Southern African Journal of Gerontology, volume 9, number 2, October 2000
- Authors: Ferreira, Monica (editor) , Moller, Valerie , HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Gerontology -- South Africa , Older people -- Care -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:8081 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012915
- Description: [From Editorial] In this special issue of SAJG, an attempt is made to demonstrate how a selection of studies were conducted and how the research outcomes have been translated into action. Heslop, Agyarko, Adjetey-Sorsey and Mapetla give us a paper in which they have evaluated the methodology used in studies in Ghana and South Africa to determine the contributions of older people. After long periods of implementation and learning, this participatory-research methodology has become synonymous with HAl's research work. The authors take us through the methodology, describe the studies carried out in the two countries, and provide us with a vivid picture of not only the problems which older people in the countries face, but also the immense contribution which they make to the well-being of other people. The impact which this work has had in both countries is notable. Older participants in the studies have taken it upon themselves to advocate their rights, and the governments in the two countries have started to put measures in place to address some of the problems identified in the studies. The paper by Van Vuuren and Groenewald examines the pattern of expenditure of pension income by black pension beneficiaries in the Free State Province of South Africa, against a backdrop of these persons' living circumstances. It goes into detail about issues regarding the payment of pensions, pension sharing within households and expenditure of pension money on specific items, and challenges allegations that pensioners are frequently robbed of their pension money and that they lose this income to loan sharks. Some of the findings of this paper contrast with the findings of the HAl studies conducted with partners in the Northem, Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal provinces of South Africa (see the first paper in this issue by Heslop and colleagues). In their paper, Kowal, Wolfson and Dowd point out that there is a dearth of empirical and credible data on older people in Africa. Although some research has been conducted on this population, the authors note that by and large the available data derive from small samples, are scattered, and have neither been widely disseminated nor shared. The authors further note a lack of common approaches to data collection. Realising these gaps, the World Health Organisation arranged a workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe in January 2000, to begin a process to develop a minimum data set (MDS) for use by researchers in Africa. An overall aim of the MDS project is to provide data to influence policy and decision makers in various areas which affect older persons. , Needs-driven research on nutrition and ageing, carried out by HAl in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is reported by Busolo, Ismail and Peachey in their paper. Nutrition and ageing in developing countries is an area which bas received scant attention. The nutritional requirements of older persons in these countries have not only been inadequately investigated but as a result, nutrition practitioners in various settings simply shoot in the dark. The authors take us down the path which the research took, from bow the needs were identified, to how the research was conducted, to how an intervention programme was set up. They give us some key findings of the research, describe the dissemination process and the application of the findings, and suggest a way forward. An Africa-wide programme currently being implemented as a direct result of this work is aimed at providing knowledge and information on the nutritional requirements of older people to key nutrition institutes, older people's organisations, N GOs (particularly those working in emergency situations), donors and governments. HelpAge International earlier conducted research in the Magu district of Tanzania on the plight of older women who are victimised on suspicion of their being witches (cf. Forrester Kibuga, 1999). Forrester Kibuga and Dianga now draw on this work in their paper. The authors take us through facts pertaining to the witchcraft-related killings, some of the problems which older people in the district face, the changing roles of older people in that area, beliefs and customs of the communities, and the stance of the government and the church on witchcraft. The dynamics of gender issues are also discussed. Following on this research, HAl designed and is now implementing a programme aimed at addressing some of the factors which lead up to these killings and developing sustainable structures to protect older people from violence. In his paper, Gorman draws on the work of HAl in various parts of the world, particularly in Africa - including Tanzania, Ghana, South Africa and Kenya. He argues that violence against older women and men in Africa cannot be attributed to a single, straight-forward problem but must be understood within a complex web that touches on history, family structures, and social and economic factors. He makes practical suggestions on what needs to be done to deal with the problem of violence. HelpAge International will soon be implementing an Africa-wide programme as a response to some of the issues which have been raised in its research on violence. While there is a clear need for more research on ageing in Africa, the research should not be done in a vacuum. There is a simultaneous need for greater collaboration and sharing of research results, and perhaps most importantly, for more action based on research outcomes. At the end of the day researchers should never forget that they have an ethical commitment to their subjects, to society and to their colleagues. , Thanks are due to Karen Peachey and Alex Dianga in the HAl Africa Regional Development Centre for the co-ordination of this special issue. Special thanks are due to Monica Ferreira for dedicating the issue to the experience and work of HAl, and for her commitment to addressing issues pertaining to ageing in Africa. She has worked tirelessly to ensure the success of not only this issue of SAJG but of previous issues as well. I have found her a pillar of support and a pleasure to work with. Tavengwa M. Nhongo.
