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Basic Needs (basic + need)
Selected AbstractsWhy International Organizations Should Bring Basic Needs Back inINTERNATIONAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVES, Issue 2 2009Nita Rudra An important milestone in the development debate is the recognition of poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon via the capabilities approach. However, a challenge remains in that many governments in less-developed countries continue to avoid prioritizing issues of absolute deprivation. This paper demonstrates how and why existing efforts to operationalize capabilities may distract policy makers from giving sufficient weight to issues of basic survival. We propose that international organizations can address this challenge through a method of triangulation: (1) identify how countries rank on universal goals of human development; (2) identify how countries rank on universal goals of basic needs provision; and (3) promote participatory poverty assessments. This approach ensures that absolute deprivation issues are addressed, and it establishes an acceptable (and necessary) balance between standardization and local complexity. [source] Democracy and Social Policy in Brazil: Advancing Basic Needs, Preserving Privileged InterestsLATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 2 2009Wendy Hunter ABSTRACT Has democracy promoted poverty alleviation and equity-enhancing reforms in Brazil, a country of striking inequality and destitution? The effects of an open, competitive political system have not been straightforward. Factors that would seem to work toward this goal include the voting power of poor people, the progressive 1988 Constitution, the activism of social movements, and governance since 1995 by presidents affiliated with center-left and left parties. Yet these factors have been counterbalanced by the strong political influence and lobbying power of organized interests with a stake in preexisting arrangements of social protection and human capital formation. An analysis of four key federal sectors, social security, education, health care, and public assistance, illustrates the challenges for social sector reforms that go beyond raising basic living standards to enhancing socioeconomic inequality. [source] Basic Needs, Property Rights and Degradation Of CommonsPACIFIC ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2003Bharat R. Hazari A major problem in many developing countries is the degradation of commons. This degradation has occurred on account of the lack of fulfilment of the basic needs of the poor, free riding and ill,defined property rights. As these goods are essential for the survival of these people, they have to access these items from commons. This results in regular raids to common land for resources and also to private houses (for example, in New Delhi) which are not guarded for water. A variant of the agricultural household model is used to analyse the above problem. Several propositions are established and it is demonstrated that degradation can occur at both a low and high price of basic needs. This result has important policy implications as it demonstrates that land or common degradation cannot be solved by just using the price system. Properly defined property rights and provision of basic goods in kind may resolve the problem of degradation of commons. [source] Rates and Impact of Trauma and Current Stressors Among Darfuri Refugees in Eastern ChadAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2010Andrew Rasmussen Darfur refugees face hardships associated with chronic displacement, including lack of basic needs and safety concerns. Psychiatric research on refugees has focused on trauma, but daily stressors may contribute more to variance in distress. This article reports rates of past trauma and current stressors among Darfur refugees and gauges the contribution of each to psychological distress and functional impairment. A representative sample of 848 Darfuris in 2 refugee camps were interviewed about traumatic events, stressors faced in the camps, psychological distress, and functional impairment. Basic needs and safety concerns were more strongly correlated with measures of distress (rs = .19,.31) than were war-related traumatic events (rs = .09,.20). Hierarchical regression supported models in which effects of trauma on distress were mediated by current stressors. Although war-related traumatic events are the initial causes of refugees' hardship, findings suggest that the day-to-day challenges and concerns in camps mediate psychological distress associated with these events. [source] Theoretical discourse on sustainable space design: towards creating and sustaining effective sidewalksBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 5 2005Iderlina Mateo-Babiano Abstract Users are a potential source of behavioral change when led to experience alternative design strategies that aim to encourage a more sustainable lifestyle. Thus, ,sustainability-oriented' street design takes on an active role in creating spaces that cater to users by considering the whole spectrum of pedestrian needs, considering the users' historical and cultural diversity in the development of a more responsive street regulation and standards and incorporating the two interacting spatial components: movement, satisfying the basic need for mobility; and non-movement, complementing movement to achieve a more effective and sustainable space. The paper will touch on the dichotomy of space perception between the East and the West, based on the premise that city morphology has been influenced largely by its ecology, resulting in two city formations: the organic city form and the planned city system. It will wrap up with initial recommendations on achieving a more context-sensitive design. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Nutritional Risk Factors for Older RefugeesDISASTERS, Issue 1 2003Simone Pieterse This study describes risk factors for poor nutrition among older Rwandan refugees. The most important areas of nutritional risk for older refugees are: physical ability and mobility; income and access to land; access to appropriate food rations; meeting basic needs such as water, fuel, shelter; equal access to essential services (food distribution, health services, mills, feeding programmes); and psycho-social trauma. Women and older elderly (>70 years) are significantly more often in disadvantaged positions, such as having poor socio-economic status, poor health, poor mobility, lower food intake, diminished social status, respect and social network. Older refugees are at higher risk than younger refugees and at higher risk than older people in stable situations. They should remain in good nutritional and general health for their own well-being and that of their dependants. In addition to an adequate diet, a support network seems to be an important preventive aspect. [source] Catastrophic payments for health care in AsiaHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 11 2007Eddy van Doorslaer Abstract Out-of-pocket (OOP) payments are the principal means of financing health care throughout much of Asia. We estimate the magnitude and distribution of OOP payments for health care in fourteen countries and territories accounting for 81% of the Asian population. We focus on payments that are catastrophic, in the sense of severely disrupting household living standards, and approximate such payments by those absorbing a large fraction of household resources. Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal and Vietnam rely most heavily on OOP financing and have the highest incidence of catastrophic payments. Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia stand out as low to middle income countries that have constrained both the OOP share of health financing and the catastrophic impact of direct payments. In most low/middle-income countries, the better-off are more likely to spend a large fraction of total household resources on health care. This may reflect the inability of the poorest of the poor to divert resources from other basic needs and possibly the protection of the poor from user charges offered in some countries. But in China, Kyrgyz and Vietnam, where there are no exemptions of the poor from charges, they are as, or even more, likely to incur catastrophic payments. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Third World Water Forum: to translate visions into concrete actions and commitmentsHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 11 2002Hideaki Oda Abstract Water is vital for the life and health of people and ecosystems and a basic requirement for the development of countries, but many people lack access to adequate and safe water to meet their most basic needs. Water resources, and the related ecosystems, are now under threat from pollution, unsustainable use, climate change, and many other forces. The World Water Forum series has been likened to a series of stepping stones towards the solution of the world's pressing water problems. Each step constitutes a new phase. The third World Water Forum takes up the World Water Vision created at the second World Water Forum in The Hague in 2000, and sets out to see that vision realized in concrete actions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Parents and infants in changing cultural context: Immigration, trauma, and riskINFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 3 2003Marie Rose Moro "Entre les bibliothèques et les bébés en détresse, il y a un grand fossé" (S. Fraiberg). "Between library and at-risk infants themselves lies a great gulf" (Fraiberg, 1999, p. 416). Whether they are African or Asian, children of immigrant families live in at-risk situations where they may be exposed to serious trauma. Immigrant families often live in extreme conditions. Although research describes these conditions, the field of intervention remains weak. How many times have I heard that work among these families does not address treatment, but only basic needs, noting that the families are preoccupied with survival,where to find food, where to sleep, where to bury their dead. Yet, the psychological care of immigrant children and families has much to teach us. In this article I will describe work that attempts to bridge the gulf that Fraiberg referred to by sharing what I have learned regarding immigrant families with infants. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. [source] Hunger: The Silent Epidemic Among Asylum Seekers and Resettled RefugeesINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 1 2008Linda Piwowarczyk Refugees and asylum seekers face challenges after arriving in a host country. They carry the trauma that they may have experienced in their countries of origin, during fight, and in countries of asylum. Other stressors impact on their adjustment after arriving in the United States including basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. This is a retrospective review of data collected as part of a needs assessment by a program, which serves survivors of torture and refugee trauma. Asylum seekers (n=65) and refugees were compared (n=30). Asylum seekers were more apt to be from Africa (p<.001), need family reunification (p=.027), speak more languages (p<.001), suffer from political persecution (p<.001), move from place to place due to not having a permanent place to live (p=.031), and be unable to contribute to the rent (p<.001). Unadjusted, asylum seekers were also more likely than refugees to have gone to bed hungry in the previous two weeks (p<.001) or since arriving in the United States (p<.001). Refugees were more likely to be eating more food now than before feeing, and asylum seekers the opposite (p<.001). Being an asylum seeker made one 3.7 times more likely to suffer from food insecurity than being a refugee, and 5.3 times more likely to not have work authorization. Among asylum seekers, adjusting for gender, age, education, lack of permanent housing, English fluency, and self-reported health status, not having work authorization made one 5.6 times more likely to suffer from hunger. Independently, being a torture survivor made one 10.4 times more likely to suffer from hunger. Asylum seekers must wait 150 days before applying for asylum in the