Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2007 / Micro-lending has long been a controversial issue. Although old-age pensioners are excited about the opportunity of accessing credit from micro-lenders, some are exploited. The aim of the study was to investigate how old-age pensioners fall prey for micro-lenders, who charge them high interest on small short-term loans. The exploratory design was used for this investigation because it would provide the researcher with an in-depth understanding of old-age pensioners’ experiences when dealing with micro-lenders. The study is based on a case study of the three villages, Mphagani, Zava, and Khashane (MZK), in the rural areas of Greater Giyani Municipality, Limpopo province. Most old persons are reliant on social grants to support themselves and their extended families. Sometimes they need to supplement their income because of the responsibilities that they have in their families. Micro-finance institutions are targeting women because they are likely to be more reliable as borrowers and increased income is more likely to accrue to the family and especially children. The results of the study show that majority of old-age pensioners take loans from micro-lenders. The reasons for borrowing micro loans are categorized into four major needs for money: purchase of food, payment for health-care services, funerals, and education. These micro-lenders are not compliant with the rules and procedures of the National Credit Act.

Bakgrund Tal- och språkstörningar kan leda till och nedsatt kommunikation och förmåga att delta i samtal. Självskattning anses som ett otillräckligt mått på taltid och objektiva mätmetoder behövs som komplement. Många patienter i logopedbehandling är pensionärer men det saknas forskning om taltid inom denna åldersgrupp. Syfte Att samla in referensdata om fonationstid hos en grupp friska pensionärer och utvärdera röstackumulatorn VoxLog som mätinstrument av taltid. Metod Tjugo pensionärer deltog i studien, varav tio kvinnor och tio män i åldrarna 66-75 år. Deltagarna bar VoxLog åtta timmar per dag i tre dagar och fyllde i en aktivitetsdagbok med en självskattningsskala för taltid samt ett utvärderingsformulär. Resultat Fonationstiden i medeltal för samtliga deltagare var 9,9 % med spridningen 2,7–23,5 %. De kvinnliga deltagarna hade en signifikant längre genomsnittlig fonationstid (12,8 %) än de manliga deltagarna (7,0 %). En signifikant korrelation sågs mellan självskattning och fonationstid på gruppnivå, men en lägre överensstämmelse på individnivå. Deltagarna hade överlag positiva erfarenheter av VoxLog men vissa problem med teknik och bekvämlighet samt missförstånd av instruktioner påverkade användningen. Slutsatser Studien har bidragit med referensvärden för fonationstid, vilket kan användas i forskning och i klinisk verksamhet. Registrering av fonationstid med VoxLog kan användas för att skatta taltid och komplettera självskattning, men vissa begränsningar i metoden bör tas i beaktande. Framtida studier kan inriktas på att undersöka hur VoxLog upplevs av patienter samt att ta fram normvärden. / Background Speech and language disorders lead to limitations in communication and ability to participate in conversation. Self-reported questionnaires are considered an insufficient measure of speaking time, so that objective complementary measuring methods are needed. Many patients undergoing speech-language pathology treatment are retired, but no data about speaking time in this group exists. Aim To collect reference data about phonation time, from a group of healthy pensioners and to evaluate the voice accumulator VoxLog as a measuring instrument for speaking time. Method Twenty pensioners participated in this study; ten women and ten men aged 66-75. VoxLog was worn eight hours a day during a three day period. A diary of activities containing a self-evaluation scale regarding speech time and an evaluation questionnaire were completed. Results Mean phonation time for all participants was 9,9 % and the range 2,7–23,5 %. The female participants showed a significantly longer mean phonation time (12,8 %) compared to the male participants (7,0 %). A significant correlation between self-evaluation and phonation time at group level, but a lower agreement at the individual level, was found. In general, the participants had a positive experience of VoxLog, even though some technical, instructional and usability deficits were reported. Conclusions In this study, reference data for phonation time has been collected, that may be used clinically and in future research. Registration of phonation time with VoxLog can be used for estimation of speaking time  as a complement to self-reports, even though some limitations in the method should be taken into account. Further research should focus on patient’s opinions about VoxLog and collecting normative values.