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- Date Issued: 2000
A cohort analysis of subjective wellbeing and ageing: heading towards a midlife crisis
- Authors: Otterbach, Steffen , Sousa-Poza, Alfonso , Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Aging -- Social aspects Gerontology
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65401 , vital:28782 , ISBN 978086810641
- Description: In this paper, we analyse how different domains of subjective wellbeing evolve within seven years in three different cohorts born 10 years apart. On average, general life satisfaction – as well as satisfaction with leisure time, social contacts and friends, and family – declines substantially between the ages of 15 and 44, with the most significant decrease taking place at a young age (early 20s). Nevertheless, trajectories among the three cohorts differ markedly, indicating that, ceteris paribus, responses on subjective wellbeing differ greatly between cohorts born just a decade apart. The results further indicate that the two older cohorts assess family life and social contacts more favourably than the youngest cohort.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Global Handbook of Quality of Life: exploration of well-being of nations and continents
- Authors: Glatzer, Wolfgang , Camfield, Laura , Moller, Valerie , Rojas, Mariano
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67245 , vital:29063 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9178-6
- Description: publisher version , This handbook provides a comprehensive historical account of the field of Quality of Life. It brings together theoretical insights and empirical findings, and presents the main items of global quality of life and wellbeing research. Worldwide in its scope of topics, the handbook examines discussions of demographic and health development, the spread of democracy, global economic accounting, multi-item measurement of perceived satisfaction and expert-assessed quality of life, and the well-being of children, women and poor people. It looks at well-being in specific regions, including North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, South America, and Eastern and Western Europe. In addition to contributions by leading and younger authors, the handbook includes contributions from International Organizations about their own work with respect to social reporting.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
The Personal Wellbeing Index in the South African isiXhosa translation: a qualitative focus group study
- Authors: Moller, Valerie , Roberts, Benjamin J , Zani, Dalindyebo
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67125 , vital:29034 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0820-6
- Description: publisher version , International scholars who rely on the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) to compare cross-cultural quality of life have often been confronted with the problems of nuances getting ‘lost in translation’. This qualitative study explored the meaning of the isiXhosa version of the PWI in focus group discussions with native speakers. Participants in the study discussed how they understood and rated their lives on each item in the index. The discourse conveyed the different shades of meaning associated with the PWI items of life satisfaction and eight domains of life. The study found that PWI items related to material well-being, living standards, achievements in life and future (financial) security were best understood. The PWI items referring to personal relationships and community connectedness were seen as nearly identical in meaning. Both translation and cultural factors may be responsible for the conflation of these two items. Noteworthy is that the PWI item on religion and spirituality was seen to embrace both Christian and traditional African beliefs and practice, without prejudice. A new item on daily activities was piloted with good results. The focus group study also showcased the manner in which discussants worked with the rating scale and drew on social comparisons when evaluating global and domain satisfactions. It is concluded that cognitive testing of PWI items in different translations will serve not only to appraise the validity of PWI ratings across cultures, but importantly also opens a window on what makes for a life of quality in a particular social setting.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
Living with crime: Does crime affect victims' perceived quality of life?
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2004
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:21018 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6027 , http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2413-3108/2004/v0i9a1032
- Description: Crime is thought to be a major concern that shapes the everyday lives of South Africans. But what impact does living with high levels of crime have on the mindset of ordinary citizens? A recent household crime victimisation study conducted in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality provides tentative answers to this question.
