This work offers a cross-cultural account of the “aging experience” for elderly in two regions of Bulgaria. It is an ethnographic study that explores the importance of sustained and new (or adapted) interpersonal relationships for elderly in a depopulating Northwestern Village and a small Southern Town and its surroundings in the Rhodope Mountains. Highlighting relationships with family, peers, and neighbors, the study documents how the elderly negotiate and strategize their well-being in spaces and networks increasingly occupied by members of their same age group and despite adversity such as permanently depleting populations. These elders manage to engage in creating and maintaining their networks for instrumental or salient support; participate in peer memberships and interactions for coping and belonging; and negotiate valued and new cultural and socioeconomic strategies and places for well-being. The study’s focus engages with theories of aging; psychosocial, anthropological, and sociological knowledge; and cross-disciplinary conceptions of how groups of people mediate relationships and issues affecting them. It underscores some Bulgarian elders’ engagement over disengagement, their nostalgia and coping, and pathways that lead to innovation and resiliency. The study also offers further insight into topics such as “aging in place” and the complexities of human experiences within a Bulgarian context that considers specific histories and processes such as post-socialism and out-migration. As such, the current work contributes to explorations of engaged and adaptive elders aging in place (particularly in relationship to out-migration and economic forces); to how overlapping histories and experiences create membership within age-cohorts; and on the ways that the elderly cope, adapt, and innovate when traditionally salient family networks are stretched because of economies, depopulation, or distance. Finally, this work occurs against the backdrop of an aging and depopulating landscape. Issues affecting Bulgaria and its elders include population loss and stages of demographic decline, declining or low fertility rates, and an increasingly aging population across the country but more so within villages. These and other problems have resulted in the elderly expressing isolation; feelings of loss; and economic, social, and personal woes. It has also resulted in the elderly being categorized as a particularly “vulnerable” group within the country, a term which runs the risk of placing them within a realm of complacency or marginalization. Even in extreme situations, many of the elderly I met in Bulgaria remained resourceful and resilient by sustaining or adapting relationships and practices, by creating moments and spaces for coping and companionship, and to meet their need as “still alive” in ways that challenge perceptions of vulnerability or marginality.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Dept. of Gerontology) / Simon Fraser University. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-165). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, School of Nursing, Rural Nursing, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Decker School of Nursing, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.P.H.M. (Primary Health Care Management))--Mahidol University, 2008. / LICL has E-Thesis 0039 ; please contact computer services.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2004. / Bibliography: leaves 104-110.

The thesis focuses on the survival mechanisms of the rural poor elderly in Zimbabwe. The situation of the rural elderly is looked at in the context of the ravaging HIV/AIDS pandemic. The focus is specifically directed on the increasing numbers of orphans who are generated following the rampant deaths of their parents (sexually active individuals). With Africa failing to effectively withstand the forcefulness of the pandemic, the community structures in Zimbabwe are being heavily shaken to the detriment of all social groups. It is within this continuum that the research is laid out to investigate the situation on the ground. In this case, a fieldwork exercise was carried out in the Hobodo ward of Mangwe district in Zimbabwe. An intensive and in-depth examination of the critical situation was pursued under the case study model. To make the study more focused, the elderly were placed under investigation with regards to their new role of providing familial care for the orphans. The manner in which they face such a towering task under strained resources and limited knowhow was explored. The well-being of the orphans was also investigated in close relation to the welfare efforts of the elderly guardians. The investigations were made in respect of the contribution of the local resources towards the innovativeness of the elderly guardians. The adaptivity of the elderly and the versatility of the orphans were examined within the confines of the social and the economic capitals of the Hobodo ward. It is within the natural, social and economic capital dimensions of the Hobodo rural locality that the applicability of the sustainable livelihoods framework in explaining the dire social situation of the elderly and the orphans was brought under spotlight. The study was pursued through the qualitative research paradigm. This was done to capture the social perceptions, beliefs and the innovative capabilities of the elderly in their natural environment; and under the fieldwork setting. Several data collection techniques were employed to unveil the subject under study. These included interviews, questionnaires, participant observations, focus group discussions. Sampling was used to produce the research framework. Participants in the research were largely identified through random sampling. In special circumstances, purposive sampling was used. Tape recording and note taking were largely used to capture the responses of the research participants.