O acelerado envelhecimento populacional mundial, especialmente o brasileiro, remete a necessidade de atenção e estudos que contribuam para melhor compreensão e estímulo de iniciativas que possam promover a integração social e o bem-estar dos idosos. O turismo, enquanto alternativa de lazer, tem demonstrado interesse, ainda que pouco, em direcionar seus estudos ao atendimento de idosos apresentando, normalmente, como foco a segmentação de mercado. Ao se direcionar o olhar nos sujeitos do turismo , verifica-se uma lacuna de estudos que atente as possibilidades turísticas para idosos asilados e, geralmente esquecidos pela sociedade. Diante disso, esta investigação, de corte qualitativo, utilizou a história oral de vida de 14 idosos do Asilo Padre Cacique, em Porto Alegre, para verificar se a inserção de atividades de lazer e turismo neste asilo podem contribuir para a melhoria da qualidade de vida e o bem-estar de seus moradores, além de buscar identificar os sentidos e significados do turismo a estes idosos. O estudo é apresentado por uma narrativa que menciona a história de dona Odete, uma personagem inspirada nas histórias de vida dos idosos do asilo e criada como pano de fundo para apresentar as discussões sobre o processo de envelhecimento; a conjuntura asilar; questões vinculadas ao lazer e ao turismo apresentando resultados que explicitam a necessidade de implantação de ações que focalizem o elemento humano como princípio de práticas turísticas e de lazer. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-15T17:06:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Luciana Babinski.pdf: 19505501 bytes, checksum: 375645073bd7098379c0542e71dcb51c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-15T17:06:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Luciana Babinski.pdf: 19505501 bytes, checksum: 375645073bd7098379c0542e71dcb51c (MD5) / The fast world population aging process, specially the brazilian, leads to a necessity of attention and studies that contribute to a better comprehension and encourage initiatives that promote a social integration and wellness of the elderly. The tourism, as an alternative of leisure, has shown interest, even still small, in direct their studies to the elderly assistance presenting, usually, as a focus of market segmentation. When focusing the look in the subjects of the tourism , we notice a lack of studies that attempt to these touristic possibilities for old age pensioners, and, usually forgotten by the society. Facing that, this investigation, of qualitative cut, used the told life story of 14 elderly from the old age home Asilo Padre Cacique, in Porto Alegre, to verify if the insertion of leisure and tourism activities in this home can contribute for a better life quality and wellness of their residents, besides of identifying the meaning of tourism for this elderly. The study is presented by a narrative that mentions the story of Miss Odete, a character inspired in the residents life style stories and created as a background to show the discussions about the aging process, the home structure, questions connected to leisure and tourism showing results that evidence the necessity of actions that focus in the human element as the beginning of leisure and tourism practices.

O acelerado envelhecimento populacional mundial, especialmente o brasileiro, remete a necessidade de atenção e estudos que contribuam para melhor compreensão e estímulo de iniciativas que possam promover a integração social e o bem-estar dos idosos. O turismo, enquanto alternativa de lazer, tem demonstrado interesse, ainda que pouco, em direcionar seus estudos ao atendimento de idosos apresentando, normalmente, como foco a segmentação de mercado. Ao se direcionar o olhar nos sujeitos do turismo , verifica-se uma lacuna de estudos que atente as possibilidades turísticas para idosos asilados e, geralmente esquecidos pela sociedade. Diante disso, esta investigação, de corte qualitativo, utilizou a história oral de vida de 14 idosos do Asilo Padre Cacique, em Porto Alegre, para verificar se a inserção de atividades de lazer e turismo neste asilo podem contribuir para a melhoria da qualidade de vida e o bem-estar de seus moradores, além de buscar identificar os sentidos e significados do turismo a estes idosos. O estudo é apresentado por uma narrativa que menciona a história de dona Odete, uma personagem inspirada nas histórias de vida dos idosos do asilo e criada como pano de fundo para apresentar as discussões sobre o processo de envelhecimento; a conjuntura asilar; questões vinculadas ao lazer e ao turismo apresentando resultados que explicitam a necessidade de implantação de ações que focalizem o elemento humano como princípio de práticas turísticas e de lazer. / The fast world population aging process, specially the brazilian, leads to a necessity of attention and studies that contribute to a better comprehension and encourage initiatives that promote a social integration and wellness of the elderly. The tourism, as an alternative of leisure, has shown interest, even still small, in direct their studies to the elderly assistance presenting, usually, as a focus of market segmentation. When focusing the look in the subjects of the tourism , we notice a lack of studies that attempt to these touristic possibilities for old age pensioners, and, usually forgotten by the society. Facing that, this investigation, of qualitative cut, used the told life story of 14 elderly from the old age home Asilo Padre Cacique, in Porto Alegre, to verify if the insertion of leisure and tourism activities in this home can contribute for a better life quality and wellness of their residents, besides of identifying the meaning of tourism for this elderly. The study is presented by a narrative that mentions the story of Miss Odete, a character inspired in the residents life style stories and created as a background to show the discussions about the aging process, the home structure, questions connected to leisure and tourism showing results that evidence the necessity of actions that focus in the human element as the beginning of leisure and tourism practices.