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- Date Issued: 2004
Lost generation found: black youth at leisure
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 1991
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:542 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011554
- Description: South African society has been preoccupied with educating and finding jobs for its volatile youth generation. This Indicator SA special report looks beyond the institutional settings of school and work, focusing instead on how young people use their leisure time. The leisure prospects of black urban youth in their teens and early twenties has been researched by the Youth Centre Project (YCP) of the Centre for Social and Development Studies at the University of Natal. This seminal three year research and development project was carried out between 1988 and 1991 with sponsorship from Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Leisure might be considered a lightweight issue compared to other pressing problems in South African society. Not so, the YCP research shows that leisure has an important role to play in developing the new South Africa. Indeed, leisure is a critical issue for the youth which can either spell hope and opportunity or frustration and regression into crime and violence. Multiple phases of research were undertaken at the national and local level among rank and file black youth to address the many facets of leisure in township and peri-urban settings: • A nationwide time use survey recorded the leisure activities of young people in the 16-24 years age bracket and inquired into attitudes towards leisure and lifestyles. The study for which participants kept activity diaries, may be the first of its kind in South Africa. • Smaller scale investigations in the Durban Functional Region (DFR) looked into the leisure resources available and the human potential to make optimal use of leisure opportunities: • Youth groups and clubs operating in the DFR were the focus of a special youth self-help intervention. A regional youth group, the YCP Working Group, formed to serve the training and development needs of existing youth clubs in the DFR. • A special study was made of the particular leisure needs of young people living in four shack areas in the DFR. Several studies focused on venues for youth to meet, including the need for a regional youth centre in the Pinetown area. An inventory of DFR leisure facilities compiled for the project revealed the mismatch between existing leisure facilities and young people's views on ideal leisure venues. • A nationwide poll among all population groups confirmed the need for multi-purpose neighbourhood youth centres which offer educational as well as recreational leisure outlets. This special report addresses several leisure dilemmas facing South Africa today. Leisure is an elusive concept which is difficult to define. Our findings indicate that leisure means much more than recreation or play to young people. Educational and learning experiences are attractive but neglected leisure options which may have greater appeal than pure recreational pastimes. The evidence suggests that this is not 'a lost generation' but one starved for meaningful leisure outlets. Semi-leisure is the concept introduced to convey this more serious side to leisure activities. The inquiry concludes that marrying semi-leisure with pure leisure may go a long way towards meeting youth demands for constructive leisure at home, in youth groups, and in community centres and projects. The research findings reveal tensions between the leisure needs of young men and women, between youth in and out of jobs, between church and politicised youth, and between township and shackland youth. The dilemma is how to apply an equity solution to meet the spare time needs of youth from these diverse backgrounds. Airing these leisure dilemmas represents an important first step towards formulating a leisure policy for the new era. The case studies and commentaries in this special report demonstrate that rank and file black youth, in spite of the political violence, state repression during the emergency period, and social neglect, are amazingly adept at using their leisure creatively. Clearly, this potential calls for the formulation of an equally imaginative national leisure policy to enable South African youth to realise their dreams and aspirations. , A joint publication: Youth Centre Project, Indicator Project South Africa. Youth Centre Project: Affiliate of the Centre for Social and Development Studies, University of Natal, Durban. Editor: Graham Howe. Production/ graphics: Rob Evans. Academic researcher: Robin Richards. Community researcher: Theresa Mthembu. Copy typing: Deborah Boertje.
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- Date Issued: 1991
Southern African Journal of Gerontology, volume 8, number 2, October 1999
- Authors: Ferreira, Monica (editor) , Moller, Valerie , HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Gerontology -- South Africa , Older people -- Care -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:8079 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012913
- Description: [From Editorial] The papers included in this special issue highlight some of the issues of elderliness and old age in Africa outlined above. Using different disciplinary approaches, the papers should appeal to age-old researchers in varied fields. In a discussion of old age and ageing in pre-industrial Africa, Sagner moves away from the rather simplistic images of old age which still beset many African gerontologists. Drawing on the Xhosa-speaking peoples in the 19th century he argues that the experience of later life was shaped by gender, kinship and "class" differences as well as by biographical factors, making for a variety of later-life experiences. He points out that old age was not a clear-cut period of life with unique demographic, economic or social characteristics/ conditions, set apart from earlier life phases. However, he notes that (deep) old age was firmly tied to religious and metaphysical beliefs. He argues that loss of bodily functions in (deep) old age was hardly stigmatizing as the loss was socially constructed as a sign of increasing other-worldliness. By linking old age with superhuman agency, the ideological hegemony of old age remained unbroken, despite bodily decline, even though the latter could herald loss of this-worldly status and, finally, abandonment in the bush. Moller and Sotshangaye discuss contemporary relations between Zulu grandmothers and grandchildren in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. Though the grandmothers whom the two authors interviewed expressed deep concern about losing the respect of their grandchildren, in the eyes of the latter old age is, surprisingly, not denigrated as a possible source of moral guidance. Moller and