[Quality of life and satisfaction with services in caregivers of children with cancer]

Quality of life has been defined in a variety of ways depending on the context and the orientation of scholars. The purpose of the this study was to evaluate caregivers ' quality of life and also to investigate the correlation between quality of life of caregivers and their satisfaction with social work section services. The present study employed a correlational design, with 125 caregivers of Iranian children with cancer. It was conducted at hospitals covered by MAHAK. Quality of life in caregivers was measured by the Iranian version of WHO, QOL-BREF. Satisfaction of social work section services was measured by questioner including six services. Data was analyzed by t-Test and ANOVA using SPSS-PC [v.17]. The scores of all dimensions of caregivers' quality of life were lower than general population. The difference was significant in physical [p<0.001], psychological [p=0.000] and environmental [p<0.001] dimensions. The lowest score and highest difference was found in psychological dimension of quality of life. The highest satisfaction rate was related to supporting the child and family and the highest dissatisfaction was related to services given to family. The highest positive correlation was found between satisfaction with services for child and psychological dimension of care givers' quality of life [r=0.28, p<0.001]. Understanding of factors that associate with caregivers' quality of life is of central importance to the improvement of care, treatment process and for effective interventions for children with cancer. These findings provide useful information for managers to enhance quality of services and to enhance caregivers' satisfaction

[Youth, social capital and volunteering]

Social capital has been defined as the quality and attribute of a given society and group that promotes the capacity for collective and voluntary of mutual problems. This paper drawing on Stones differentiation of structural and normative aspects in social capital clarifies those aspects which could promote voluntary attitudes and behaviors amongst young people. Methodological strategy adopted is based on both a causal comparative survey to examine volunteering on a behavioral level and also a cross sectional survey to study voluntary attitudes and demographic variables on both levels, on a subjective level and drawing on results from a representative sample of 318 students in Allameh Tabatabaee University, voluntary attitudes were divided into five major factors: Ideal, /value laden, radical, protesting, altruistic and particularistic. Findings suggest that normative aspects of social capital [trust and reciprocity], directly correlate with all dimensions of voluntary attitudes. On a behavioral level the sample of youth who had volunteered for helping people harmed in Barn's quake enjoyed a higher level of social capital compared with those not volunteered. Comparing the two groups indicates that volunteers are those who enjoy a higher radical, protesting attitudes and have less trust in governmental institutions. Findings confirm arguments posed by Edwards and Foley [1997] where in democracy is conceptualized as institutionalization of mistrust