This paper gives an overview of the historical changes in the budgets of the U.S. and U.A.E.; discusses the nature of national government spending and outlines how and why government budgets in both countries have changed ove time.

Many senior citizens are surviving on minimal Social Security benefits and as a result, struggle with food security. Metrocrest Services in Farmers Branch, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, is a non-profit organization that provides several food programs to residents of the community including some programs that are specifically tailored to the needs of senior citizens. This project was to provide Metrocrest with an assessment of the food security of their senior clientele as well as other elderly residents of the Metrocrest service area and to evaluate the current senior focused programs. The project utilized qualitative research including both Metrocrest clients and residents who were not Metrocrest clients bot whose demographics were similar. The objectives were to determine the coping skills used by senior citizens in obtaining food, to assess seniors' awareness of the programs offered by Metrocrest, to discover barriers to accessing needed resources and to make recommendations of how programs could be improved or modified if needed. Through my research, I was able to present Metrocrest with a number of recommendations to improve their existing programs. I was also able to recommend some potential new programs that could be designed in conjunction with local senior centers to better serve the community.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

The purpose of this study was twofold: to test the Competence Model for Normal Aging and to generate valid and reliable indices of mental health outcomes in elderly clients. A correlational descriptive design accommodated the psychometric assessment of the instruments with a causal modeling methodology. The relationship between competence and self-esteem was the primary focus. Theoretical model testing was used to test the causal relationships between competence and three estimates of cognition: causal attributions, self-efficacy, and value. Associated demographic variables, age, and gender, were included in the model. Well elders (n = 137) living independently in Tucson participated in the study by completing 9 instruments within a 40-minute testing period. The mean age of the group was 73 (sd = 7.9). A quarter of the sample was at least 80 years old. All participants were caucasian, with more than twice the number of females than males. Most participants were married or widowed. The instruments met validity and reliability criteria in varying degrees. Hypothesis 1 was supported in both the separate success and failure models and the total sample theoretical model. Self-efficacy (β = .48) and value (β = .27) predicted competence (R² = .42). The social subscale of competence was strongly predicted by the same variables (β = .53, β = .26; R² = .39). The same predictors were evident in the total sample theoretical model (β = .52; β = .25; R² = .38). Hypothesis 2 was partially supported. Self-efficacy predicted total competence (β = .49; R² = .30) and the social dimension of competence (β = .59; R² = .32). Hypothesis 2 was minimally supported in the total sample theoretical model by self-efficacy (β = .29) predicting the social component of competence (R² = .44). Hypothesis 3 was most strongly supported. Competence predicted self-esteem under multiple conditions (βs averaged .43). The associated demographic and gender variables made minimal contributions to the model, except under failure conditions. Not being married and being a male negatively impacted upon competence (β = -.21; β = -.39; R² = .31). Both theoretical and empirical model results have similar explained variances. The theoretical model provided key information regarding the process of self-esteem, and the empirical model provided a guide for clinicians to measure mental health outcomes.

One of the major issues concerning old age security is the adequacy of support systems for the aged population. Population aging and economic development in the People's Republic of China have raised the question about the ability of the family to take care of the elderly. Using the latest data collected by the Research Center on Aging in China of a national representative sample of the aged population, this study develops a model to examine the effectiveness of family support for the elderly during the current socio-economic transition of the society. The model also examines the adequacy and effectiveness of state welfare systems on the aged population and the effect of select socio-demographic factors on the well-being of the elderly in China. The investigation into the social, economic, and health aspects of the life of the elderly provides the background knowledge for understanding the support systems for the elderly in China. The multivariate analyses of the effects of the elderly support systems within the framework of shared functions of the primary groups, and the bureaucracy in achieving social goals, identify the important effects of the economic conditions of the family and the state income maintenance programs on the sense of well-being of the elderly. The findings lead to the conclusion that the cooperation of the family and the state is necessary to provide a secure life for an aged population. The patterns and trends of old age support in China are found to be constrained by the interplay of various social forces, among which the effect of politicalization of the social and economic conditions of the elderly is crucial. Policy recommendations include public assistance to the family, encouragement of the local effort, and national legislation on old age security.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

