Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Aged – Government policy'

This research identifies the affordances of technology in aged care from the perspectives of senior managers. Interviews with Executives and Directors in a large aged care provider, an aged care industry body, and an aged care technology developer revealed the numerous ways in which technology shapes the aged care work environment. The findings suggest that government, aged care organisations, and technology providers need to balance the efficiencies of technology adoption with the humanistic nature of aged care work.

China is currently facing what I expect to be its most significant challenge to date - a crisis in the care of its rapidly ageing population. The causes of this crisis are complex and multi-faceted and its implications far-reaching from the social, economic and political perspectives. This thesis examines the causes and consequences of the impending aged care crisis in China, with a particular focus on the urban elderly. In addition to extensive interviews with government officials, a sample of 2,000 retires and their children were surveyed in Shanghai as part of my research. My findings from the Research Survey and Questionnaire, together with my observations from site visits to numerous aged care crisis and the associated problems. Of primary concern is the fact that the Chinese government does not have in place an appropriate aged care structure nor a strategy to implement systems to cope with the impending crisis. I conclude that it is imperative the Chinese government recognises both the immediacy and scale of the crisis and acts accordingly. Failure to do so may result in both significant social unrest and severe economic consequences. Recommendations are offered for consideration by the Chinese government in an effort to manage the impending aged care crisis in China.

Challenging a long-held attachment to the medical model, this research develops a cultural model placing local governments at the center of policy making and refocusing policy attention on mobility, housing, the built environment and services. To examine the phenomenon of age friendly policy adoption by cities and the magnitude of adoption, a 21-question web-based survey was administered to a sample of 1,050 cities from the U.S. Census having a population over 10,000 and having at least 14% of their population aged 65 years and over. The goal of the questionnaire was to help identify what kind of policy objectives cities establish to facilitate the opportunity for older adults to live healthy and independent lives in their communities as they age. Multiple linear and ordinal regression models examined the likelihood of policy action by cities and provide evidence as to why some cities support more age friendly policy actions than others. Evidence illustrates theoretical advancement providing support for a cultural model of aging. The cultural model includes multiple factors including bureaucratic responsiveness reflected in the management values of the administration. Findings show variation in the integration of a cultural awareness of aging in the municipality's needs assessment, strategic goals, citizen engagement strategies, and budgetary principles. Cities with a cultural awareness of aging are more likely to adopt age friendly policies. Findings also provide support for the argument that the public administrator is not the driving sole factor in decision making. A shared spaced with mobilized citizen need of individuals 65 and over is identified.

In the face of the extensive changes resulting from the Post-Industrial Age, many are questioning "the gifts of the chip," or, more specifically, the ability of computer technologies to deliver the comfort predicted. The objective of this thesis is to examine the law's response to computer technology concerning occupational health and safety. This inquiry is necessary due to the dramatic changes that have occurred in the workforce, altering the profile of workplace health.
The thesis begins with a reference to The Gift of Stones, a fictional account of the difficulties that stone workers experienced when the Bronze Age arrived. Modern labourers face parallel struggles due to the arrival of the Post-Industrial Age characterized by technological innovation and restructuring. The legitimacy and effectiveness of occupational health and safety law is challenged by changes to social institutions and by computer related work injuries.
In many jurisdictions, the state has responded to these changes by enacting ergonomic standards that seek to minimize the harmful effects of computer use. The thesis examines the trend towards ergonomic standards with particular focus on Canadian initiatives. In conclusion, it argues that ergonomic regulations are an important means of promoting safer computer practices. Additionally, ergonomic standards provide a mechanism for continued state regulation of occupational health and safety. The challenge for rule makers is ensuring that the standards are a component of comprehensive legal reforms.

碩士
國立中山大學
高階公共政策碩士班
95
According to the definition given by World Health Organization (WHO), if a country’s percentage of people who are older than 65 years old is greater than 7% of total population, it is an aging society. Based on the forecast statistics for the aged population from the Ministry of Interior, Taiwan’s aged population will rise to 14% in 2010 and will be over 20% in 2030. The fast growth of the aged population is a common social phenomenon around the world. Indeed, how to take care of the aged is an important issue, especially in Taiwan. Purpose: This research aims to understand problems of aging population, such as employment, medical care, care of the aged, long-term care, long-term family support, leisure, and education. The result of the study might serve as a reference for Kaohsiung city government in making caring policies for the aged population. Material and method: This study is conducted through deep interview and questionnaire. The content focused on Kaohsiung city government’s caring policies for the aged population. 170 subjects received interview and questionnaire. 150 cases were obtained, 20 being excluded due to incomplete data. Result: (1) 34.7% of the Kaohsiung residents do not have the concept of the care of the aged and only 20% of the 50-to-60-year-old residents’ plan their later life. (2) 30% of the Kaohsiung residents’ first choice is living with their children and their next choice is living in the community (26%). The third choice is living in private nursing centers (18.7%). (3) 60.6% of old people are not willing to live in nursing centers. Discussion: In Taiwan traditional culture, people believe that the best life of the aged is living with children, playing with grand-children, and then died by nature. From the result of this study, Kaohsiung city government’s caring policies for the aged population will achieve the goal to create a high-quality and peaceful environment.

