[Responsibilities of elderly support: normative expectations with regard of ex-spouses and step-children]. / Les obligations de soutien aux personnes âgées : attentes normatives exprimées à l'égard des ex-conjoints et des beaux-enfants.

This study compares the normative expectations of 1315 Québécois survey-takers about the responsibilities of spouses and ex-spouses, on the one hand, and adult children and stepchildren, on the other hand, regarding the support they are to offer an elderly family member with incapacities. The comments of survey-takers in relation to fictional yet concrete scenario descriptions provided a basis with which to identify respondents' expectations along with the social factors surrounding these expectations. The results of this survey suggest that the nature and scale of support-related expectations vary according to the family tie with elderly relative. Expectations toward spouses are high and unmitigated, whereas expectations toward ex-spouses and adult stepchildren appear to be limited. Expectations toward adult children are more pronounced than those exhibited toward stepchildren. Where offspring are specifically concerned, expectations are strongly influenced by the given context; for this category of survey-taker, the demands of support should not interfere with their family life and career.

Families' values and attitudes regarding responsibility for the frail elderly: implications for aging policy.

This study examines the norms and values associated with care to disabled and frail aging parents, in particular those with regard to the sharing of responsibilities for care between families and formal services, and this within three age cohorts in Quebec, Canada. It is based on a telephone interview of 1,315 people. Factor analysis yielded four factors: (1) family responsibility; (2) uncompromising family obligations; (3) acceptance of services; (4) distrust of services. Analyses of the data indicate that all three age cohorts consider that families have responsibilities for their aging family members, at the same time that they score very high on the acceptance of service scale. This article discusses these seemingly paradoxical results and their implications for aging policy.

Varicella vaccination for grades 4 and 5 students: from theory to practice.

BACKGROUND: In 2002-2003, as part of a pilot project, varicella vaccination was offered to susceptible students in grades 4 and 5 in schools whose health services are provided by a local community services centre in Montréal. This immunization campaign was merged with the hepatitis B immunization programme. OBJECTIVES: To calculate the proportion of grade 4 and 5 students susceptible to varicella; to calculate the proportion of susceptible students who agree to be vaccinated; to compare the proportion of susceptibles who agree to be vaccinated when varicella vaccination is offered with the first or the second dose of hepatitis B; and to assess whether a catch-up varicella immunization programme would affect the vaccine coverage of a concurrent hepatitis B vaccination programme. METHODS: The proportions of susceptible students and of parents of susceptibles who consented to vaccination were calculated. The proportions of parents of susceptibles who consented to vaccination were compared for both immunization strategies: varicella vaccination given with the first or second dose of hepatitis B vaccine. Logistic regression was performed to identify possible associations between consent to varicella vaccination and the various variables collected. Rates of vaccine coverage against hepatitis B after two doses were compared for the years 2000-2001 and 2002-2003. RESULTS: Of 3,856 registered students, 3,486 (90.4%) returned consent forms. Among the 3,272 students for whom information was available, 441 (13.5%) were susceptible, including 394 (89.3%) who consented to vaccination. The rates of vaccine coverage in the schools after two doses of hepatitis B vaccine were exactly the same for the 2000-2001 and 2002-2003 school years. CONCLUSION: Varicella vaccination of susceptible grade 4 and 5 students associated with a coincident hepatitis B vaccination campaign can be performed without negative impact on the hepatitis B vaccination programme.