This ethnographic nursing home study explores the meaning which residents make of being old and in care. Its primary focus is on the role of social and communicative interactions in maintaining residents’ sense of self. Throughout the thesis I argue that the self is socially constructed, narratively communicated and is continuous throughout the life span. This narrative, relational self is diminished in old age by bereavement and the loss of social networks, and threatened by the loneliness and isolation of the institutional environment. Nonetheless, despite the stripping of relational layers entailed in the loss of the people with whom the younger self was constructed, there is a continuing core of self which, while bending, does not break. I argue that the nursing home can be a site of recovery for this vulnerable, diminished self, offering support and the opportunity to take on new roles and form new relationships, and through these relationships, new layers of self. / Staff are key players in the healing process, and staff-resident relationships important new sources of meaning for the relational self. The ageing, marginalised self is strengthened through empathetic communication which recognises the individual person and the importance of that individual’s life, acknowledges residents’ adult status, and enhances self-esteem by enhancing personal control. For residents, telling their stories and remembering their past lives provides a means of making sense of where and who they are in the present, and of envisaging a future. Consequently, it is vital that residents have opportunities to speak and be heard, and to be recognised and spoken to. These opportunities are sometimes adequately provided by families, friends, church and other visitors and volunteers, but frequently they are not. Staff then become the main source of resident support. / The capacity of individual staff to meet residents’ communication needs is dependent on many factors including the legislative framework and funding of the aged care system, the philosophy of the individual provider organisation (translated into work routines, staffing practices, and the training, mentoring and support available to staff) and the individual personalities and communication skills of staff themselves. Continuity of staffing is a vital factor, with “Know your resident” identified by staff in this study as the most important element in understanding and recognising the needs of residents withcognitive and communicative impairment, and in building relationships which support residents and enhance their autonomy.

The world has experienced a tremendous growth in its elderly population. With the aging of the population, policy makers are concerned about the health of these elderly as well as their utilization of health care and social services and perceived need for additional services. The Canadian elderly population is similar to other elderly populations in that a few tend to be the heaviest users of the available services. The predictors of this utilization behavior and perceived need primarily include need variables, such as the number of limitations of daily living -- both ADLs and IADLs, and functional limitations. In addition, enabling variables, such as income, work activity and geographic region of residence were also found to be significant.

M.A. / New legislation regarding older persons in South Africa came into effect on 1 April 2010. Two areas of service delivery in this field were given special attention in the development of the current legislation. Protection for older persons is covered more extensively, with much better provisions having been made for professionals to deal promptly and effectively with the abuse of an older person. The prosecution of any person, who abuses an older person, is also provided for in the current legislation. Community-based care and support services for older persons represent a completely new area of local legislation. The current legislation provides for the creation of a supportive environment, within which a spectrum of well established and well managed services should enable older persons to exercise choice with regards to care options. The spirit of the current legislation fosters the possibility that older persons may receive maximum care, should such need arise, within their own homes. Community-based services for older persons must therefore be registered, and meet the standards set by the legislation, as expressed in Part 1 of the National Norms and Standards. Locally practicing social workers are thus tasked with new implementation and monitoring obligations, which are rather daunting. The goal of this study was to conceptualise, design and assemble a draft of guidelines that may assist social workers in daily implementation tasks, brought about by the new focus areas within the current legislation regarding older persons. A qualitative research approach was followed. The methodology was guided, in part, by the Analysis and Design phases from within the classic Design and Development model (Thomas, 1984) of developmental research. The analysis phase of the study included a document study and a thematic content analysis of the primary data. Themes and sub-themes of the legislative requirements, pertinent to the implementation by social workers, were identified, extracted and transformed by enhancements and explanations drawn from the literature and professional practice experience. Trustworthiness was obtained by constant checking against the primary data and a review by an expert and knowledgeable peers. The end result, the draft guidelines document, is a body of synthesised information that should be accessible and useful to social workers in daily implementation and monitoring practice.

This study was a comparison of the perceptions of directors of and participants in senior centers with regard to needs of the elderly and delivery of services to them. The sample consisted of a random selection of 200 of the 741 centers in the state of Texas. Responses were received from 111 center directors and 609 elderly participants. An instrument that used a Likert-type scale to measure the importance of needs and frequency of delivery of services was devised to survey needs in the areas of health, nutrition, recreation, education, and transportation. No statistically significant differences were found between perceptions of directors and participants with regard to needs, delivery of services, or the differences between needs and actual delivery of services at the centers. When participants were grouped on the basis of gender, age, and ethnicity, males and minority groups rated both needs and delivery higher than did females and the majority ethnic group. The sixty to seventy age group rated education needs significantly higher than did the older age groups.