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Applied Science in Food and Nutrition, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Rational and Objectives The objective of this study was to determine socio-demographic, socio-economic, health status, dietary diversity, nutrition adequacy, food consumption patterns, coping strategies, and agricultural practices in relation to food insecurity and nutritional status of elderly population in Mpharane. Methodology The sample size was n=260 participants with 75 men and 185 women. A variety of variables were used to measure the objectives and different types of questionnaires were used as measuring instruments for all the variables of the study. Socio-demographic questionnaires determined household indicators like age, employment status, and number of dependents, living conditions and assets. Anthropometrics measurements that were conducted included height, weight and blood pressure. Health status questionnaires included indictors such as consumption of alcohol, smoking, food allergies and affected parts of the body. Food frequency score, dietary intake and nutrition adequacy were established. Coping strategies in the household were determined for the period of food insecurity. Agricultural practices questionnaires were to determined household indictors like land, types of crops and livestock. The completed Socio-demographic Questionnaires, Health Questionnaires, Food Frequency Questionnaires, Anthropometric Measurements Forms, Coping Strategies Questionnaires and the Agricultural Practices Questionnaire were captured on a Microsoft Excel® Spreadsheet by the researcher and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 21.0, with the assistance of a statistician. Results Results indicated that all participants resided with grandchildren. Majority of grandmothers headed the households. All participants were unemployed and 61.20% often had shortage of money to buy food. Nutrient analysis from 24-Hour Food Recall indicated deficient intake in energy, calcium and vitamin A. There were high levels of food insecurity among the participants since all the participants used all 15 coping strategies. The Body Mass Index (BMI) results indicated 65.50% of participants were overweight, 60.70% obese and 13.60% were underweight. Majority of participants had access to land for plantation. All Participants suffered from various health aliments. The history of health associated with diseases indicating that 24.60% (n=64) of the participants had reported skin diseases, 71.20% (n=185) of the participants suffered from diseases of skeleton or joints and 81.90% (n=213) of the participants indicated affected eyes, ears, nose and teeth. Diseases of the chest or respiratory system were experienced by 50.80% (n=132) of the participants. The total fat intake of all the groups was slightly below the recommended goal by the World Health Organization WHO (15-30%), with men obtaining 13.33% and women 12.55% of energy from fat. Carbohydrates contributed 75.12% for men and 75.41% for women of the daily energy needs in the groups, slightly above the levels recommended by the WHO (55-75%). The contribution of protein to total daily energy intake for all the groups was within the recommendation of 10-15%, men (11.56%) and women (12.07%). As a result this proves that the average participant consumed a balanced diet in terms of the macronutrient intake. Carbohydrates were the main source of food consumption. The highest number of individual foods consumed by the majority of the participants was between 6-10 individual foods (53.46%, n=139) followed by 11-15 individual foods (39.23%, n=102). The mean Food Variety Score (FVS) (±SD) for all the foods consumed from the food groups during seven days was 10.06 (±6.726), which indicated a low food variety score. The food group with the most variety was the cereal group. Seven different cereals were consumed by (1.53%, n=4) participants, a large number of the participants (31.15%, n=81) only consumed 3 different cereals within seven day period and (23.46%, n=61) of the participants consumed 4 different cereals. Conclusion The grandparents were the principle providers for the grandchildren and the demographic pressures, unemployment and old age increased the financial strains which contributed to high levels of poverty resulting in food and nutrition insecurity and poor nutritional status of the elderly people. / M

Thesis (M. A. (Clinical Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Demographical factors affect the way people perceive, conceptualise and make meaning of their daily living experiences, which in turn influence their decision-making abilities in certain situations. Therefore, perceptions and conceptualisations, together with the associated attitudes to organ donation, were defined and understood in participants’ socio-cultural context. A qualitative study was conducted among the African elderly community members of Madibaneng Village (Sekhukhune District), Limpopo Province (South Africa) to explore perceptions of organ donation. African elderly community members were selected using purposive sampling, after ethical clearance from the University and gate-keepers’ permission from the Tswako-Lekentle traditional council had been obtained. Six (6) males and six (6) females were interviewed. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using the thematic analysis method. The following psychological themes and subthemes emerged from the study: African elderly community members’ understanding and knowledge about organ donation (inadequate knowledge and lack of awareness); community members’ feelings about organ donation; African elderly community members attitudes to organ donation (family dynamics relating to organ donation, culture and organ donation and psychological aspects of organ donation), and participants’ perceptions of those living with donated organs. The findings revealed that multiple demographical factors affect and influence people’s perceptions of organ donation. The study revealed that 80% of the elderly community members expressed some positive perceptions about the process of organ donation; however, some of the participants expressed conflicting factors that might affect their ultimate decision about becoming donors, such as associated psychological aspects. Other participants portrayed a negative perception that was more likely to have been affected by cultural factors, their family dynamics, belief systems and other social factors in their context. The findings from the current study emphasise that there is a need for effective awareness campaigns to curb the levels of illiteracy and inadequacy in knowledge concerning the subject of organ donation and to incorporate the demographical factors of particular social contexts in the healthcare system and related policies.