Defence date: 29 January 2010
Examining Board: Ellen Immergut (Humboldt University, Berlin); Martin Kohli (EUI); Toshimitsu Shinkawa (Kyoto University); Sven Steinmo (EUI) (Supervisor)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
Despite common socio-demographic pressures such as longer longevity, lower fertility rate, and feminization of labor market, public elderly care policy is remarkably diverse across advanced industrialized countries. This dissertation is an attempt to explain the cross-national variation of elderly care programs from the perspective of historical institutionalism. Specifically, it maintains that the statesociety relations structured by electoral rules and party system affect the development of elderly care programs. Since universalistic social policy, including public elderly care programs, faces collective action problems, it is less likely to thrive unless the state relatively autonomous from societal interests is able to coordinate its benefits and costs in an equitable way. And, then, to what extent the state retains its relative autonomy is contingent on the predominant mode of intra- and inter-party competition in each country. On the intra-party dimension, whereas personal-vote-oriented electoral rules create a decentralized party and clientalistic political competition through particularistic benefits, party-vote-oriented electoral rules generate a centralized party and party-based political competition. On the inter-party dimension, while a ruling coalition fragmented along various social cleavages promotes particularistic party competition, one-party dominance is capable of internalizing the benefits and expenses of social protection programs within its broader constituencies unless the dominant party itself is decentralized. Hence, this thesis claims that oneparty dominance under the party-vote-oriented electoral system allows the state to be autonomous from societal interests and expand public elderly care programs. To verify the above theoretical argument, this thesis conducts quantitative as well as qualitative analysis. Its quantitative analysis, using pooled cross-section and timeseries data of 15 OECD countries from 1980 until 2001, shows that electoral rules structure the process translating demographic changes into public spending for elderly care programs. Qualitative case studies, which cover Sweden, Japan, and the U.S., demonstrate that the state plays a critical role in developing and reforming public elderly care programs in these countries. Overall, this thesis concludes that although the effects of party system are inconclusive, the degree of state autonomy structured by electoral rules is an important determinant of public elderly care policy.

China is currently facing what I expect to be its most significant challenge to date - a crisis in the care of its rapidly ageing population. The causes of this crisis are complex and multi-faceted and its implications far-reaching from the social, economic and political perspectives. This thesis examines the causes and consequences of the impending aged care crisis in China, with a particular focus on the urban elderly. In addition to extensive interviews with government officials, a sample of 2,000 retires and their children were surveyed in Shanghai as part of my research. My findings from the Research Survey and Questionnaire, together with my observations from site visits to numerous aged care crisis and the associated problems. Of primary concern is the fact that the Chinese government does not have in place an appropriate aged care structure nor a strategy to implement systems to cope with the impending crisis. I conclude that it is imperative the Chinese government recognises both the immediacy and scale of the crisis and acts accordingly. Failure to do so may result in both significant social unrest and severe economic consequences. Recommendations are offered for consideration by the Chinese government in an effort to manage the impending aged care crisis in China.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Defence date: 19 March 2007
Examining board: Prof. Colin Crouch (Warwick Business School) ; Prof. Valeria Fargion (Univ. of Florence) ; Prof. Martin Rhodes (Denver University)(Supervisor) ; Prof. Ana M. Guillén (Univ. Oviedo. Spain)(External Co-Supervisor)
This thesis highlights the importance of new social risks, welfare modernisation, and territorial changes on current welfare states. The interaction of these factors, which I have decided to label as “Tris Syndrome”, is fundamental pillar of this analysis. In this respect, this work investigates how the answer to one of these new risks namely, care for the elderly, has evolved in Spain within the context of the evolution of the Spanish welfare state and noteworthy transformations of the territorial structure of the country since the beginning of the democratic period (mid-70’s) to present. More precisely, this work poses the following questions: What factors have motivated change in the Spanish system of social services for the elderly, in the face of the apparent lack of mobilisation or demand from risk-bearers? What spurred the system to undertake radical reform following the authoritarian downturn, despite the fact that it is only very recently that care for the elderly has started to be defined as a challenge, and has taken a visible, but though timid, place on the political agenda? What have been the factors that have given voice to this “silent” demand? Why, despite the reforms undertaken, does the Spanish system of social (care) services for the elderly show comparatively little development in comparison with other countries and other areas of the Spanish welfare state? In relation to these issues, this thesis argues that the “Tris” has provided in Spain a scenario in which policy development has been simultaneously facilitated and constrained. It is thus possible to claim that the main push for welfare development in the real of policy under scrutiny and the answer to related new social risks (i.e. dependency), has mainly been a consequence of the will of regional political elites to mark out spaces of power, to achieve political and policy consolidation, not to lag behind others, and to solve institutional or structural problems in the area under regulation. These changes have taken place independently of the recognition of new social risks by policy-makers. In addition, when considering why this system and coverage among the population remains poorly developed, it is possible to signal the constraints posed by institutional factors and the strong influence that past policies have had on their development.