United States. For humanitarian reasons, mandatory-waiting periods for work authorization for asylum seekers should be eliminated. Les réfugiés et les demandeurs d'asile se heurtent à différentes diffcultés à leur arrivée dans le pays d'accueil. Ils sont porteurs des traumatismes qu'ils peuvent avoir vécus dans leur pays d'origine, durant leur déplacement ou dans des pays d'asile. D'autres facteurs de stress compliquent encore leur acclimatation sur le territoire des Etats-Unis, parmi lesquels la satisfaction de besoins fondamentaux tels que le gîte, le couvert et l'habillement. La présente étude constitue un examen rétrospectif des données recueillies dans le cadre d'une évaluation des besoins, pour un programme destinéà aider des personnes ayant subi la torture et des réfugiés victimes de traumatismes. Elle établit ainsi une comparaison entre les demandeurs d'asile et les réfugiés. Les demandeurs d'asile sont le plus souvent originaires d'Afrique, en attente de regroupement familial, s'expriment dans plus d'une seule langue, se disent victimes de persécutions politiques, semblent avoir du mal à fixer leur résidence en un point précis et ne pas être en mesure de contribuer au paiement d'un loyer. S'ils n'ont pas encore accompli leur adaptation, ils sont en outre plus susceptibles que les réfugiés de s'être couché le ventre vide au cours des deux semaines précédentes ou depuis leur arrivée aux Etats-Unis. Pour leur part, les réfugiés sont plus susceptibles de manger davantage qu'avant leur départ, au contraire des demandeurs d'asile. Le fait d'être demandeur d'asile signife être 3,7 fois plus exposé qu'un réfugié au risque d'insécurité alimentaire, et 5,3 fois plus à celui de ne pas obtenir une autorisation de travail. Parmi les demandeurs d'asile qui rencontrent des diffcultés d'adaptation liées au sexe, à l'âge, au niveau d'éducation, à l'absence de logement durable, à l'incapacité de communiquer facilement en anglais et à un état de santé défaillant, la non-obtention d'une autorisation de travail fait courir un risque de souffrir de la faim 5,6 fois supérieur. Indépendamment de ce qui précède, une personne ayant subi des actes de torture est 10,4 fois plus susceptible de souffrir de la faim. Aux Etats-Unis, les demandeurs d'asile doivent attendre 150 jours avant de pouvoir déposer une demande d'asile. Pour des raisons humanitaires, les périodes d'attente obligatoire de permis de travail devraient être supprimées pour les demandeurs d'asile. Los refugiados y solicitantes de asilo tienen que hacer frente a toda una serie de retos cuando llegan a un país de acogida. Traen consigo el trauma que han experimentado en sus países de origen, en su huída y en los países de asilo. Otros factores de estrés repercuten en su adaptación tras la llegada en los Estados Unidos, a saber, en necesidades tan elementales como los alimentos, la ropa y el albergue. Este recuento retrospectivo de los datos acopiados forma parte de una evaluación de necesidades de un programa que sirve a los sobrevivientes a torturas y a refugiados traumatizados. En este estudio se compararon solicitantes de asilo (n= 65) con refugiados (n= 30). Los solicitantes de asilo provenían mayormente de África (p<.001), venían por razones de reunifcación familiar (p=.027), fueron objeto de persecución (p<.001), se desplazaron de un lugar a otro sin tener un lugar permanente de residencia (p=.031), y no podían pagar un alquiler (p<.001). Los solicitantes de asilo inadaptados eran mayormente refugiados que habían pasado hambre durante los últimos quince días (p<.001) o desde que llegaron a los Estados Unidos (p<.001). Se observó que los refugiados comían más alimentos que antes de huir, mientras que el fenómeno inverso se produjo con los solicitantes de asilo (p<.001). El solicitante de asilo tenía 3,7 veces más probabilidades de sufrir de inseguridad alimenticia que el refugiado, y tenía 5,3 veces más probabilidades de no contar con un permiso de trabajo. Los solicitantes de asilo, clasifcados por sexo, edad, educación, falta de vivienda permanente, conocimientos de inglés y situación sanitaria autosufciente, que no contaban con autorización de trabajo eran 5,6 veces más propensos a sufrir de la hambruna. Independientemente, el ser un sobreviviente a la tortura hacía que se fuera 10,4 veces más propenso a sufrir de la hambruna. Los solicitantes de asilo tienen que aguardar por lo menos 150 días antes de solicitar el asilo en los Estados Unidos. Por razones humanitarias, convendría suprimir estos periodos de espera obligatorios para que los solicitantes de asilo obtengan permisos de trabajo. [source] Why International Organizations Should Bring Basic Needs Back inINTERNATIONAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVES, Issue 2 2009Nita Rudra An important milestone in the development debate is the recognition of poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon via the capabilities approach. However, a challenge remains in that many governments in less-developed countries continue to avoid prioritizing issues of absolute deprivation. This paper demonstrates how and why existing efforts to operationalize capabilities may distract policy makers from giving sufficient weight to issues of basic survival. We propose that international organizations can address this challenge through a method of triangulation: (1) identify how countries rank on universal goals of human development; (2) identify how countries rank on universal goals of basic needs provision; and (3) promote participatory poverty assessments. This approach ensures that absolute deprivation issues are addressed, and it establishes an acceptable (and necessary) balance between standardization and local complexity. [source] The impact of socioeconomic and demographic factors on the utilization of smoking cessation medications in patients hospitalized with cardiovascular disease in Nova Scotia, CanadaJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 2 2005A. M. Whelan Pharm D Summary Objective:, To determine whether any demographic or socioeconomic factors affect the use of smoking cessation medications in patients hospitalized with heart disease. Method:, Data were