Sotshangaye point out that strains in the grandmothers-grandchildren relationship are located in the rapidly changing social context which easily tends to outdate the elders' teaching, rather than in the intergenerational politics of the family per se. Paradoxically, however, macro-social changes have also led to a re-strengthening of the grandmothers' moral authority. The paper also shows that successful ageing- in the sense of one's personal happiness in old age - is, at least partly, relational defined. , Moving northwards up the subcontinent to Mozambique, da Silva records the results of a case study on the situation of older people who had to cope with several long-standing wars and natural disasters in their lifetimes. She analyses the repercussions which endured displacements, forced migrations and other war-related life-course experiences had on the lives of today's elderly, both at the personal and social level. In detailing social policy propositions she reminds us that there is a fundamental divergence between how older people are represented in some authoritative discourses and the social reality of old age. To overcome the prevailing negative representations of old age is of utmost practical importance, as the problematicity image encourages non-participatory government approaches and hinders thus the empowerment of the elderly. Turning to a methodological plane, Mommersteeg details some of the problems - and advantages - which the use of interpreters in qualitative research settings entail. In keeping with a hermeneutic approach, he shows that the interpreter is in fact a culture broker, rather than a mere provider of a linguistically correct translation. Mommersteeg's paper illustrates very well that interviews which are mediated through interpreters are not dialogically but triologically constituted, as are their "products" - the storied voices of the interviewees. In her article, Coetzee reports on exploratory field research in an old-age centre outside Bloemfontein in South Africa's Free State province. Based on participant observation and in-depth interviews she finds that elderly residents experience old age negatively. Though this subjective reality partly reflects the residents' difficulties in adjusting to their ageing bodies, it is mainly grounded in her subjects' difficulties to construct a framework within which their present position in the world could be instilled with personal/social meaning. Coetzee' s paper stresses both the relevance of a life course perspective and a gender-sensitive approach to the study of old-age experience.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1999
TB treatment initiation and adherence in a South African community influenced more by perceptions than by knowledge of tuberculosis
- Authors: Cramm, Jane M , Finkenflügel, Harry J M , Moller, Valerie , Nieboer, Anna P
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7101 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010657
- Description: Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health concern. Inadequate case finding and case holding has been cited as major barrier to the control of TB. The TB literature is written almost entirely from a biomedical perspective, while recent studies show that it is imperative to understand lay perception to determine why people seek treatment and may stop taking treatment. The Eastern Cape is known as a province with high TB incidence, prevalence and with one of the worst cure rates of South Africa. Its inhabitants can be considered lay experts when it comes to TB. Therefore, we investigated knowledge, perceptions of (access to) TB treatment and adherence to treatment among an Eastern Cape population. Methods An area-stratified sampling design was applied. A total of 1020 households were selected randomly in proportion to the total number of households in each neighbourhood. Results TB knowledge can be considered fairly good among this community. Respondents' perceptions suggest that stigma may influence TB patients' decision in health seeking behavior and adherence to TB treatment. A full 95 percent of those interviewed believe people with TB tend to hide their TB status out of fear of what others may say. Regression analyses revealed that in this population young and old, men and women and the lower and higher educated share the same attitudes and perceptions. Our findings are therefore likely to reflect the actual situation of TB patients in this population. Conclusions The lay experts' perceptions suggests that stigma appears to effect case holding and case finding. Future interventions should be directed at improving attitudes and perceptions to potentially reduce stigma. This requires a patient-centered approach to empower TB patients and active involvement in the development and implementation of stigma reduction programs.
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- Date Issued: 2010
Quality of life and positive youth development in Grahamstown East, South Africa
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2363 , vital:20281
- Description: Quality-of-life studies are ideally suited to fulfilling the new international youth research agenda, which focuses on ‘positive youth development’ to make recommendations for policy and practice. The paper reports a South African case study conducted among disadvantaged youth for this purpose. A sample survey of close on 900 African youth, aged 15-24 years, sought to identify indicators of positive development to serve as goals of youth and community work in Grahamstown East/Rini, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The setting is unique. This mainly rural province is among the poorest, least developed, and has one of highest unemployment rates. Nevertheless, Grahamstown may offer special development opportunities for local youth due to the proximity of the city centre and diverse extension projects for youth. The survey found that development opportunities were unequally distributed with the materially advantaged youth being more exposed to development opportunities through their schools, spare time activities, and community contacts. They were more ambitious than others and more aware of risks facing contemporary youth. Advantaged youth also reported higher levels of subjective well-being and optimism, findings consistent with earlier studies conducted among adult populations, which report remarkable congruence between material and subjective well-being among South Africans. The analysis used overall life satisfaction as key indicator of successful youth development to learn more about major youth aspirations and goals. In conclusion, the study was able to identify a youth development initiative based on the aspirations of the youth, which might be pursued as a researcher-practitioner partnership project in line with the new international youth research agenda.
