Culturally sensitive active ageing seen through the lens of the welfare theory of health: assistant nurses' views.

Assistant nurses caring for older adults with immigrant backgrounds are on the front lines of a practical, theoretical, and policy battlefield. They need to implement culturally sensitive care provision while not overstating the importance of culture, thereby, contributing to a negative picture of older immigrants as especially problematic. One proposed way to strike such a balance is the welfare theory of health (WTH). In this article, we let assistant nurses apply the WTH to a series of questions in four different vignettes representing the life stories of older persons who characterize typical dilemmas described by the theory. The results show that, through the lens of the WTH, assistant nurses looked for individual care preferences rather than stereotypical ideas about cultural characteristics. Further, the assistant nurses expressed a desire to get to know the persons more deeply to better interpret and understand their individual preferences. Thus, the theoretical framework is useful not only for exposing vulnerabilities to which some older adults with immigrant backgrounds may be exposed, but also for finding ways to mitigate the vulnerability by illuminating vital life goals and using them as a framework to organize care. This approach allows for mitigating the gap between the vital life goals and available resources to achieve a holistic state of health.

Informal caregiving from the perspectives of older people living alone in India.

BACKGROUND: The cultural and social norms in India stipulate that family and preferably children of the older person, provide the support and care that is needed. In recent years, we have witnessed an overall upsurge in interest in informal care from all countries in the developed world considering their ageing populations. The older people living alone group is, especially interesting in this matter, since it seems to deviate from the expectations of extended family living. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to describe older persons' experiences of informal care when living alone in India. METHODS: The study has a hermeneutic design, analysing interviews of older persons living alone in India. RESULTS: Findings revealed informal care as the thematic patterns: Informal care as a fundamental human responsibility, an obligation and thereby a way to act in 'common sense'. It was a way of 'paying-back' care that they had received from others in their life history, motivated by governmental care was not presented as an option. Informal care also created safety by the provision of alert and actionable care by loved ones, including spatial safety. Most of the informants experienced themselves as informal caregivers assisting others in need even if they themselves were old and fragile. Providing self care was also seen as a part of informal care conducted by capable and worthy persons. They also pointed out their own obligation to seek informal care and even to listen to the suggestions of younger generations regarding the type and scope of care. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Informal care in India is not only dependent on having children who ensure that you receive the care you need. Extended family, neighbours and friends feel a basic human obligation to care for the older people in their environment. This responsibility is deeply rooted even within the older people who become fragile in old age.

Indigenous women's reproductive health in the Arctic zone of Western Siberia: challenges and solutions.

In the Russian Arctic, alarming trends (shortage of nomadic Indigenous women, high reproductive loss, child mortality rates) indicate long-term changes towards demographic decline. This study aimed at comparing some indicators of the reproductive health (childbirth rates, number of pregnancies, pregnancy loss) of Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in the exploration of cultural and social factors influencing reproductive behaviour. A multidisciplinary approach draws on methods of medicine, sociology and health economics. It includes data of the women's reproductive health collected from surveys of 879 women (of whom 627 were Indigenous) during expeditions to the settlements and the tundra of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in 2013-2019. In the tundra, 66.7% of registered Indigenous women's pregnancies resulted in childbirth, 7.8% in induced abortions, 25.5% in spontaneous miscarriage. More than three children were delivered by 59.1% of Indigenous women. Most Indigenous families suffered from high pregnancy loss. Marriage between close relatives was 27.0%. Child mortality equalled 24.4%, three times higher than in the population of the settlements and eight times higher than in families immigrating from other regions. The survival of Indigenous peoples significantly depends on women's reproductive health and sufficient medical service that requires targeted policy.