There were many challenges, successes, and concerns in providing long-term care to older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking at central North Carolina, the authors highlight the implications of providing long-term care to older Americans, with an emphasis on the importance of communication, resilience of staff, and value of human infrastructure. Based on extensive interviews, this collection of essays reflects on the participants' individual experiences and represents the voices of staff and caregivers working in long-term residential care communities, in-home and community-based programs, as well as regional aging service providers and advocates
There were many challenges, successes, and concerns in providing long-term care to older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking at central North Carolina, the authors highlight the implications of providing long-term care to older Americans, with an emphasis on the importance of communication, resilience of staff, and value of human infrastructure.Based on extensive interviews, this collection of essays reflects on the participants' individual experiences and represents the voices of staff and caregivers working in long-term residential care communities, in-home and community-based programs, as well as regional aging service providers and advocates.
Malawian orphans and vulnerable children are becoming increasingly numerous and visible in the media and materials produced by non‐governmental organisations. As a result, orphanages are proliferating to meet their needs. Drawing on data collected in three different orphanages, this paper reports some of the positive and negative outcomes of 'institutionalising' children in Malawi. Being designated an orphan is becoming a valued identity for some, and a source of vulnerability and exploitation for others. While institutions address material vulnerabilities, orphans and staff report that they can also lead to increased stigmatisation, struggles over belonging, and the disruption of community and family ties.
Malawi is scrambling to deal with one million orphans while contending with state rollbacks resulting in economic, political, and social breakdowns. As a result, a new space is emerging for faith‐based organizations. Their presence is justified through a global discourse of connection rooted in the western ideology of childhood as a state of innocence and immaturity in need of protection and intervention. These organizations function with myriad ideologies, projects, and resources as they develop intimate linkages with children and communities. This article highlights the disjuncture between western conceptualizations and Malawian understandings of orphans, illustrating how this disjuncture results in unanticipated consequences as material resources are deployed and programs implemented. Two faith‐based organizations focusing on orphans and some unanticipated outcomes of these emerging global ties are examined.
There were many challenges, successes, and concerns in providing long-term care to older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking at central North Carolina, the authors highlight the implications of providing long-term care to older Americans, with an emphasis on the importance of communication, resilience of staff, and value of human infrastructure. Based on extensive interviews, this collection of essays reflects on the participants' individual experiences and represents the voices of staff and caregivers working in long-term residential care communities, in-home and community-based programs, as well as regional aging service providers and advocates
AbstractAttempts to understand college student food insecurity have primarily focused on demographic characteristics associated with higher rates of food insecurity, and have recommended improving awareness of and access to resources such as campus food pantries. We argue in this article that this emphasis on individual‐level factors and efforts can lead to stigma or shame for many of those using pantries and other programs. Our survey and interview data collected from 2016 to 2019 show that many college students see hunger as tied to their individual failures. We find that an individualistic perspective on the experience of student food insecurity neglects the larger institutional and social contexts, including changes to financial aid, college funding options, food assistance policies, and discrimination. We propose an alternative model for understanding the stigma of student food insecurity that connects language and stereotypes to power differentials affecting access beyond the individual, and thus better addresses the root causes of student food insecurity.Intentos de comprender la inseguridad alimentaria de estudiantes universitarios suelen enfocarse en las características demográficas asociadas con incidencias altas de inseguridad alimentaria y han recomendado mejorar la información sobre y el acceso a recursos como las despensas de alimentos universitarias. En este artículo proponemos que este énfasis en factores y esfuerzos a nivel del individuo pueden conducir a que muchos quienes usan despensas y otros programas de asistencia sientan estigma o vergüenza por ello. Los datos que recopilamos entre 2016 y 2019 por medio de encuestas y entrevistas demuestran que muchos estudiantes universitarios consideran que el hambre está ligado a fracasos del individuo mismo. Concluimos que al tomar una perspectiva individualista sobre la experiencia de la inseguridad alimentaria estudiantil se ignoran contextos institucionales y sociales más amplios que afectan al problema, incluyendo los cambios en la ayuda financiera universitaria, las opciones de financiación universitaria, las políticas de asistencia alimentaria, y la discriminación. Proponemos un modelo alternativo para comprender el estigma de la inseguridad alimentaria de los estudiantes que conecta el lenguaje y los estereotipos con las diferencias de poder que afectan el acceso más allá del individuo y, por lo tanto, mejor aborda las causas fundamentales de la inseguridad alimentaria de los estudiantes.
AbstractWhile applied anthropological research is sometimes envisioned as a linear process, we present an alternative view based on our research with frontline workers providing long‐term care (LTC) for older adults during COVID‐19. We completed a rapid qualitative assessment in central North Carolina from May to November 2020. We conducted data analysis as we continued to collect data and implemented activities and interventions along the way. We report emerging findings that included the deleterious effects of isolation on older adults in both congregate and community‐based LTC, the value of creatively using technology as an avenue for communication and engagement, the importance of leadership and flexibility, as well as an abundance of mental health struggles LTC workers faced in caring for older adults during COVID‐19. We present how we were able to address these in a variety of ways during the inductive research process because of iterative analysis that occurred alongside continued data collection.
There were many challenges, successes, and concerns in providing long-term care to older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking at central North Carolina, the authors highlight the implications of providing long-term care to older Americans, with an emphasis on the importance of communication, resilience of staff, and value of human infrastructure. Based on extensive interviews, this collection of essays reflects on the participants' individual experiences and represents the voices of staff and caregivers working in long-term residential care communities, in-home and community-based programs, as well as regional aging service providers and advocates
