Southern African Journal of Gerontology, volume 4, number 1, April 1995

Ferreira, Monica (editor); Møller, Valerie (editor); HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology

Title: Southern African Journal of Gerontology, volume 4, number 1, April 1995
Creator: Ferreira, Monica (editor)
Creator: Møller, Valerie (editor)
Creator: HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
Subject: Gerontology -- South Africa
Subject: Older people -- Care -- South Africa
Date Issued: 1995
Date: 1995
Type: Text
Identifier: vital:8070
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012862
Description: [From Editorial]The sixth number of SA. IG includes varied and interesting contributions which will appeal to researchers and practitioners alike. It is fitting that precisely a year after the first fully democratic elections were held in South Africa. an article by M0ller on voter education of older Africans should be included in this number. M0ller has captured the euphoria of the older first-time voters in her selection of quotations from media reports on the voting. She concludes in her article that for these older South Africans who waited over 40 years to be enfranchised, voting was experienced as a particularly fulfilling moment in their lives. In an original paper Burman examines the findings of a study on the nature and extent of child care rendered by older coloured women in the Cape Peninsula - either to grandchildren. or to the children of other relatives or non-relatives. Burman considers the economic implications of the care which the women provide and finds that very few benefit financially. On the contrary, she notes a downward, rather than an expected upward flow of wealth, whereby social old-age pensioners share their pension money with other members of the household, including the grandchildren for whom they care. Burman concludes that not only are intergenerational relations strengthened by older women remaining in the family structure and caring for young children but through their pensions they enjoy considerable status in the household. Three practice items are included in this number. Working within a social-work framework, Howes has developed a monitoring instrument for use in the case management of older clients in the community. She reviews recent literature on case management and introduces the concept to South African practitioners, indicating its potential usefulness in a restructured service-delivery system in South Africa. She argues that to address the backlog in service delivery in developing and rural communities. and in view of limited resources and other reasons which discourage institutional care. case management is a means of rendering and co-ordinating cost-effective care to older persons in the community.
Description: Authors Amosun, Mazarire and Mawere examine the pattern of utilization of physiotherapy services by elderly Zimbabweans at a central hospital in Harare. They establish baseline data on the medical conditions for which the patients received physiotherapy. The authors highlight the need for adequate information in these areas in African countries. In the third practice item, Tooke raises the issue of developing and providing training for carers in homes for the aged. He reports on the training methodology which he has developed for this category of worker, and calls for the setting of standards for such training and the institution of procedures to ensure that standardized training of carers is carried out in homes. The poor training of carers. or a lack of training for this cadre of workers has been mooted as a factor which contributes to the mis-treatment or abuse of residents in homes (Conradie & Charlton. 1992 ). Historically, South African nursing bodies have not recognized these workers and have opposed formal training that might equip them to perform tasks done by student nurses (enrolled nursing auxiliaries). In post-election South Africa new cadres of workers increasingly need to be trained and employed. as part and parcel of the goals of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). which includes not only training citizens but also creating work and career opportunities for all. To ascertain the present attitudes of national nursing bodies towards the training of carers. the South African Nursing Council and the South African Nursing Association were invited to reply to the proposals in Dr Tooke's brief. Their replies are published as rejoinders to the brief. Finally, this number of SAJG also carries its first book review. Valerie Moller reviews the new publication of US authors Steven M. Albert and Maria G. Cattell. titled Old age in global perspective: cross-cultural and cross-national views. The book, which adopts a multidisciplinary approach, presents ethnographic case studies and evidence from cross-national surveys to assess variation in the experience of ageing and old age. Møller concludes that Southern African readers will gain many insights from the book, to better understand the complexities of ageing in their own society.
Format: 36 pages
Format: pdf
Publisher: HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology, University of Cape Town
Language: English
Relation: Southern African Journal of Gerontology,4 (1) ISSN: 1019-8016
Rights: Ferreira, Monica (editor)
Rights: Møller, Valerie (editor)

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