefore these widows do not have a chance to remarry. They are often brought to this city by their own families, and they are forced to shave their heads and wear only white clothes. Many of these women are on the streets begging for scraps of food, because they are not allowed to work. The scariest thing is that widows are of different age, including really young girls, they were thrown by their families and have to lead the life of a homeless beggar. No matter what laws the government is passing, the vast majority of the India is rural and the traditions are especially strong in rural areas, moreover when the country has a population of over a billion people they would never take the problem of 3 million widows seriously.

Questions for the class:

Have you ever read or heard how other cultures treat widows? What is your opinion about the widows’ status in India?

How do you think the U.S. views widowhood? Are there any stereotypes or negative attitudes towards widows?

Link to the article:

http://www.sentinelassam.com/op_ed/story.php?sec=33&subsec=0&id=83270 dtP=2011-07-28&ppr=1

Blog # 8

Few times in our last classes the question of same sex couples was raised and I would like to share a fascinating article that I found. The article “Gay Seniors Gaining More Options for Retirement Communities” states that the number of LGBT elders reached 3 million and is expected to double in the next 25 years, which brings an issue of where these people are going to retire, if, for example, they do not want to live in heterosexual retirement communities. As we learned from the class discussions same-sex couples tend to reach more for the community help than for the family help, moreover taking into consideration all the struggles they go through that heterosexual couples do not experience, I think many of them would feel more comfortable retiring as the article says “where their needs and life experiences will be understood”. The article discusses few examples of retirement communities that were created specifically for LGBT population (for example, RainbowVision Santa Fe, New Mexico; Triangle Square in Hollywood, California; The Palms of Manasota, Palmetto, Florida). These communities are supportive of LGBT population and they can live open lifestyle. The number of these communities in the U.S. is still low, around 25, mostly in Arizona, New Mexico, and Florida, as well as Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and Palm Springs. None of these communities are exclusive of heterosexual people because of anti-discrimination laws; therefore heterosexual individuals can move in too.

Questions for the class:

1) Are you in favor or against LGBT retirement communities? How effective do you think it is to build such separate communities?

2) When you retire, would you prefer to live in a retirement community or in a regular one?

Article link:

http://www.silverplanet.com/housing/gay-seniors-gaining-more-options-retirement-communities/56300