173,914 research outputs found
Prefazione
No full textLa prefazione riguarda i contributi di carattere giuridico contenuti nel volume e come si ritrovi un filo conduttore che mette in evidenza le diverse problematiche giuridiche collegate alla sempre maggiore partecipazione dei BRIC al governo mondiale dell'economia
I rapporti tra l’Unione europea e la Cina: dall’Accordo commerciale al partenariato strategico
No full textL'articolo evidenzia la progressiva trasformazione delle tradizionali relazioni unidimensionali esistenti tra l'Unione europea e la Cina negli anni 70' e 80' del secolo scorso, limitate quasi esclusivamente agli aspetti economici e fondate su accordi internazionali, in una vera e propria rete multidimensionale di rapporti, vertenti su una molteplicità di aspetti politici, economici e anche strategici, che hanno reso necessario sia arricchire e diversificare il bagaglio degli strumenti utilizzati, affiancando al tradizionale accordo altre forme di collaborazione, per lo più basate su intese prive di valore giuridico vincolante, sia organizzare il tutto attraverso modelli nuovi quali il partenariato, inteso quale forma di strutturazione delle relazioni tra due soggetti di diritto internazionale, fondato, oltre che sull'esistenza di una visione unitaria dei rapporti reciproci, anche su una responsabilità condivisa tra i partner sul modo migliore di agire
Is caring for older parents detrimental to women’s mental health? The role of the European North–South gradient
No full textIn the last decades, both the lengthening of life expectancy and an
accentuated decline in birth rates have reduced the consistency of the younger
generational cohorts. Due to an ageing population, the burden of caregiving is
expected to intensify in the next quarter of the century in Europe, especially for
mature women. This paper investigates the impact of the provision of constant care
for older parents on the mental health of adult daughters, between the ages of 50 and
75, living in different European countries. Data is drawn from the Survey of Health,
Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Information on mental health status is provided
by Euro-D depression scale, a measure of depression standardized across European
countries. We focus on differences in the effects according to the North–South
gradient: we test whether the relationship between informal caregiving and mental
health differs across European macro-regions. Our results, robust under different
specifications of the propensity score model, reveal a clear North–South gradient:
the provision of informal care has a negative and significant impact on daughters’
mental health in the Mediterranean countries only, where the amount of resources
allocated to the Long Term Care is minimal and the local system of health and
social services for the elderly lacks the necessary structures to meet the increasing
demand for eldercare
The smoking epidemic across generations, genders, and educational groups: A matter of diffusion of innovations
No full textThis study determines whether the temporal variations in smoking habits across generations and genders and among groups with differing levels of education fit the pattern proposed by the theory of the diffusion of innovations (TDI) (Rogers, 2003). We focus on the Italian case and employ a pseudo-panel derived from repeated cross-sections of the annual household survey, “Aspects of Daily Life,” that was part of the Multipurpose Survey carried out by the Italian National Statistical Office (ISTAT) for the period 1997 to 2012. The results confirm Rogers’ TDI and show that smoking prevalence has declined over time and across age cohorts: Younger men of all educational levels and women with higher education are less likely to smoke than are those in other cohorts, while less-educated women who entered the smoking-diffusion process later than others are more likely to smoke. Hence, socio-economic differences in smoking continue to persist, especially for women. According to Rogers’ TDI, smoking prevalence is expected to continue to decline, particularly among little-educated women
Invecchiamento della popolazione e cure formali e informali: il gradiente Nord-Sud Europa
No full textOver the past few decades in Europe, and particularly in Italy, progressive ageing of the population has been recorded. This is due to two parallel phenomena: an increase in life expectancy and a declining birth rate. The growing need of elderly care has been faced by European countries with different strategies that follow a North-South gradient and stem from social, cultural, religious and institutional factors (Esping Anderson, 1990, Bettio and Plantenga 2004, Reher, 1998; EOP, 2010).
In particular European countries from the Mediterranean basin, including Italy, rely on “family centred” models of welfare, where historically the family has shouldered the burden of looking after its older parents, both financially and in terms of assistance. Similarly, it is still the family that supports the new generations facing the lack of job opportunities, even if these generations have already left the family nucleus, in a reciprocal pact that reflects the structural absence of institutional answers (Billari, 2004). In northern Europe prevails a “non family centred” model: here, for the past few decades, elderly care has been managed through reforms that involve institutions taking charge of those who are not self-sufficient. The need of care is satisfied by the public sector, mainly through the supply of formal services (care provided to the elderly by paid and qualified personnel) and, residually, through the financial support of activities by informal caregivers (care provided for free by relatives, neighbours, friends). There is a North-South gradient across Europe in the distribution of formal/informal care for the elderly population: in northern Europe, the elderly over 80 who are not self-sufficient receive formal assistance in 82% of the cases; whereas the figure drops to 28% when one takes southern European countries into consideration. Vice-versa, nine elderly people out of ten receive informal care in Mediterranean countries and the said figure drops lower and lower the more one moves northwards in Europe (see Figure 2).
