Southern African Journal of Gerontology, volume 2, number 1, April 1993
- Ferreira, Monica (editor), Møller, Valerie (editor), HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
- Authors: Ferreira, Monica (editor) , Møller, Valerie (editor) , HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
- Date: 1993
- Subjects: Gerontology -- South Africa , Older people -- Care -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:8066 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012668
- Description: The second number of SAJG again presents knowledge on ageing and the aged which can be useful in the development of better practices and the formulation of better policies in southern African countries. A focus of the articles in this number is on housing and living arrangements. Nyanguru and Peil writing on Zimbabwe give a finely detailed description of the housing situation of the elderly population using survey material. They draw on comparisons with other developing contexts to place the Zimbabwean housing situation in perspective. At the outset, the authors note that the impact of disability on the elderly is directly related to the nature and quality of housing. In conclusion to their overview of urban and rural housing circumstances. they recommend a more appropriate housing policy for the elderly which makes provision for home maintenance and home-help services to assist the elderly to stay in their homes. Moller re-analyses data collected for South Africa's baseline study of the elderly to explore the possible benefits for South Africa's elderly when they live with adult children. Her comparative case studies are based on the assumption that black elders might prefer to live with sons as traditional custom dictates and whites would usually choose to live independently according to Western custom. Chen systematically explores the question of which children co-reside with elderly parents in Taiwan using a large national database and sophisticated multivariate analyses. He also raises the question whether filial piety is on the decline when children no longer co-reside with their parents. The last article in this issue picks up a subject relating to quality of life-a topic introduced in an article in the first issue of SAJG. Authors Gillespie and Louw wish to re-open the debate on activity and quality of life. They pose the provocative question: Does a decline in activity in the elderly really dampen morale? Preliminary results from the pilot study undertaken by the authors reported in the article yielded inconclusive results. However the pilot study involved only a small sample and is presented to make the point and whet our appetite for further research and debate. In support of Gillespie and Louw's call to re-open the debate on the activity question we contribute further South African evidence which allows for various interpretations
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1993
- Authors: Ferreira, Monica (editor) , Møller, Valerie (editor) , HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
- Date: 1993
- Subjects: Gerontology -- South Africa , Older people -- Care -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:8066 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012668
- Description: The second number of SAJG again presents knowledge on ageing and the aged which can be useful in the development of better practices and the formulation of better policies in southern African countries. A focus of the articles in this number is on housing and living arrangements. Nyanguru and Peil writing on Zimbabwe give a finely detailed description of the housing situation of the elderly population using survey material. They draw on comparisons with other developing contexts to place the Zimbabwean housing situation in perspective. At the outset, the authors note that the impact of disability on the elderly is directly related to the nature and quality of housing. In conclusion to their overview of urban and rural housing circumstances. they recommend a more appropriate housing policy for the elderly which makes provision for home maintenance and home-help services to assist the elderly to stay in their homes. Moller re-analyses data collected for South Africa's baseline study of the elderly to explore the possible benefits for South Africa's elderly when they live with adult children. Her comparative case studies are based on the assumption that black elders might prefer to live with sons as traditional custom dictates and whites would usually choose to live independently according to Western custom. Chen systematically explores the question of which children co-reside with elderly parents in Taiwan using a large national database and sophisticated multivariate analyses. He also raises the question whether filial piety is on the decline when children no longer co-reside with their parents. The last article in this issue picks up a subject relating to quality of life-a topic introduced in an article in the first issue of SAJG. Authors Gillespie and Louw wish to re-open the debate on activity and quality of life. They pose the provocative question: Does a decline in activity in the elderly really dampen morale? Preliminary results from the pilot study undertaken by the authors reported in the article yielded inconclusive results. However the pilot study involved only a small sample and is presented to make the point and whet our appetite for further research and debate. In support of Gillespie and Louw's call to re-open the debate on the activity question we contribute further South African evidence which allows for various interpretations
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1993
Southern African Journal of Gerontology, volume 2, number 2, October 1993
- Ferreira, Monica (editor), Møller, Valerie (editor), HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
- Authors: Ferreira, Monica (editor) , Møller, Valerie (editor) , HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
- Date: 1993
- Subjects: Gerontology -- South Africa , Older people -- Care -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:8067 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012859
- Description: Care of the elderly in the community. No society or government can offer total care for all elderly people in the population - no matter how developed or wealthy the country is. The financial and manpower implications of doing so would be enormous. This fact particularly applies to states in southern Africa, where a large proportion of the populations comprise poor or indigent persons. What this means is that a great deal of the responsibility for the care of these persons devolves upon caregivers in the community, usually the family. The capacity of such caregivers to render care, albeit at a subsistence level and in a piecemeal manner, must be supported. It is encouraging to note that there are local initiatives in this regard- even in the most impoverished squatter camps in South Africa. In such cases people come together in informal groups to help and support one another. The Black Pensioners' Association of Khayelitsha is one such group. Another way in which people help one another is through the practice of stokvels, where individuals put money into an informal joint banking system, and take turns in accessing large amounts of money for major purchases. Despite common understanding in official planning circles that people should themselves mainly take responsibility for their care, a large commitment nevertheless rests with the state. The state is committed to a large number of its citizens who are elderly, needy, and must be provided for. Such provision does not stop with the payment of a social pension. The primary units of care will remain the family and the community. The aim should be to assist the elderly to remain living independently within the community for as long as possible, despite disability and frailty where these conditions are present. The state should target its endeavours in this direction. There are many ways in