E-commerce technologies have many possible applications both in commercial and non-commercial operations. The development and implementation of these applications is on the increase especially by government and its agencies, for the delivery of services. Specific to this study is the distribution of old age pension benefits to recipients that reside in the rural areas of South Africa. Of importance to this study are the factors that promote and impinge on the development, implementation and acceptance of these applications. A specific project, the Pension Biometric Project was implemented by the South African Post Office in line with the government's initiatives of improving service delivery, and in response to the encroaching digital economy. The research problem is to investigate the pensioners' perception and their experience of three areas of this project, its implementation, its acceptance and its uses and impact. The research was conducted in the constructivist paradigm, using the case study research method. Three data collection methods were used, i.e. a document study of SAPO project documentation, on-site observations and interviews with pensioners. It was found that despite problems in implementation, the pensioners were accepting of the new system, although they were ignorant of the functionalities of the smart card. Consequently, few pensioners were making use of the banking facilities of the card, or had changed their economic behaviour. The study has also found that two themes are overriding all findings of the study. These two themes are ignorance and dignity. Ignorance has had a causal effect on adoption of the smart cards and dignity has been found to be a result of the project. The overriding implication of this study is that pensioners' ignorance around issues of service delivery by government and its agencies needs to be eradicated, otherwise there is no reliable way of measuring efforts against actual delivery. Also, the fact that dignity has emerged as an overriding theme needs to be deliberately strengthened, and maybe even driven as a specified objective of the Pension Biometric Project. Recommendations in this regard are provided as well as ideas for further research.

The city of Pilsen offers high tourism potential, which has not been exploited fully. The municipality of the city is aware of the situation and would like to improve it in the future. Apart from other steps that should be done at tourism field, is essential to create competitive tourism product that would appeal to specific target groups and improve incoming traffic to the city. Tourist product proposal is the main topic of this thesis. Several tourism products are presented and those should aim at senior citizens tourism and cultural tourists. Also, specifications and needs of those particular groups are mentioned.

The aim of this study was to investigate how social media was used by Swedish female pensioners during the Covid-19 pandemic and what significance it has had to them. During the pandemic, many elderly people, who have been considered a risk group for the disease, have had to isolate themselves in their homes to avoid getting ill. The study was conducted through individual qualitative interviews with eight Swedish female pensioners aged between 70-80 years who were users of at least one social media platform. The two research questions for the study were: 1) How and why do female pensioners use social media? 2) How do female pensioners experience social media's meaning and impact on them during the pandemic? The interviews were semi-structured and executed using an interview-guide. The answers from the interviews were coded to find keywords and themes. Four themes were found and used as titles for the different sections of the analysis chapter. Uses and gratifications theory was used to analyze the interview results. Results showed that social media was mostly used as a way to pass time, but also for social interaction and acknowledgement through likes and comments. Social media was also used for information seeking, entertainment and keeping up with what other people posted. The pensioners overall had a positive attitude towards social media. Even though not all of them seemed to have used social media more than usual during the pandemic, it seemed that social media might have had some special meaning during the pandemic to many of them. This might be due to the possibilities for communicating with others even with the risks and restrictions that the pandemic brought. This study can help with a better understanding of what social media usage can mean in terms of communication and loneliness for pensioners and elderly.