D. Litt. et Phil.
The primary hypothesis postulated in this thesis reads The power of states in the postmodern age of knowledge is commensurate with their intelligence capabilities ', and is utilised in addressing the problem of state power and intelligence in an age of knowledge. It is argued that the contemporary era wherein states, individuals and other entities practice their existence is fundamentally different to that of historical precedent. In effect this era can be characterised as being an age of knowledge which has superceded the former information age. Sophisticated knowledge based technologies both informational and distributional are shown to be the catalysts which have facilitated the transformation to the age of knowledge, bringing about in effect a 'new world information order'. Information and intelligence are the metaphorical passengers and product ofthe use of knowledge based technologies and associated communication processes. They represent the raison d 'etre of such technologies, in effect spurring on their development. Intelligence, being a user-specific type of information designed to provide the recipient with context and opportunity with respect to a specific problem or situation, is shown in this thesis to be a fundamental resource for the making of both decisions and subsequently policy in, and for, government. It is demonstrated that the impact of intelligence on decision- and policymaking makes it a primary determinant of state power in an age of knowledge. The efficient management of information and intelligence does, and can, therefore impact upon the relative power of the state at both inter- and intranational levels. Consequently, the aforementioned primary hypothesis presented in the thesis is validated as it is clearly demonstrated that the power of states in the postmodern age of knowledge is in effect commensurate with their intelligence capabilities. The solution provided in this thesis in addressing the aforementioned problem lies in the need for recognition of the role and influence that information and intelligence have on state power in the age of knowledge. In addition, in order to exploit the power of information and intelligence it is necessary to regard it as being fundamental to information management at all levels, and for all functions, of government. This can, however, only be achieved by means of the development of a national information and intelligence strategy. A key aspect of such a strategy would be the utilisation of private sector resources for intelligence, specifically in the context of open source intelligence, a situation made possible by the 'new realities' which are characteristic of the age of knowledge. (Cf. Afrikaanse sinopsis op volgende bladsy.)

Gendered poverty among the elderly is a statistical fact. Previous studies have identified inequitable treatment of women and insufficient income for unattached elderly women among the most serious shortcomings of the retirement income system. Despite pension reform over the past decade, the gender gap has widened for elderly Canadians whose incomes fall below the poverty line. This thesis seeks to understand the relationship between the laws that govern Canada's retirement income system and the over-representation of elderly women among Canada's poor, and to explore why the retirement income system continues to deliver benefits in a manner that, though expressed in gender neutral language, is systemically unfair to women. The benefits of Canada's retirement income system may be accessed through workforce participation and, in a more limited way, through a spousal relationship. Familial ideology is used as the theoretical framework to examine the role of the laws that govern access to benefits in reinforcing and perpetuating assumptions about women that undermine their economic autonomy. This examination reveals that gendered economic inequality is embedded within Canada's retirement income system because it accepts the social and economic construction implicit in familial ideology of women as economically subordinate to, and dependent upon, men. The relationship between gender inequality and the two modes of delivery of retirement income benefits, during retirement as pension benefits and prior to retirement as tax subsidies that enhance taxpayers' opportunities to accumulate retirement savings, is also explored. A tax expenditure analysis exposes the bias against the economically disadvantaged (mostly women) inherent in delivering benefits as tax subsidies. Additionally, familial, public/private and restructuring ideologies are used as methodological tools to interrogate the reform process which, although ignoring gender issues, paradoxically deepened and compounded the systemic inequalities for women that existed prior to reform. The thesis concludes by offering suggestions for developing a progressive agenda for advancing gender equality within the retirement income system. The limitations of legal action as a strategy for implementing this type of agenda are discussed, and political action is designated as the most promising strategy for achieving progressive reform.