obtained from the Improving Cardiovascular Outcomes in Nova Scotia (ICONS) Canada database, which includes a registry of all hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, or atrial fibrillation since October 1997. Patients agreeing to provide follow-up were sent an enrolment survey to determine demographic and socioeconomic factors including household income, educational background and private drug insurance plans. Results:, Between 15 October 1997 and 31 December 2000, 5442 patients who were current smokers and 270 patients using a smoking cessation medication were admitted to hospital registered in the ICONS database. An enrolment survey was completed by 1071 current smokers and 77 patients using a smoking cessation agent. Conclusion:, Higher education level, presence of private drug insurance plans, and less difficulty paying for basic needs were associated with higher use of smoking cessation medications. [source] Consistent poverty comparisons and inferenceAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2-3 2007Channing Arndt Poverty measurement; Entropy estimation; Revealed preferences; Bootstrap Abstract Building upon the cost of basic needs (CBN) approach, an integrated approach to making consumption-based poverty comparisons is presented. This approach contains two principal modifications to the standard CBN approach. The first permits the development of multiple poverty bundles that are utility consistent. The second recognizes that the poverty line itself is a random variable whose variation influences the degree of confidence in poverty measures. We illustrate the empirical importance of these two methodological changes for the case of Mozambique. With utility consistency imposed, estimated poverty rates tend to be systematically higher in rural areas and lower in urban areas. We also find that the true confidence intervals on the poverty estimates,those incorporating poverty line variance,tend to be considerably larger than those that ignore poverty line variance. Finally, we show that these two methodological changes interact. Specifically, we find that imposing utility consistency on poverty bundles tends to tighten confidence intervals, sometimes dramatically, on provincial poverty estimates. We conclude that this revised approach represents an important advance in poverty analysis. The revised approach is straightforward and directly applicable in empirical work. [source] Material Flows in a Social Context: A Vietnamese Case Study Combining the Materials Flow Analysis and Action-in-Context FrameworksJOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2007Marieke HOBBES Summary Materials flow analysis (MFA) is one of the central achievements of industrial ecology. One direction in which one can move MFA beyond mere accounting is by putting the material flows in their social context. This "socially extended MFA" may be carried out at various levels of aggregation. In this article, specific material flows will be linked to concrete actors and mechanisms that cause these flows,using the action-in-context (AiC) framework, which contains, inter alia, both proximate and indirect actors and factors. The case study site is of Tat hamlet in Vietnam, set in a landscape of paddy fields on valley floors surrounded by steep, previously forested slopes. Out of the aggregate MFA of Tat, the study focuses on material flows associated with basic needs and sustainability. The most important actors causing these material flows are farming households, politicians, traders, and agribusiness firms,of which local politicians turned out to be pivotal. The study shows the value of combining MFA with actor-based social analysis. MFA achieves the balanced quantification of the physical system, thus helping to pinpoint key processes. Actor-based analysis adds the causal understanding of what drives these key processes, leading to improved scenarios of the future and the effective identification of target groups and instruments for policy making. [source] On the Cost of Adverse Selection in Individual Annuity Markets: Evidence From SingaporeJOURNAL OF RISK AND INSURANCE, Issue 2 2002Wai Mun Fong New evidence is presented on the cost of adverse selection in individual annuity markets using Singapore data. The Singapore annuity market is an interesting setting to examine the cost of adverse selection for three reasons. First, unlike many Western countries, the Singapore government provides very limited public financial assistance for retirees. Second, while social security contributions mandated under the Central Provident Fund (CPF) result in a high forced savings rate, a large proportion of CPF savings, are used up for housing. Third, to ensure that retirees have sufficient funds to meet basic needs, individuals who reach age 55 are required to set aside a minimum amount of their CPF savings, which can be withdrawn at age 62. The CPF Board allows various options for investing the minimum sum, but the most attractive option is to purchase an annuity. The institutional setting in Singapore in effect provides insurers with a large captive market for annuities. It is conjectured that this should be reflected in a significantly lower cost of adverse selection for annuities sold in Singapore as compared with other countries. The results herein, using data for CPF-approved insurers, are strongly consistent with this conjecture. On average, money's worth of annuities is higher than annuities sold to a similar age-gender mix in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Adverse selection accounts for less than 13 percent of the cost of longevity insurance compared to 30,50 per- cent documented in many previous studies. These results suggest that one way to resolve the adverse selection problem is to adopt a universal individual defined contribution pension scheme that mandates or provides strong incentives for retirees to purchase annuities. [source] Babies Can't Wait: A Judicial ResponseJUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 2 2004JUDGE SHARON S. TOWNSEND During my career as a Family Court Judge over the past 12 years, I was faced daily with the difficult task of deciding