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- Date Issued: 2003
South African quality of life trends over three decades, 1980–2010
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67145 , vital:29040 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0120-y
- Description: publisher version , The South African Quality of Life Trends study has tracked the subjective well-being of South Africans in ten waves from 1983 to 2010. The paper presents the SAQoL trendline of life satisfaction, happiness and perceptions of life getting better or worse against the backdrop of the transition from apartheid to democracy. Subjective well-being peaked in the month following the first open elections in April 1994 when black and white South Africans were equally satisfied and happy at levels found in other democratic societies. But post-election euphoria was short-lived and levels of well-being dropped the following year and racial inequalities in evaluations of life re-emerged. The tenth and latest wave in the study was conducted a few months after South Africa’s successful hosting of the Soccer World Cup. In 2010, the proportions of all South Africans expressing satisfaction, happiness and optimism was among the highest since the coming of democracy—just over half stated they were satisfied, close on two-thirds were happy, and half felt life was getting better. Nonetheless, while the standard of living has increased for a minority of formerly disadvantaged South Africans and a small black middle class has emerged, there are still huge disparities in both material and subjective well-being. In 1997 and 2010, South Africans were asked what would make them happier in future. In 2010, the majority of citizens still hoped for basic necessities, income and employment, to enhance their quality of life.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Southern African Journal of Gerontology, volume 7, number 2, October 1998
- Authors: Ferreira, Monica (editor) , Moller, Valerie , HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
- Date: 1998
- Subjects: Gerontology -- South Africa , Older people -- Care -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:8077 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012911
- Description: [From Editorial] Articles in this Special Issue on health and ageing in Africa come from a broad spectrum of disciplines and the articles reflect a wide range of topics. Three contributions deal with the maintenance of good health. Remaining active is a key component of successful ageing which minimizes the loss of functional independence in the elderly. An investigation of the role of gender in the analysis of gait of older people by Macfarlane, Nicholson and Muller provides important methodological information which may be applied in practical outcomes-based assessments. The development of a reliable tool to assess gait, as a measure of lower-extremity function, is thus pertinent. There is growing evidence that good nutritional status is an important determinant of optimal cognitive and physical functioning in older people and influences both quality of life and health status. In a study of institutionalized elderly women in Cape Town, Charlton, Joosen and Jaffer report a high prevalence of suboptimal vitamin C status. The authors make out a case for low-dose micro-nutrient supplementation in residents of homes for the aged, particularly in homes where a cook-chill catering system is operated. They suggest that ongoing nutritional assessment should be an integral part of the care of older residents. In keeping with the topic of nutrition, Walker, a prolific author on public health issues in Africa over the past 50 years, has contributed a guest column in which he addresses the nutrition-ageing paradigm from an epidemiological viewpoint. He highlights opportunities for high-quality research on the association between life-style factors and healthy ageing in the continent. Moving on to a specific form of health-care delivery, Makoni examines language practices in the care that is rendered to older residents of a Cape Town nursing home. He describes barriers in communication between nursing staff and residents from different ethnic backgrounds, which compromise the quality of care that is rendered and which may result in conflict and tension between staff and residents. In her article, Tlou evaluates a community-based programme in which older women who live in rural areas of Botswana are trained to educate members of their communities in the prevention of the spread of the HIV I AIDS virus. The findings demonstrate the benefits of targeting lay persons for health education activities in rural Africa and the utilization of older persons, in this case women, as a valuable resource. The special issue also includes two opinion pieces and an item which opens debate. In separate contributions, Wilson and Duodu examine challenges facing effective health-care service delivery systems for older persons in African countries and express their opinions in this regard. Wilson's suggestions for multidisciplinary specialist teams, including incontinence teams, nutrition teams and vision teams, and for the development of training for lay people to become generic " rehabilitation assistants," are examples of appropriate community-based African solutions to health service delivery needs of the older population. Duodo makes similar suggestions to those of Wilson, specifically regarding geriatric care service delivery in Ghana. He also highlights the common practice of traditional self-medication in rural-dwelling older Ghanaians. Readers are invited to comment on, and indeed to augment, the authors' opinions in Letters to the Editor. To date, very little work has been done in South Africa on biological aspects of ageing. In a short contribution on the free radical theory of ageing, Van Rensburg and Potocnik open debate on this topic. Once again, readers are invited to contribute to debate in this area in letters to the editor, for publication in the following number of the journal.