Awarded the 2011 'Research Prize of the German Pension Insurance Agency' (Berlin, 8 December 2011).
Defence date: 11 September 2010
Examining Board: Martin Kohli (EUI) (Supervisor), Fabrizio Bernardi (EUI) (Co-Supervisor), Hans-Peter Blossfeld (Otto Friedrich University, Bamberg), Bernhard Ebbinghaus (University of Mannheim)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
The goal of this dissertation is to enhance our understanding of the micro and macro level determinants of retirement timing in contemporary Western Europe. This objective is pursued by means of a statistical analysis of large-scale comparable survey data. In short, three points of emphasis characterize this study in comparison with previous research on the topic: 1) the focus on social stratification in terms of gender and class differentials; 2) the central attention paid to social norms of aging; and 3) the joint consideration of individual and country level mechanisms in explaining retirement timing. The review of the previous literature in the second chapter demonstrates that the currently available theoretical approaches by themselves are inappropriate for explaining social variability in retirement timing. Building on the life course paradigm and social class theory, I consequently outline a novel analytical framework for the study of differential retirement behavior. It can be characterized as a choice-within-constraints approach (chapter 3), which essentially focuses on differences between older workers in age norms and late-career opportunity structures, paying special attention on class and gender disparities. In the fourth chapter, I gather empirical evidence on international and individual differences in retirement age norms in Western Europe on the basis of data from the European Social Survey (ESS). Subsequently, I turn to examining actual retirement behavior in the fifth chapter. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) a series of event-history models is used to scrutinize the determining factors of retirement timing at the country and individual level variation. In chapters 6 and 7, two case studies on Germany and Spain examine the impact of pension legislation on social stratification in retirement in a detailed manner. The two country studies are based on ad-hoc module on the transition from work into retirement, which has been implemented in the respective national labor force surveys (Encuesta de la Población Activa (EPA) and Mikrozensus) of 2006.

Li Wei.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-84).
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
English Abstract --- p.ii
Chinese Abstract --- p.vii
Acknowledgements --- p.vi
Table of Contents --- p.vii
List of Graphs and Tables --- p.ix
Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1
Chapter Chapter 2: --- Literature Review
Chapter 2.1 --- Social Security and Savings --- p.3
Chapter 2.2 --- Pension Funds and Financial Markets --- p.10
Chapter 2.3 --- China's Pension Reform --- p.14
Chapter Chapter 3: --- China's Pension Reform
Chapter 3.1 --- The Evolution of Pension System --- p.18
Chapter 3.2 --- The Background for Current Reform --- p.21
Chapter 3.3 --- The New Pension System --- p.27
Chapter 3.4 --- Key Issues for Future Reform --- p.31
Chapter Chapter 4: --- The Impact of Pension Reform on Private Savings in China
Chapter 4.1 --- The Theory --- p.36
Chapter 4.2 --- The Model --- p.40
Chapter 4.3 --- Data and Methodology --- p.45
Chapter 4.4 --- Empirical Results --- p.49
Chapter Chapter 5: --- The Interaction between Pension Reform and Financial Marketin China
Chapter 5.1 --- The Effects of A Funded Pension System on Financial Market --- p.53
Chapter 5.2 --- Pension Reform and Financial Market in China --- p.59
Chapter Chapter 6: --- Experiences of Chile and Singapore and the Implications for China
Chapter 6.1 --- The Pension Reform in Chile --- p.69
Chapter 6.2 --- The Central Provident Funds in Singapore --- p.70
Chapter 6.3 --- The Implications for China --- p.71
Chapter Chapter 7: --- Conclusion --- p.76
Bibliography --- p.79
Data Appendix --- p.85

Population aging is a global phenomenon occurring both in developed and less developed countries. While families are still playing an important role in providing support for elderly people, governments are also expanding their public old-age support programs in many societies. Public pensions are one of the major policy tools geared to social protection of the elderly. However, little is known about how the programs affect elders particularly in terms of their subjective well-being. Such effectiveness depends in part on the extent to which public pension income displaces or `crowds out' family elder support. Using the introduction of the Basic Old-Age Pension (BOAP), a non-contributory old-age pension in Korea, this dissertation examines the relationship among public support, family support, and life satisfaction of the elderly.