whether or not to remove a newborn infant from the care of her mother and place the child in foster care upon discharge from the hospital. In the huge majority of cases, removal was ordered based upon the mother's history of substance abuse and the subsequent positive toxicology of the infant at birth. I could not risk the health and safety of this often premature and vulnerable infant to a mother with such an addiction to drugs that she would expose her child in utero to these toxic substances. Such a mother was incapable of caring for the basic needs of this vulnerable infant, and therefore removal was ordered. This decision saddened me because, as a mother myself, I knew of the critical bond existing between infant and mother during those critical first days and weeks of a child's life. That bond must be nurtured and strengthened and is crucial to a child's development. [source] Change in vegetation cover in East Timor, 1989,1999NATURAL RESOURCES FORUM, Issue 1 2004George A. Bouma Abstract Forest resources play a key role and provide many basic needs to communities in developing economies. To assess the patterns of vegetation cover change, as a corollary of resource utilization, satellite imagery, ground truth data, and image processing techniques can be useful. This article is concerned with identifying change in major vegetation types in East Timor between 1989 and 1999, using Landsat Thematic Mapper data. The results highlight a significant level of deforestation and decline in foliage cover. All major vegetation cover types declined from 1989 to 1999, and there was a sizeable increase in degraded woodlands. This decline has had considerable impact on the livelihoods of rural and urban communities. Causes for these changes include: economic exploitation of abundant resources; and implications of transmigration policies implemented during Indonesian rule, resulting in increased competition for land and woodland resources. As the new nation of Timor-Leste establishes itself, it must consider its current stock and distribution of natural capital to ensure that development efforts are geared towards sustainable outcomes. Without the knowledge of historical patterns of resource consumption, development efforts may, unwittingly, lead to continuing decline in forest resources. [source] Securing water for people, crops, and ecosystems: New mindset and new prioritiesNATURAL RESOURCES FORUM, Issue 2 2003Sandra L Postel A fundamentally new approach to water and human development will be needed during this new century if we are to secure sufficient freshwater to meet the needs of some 9 billion people while at the same time protecting the critical ecosystem services upon which the human economy depends. Signs of unsustainable water use , including falling water tables, shrinking lakes, and the drying up of rivers and streams , are widespread and spreading. In many regions, greater modification and appropriation of freshwater systems for human purposes will yield greater costs than benefits and create the risk of irreversible losses of species and ecosystem services. A new mindset is needed to guide water use and management in this new century, one that views the human water economy as a subset of nature's water economy. Living within nature's limits will require that societies satisfy the basic needs of people and ecosystems before non-essential water demands are met. It will require on the order of a doubling of water productivity. And it will require stronger institutions to encourage equitable sharing of water to alleviate tensions within and between countries. [source] Humanitarian aid beyond "bare survival": Social movement responses to xenophobic violence in South AfricaAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 4 2009STEVEN ROBINS ABSTRACT In this article, I investigate responses to the humanitarian crisis that emerged following the May 2008 xenophobic violence against South African nonnationals that resulted in 62 deaths and the displacement of well over 30,000 people. I focus specifically on how a South African AIDS activist movement, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and its partners, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF,Doctors Without Borders) and the AIDS Law Project (ALP), translated a particular style and strategy of AIDS activism into legal, medical, humanitarian, and political responses to the massive population displacement. The TAC provided relief to displaced people in the form of basic needs, such as food, clothes, and blankets, as well as legal aid, and it engaged in activism that promoted the rights of the refugees. I investigate how the ideas and practices of global agencies such as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) were deployed and reinterpreted by TAC activists. I also examine how TAC activists involved in assisting the refugees drew on a global humanitarian assemblage of categories, legal definitions, norms and standards, and procedures and technologies that went beyond the simple management of "bare life." TAC's shift from fighting for antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to fighting for refugees' rights reveals a "politics of life" that spans multiple issues, networks, and constituencies. It is also a politics that, at times, strategically deploys standardized bureaucratic logics and biopolitical techniques of humanitarian aid. [source] Self-Image of People in Their FiftiesNURSING & HEALTH SCIENCES, Issue 3 2002Laiad Jamjan People in their fifties experience a transitional phase in aging. The impact of physical and emotional change is considerable due to deteriorated health and economic status. With the onset of aging, self-image of the pre-senescent provides an understanding of one's perceptions and thoughts on aging. Therefore, increased awareness of the pre-senescents' needs has resulted in further development of the nurse's role in health promotion. The main aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of self-image, a key factor of health promotion in the pre-senescent. The study participants consisted of 10 women in their fifties from the Aging Club at 43rd Health