Pensija – tai senatvės pajamos, skirtos kasdieniam senų žmonių vartojimui finansuoti. Šiandien beveik visi Lietuvos pensininkai, kaip ir daugelyje Europos šalių, pensijas gauna iš valstybės, t. y. valstybė turi finansuoti beveik visą pensininko vartojimą. Dėl ilgėjančio senų žmonių amžiaus ir mažėjančio gimstamumo didėja valstybės išlaidos senatvės pensijoms. Vienas iš siūlomų valstybės išlaidų mažinimo būdų – padidinti asmeninių santaupų vaidmenį senatvės pajamose. Manoma, kad ateityje daugelis pensinio amžiaus žmonių beveik visą savo vartojimą turės finansuoti iš asmeninių santaupų. Vadinasi, pensijų sistemos reforma padidins asmeninių santaupų svarbą. Asmeninių santaupų struktūra – esminis pensijų reformos klausimas. Lietuvos gyventojai, galėdami laisvai pasirinkti investicijų formas (vyriausybės taupymo lakštai, banko indėliai ir pan.) ir investicijų horizontą, dažniausiai savo santaupas laiko trumpalaikių banko indėlių forma. LR Vyriausybė įvedė privalomąjį kaupimą pensijų fonduose, dalį socialinių draudimo įmokų perduoti į privačius pensijų fondus. Šie fondai pradėjo veikti 2004 metų pradžioje. Pensijų fondų finansavimo šaltinis – privalomos darbuotojų įmokos. Privalomojo kaupimo pensijų įmoka yra atimama iš valstybinio socialinio pensijų draudimo įmokos. / According to the currently effective system in Lithuania funds collected from currently employed persons are immediately paid out to the existing pensioners (the solidarity principle of generations). Pensions currently paid are too low to maintain a “normal” living standard. The practices of well-developed Western countries suggest that an old age pension should make at least 70 per cent of the average wages previously earned by the person in order to maintain a similar living standard (now it represents about 40 per cent of average wages). In the future pensions are likely even to decrease in relative terms as life expectancy is getting longer and employed persons will have to maintain more and more pensioners. In order to ensure a higher living standard for future pensioners the pension reform has been launched recently. It may help to take care of one’s future and have a possibility to receive higher income when retired. Participation in private pension funds provides a possibility to accumulate pension funds in one’s personal account. Pension funds invest contributions paid by employed persons in shares, bonds and bank deposits. By investing part of income of individuals in the pension funds the Government is changing the structure of personal savings, and that influences the importance of certain segments of the financial sector (banks, capital market, insurance, etc.) in the Lithuanian economy.

The present work examines the attitude of pensioners in relation to today's digitizing. A variety of digital devices have been added and have become part of many people's everyday lives. The main purpose of the present work is to investigate how a number of pensioners relate to today's digitization. A qualitative method was considered to be best suited for the job and six semi-structured interviews were conducted with pensioners. The gathered empirical evidence showed that pensioners relate to today's digitizing in different ways, both positive and negative approaches. There was also a need for further research in the field of digitizing, as it is being developed at a regular basis. / Föreliggande arbete berör pensionärers förhållningsätt till dagens digitalisering. En rad olika digitala enheter har tillkommit och blivit en del i mångas vardag. Det huvudsakliga syftet med föreliggande arbete är att undersöka huruvida ett antal pensionärer förhåller sig till dagens digitalisering. En kvalitativ metod ansågs vara bäst lämpad för arbetet och sex semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med pensionärer. Den insamlade empirin visade att pensionärer förhåller sig till dagens digitalisering på olika sätt, både positiva och negativa förhållningssätt. Det visade sig också finnas ett behov av vidare forskning inom området digitalisering, då det utvecklas med jämna mellanrum.

Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie är att hitta förbättringspunkter i den äldre generationens onlinebeteende och säkerhetsmedvetande. Samt att kunna ge förslag och rekommendationer på säkerhetsåtgärder som kan bidra positivt till att motverka dagslägets vanligaste informationssäkerhetsrisker och hot.  Metoden som användes för att uppnå detta var en kombination av litteratursökning och intervjustudie för datainsamling.  Resultatet påvisade att respondenterna hade medvetenhet angående huvudsakligen olika sorters bedrägerier med inslag av social manipulation, såsom phishing, vishing, och smishing. Dock inte lika mycket medvetenhet angående mer tekniska säkerhetshot relaterade till exempelvis skadlig kod eller programvara. Det ansågs därmed existera förbättringspunkter gällande pensionärers säkerhetsmedvetande i form av behov av mer information och nyttjande av grundläggande säkerhetsåtgärder i högre grad, främst tekniska verktyg och åtgärder. / The purpose of this qualitative study is to find points of improvement in the older generation’s online behaviour and security awareness. Also to be able to give recommendations and suggestions on security measures that can contribute positively to the preventative work and counteraction against some of the most common information security risks and threats the elderly could face in today’s day and age as well.  The method used to achieve this was a combination of a literature overview and an interview study for data collection.  The results showed that the respondents had awareness regarding mainly different types of fraud including certain elements of social manipulation, such as phishing, vishing, and smishing. However, they showed less awareness regarding more technical security threats related to, for example, malicious code or software. It was therefore concluded that points of improvement exist regarding the pensioners’ security awareness. This is in the form of a need for more information and greater use of basic security measures, particularly technical tools and measures.