As an introductory chapter, chapter 1, "The continuing importance of children in relieving elder poverty: evidence from Korea," describes the actual financial status of elderly Koreans and the amount of financial support they receive from children. Analysis of the 2006 Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing shows that almost 70 per cent of Koreans aged 65 or more years received financial transfers from children and that the transfers accounted for about a quarter of the average elder's income. While over 60 per cent of elders would be poor without private transfers, children's transfers substantially mitigate elder poverty, filling about one quarter of the poverty gap. Furthermore, children's transfers to low-income parents tend to be proportionally larger, so elder income inequality is reduced by the transfers. Over 40 per cent of elders lived with a child and co-residence helps reduce elder poverty.

Using the introduction of BOAP, chapter 2, "Does money buy happiness?: Evidence from a new government pension in Korea," assesses how the program affected elders' life satisfaction. Notably, this study adds valuable evidence to the literature of whether money buys happiness, a question of great interest but notoriously difficult to answer given the difficulties associated with isolating income as a causal factor. To make the causal inference, this chapter utilizes a difference-in-difference research design and analyzes longitudinal data from the Korean Retirement and Income Study (KReIS). Results show that BOAP did raise elders' life satisfaction: annual benefits of 1,000 kW, approximately 1,000 U.S. dollars, raised elders' life satisfaction by 0.16-0.22 of one standard deviation and the effect was statistically significant.

Chapter 3, "Public support crowds out family support: Evidence from a new government pension in Korea," investigates how public financial provision affects family support. In particular, the present study provides a novel estimate of crowd-out by BOAP by using a combined measure of financial support and in-kind support received from all adult children regardless of their co-residence status with elderly parents. This paper also examines the impact on co-residence and is the first quasi-experimental study on the crowd-out question using data from an Asian nation. Results from difference-in-difference analyses of the KReIS data show that every $1 from the pension led to a 30-cent drop in children's support, netting a 70-cent increase in elders' income. The impact on the likelihood of elders' co-residing with children was positive but not statistically significant.

By showing that Korean children still play a crucial role in providing financial old-age security, chapter 1 demonstrates how important it is for the Korean government to design old-age policies that preserve the incentives for private assistance. The second chapter suggests that, at least in the context of modern-day Korea, pensions do buy happiness, or at least satisfaction. This finding suggests that researchers and policymakers need to pay further attention to public pensions as a tool to intervene people's subjective well-being. Finally, chapter 3 confirms that crowd-out of family support does occur in Korea and that increases in income, more so than other factors, have a positive impact on elders' life satisfaction found in chapter 2. These findings may generalize to other rapidly changing societies with a strong family elder-support tradition and emerging public elder-support system.

Dissertation

Introduced in 1996 by the newly elected Howard Government, the Temporary Business Visas (long stay) Subclass 457 visa has become an important yet controversial element of Australia's migration program. Allowing the temporary migration of workers for a period of between three months and four years, the 457 visa program is based on the need for such workers to be sponsored by an eligible employer while they are in Australia. Criticism of the program has focused on the exploitation and mistreatment of workers that has been uncovered, much of it linked to the uneven power dynamics that exist due to this need for sponsorship. In addition to these controversies, there has been discussion of the program's role in the purported shift away from permanent towards temporary migration and the related influence of globalisation on its development and operation. Acknowledging that there has been debate over the concept of globalisation, this thesis takes a sceptical view of the concept and investigates the claims made by scholars and politicians that the 457 visa program is a response to globalisation. To do this, it measures the program against five criteria for a globalised worker migration program: it is unprecedented; it allows participants to engage in a global labour market; it provides evidence of the decline in the importance of the nation; it shows the diminishing power of the state; and it demonstrates the increasing power of the business community. This thesis finds that while there is superficial evidence suggesting that the 457 visa program is a response to globalisation, as measured by these criteria, a more detailed examination raises considerable doubts over such claims. It is shown that in contrast, an anti-capitalist analysis of the program provides useful insights into its operation. Further, it demonstrates how the concept of globalisation can be used to disguise the growing influence of both the state and the business community while also making it difficult for opponents of the 457 visa program to criticise it.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of unemployment on the mental well-being of the South African working age population. The implication of exploring this relationship is to indicate the importance of good mental health among persons who are not employed. The present study also aimed atinvestigating the role that government can play in mitigating the impact of unemployment on mental health. This part of the research assessed the effectiveness of government’s social security system. The current study employs a mixed research design whereby both quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis are used. The relationship between unemployment, mental well-being and government intervention is investigated using a cohort group in which the mental health of persons not employed, aged between 15 and 64 years, are followed over the period, 2004 to 2008. The results are presented using two types of data. First, secondary data from Statistics South Africa’s General Household Survey (GHS) were used to measure the impact of unemployment on mental health and to ascertain the impact of government social assistance on affected individuals’ mental well-being. Secondly, in order to explore individual perceptions around government intervention, the research employed a qualitative phenomenological design. This involved conducting semi-structured personal interviews with four unemployed women residing in Gauteng. The results showed that incidences of self-reported mental health illnesses were most likely to be found among individuals who were not employed as compared to those that were employed. This finding proved to be consistent using both descriptive and multivariate statistics which included predictive models. In terms of government intervention, positive mental well-being was shown to be positively related to access of social welfare services (in the form of social grants). This finding was true for all the years of reporting (i.e., 2004 to 2008). In conclusion, although unemployment was found to have a negative impact of mental well-being, government intervention was shown to positively mitigate this impact, thereby giving hope to an otherwise hopeless situation. Unemployment and its impact on mental well-beingalso proved to be a complex subject, requiring multidisciplinary intervening strategies to solving it.
Psychology
D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

