Journal of Women & Aging最新文献

Globally, there is an immense increase in the number of older adults. This can be attributed to an increase in life expectancy brought about by advances in general living standards as well as medicine and healthcare. However, exclusion which is linked to discrimination and access restrictions in areas such as education, employment, housing, and medical care has been identified as one of the challenges facing this increasing demographic. This study explored the exclusion of older rural women in southeast Nigeria and its impact on their life satisfaction. The study used a qualitative method of research to obtain data from a sample of 32 older adults aged 65 years and above through focus group discussions in Nru community in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. The obtained data were thematically analyzed and the findings showed that many older rural women in the study area are socially excluded at home, churches, and the larger society, with poverty and stereotyping of older rural women as less intelligent identified as the leading factor predisposing them to social exclusion in Nigeria. Results also showed that social exclusion brings about sadness and depression which have severe negative implications on their life satisfaction. Finally, implications of the findings for gerontological social workers through advocacy geared toward changes in social policy and structures that promote ageism were discussed.

In this study of urban agriculture in Bulawayo, I examine the extent to which the activity sustains the poor and reduces social exclusion in grandmother-headed households. A qualitative case study design was employed to study the lives of 19 older women. Findings indicate that urban agriculture does not assist in reducing food insecurity and social exclusion among the research participants because of several factors. Challenges in acquiring farming land, medical conditions, and the strenuous and less integrated nature of the urban agriculture practice affect the extent to which urban agriculture secures families from hunger. Social assistance is needed for members of grandmother-headed households.

This cross-sectional study identified 2, 585 women aged 50-70 with certain diseases, health behaviors and psychological health problems among a representative and community-conducted sample of women in Hunan Province of China. It disclosed their poor health status: 51.0% had chronic diseases, 49.6% had gynecopathy, 23.6% had mastopathy, 57.1% failed to avoid secondhand smoke, less than 50% completed periodic health examinations, and 3.1% were anxious. Chronic diseases are expected to be serious health problems in the next 10 years, emphasizing the importance of women discussing their health status. Common diseases should be managed via public health service projects, and free screening and treatment of common diseases should be provided. To enhance women's health knowledge and awareness, targeted health education is necessary in accordance with their physiological and psychological characteristics.

This study aimed to explain the spousal role in the lives of Iranian middle-aged women. This qualitative study was conducted in Iran from July 2018 to November 2019. The participants included 25 middle-aged women selected through purposive sampling. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed through conventional content analysis. The theme of reviving the spousal role was explained by three main categories of paying more attention to the spouse's needs, enhancing feminine charms, and maintaining married life. A deeper understanding of the middle-aged women's spousal role may help health-care personnel to develop indigenous marriage-enrichment programs for middle-aged individuals.

Studies that assess the association between race and health have focused intently on the cumulative impact of continuous exposure to racism over an extended period. While these studies have contributed significantly to the general understanding of the life experiences and health status of racialized people, few studies have explicitly bridged the experiences of aging with gender and the wide structural barriers and social factors that have shaped the lives of racialized older women. This study aimed to investigate the origins of health inequities to highlight factors that intersect to affect the health and wellbeing of older Black women across their life course. Descriptive phenomenology was used to describe older Black women's health and wellbeing, and factors that impact their health across their life course. Criteria-based sampling was used to recruit study participants (n = 27). To be eligible women needed to be 55 years or older, speak English, self-identify as a Black female, and live in the Greater Toronto Area. Data analysis was guided by phenomenology. Themes identified demonstrated that participants' health and wellbeing were influenced by gender bias, racism, abuse, and retirement later in life. Participants reported having poor mental health during childhood and adulthood due to anxiety and depression. Other chronic illnesses reported included hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. Qualitative methods provided details regarding events and exposures that illuminate pathways through which health inequities emerge across the life course.

In the United States, Latinos experience a higher prevalence of chronic diseases with concomitant complications when compared to Non-Latino Whites. Older Latina women often manage a chronic illness while also providing kinship care. This article presents an integrative review of Latina kinship caregivers' self-management of chronic disease. An extensive review of the literature was conducted in seven databases. Four resulting studies included qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research and suggested health outcomes for Latina kinship caregivers were often worse when compared to other groups. A major gap in the literature identified an absence of disease-specific self-management behaviors for this population.

Poverty, poor living conditions, religious values and norms, lack of education, and gender discrimination influence the beliefs and behaviors of rural older women in many low-income countries. This paper aims to report the socio-ecological determinants of health-seeking beliefs and behaviors of rural older women in North-eastern Bangladesh and how these behaviors impact their recognition within the setting. It involved semi-structured interviews with 25 older women and 11 healthcare professionals. The findings revealed various determinants at the personal level (awareness of illness, mistrust toward medical treatment, self-treatment, and religious values and norms), the interpersonal level (isolation in family and communication with clinicians), community level (community perception of aging, neighboring and community organizations), and in the sphere of human rights (care affordability, social safety-net coverage and national policy). Four core determinants (poverty, education, gender and religiosity) were intertwined in shaping beliefs and behaviors.

Objectives: Considerable attention has been directed at increased social isolation and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on later-life psychological well-being. There is a dearth of research on the effect of financial strain and associated psychosocial mechanisms on loneliness among women across racial groups. It is unclear how racial status and financial strain intersect to impact later-life loneliness amid immense uncertainty, social isolation, and anxiety induced by the pandemic.Methods: Based on our nationwide Web-based survey (n = 1,301), we used ordinary least square regression to examine the effects of financial strain on loneliness among Black and White women and assessed the role of emotional support in contributing to such effects.Results: We found that Black women face significantly more financial strain than White women but also receive more emotional support and experience less loneliness. Findings show that women experiencing financial strain report increased loneliness, but the negative effects of financial strain are significantly greater for Black women than for White women. Our mediation analysis revealed that emotional support made a significant contribution to the effects of financial strain on loneliness in White women but not in Black women.Discussion: Despite shared vulnerability and social isolation across the general population, our findings suggest that negative effects of financial strain on loneliness among women continue to differ across race, even amid the pandemic. Our findings demonstrate how emotional support explains the relationship between financial strain and later-life loneliness in a racially distinct manner.

Background: The gendered aspects of extraordinary demanding spousal caring for people with young-onset dementia have been scarcely researched.

Aim: To analyze spouses' experiences of the meaning, content, and effort of intensive caring for spouses/partners with young-onset frontotemporal dementia (YO-FTD), concentrating on a female perspective.

Method: A qualitative Norwegian study using narrative interviews with 10 wives and 6 husbands were conducted in 2014 and 2015.

Findings: The analysis resulted in four gendered main themes: Different caregiving periods, Distancing: experiencing a transformed spouse and relationship, Social isolation, and Needing assistance and relief. A case analysis of wives' and men's stories was applied, especially focusing on a wife's story, to examine the detailed interrelationships between life situation, caring demands, experiences, and reactions. Spousal care is influenced by gendered caring norms and roles. The study finds marked differences between wives and husbands in the meaning, content and sustainability of care, and needs for support vary. Wives endured more stress longer than husbands, with a greater emotional impact and negative health consequences, and their needs are more easily neglected. Husbands presented their needs more efficiently and obtained public relief earlier.

Conclusion: Women may need more support earlier during different stages of caring for a spouse with YO-FTD. They need gender sensitive person-centered support to live their own lives and preserve their selves.