which this can be done, e.g. through the provision of financial and other support to informal caregivers, and the rendering of geriatric nursing services and home-help services. could easily be implemented in southern African countries. Regular physical examinations and attention to the nutritional needs of older persons are important, for this can prevent many forms of ill health. This is where research comes in. We need to investigate practical and affordable ways of enhancing the health and welfare of elderly persons in our own context, i.e. in southern Africa countries. The articles in this number of SAJG point a way in this direction. , This issue: In an article on community involvement in health (CIH), Hildebrandt offers valuable suggestions based on her experience with a demonstration project in a South African black urban settlement. She shows how the situation of township residents can be improved by actively involving a community in practical endeavours, e.g. starting nutrition and reading programmes, and a basic health-screening programme. The project which she describes can serve as a model for similar projects in other developing communities. McCallum and Mathers present a paradigm for health services which, although developed in Australia, has wide relevance and should be taken into account in all planning for the aged. The authors demonstrate that a concomitant effect of a general improvement in the health of older persons gained by better health care is, paradoxically, an increased rate of disability and physical frailty. The authors point out that the burden of these disabilities has largely to be borne by informal caregivers at home. The article by Visser, van Wyk, Senekal and Uys deals with an entirely different area of ageing: the clothing needs and preferences of older women. This subject is not often dealt with in gerontological literature; to our knowledge this is the first article on this topic in southern Africa. The article presents some interesting findings. New sections: Two new sections are included in this number of SAJG. A section under the rubric Forum has been added. The section is intended to include reviews and overviews of current knowledge and advanced thinking on specific topics or subject areas in gerontology. The first contribution printed in Forum is a brief guide to the biological basis of ageing. In his guide Louw offers a unified hypothesis of the biology of ageing. The number also includes a correspondence section for the first time. A letter to the editor and a reply, in which the writers give their views on the measurement of successful ageing, have been printed. It is appropriate that SAJG, regarded as the most important peer-reviewed gerontology journal in Africa, should encourage high-level argument and polemics. Further responses to published material are therefore welcomed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1993
- Authors: Ferreira, Monica (editor) , Møller, Valerie (editor) , HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
- Date: 1993
- Subjects: Gerontology -- South Africa , Older people -- Care -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:8067 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012859
- Description: Care of the elderly in the community. No society or government can offer total care for all elderly people in the population - no matter how developed or wealthy the country is. The financial and manpower implications of doing so would be enormous. This fact particularly applies to states in southern Africa, where a large proportion of the populations comprise poor or indigent persons. What this means is that a great deal of the responsibility for the care of these persons devolves upon caregivers in the community, usually the family. The capacity of such caregivers to render care, albeit at a subsistence level and in a piecemeal manner, must be supported. It is encouraging to note that there are local initiatives in this regard- even in the most impoverished squatter camps in South Africa. In such cases people come together in informal groups to help and support one another. The Black Pensioners' Association of Khayelitsha is one such group. Another way in which people help one another is through the practice of stokvels, where individuals put money into an informal joint banking system, and take turns in accessing large amounts of money for major purchases. Despite common understanding in official planning circles that people should themselves mainly take responsibility for their care, a large commitment nevertheless rests with the state. The state is committed to a large number of its citizens who are elderly, needy, and must be provided for. Such provision does not stop with the payment of a social pension. The primary units of care will remain the family and the community. The aim should be to assist the elderly to remain living independently within the community for as long as possible, despite disability and frailty where these conditions are present. The state should target its endeavours in this direction. There are many ways in which this can be done, e.g. through the provision of financial and other support to informal caregivers, and the rendering of geriatric nursing services and home-help services. could easily be implemented in southern African countries. Regular physical examinations and attention to the nutritional needs of older persons are important, for this can prevent many forms of ill health. This is where research comes in. We need to investigate practical and affordable ways of enhancing the health and welfare of elderly persons in our own context, i.e. in southern Africa countries. The articles in this number of SAJG point a way in this direction. , This issue: In an article on community involvement in health (CIH), Hildebrandt offers valuable suggestions based on her experience with a demonstration project in a South African black urban settlement. She shows how the situation of township residents can be improved by actively involving a community in practical endeavours, e.g. starting nutrition and reading programmes, and a basic health-screening programme. The project which she describes can serve as a model for similar projects in other developing communities. McCallum and Mathers present a paradigm for health services which, although developed in Australia, has wide relevance and should be taken into account in all planning for the aged. The authors demonstrate that a concomitant effect of a general improvement in the health of older persons gained by better health care is, paradoxically, an increased rate of disability and physical frailty. The authors point out that the burden of these disabilities has largely to be borne by informal caregivers at home. The article by Visser, van Wyk, Senekal and Uys deals with an entirely different area of ageing: the clothing needs and preferences of older women. This subject is not often dealt with in gerontological literature; to our knowledge this is the first article on this topic in southern Africa. The article presents some interesting findings. New sections: Two new sections are included in this number of SAJG. A section under the rubric Forum has been added. The section is intended to include reviews and overviews of current knowledge and advanced thinking on specific topics or subject areas in gerontology. The first contribution printed in Forum is a brief guide to the biological basis of ageing. In his guide Louw offers a unified hypothesis of the biology of ageing. The number also includes a correspondence section for the first time. A letter to the editor and a reply, in which the writers give their views on the measurement of successful ageing, have been printed. It is appropriate that SAJG, regarded as the most important peer-reviewed gerontology journal in Africa, should encourage high-level argument and polemics. Further responses to published material are therefore welcomed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1993
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