The concept of population ageing is a development issue that has received much attention due to the demographic transition that is occurring globally, marked by declining levels of fertility and mortality. Therefore, the implications of population ageing for older persons within the context of Social Development was examined from the perspective of government and non government officials. The study was confined to older persons and the policies and programmes implemented by the Department of Social Development. The study employed an exploratory research design within a qualitative paradigm. Semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire were distributed to officials in the nine provinces. Thirty six questionnaires were received and qualitative methods of data analysis were used to analyse and interpret the data. The main finding of the study is that there is congruence in what government officials and the non government officials view as implications for older persons. Central to this is that the issue of ageing does not receive attention on the agenda of government. The top five priorities for older persons are healthy ageing, economic security, community/home based care services for older persons, having care and support systems for older persons and an improved quality of life/poverty alleviation. Based on the demographic determinants of population ageing, the findings are that there will be an increased demand for services for older persons which might place a strain on the social assistance and health care programmes. The issue of ageing was viewed positively as an opportunity by government officials and pessimistically as a challenge by NGO’s. The most common problems in old age is a reliance on the younger generation and or the state for their care and support, abuse, high levels of illiteracy and the burden of care for their children and grandchildren. The future older person is likely to be in better health and better educated than the older person of today if the necessary public investments are made now in these areas. The study makes recommendations for the adoption of a South African plan of action on ageing, inter-sectoral budgeting, development of specialised programmes, review of current policies and legislation for older persons, strengthening the partnership with the NGO sector and facilitating ageing mainstreaming within government programmes.
Sociology
M.A. (Social Development)