In the majority of cases, the family member who cares for the elderly is female since women are regarded as better suited to taking on home and family responsibilities. Moreover, amongst women, daughters are those who are most represented in the role of caregiver to parents over 80. And hence the term “sandwich generation” describing a generation of adults, and of women in particular, who are engaged on two fronts as caregivers for their elderly parents and for their children or grandchildren who are still not self-sufficient. Providing continuing care to one’s elderly parents may involve sacrifices in one’s career or leisure time, leading to risks of isolation or burnout suffered by the habitual caregiver. Particularly in the absence of a Long Term Care (LTC) network of services that might provide the caregiver with some support in the difficult assistance task. These are the results of a research conducted by Brenna and Di Novi (2015) on SHARE data. The study shows that caregiver daughters living in European Mediterranean countries, including Italy, have a 10% greater probability of suffering from mental disorders compared to their peers who do not provide care to their elderly parents. The figure increases when the care is of a particularly intensive nature (helping the elderly with their personal care, dressing and feeding them) and/or when the number of hours dedicated to care-giving increases on a weekly basis. Results are not significant for caregivers living in northern or central European countries, most probably as these countries rely on models of formal care supporting caregivers in their tasks. Indeed, while northern countries are characterised by generous and universal LTC systems, the percentage of resources addressed to LTC in southern European countries is on average very low. As a result, a woman living in northern Europe can freely choose to provide care to her parents more out of personal affection rather than actual necessity, as she is aware of the existence of an institutional support network. Whereas in Mediterranean countries there is no choice and hence a higher risk of isolation. Policies providing support to the caregiver, such as for example the possibility of receiving retribution for the time dedicated to one’s parents, or the establishment of “information desks” addressing the application for care of the elderly who are not self-sufficient, or even the activation of “respite care” offering a period of respite to the habitual caregiver who will temporarily be substituted by qualified personnel, should also be established in Italy in order to lessen the burden that family members taking care of an elderly relative are subjected to
Health and aging: The sustainability and equity trade-off
No full textThis special issue covers a broad spectrum of approaches to the aging process, including theoretical, empirical and experimental research and reflects recent developments in this much-needed research area.JRC.S.3 - Science for Modelling, Monitoring and Evaluation
Inequality of Opportunity in Accessing Maternal and Newborn Healthcare Services: Evidence from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey
No full textUnder-five mortality is known to be the result of a wide variety of inputs, among which the availability of maternal and child health services. However, their coverage and distribution, in low- and middle-income countries, continue to remain inadequate and characterized by significant inequalities. The main aim of this study is to investigate the causes of inequality in accessing the basic maternal and newborn healthcare services in Bangladesh. To this end, we use nationally representative cross-sectional data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), 2014. Our study builds on the Human Opportunity Index (HOI), developed at the World Bank (in World development report: Equity and development, World Bank, Washington, 2006), which measures the total contribution of individual socioeconomic and demographic circumstances to inequality of opportunity in accessing basic services. Our findings reveal that a mother’s education, wealth index and place of residence, are closely associated with access to basic maternal and newborn healthcare services
Molecular typing of Mycobacterium avium isolates by sequencing of the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer and comparison with IS 1245-based fingerprinting
No full textThe nucleotide sequence of the variable 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) was determined in 32 strains of Mycobacterium avium, including 29 clinical isolates, two environmental isolates and the reference strain M. avium ATCC 35712. The results were compared with those obtained by the IS1245-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay. The strains belonged to three distinct ITS sequevars, Mav-A, Mav-B and Mav-C. Sixteen of 17 isolates of the Mav-B sequevar were from HIV-positive patients; the Mav-A sequevar included six and five isolates from HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals, respectively, as well as the two environmental isolates and the M. avium reference strain ATCC 35712; only one isolate, from a HIV-infected patient, belonged to the Mav-C sequevar. IS1245-RFLP analysis of M. avium isolates of sequevars Mav-A and Mav-B showed that isolates occurring in clusters of identical or highly related RFLP patterns generally belong to the same sequevar, and that M. avium strains belonging to the same sequevar may present distinct and unrelated IS1245-RFLP patterns. The question of the molecular markers specific for M. avium clones pathogenic for man is discussed
Adverse Selection in the Private Health Insurance Market: a TwoStep Approach
No full textWe use the 2003/2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey in conjunction with the 2002 National Health Interview Survey to test for adverse selection in the private U.S. health insurance markets. The key idea is to test whether individuals who are more exposed to health risks also buy insurance contracts with more coverage or higher expected payments. The critical statistical problem is that the extension of insurance is only measured for those who are insured and face positive health care expenditure, so there is a possible sample selection bias effect. The procedure used is based on a method suggested by Wooldridge (1995). The method also accounts for heterogeneity across individuals. The simultaneous account taken of both possible sources of bias is new for this kind of application. © 2011 Vita e Pensiero/Pubblicazioni dell'Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
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