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- Date Issued: 1998
‘Growing’ social protection in developing countries: lessons from Brazil and South Africa
- Authors: Barrientos, Armando , Moller, Valerie , Saboia, Joao , Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter , Mase, Julia
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67195 , vital:29058 , https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2013.756098
- Description: publisher version , The rapid expansion of social protection in the South provides a rich diversity of experiences and lessons on how best to reduce poverty and ultimately eradicate it. Knowledge on how best to ‘grow’ social assistance, understood as long-term institutions responsible for reducing and preventing poverty, is at a premium. This article examines the expansion of social assistance in Brazil and South Africa, two of the middle income countries widely perceived to have advanced furthest in ‘growing’ social protection. It examines three aspects: the primacy of politics in explaining the expansion of social protection and assistance, the tensions between path-dependence and innovation in terms of institutions and practices, and the poverty and inequality outcomes of social assistance expansion. The article concludes by drawing the main lessons for other developing countries.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Use of indigenous and indigenised medicines to enhance personal well-being: a South African case study
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7106 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010679
- Description: An estimated 27 million South Africans use indigenous medicines (Mander, 1997, Medicinal plant marketing and strategies for sustaining the plant supply in the Bushbuckridge area and Mpumalanga Province. Institute for Natural Resources, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa). Although herbal remedies are freely available in amayeza stores, or Xhosa chemists, for self-medication, little is known about the motivations of consumers. According to African belief systems, good health is holistic and extends to the person's social environment. The paper makes a distinction between traditional medicines which are used to enhance personal well-being generally and for cultural purposes, on the one hand, and medicines used to treat physical conditions only, on the other. Drawing on an eight-month study of Xhosa chemists in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, in 1996, the paper identifies 90 medicines in stock which are used to enhance personal well-being. Just under one-third of all purchases were of medicines to enhance well-being. Remedies particularly popular included medicines believed to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. The protection of infants with medicines which repel evil spirits is a common practice. Consumer behaviours indicate that the range of medicines available is increased by indigenisation of manufactured traditional medicines and cross-cultural borrowing. Case studies confirm that self- and infant medication with indigenous remedies augmented by indigenised medicines plays an important role in primary health care by allaying the fears and anxieties of everyday life within the Xhosa belief system, thereby promoting personal well-being.
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- Date Issued: 2002
What are the best and worst times in the lives of South African township dwellers? A content analysis of the self-defined end-anchors for Bernheim’s ACSA scale of subjective well-being
- Authors: Moller, Valerie , Theuns, P
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67155 , vital:29042 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0073-1
- Description: publisher version , Bernheim’s ACSA, a less conventional measure of subjective well-being originally developed for use in a clinical setting, was applied to a sample of black South African township dwellers (n = 1,020) in the Eastern Cape Province. The Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment is an experiential self-anchoring scale with concrete anchors (Bernheim in Psychologie médicale 15:1625–1626, 1983). Respondents described the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ periods experienced in their lives in their own words and rated their current life situation within these two extremes that served as the end-anchors of an 11-point rating scale, ACSA. The ACSA score was significantly positively correlated with conventional measures of subjective well-being. The study examined in detail the content of the ACSA anchors, the best and worst periods of respondents’ lives, classified by domain, to gain insights into reference comparisons applied in quality-of-life evaluation in a developing country setting. As was the case in earlier ACSA studies, most domains that served as reference standards were related to the self and family life. However, material living standards, represented by the domains of income, financial security and housing also featured prominently as personal anchors—a reflection of life goals in post-apartheid South Africa. Age, gender, education and self-reported health were associated with the choice of select anchors. The discussion provides pointers for future applications of ACSA in large sample surveys using a pre-coded multiple-choice format for anchor descriptions. It is concluded that the content of ACSA anchors corresponds closely to contemporary definitions of the good life among ordinary South Africans.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Shadow of the Sun – the distribution of wellbeing in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Authors: Roberts, Benjamin J , Gordon, Steven Lawrence , Moller, Valerie , Struwig, Jare
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67235 , vital:29062 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9178-6_23