貧窮既是一種客觀況，又是一種主觀心感受。既有的研究很少關注老年人自身關於貧窮的經驗，特別是缺乏華人社會背景下貧窮老人主觀經驗的研究。本研究試圖從個體的層面考察貧窮對於中國城市老人多重面向的負面影響，以及他們如何回應這些負面影響，在此基礎上為改善與貧窮老人有關的社會政策提出適切的建議。
基於這一研究目的，本研究從批判老年學和抗逆力的理論視角出發，採取建構主義範式和生命故事的研究取向，以中國北京的城市貧窮老人為例，選取17位城市貧窮老人為研究物件，深入研究中國城市貧窮老人的各種壓力，以及抗逆力的內外保護性因素回應這些壓力的機制及其所起到的作用。
研究發現，中國城市貧窮老人面臨經濟壓力、疾病與老化的壓力、逆反哺與照顧配偶的壓力，以及貧窮恥感的壓力。貧窮在城市老人的主觀經驗裡意味著多重壓力的相迭，這從主觀經驗的角度揭示了中國城市貧窮老人的多重弱勢。
作為抗逆力外在保護性因素的社會支持，它的實現機制因其類型的不同而相異。代際支持對提升抗逆力的作用受到代際團結和代際張力的共同影響；其他非正式支持對提升抗逆力的作用受到互惠關係的影響；社會政策的支持對提升抗逆力的作用受到人情倫理的雙重性和代群差異的影響。這些機制共同決定了貧窮老人的非正式支援日趨弱化，而社會政策和專業服務提供的正式支援有待加強。
作為貧窮老人抗逆力的內在保護性因素，工具性策略由獨立性的要求所驅動，意義創造遵循追尋自我價值和重構貧窮經驗這兩條路徑。意義創造在貧窮老人的內在保護性因素中發揮著更為根本性的作用。內外保護性因素的比較有助於我們識別城市貧窮老人中更脆弱的次群體。
基於這一研究發現，本研究在原有研究框架的基礎上，補充了貧窮老人的多重壓力和保護性因素的實現機制，擴展了貧窮老人抗逆力研究的研究框架。文章的最後提出了社會政策的具體建議。
Poverty is both an objective condition and a kind of subjective psychological feeling. However, existing studies pay little attention to older people’s own experience of poverty, especially lacking of studies on subjective experience of the aged poor in the Chinese context. This research attempts to explore from the individual level, the multi-dimensional negative effects of poverty on the aged poor in urban China and how they respond to these impacts. On this basis, appropriate social policies were proposed to improve the living conditions of the aged poor.
Taking the constructivist position and life story approach, this study was conducted from the perspectives of resilience theory and critical gerontology and used the urban aged poor in Beijing, China as an example. Seventeen urban aged poor were selected as the sample for in-depth interview and their multiple stresses, and the mechanisms of internal and external protective factors of resilience in response to their stresses and their functions were investigated.
Research findings show that China’s urban aged poor suffer stresses from economic pressure, diseases and aging, taking care of their spouses, inverse nurturing, and shamefulness of poverty. Poverty means a combination of multiple stresses in the subjective experience of the urban poor elderly. This perspective reveals the multiple disadvantages of the Chinese urban aged poor.
Social support as the external protective factor of resilience, its implementation mechanisms are different by its types. The intergenational support in enhancing the function of resilience is influenced by intergenational solidarity and intergenational tension. Other informal social support in enhancing the function of resilience is affected by reciprocal relationship. Formal support from social policy in enhancing the function of resilience is influenced by the dual nature of interpersonal ethics as well as cohort differentiation. These mechanisms together determine that informal social support of the urban aged poor is gradually weakened. As a result, formal social support coming from social policy and professional social service has to be strengthened.
As one of the internal protective factors of resilience of the aged poor, the instrumental strategies are driven by the demands of independence. The other one of the internal protective factors, the creation of meaningfulness, develops towards two paths, one of which is in search of self-worthiness and the other reconstruction of experience of poverty. The significance of creation of meaningfulness in the internal protective factors of the aged poor exerts a more fundamental function. A combination of the internal and external protective factors can help us differentiate the more disadvantaged sub-group among the urban aged poor.
Based on the findings of the study, the original conceptual framework is reconstructed by supplementing the multiple stresses and the operating mechanisms of protective factors. This has expanded the research framework of studying resilience of the aged poor. Finally, some specific recommendations of social policy are provided.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
陳岩燕.
Thesis subitted: December 2012.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 456-499)
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstracts in Chinese and English.
Chen Yanyan.
Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.1
Chapter 第一節 --- 研究背景 --- p.1
Chapter 第二節 --- 研究目的與研究意義 --- p.11
Chapter 第三節 --- 本文的結構 --- p.13
Chapter 第二章 --- 文獻回顧 --- p.14
Chapter 第一節 --- 貧窮老人研究的回顧 --- p.14
Chapter 第二節 --- 與老年貧窮相關的社會政策與研究發現 --- p.49
Chapter 第三節 --- 與貧窮老人相關的理論解釋 --- p.80
Chapter 第四節 --- 現有研究的不足 --- p.125
Chapter 第三章 --- 研究設計 --- p.132
Chapter 第一節 --- 概念框架 --- p.132
Chapter 第二節 --- 研究方法 --- p.143
Chapter 第四章 --- 中国城市貧窮老人的多重壓力 --- p.183
Chapter 第一節 --- 經濟壓力 --- p.183
Chapter 第二節 --- 老化和疾病的壓力 --- p.187
Chapter 第三節 --- 逆反哺和照顧配偶的壓力 --- p.202
Chapter 第四節 --- 貧窮恥感的壓力 --- p.226
Chapter 第五節 --- 多重壓力相疊 --- p.237
Chapter 第五章 --- 貧窮老人與非正式社會支持 --- p.240
Chapter 第一节 --- 貧窮老人與代際支持 --- p.240
Chapter 第二節 --- 貧窮老人與擴展家庭的支持 --- p.259
Chapter 第三節 --- 貧窮老人與鄰里支持 --- p.271
Chapter 第四節 --- 貧窮老人與其他非正式支持 --- p.291
Chapter 第六章 --- 貧窮老人與正式社會支持 --- p.297
Chapter 第一節 --- 貧窮老人與社會政策的支持 --- p.297
Chapter 第二節 --- 貧窮老人對待社會政策支持的例外個案 --- p.319
Chapter 第三節 --- 社會政策基層執行者的支持 --- p.325
Chapter 第四節 --- 其他的正式社會支持 --- p.336
Chapter 第七章 --- 貧窮老人的工具性策略與意義創造 --- p.347
Chapter 第一節 --- 貧窮老人的工具性策略 --- p.348
Chapter 第二節 --- 貧窮老人的意義創造 --- p.372
Chapter 第八章 --- 討論 --- p.410
Chapter 第一節 --- 多重壓力：中國城市貧窮老人的多重弱勢 --- p.411
Chapter 第二節 --- 外在保護性因素：社會支持的再審視 --- p.414
Chapter 第三節 --- 內在保護性因素 --- p.435
Chapter 第四節 --- 對貧窮老人抗逆力理論框架的補充 --- p.441
Chapter 第九章 --- 社會政策的啟示 --- p.445
Chapter 一、 --- 優勢為本的社會政策 --- p.445
Chapter 二、 --- 支持家庭的社會政策 --- p.446
Chapter 三、 --- 雙重權利系統的社會政策 --- p.447
Chapter 四、 --- 適度普惠的社會政策 --- p.448
Chapter 第十章 --- 總結 --- p.450
Chapter 第一節 --- 總結 --- p.450
Chapter 第二節 --- 本研究的貢獻與局限 --- p.453
p.456
附錄 --- p.500
Chapter 附錄1： --- 200-2050年中國各年齡段男、女性人口增長趨勢 --- p.500
Chapter 附錄2： --- 北京市歷年社會保障相關標準（1994-2011） --- p.501
Chapter 附錄3： --- 受訪者的訪談時間與合計訪談時長 --- p.502
Chapter 附錄4： --- 2009年11月第一次訪談大綱 --- p.504
Chapter 附錄5： --- 2010年9月第二次訪談大綱 --- p.507