Center, Bangkok, Thailand. Focus group interview was used to explore self-image. The interview focused on the concept of health, aging, retirement, and the impact of change. Health results: The majority (80%) of the participants agreed that the definition of health was the equilibrium of basic needs. The definition of good health to them was a delightful mood. They described the concept of good health as either the balance of excretion, sleep and rest, or being free of disease and personal illness. Three participants complained of health problems because they had to take care of their husbands. Deteriorated health was found to be the stimulus to such aging states as blurred vision, hearing loss, menopause, and osteoporosis. Aging: The participants accepted that aging was a naturally occurring phenomenon. ,Age is only a number', ,If our minds are still young, our bodies will be youthful.' They did not want to be called ,old'. Retirement: Represents a time when they will be lonely and lack financial support. This also was described as the autumn of life. It was seen as the time to enjoy the golden years of life. The impact of changes: The participants experienced emotional changes such as increased sensitivity of feelings and needed family support. They also complained of physical changes (i.e. loss of appetite, teeth and agility). Only one participant, who had improved her emotional maturity, was proud of aging. Conclusion: For the pre-senescent, the aging transition begins with the changes in one's physical and mental condition. An optimistic attitude towards this process enables the pre-senescent to approach and better accept the process of aging. Nurses therefore need to continue to develop holistic approaches in caring for the aging. [source] Basic Needs, Property Rights and Degradation Of CommonsPACIFIC ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2003Bharat R. Hazari A major problem in many developing countries is the degradation of commons. This degradation has occurred on account of the lack of fulfilment of the basic needs of the poor, free riding and ill,defined property rights. As these goods are essential for the survival of these people, they have to access these items from commons. This results in regular raids to common land for resources and also to private houses (for example, in New Delhi) which are not guarded for water. A variant of the agricultural household model is used to analyse the above problem. Several propositions are established and it is demonstrated that degradation can occur at both a low and high price of basic needs. This result has important policy implications as it demonstrates that land or common degradation cannot be solved by just using the price system. Properly defined property rights and provision of basic goods in kind may resolve the problem of degradation of commons. [source] Notes on Cultures of Violence, Cultures of Caring and Peace, and the Fulfillment of Basic Human NeedsPOLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2003Ervin Staub Some conditions in the lives of children, adults, and groups can be construed as fulfilling universal human psychological needs. The constructive fulfillment of these basic needs promotes caring and positive, helpful relations; their frustration creates an inclination toward hostility and aggression. The article describes diverse influences that can lead to violence between individuals, groups, and societies, as well as ways to halt and prevent genocide, mass killing, and other intergroup violence, including terrorism, in part by fostering culture changes that promote harmony and peace. Ideally such culture change would involve healing from past wounds, the creation of positive (rather than destructive) ideologies, supportive communities, reconciliation and the creation of a shared collective memory, education that promotes peace, and the development of inclusive caring in children. The article also refers to work in Rwanda that aims to foster healing and reconciliation, in part by helping people understand the roots of violence and its implication for prevention. Societies and families that help to fulfill basic needs promote goodness as well as optimal human functioning,the continued growth and development of individuals. [source] Rates and Impact of Trauma and Current Stressors Among Darfuri Refugees in Eastern ChadAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2010Andrew Rasmussen Darfur refugees face hardships associated with chronic displacement, including lack of basic needs and safety concerns. Psychiatric research on refugees has focused on trauma, but daily stressors may contribute more to variance in distress. This article reports rates of past trauma and current stressors among Darfur refugees and gauges the contribution of each to psychological distress and functional impairment. A representative sample of 848 Darfuris in 2 refugee camps were interviewed about traumatic events, stressors faced in the camps, psychological distress, and functional impairment. Basic needs and safety concerns were more strongly correlated with measures of distress (rs = .19,.31) than were war-related traumatic events (rs = .09,.20). Hierarchical regression supported models in which effects of trauma on distress were mediated by current stressors. Although war-related traumatic events are the initial causes of refugees' hardship, findings suggest that the day-to-day challenges and concerns in camps mediate psychological distress associated with these events. [source] A Multivariate Contextual Analysis of Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatments: Implications for an Evidence-Based Definition of TortureAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2009Metin Ba, lu MD Current thinking on what constitutes torture in a detention/interrogation setting focuses solely on particular procedures, without regard for contextual factors that mediate traumatic stress. The present study examined stressor interactions that determined severity and psychological impact of captivity stressors in 432 torture survivors in former Yugoslavia countries and Turkey. A principal components analysis of 46 captivity