- Description: publisher version , Despite the enthusiasm that prevailed during sub-Saharan Africa’s initial wave of independence, representations of quality of life in the region over the last half-century focused on themes that typically characterize failed states: maladministration, violence and conflict, disease, impoverishment and suffering. Although considerable hardship persists, the subcontinent experienced impressive economic growth over the last decade. This, together with increasing gains from state-led social spending, has prompted a new narrative that speaks of promise and opportunity. Against this backdrop, the chapter reviews quality of life in the region using select objective and subjective wellbeing measures. The results confirm the general pattern of recent social progress, though lingering deprivation, inequality and often difficult political conditions. While this situation is reflected in relatively low life satisfaction evaluations, it is also accompanied by a resolute optimism that attests to the resilience of the region’s citizens in the face of adversity. The chapter also assesses the influence of certain objective conditions on subjective wellbeing at the macro-level.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
Resilient or resigned? Criminal victimisation and quality of life in South Africa
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7113 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010746
- Description: A victimisation study conducted among 3300 householders in South Africa’s Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality (NMMM) in the Eastern Cape Province aimed to inform a crime prevention strategy for the metropolitan area. The study found that the variables ‘fear of crime’ – measured in terms of perceived likelihood of victimisation – and concern about ‘personal safety’ had greater negative influence on life satisfaction than actual victimisation. Individual crimes against the person had greater negative influence on subjective wellbeing and feelings of personal safety than property and other household crimes. Individuals who perceived themselves to be at risk of becoming a victim of crime also perceived greater risk of other misfortunes. However, materially better-off victims reported higher levels of life satisfaction than non-victims in spite of their crime experience. South Africa has high crime rates by international standards and fighting crime presents the country with one of its major challenges in the second decade of democracy. Nevertheless, findings suggest that the negative impact of crime issues on achieving the good life are overshadowed by issues of racial inequalities and poverty. The conclusion is drawn that residents of Nelson Mandela Metropole are hardy when it comes to living with crime but nonetheless suffer stress in doing so. From a methodological perspective, the discussion considers whether subjective crime issues such as fear of crime and personal safety should be regarded as personal or neighbourhood quality-of-life issues. Based on survey findings, the conclusion is drawn that concern for personal safety is both. However, a crime-as neighbourhood-issue is more likely to attract remedial action on the part of local authorities to better protect citizens and allay their fears of crime.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
South Africa’s new democrats : a 2002 profile of democracy in the making
- Authors: Moller, Valerie , Hanf, T
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Book , text
- Identifier: vital:539 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010768
- Description: [From the introduction]: South Africa’s dramatic conversion to democracy has been heralded as a modern-day miracle. In former Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Tutu’s words, it was ‘touch and go’ whether all conflicting parties would participate in the first non-racial elections in April 1994. The ‘rainbow nation’, as the new South Africa liked to call itself in the first years of democracy, was heralded as a beacon of hope and enlightenment for Africa and the world. Since 1994, South Africa has successfully conducted two further national elections that have been declared essentially free and fair. The country has emerged as a leading representative of the economic and political interests of developing countries and the South in the international arena. The question is whether living under democracy has influenced the manner in which South Africans see themselves, their country and the world around them. This report seeks to document how South Africans think and feel some eight years into democracy about issues that are important in their own lives and have significance for the future of their society. The study covers personal experiences, attitudes and beliefs, and the aspirations and fears of ordinary people. It seeks to identify the sentiments and collective experiences that may contribute to or hinder the consolidation of democracy in years to come. The report is based on an inquiry conducted in March 2002 among over two thousand South African adults over 16 years of age in a nationally representative MarkData survey that included all regions of the country. , Lettres de Byblos / Letters from Byblos. A series of occasional papers published by UNESCO Centre International des Sciences de l’Homme International Centre for Human Sciences
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Southern African Journal of Gerontology, volume 8, number 1, April 1999
- Authors: Ferreira, Monica (editor) , Moller, Valerie , HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Gerontology -- South Africa , Older people -- Care -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:8078 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012912