A study entitled `Phenomenological study of ageing amongst the older persons in Zambia' was undertaken with the purpose of gaining an understanding of the ageing phenomenon within the Zambian context and provide frameworks that could be used by policy-makers and health professionals to formulate guidelines or interventions relevant to the lived experiences of older persons and the meaning attached to ageing or being old, and consequently maintain or improve the quality of life of older persons of Zambia. The objectives of the study were to describe (1) the lived experiences of the older persons of Zambia, and (2) the meaning they attached to ageing or being old within the Zambian context. A transcendental phenomenological design within the qualitative naturalistic approach was used to guide the research process and to assist the researcher to reach the purpose and objectives of the study. Focus group and in-depth individual interviews were conducted to generate data from twenty-seven (27) informants. Fifteen (15) informants participated in the focus group interviews and twelve (12) in in-depth individual interviews. In total, 24 in-depth individual interviews were conducted in term of two interviews per informants, and two focus group interviews. Data collection covered a period of three months. Coliazzi (1978) and Giorgi (1985) techniques for qualitative data analysis were used and verbatim excerpts form the transcribed interviews were used to support the themes that emerged from data and to provide a richer picture of the situation. Three frameworks derived from the findings of this study: (1) framework of the lived experiences of older persons of Zambia, (2) framework of the meaning of ageing or being old and (3) framework for understanding ageing within the Zambian context. The researcher believed that these frameworks would make a meaningful contribution toward the understanding and the development of policies and interventions that would assist in enhancing or maintaining the quality of life of older people of Zambia. The main findings of the results of this study indicated three most significant dimensions of the lived experiences of the older persons (health, socio-economic and psychosocial) that need to be taken into account when planning for any programs or interventions aimed at maintaining or improving the quality of life of older persons of Zambia. These interventions and programs should also address the negative feelings or meanings attached to the above experiences. The main findings of the results of this study also showed that the meaning of being old or ageing in Zambia does not depend on the health, socio-economic and psychosocial living experiences of the older person but it depends largely on the inner values of the older persons, such as spiritual, emotional and cultural beliefs. This means that maintaining or improving the quality of life of older persons in Zambia would require comprehensive programs or interventions that should take into account the health, socio-economic, psychosocial, spiritual, emotional and cultural needs of the older people.
Health Studies
D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)