stressors measured by an Exposure to Torture Scale identified meaningful stressor clusters, which suggested that multiple detention procedures were used in combination to maximize their impact. Perceived torture severity related to ,cruel, inhuman, and degrading' treatments (CIDT) but not to physical torture. Posttraumatic stress disorder related to war-related captivity, deprivation of basic needs, sexual torture, and exposure to extreme temperatures, isolation, and forced stress positions but not to physical torture. CIDT increased posttraumatic stress disorder risk by 71%. Fear- and helplessness-inducing effects of captivity and CIDT appear to be the major determinants of perceived severity of torture and psychological damage in detainees. Considerations on what constitutes torture need to take into account the contextual processes in a captivity setting that mediate these effects. [source] Implementation of the Zuluaga-Raysmith (Z-R) Model for Assessment of Perceived Basic Human Needs in Home Health Clients and CaregiversPUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 5 2000Beatrice Harrison Zuluaga R.N., FRCNA The Zuluaga-Raysmith (Z-R) model is a conceptual framework that incorporates accepted concepts of universal basic human needs developed by Maslow, yet removes the hierarchical nature of these. The Z-R model recognizes the existence of a health-illness continuum and accepts that an entity (individual, family, aggregate, or community) may move freely in the direction of greater health and self-actualization or towards illness and premature death. The Z-R model identifies 10 basic needs and recognizes that a perceived deficit in any one of these needs can adversely affect the level of wellness of the entity being considered. This exploratory and descriptive study used 11 nurses as interviewers. Subjects consisted of a convenience sample of homebound clients of a home health agency in a metropolitan city, and selected caregivers (n= 27). A modified functional wellness inventory (developed in 1993 by Louvenia Carter) was used with several open-ended questions, which together related to the 10 needs of the Z-R model. Reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.84. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, using means, percentages, and frequencies. Open-ended questions were grouped according to content and ranked in order of frequency. The five most pressing needs of this small sample were income; physical health; opportunity to make a contribution; mobility; and mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health (MESSH). Nurses unanimously reported that use of the instrument and the Z-R model helped them to focus on the total person, identify strengths in their clients, identify perceived needs deficits, and therefore, with the client, facilitate the preparation of a timely and cost-effective interdisciplinary plan of care to help the entity to move to a higher level of wellness despite the presence of chronic disease, disability, or impending death. These findings suggested that further research is warranted to explore the use of the Z-R model. A replication study is in progress. [source] Genetic Testing and the Future of Disability Insurance: Ethics, Law & PolicyTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 2007Susan M. Wolf Predictive genetic testing poses fundamental questions for disability insurance, a crucial resource funding basic needs when disability prevents income from work. This article, from an NIH-funded project, presents the first indepth analysis of the challenging issues: Should disability insurers be permitted to consider genetics and exclude predicted disability? May disabilities with a recognized genetic basis be excluded from coverage as pre-existing conditions? How can we assure that private insurers writing individual and group policies, employers, and public insurers deal competently and appropriately with genetic testing? [source] Rejected by the Nation: The Electoral Defeat of Candidates Included in the Self Is Experienced as Personal RejectionANALYSES OF SOCIAL ISSUES & PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2009Steven G. Young The current research was designed to examine how the outcome of the 2008 United States presidential election would affect participants' feelings of being rejected. Specifically, we set out to test whether participants who favored the losing candidate would feel as if they had been personally rejected. Additionally, we were interested in whether these feelings of rejection would be predicted by the extent to which participants included the major party candidates in their own self-representation, as measured with the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) scale. We find that conservative participants who included John McCain in the self reported feeling less satisfaction of their basic needs (a composite of belonging, self-esteem, belief in a meaningful existence, and sense of control), compared with conservative participants low in McCain IOS, and these effects are independent of mood. Applied and theoretical implications of these results are discussed. [source] THE CROSS-CULTURAL IMPORTANCE OF SATISFYING VITAL NEEDSBIOETHICS, Issue 9 2009ALLEN ANDREW A. ALVAREZ ABSTRACT Ethical beliefs may vary across cultures but there are things that must be valued as preconditions to any cultural practice. Physical and mental abilities vital to believing, valuing and practising a culture are such preconditions and it is always important to protect them. If one is to practise a distinct culture, she must at least have these basic abilities. Access to basic healthcare is one way to ensure that vital abilities are protected. John Rawls argued that access to all-purpose primary goods must be ensured. Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum claim that universal capabilities are what resources are meant to enable. Len Doyal and Ian Gough identify physical health and autonomy as basic needs of every person in every culture. When we disagree on what to prioritize, when resources to satisfy competing demands are scarce, our common needs can provide a point of normative convergence. Need-based rationing, however, has been criticized for being too indeterminate to give guidance for deciding which healthcare services to prioritize and for tending to create a bottomless-pit problem. But there is a difference between needing something (first-order need) and needing to have the ability to need (second-order need). Even if we disagree about which first-order need to prioritize, we must accept the importance of satisfying our second-order need to have the ability to value things. We all have a second-order need for basic healthcare as a means to protect our vital abilities even if we differ in what our cultures consider to be particular first-order needs. [source] Conserving What and for Whom?BIOTROPICA, Issue 5 2007Why Conservation Should Help Meet Basic Human Needs in the Tropics ABSTRACT For hundreds of millions of people, biodiversity is about eating, staying healthy, and finding shelter. Meeting these people's basic needs should receive greater priority in the conservation agenda. Wild and semi-wild plants and animals contribute significantly to nutrition, health care, income, and culture in developing countries, and the poorest and most vulnerable people often rely on those resources most. Depleting those resources or making them inaccessible can impoverish these people even further. ,Pro-poor conservation',that is, conservation that aims to support poor people,explicitly seeks to address basic human needs. Such an emphasis has many potential synergies with more conventional conservation goals. Nonetheless, pro-poor conservation requires a distinct attitude to gauging conservation outcomes and a different approach to conservation science. Biologists can make a vital contribution. RESUMEN Para cientos de millones de personas biodiversidad significa comer, cuidar su salud y alojarse. Satisfacer las necesidades básicas de esa agenda debería de recibir mayor prioridad en la agenda de conservación. Plantas y animales silvestres y semi-domesticadas contribuyen de forma significativa a la alimentación, salud, ingresos y cultura en los países en desarrollo, y suele ser la gente más pobre y vulnerable quienes dependen más de esos recursos. La degradación de esos recursos o la pérdida de acceso a los mismos pueden empobrecer a esta gente aún más. La "conservación pro-pobre," o sea la conservación que tiene como fin apoyar a la gente pobre, buscar de forma explícita satisfacer a las necesidades humanas básicas. Este enfoque tiene mucho potencial para generar sinergias con las metas más convencionales de conservación. Sin embargo, la conservación pro-pobre requiere de formas distintas de medir los resultados de la conservación y de un acercamiento distinto a lo que es la ciencia de la conservación. Los biológicos pueden hacer una contribución fundamental en ese sentido. RÉSUMÉ Pour des millions de pauvres, la biodiversité est avant tout une affaire d'alimentation, de santé et de sécurité. Satisfaire les besoins primordiaux de ces populations devrait devenir la priorité des programmes de conservation. Les plantes et animaux sauvages -ou semi domestiqués- contribuent de manière déterminante à l'alimentation, à la santé, aux revenus et à la culture dans les pays en développement. Les populations les plus pauvres et vulnérables sont également celles qui dépendent le plus de ces ressources. En réduire la disponibilité ou l'accès ne peut que les appauvrir davantage. Une conservation favorable aux pauvres se doit de répondre aux besoins humains fondamentaux. Une telle conception de la conservation présente de multiples synergies avec ses objectifs plus conventionnels. Mais avant tout, une conservation favorable aux pauvres réclame un état d'esprit particulier pour en mesurer les résultats, et suppose une approche scientifique spécifique. En cela, les biologistes ont un rôle déterminant à jouer. ABSTRAK, Bagi ratusan dari jutaan manusia, keanekaragaman hayati merupakan sumber makanan, kesehatan dan tempat berlindung. Pemenuhan kebutuhan dasar mereka ini seharusnya mendapatkan prioritas lebih besar dalam agenda konservasi. Di negara-negara yang sedang berkembang, hewan dan tumbuhan liar memiliki kontribusi nyata terhadap nutrisi, kesehatan, penghasilan serta kebudayaan masyarakatnya. Masyarakat miskin dan lemah seringkali sangat menggantungkan hidupnya pada sumber daya tersebut sehingga degradasi atau hambatan akses terhadap sumber daya tersebut akan memperburuk keadaan mereka. Konservasi "pro-miskin" - yakni konservasi yang bertujuan mendukung masyarakat miskin - secara eksplisit berupaya memusatkan perhatian pada kebutuhan manusia yang paling mendasar. Penekanan semacam itu mempunyai banyak keselarasan dengan tujuan-tujuan konservasi yang lebih konvensional. Namun demikian, konservasi pro-miskin memerlukan sikap yang berbeda dalam mengukur hasil-hasil konservasi, dan pendekatan yang berbeda terhadap pengetahuan konservasi. Dalam hal ini, para ahli biologi dapat memberikan kontribusi yang sangat penting. [source] Development of efficient and durable sources of white lightCOLORATION TECHNOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Timothy L Dawson This review presents a brief history of the development of light sources over the centuries to provide one of the human race's basic needs , light. Recent moves in Europe to encourage the adoption of compact fluorescent lamps as more energy-efficient replacements for incandescent lights, despite certain drawbacks, are described. Rapid strides are now being made in the development of solid-state ,white' lights which are already sufficiently durable and efficient to warrant adoption for both domestic and public lighting purposes. Their basic construction and comparative performance, properties and uses are fully described, together with the many ideas for improving their brightness and durability still further. Solid-state devices offer additional savings compared with those which should be achieved under the EU's targeted replacement of incandescent lights by 2012, and later one can expect such devices to compete with high-pressure sodium luminaires for street lighting. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||