- Description: [From Editorial] Several contemporary building blocks of African gerontology are used in the papers in this number of SAJG. First, Madzingira draws on 1990s' demographic data sources to examine selected levels, patterns and trends of population ageing in Zimbabwe. She briefly outlines implications of population ageing for socio-economic development in the country, and highlights critical areas such as the future of the family as a safety net for elders, inadequate social-security measures, health care provision, trends in consumption of goods and services, and the ageing population structure in the rural areas. Although based on a descriptive modernization theory model, the paper reflects the continued usefulness of the theory in highlighting the effects of structural lag, but avoids a reliance on stereotypes. Staying in Zimbabwe, Mupedziswa takes up feminist issues and critiques the plight of older female informal-sector traders and their gender-based cumulative disadvantage. The author pertinently and sympathetically examines the women's diminished access to power across the lifespan and their dilemma as they become increasingly frail. Refreshingly, he approaches his investigation from a political economy perspective, and considers the interdependence of this gender-differentiated age cohort and the social structure. Moving to Ghana, Adeku in his paper examines socio-demographic factors in the marital status of older persons. His findings highlight the greater proportion of widows in the older population, which gender differential he explains is a function of both a high mortality rate in older men and remarriage. He also specifically examines gender-based inheritance and other wealth transfer patterns - and hence uses both social exchange theory and political economy theory concepts for explanation, as well as draws on feminist theories to analyse the situations of the older women. Staying in Ghana, Darkwa gives his views on the health-care needs and challenges of older Ghanaians who reside in rural areas. Again, the author addresses a political economy issue, and makes suggestions on how the government could bridge the urban-rural health gap and improve both preventive and curative health-care service delivery to the vast majority of the older Ghanaian population which lives in the rural areas. He also introduces an intriguing notion of the role that communication technology can play in the future provision of health care to Africa's elderly. Finally, revisiting demographic and health transitions in Africa, their implications and related issues, Adamchak reviews the World Health Organization's 1997 report on Ageing in Africa, authored by Nana Araba Apt in Ghana. Adamchak evaluates this "overview" report and its relevance, and examines some of the historical and contemporary African gerontology building blocks with which the report is constructed.
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- Date Issued: 1999
Satisfied and dissatisfied South Africans: results from the General Household Survey in international comparison
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7112 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010744
- Description: Who are the satisfied South Africans 10 years into democracy? How do material factors contribute to their life satisfaction? These are the questions addressed in this paper. Earlier South African research has consistently found a close positive relationship between life satisfaction and material standards of living in the apartheid and post-apartheid era. Recently, a new source of information has become available to shed further light on the association between material and subjective well-being. In 2002, Statistics South Africa, the country’s official source of statistical information, agreed to ask South Africans participating in the General Household Survey whether they were satisfied or dissatisfied with life. The 2002 General Household Survey (n26’000) used a measure developed for the Euromodule that allows for international comparison. The wide-ranging information contained in South Africa’s official household survey offers a unique opportunity to explore what makes for satisfied and dissatisfied South Africans in relation to their material living standards. Results indicate that the improved living standards afforded to many black South Africans under democracy are associated with increases in life satisfaction. Furthermore, habituation does not appear to have diluted the positive relationship between living standards and well-being. However, political factors continue to play an important role in shaping subjective well-being. In conclusion, it is argued that material gains might also have restored the pride and dignity denied to black South Africans in the past.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Happiness, national pride and the 2010 World Cup
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67265 , vital:29065 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781317664185
- Description: publisher version , The potential for national pride to take on shades of both the authentic and the hubristic is reflected in the International Social Survey Program's (ISSP) use of two different multi-item measures of national pride, a general and a domain-specific one. In contrast, domain-specific national pride is characterized as 'not overtly nationalistic, imperialistic, nor chauvinistic' and is expressed as positive feelings towards national accomplishments in a range of domains including arts, science and sport. Most scholars who take an interest in the impact of sport mega-events acknowledge that national pride is related to concepts such as patriotism and nationalism whose meanings are difficult to disentangle. The South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), which has tracked the attitudes of South African adults around the 2010 World Cup, has confirmed this idea. The longitudinal SASAS study found that subsequent to the event, there was an enormous upswing in the belief that the World Cup had a positive impact on social cohesion.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2014