The World Bank’s Discourse on Social Inequality: A Policy of Appeasement?

Locating ‘social justice’ and ‘social consciousness’ as new buzzwords in dominant economic development paradigms, this paper explores the contradictions between discourse and economic structure in recent social policy programs implemented through World Bank involvement in Latin America (2000-2012). The authors use a critical discourse analysis technique to analyze official World Bank documents pertaining to two projects, the Jefes de Hogar (Argentina) and the Bolsa Familia (Brazil). The study concluded that social justice/quality of life discourse was used in a superficial manner, with the overarching goals of World Bank social policy remaining to be the hegemonic safeguarding of global neoliberal economic-political structures.

The World Bank’s Discourse on Social Inequality: A Policy of Appeasement?

Locating ‘social justice’ and ‘social consciousness’ as new buzzwords in dominant economic development paradigms, this paper explores the contradictions between discourse and economic structure in recent social policy programs implemented through World Bank involvement in Latin America (2000-2012). The authors use a critical discourse analysis technique to analyze official World Bank documents pertaining to two projects, the Jefes de Hogar (Argentina) and the Bolsa Familia (Brazil). The study concluded that social justice/quality of life discourse was used in a superficial manner, with the overarching goals of World Bank social policy remaining to be the hegemonic safeguarding of global neoliberal economic-political structures.

Distinguishing the spending preferences of seniors

Journal ArticleOne thousand, four hundred and six seniors were asked about their consumer spending preferences. While some could name a product spending preference, others could not. This study examines the characteristics that best distinguish those elders who are uninterested in spending on consumer products from those who choose product specific preferences. Discriminant function analyses show that age best distinguishes the non-interested group from the others, supporting a previous report by Walker and Schwenk (1991). Income and health status most reliably separate those whose most important spending priority is a recreational product from those most interested in basic needs or housing products. Those whose spending priority is a housing item tend to be home-owners who have lived in their residences for long periods of time. The results confirm that the heterogeneity among seniors documented in other areas (such as health and social characteristics) extends to their consumption preferences. The diversity in spending preferences can be understood in terms of a desire to enhance quality of life

What is reasonable is true : Life satisfaction and functional disability among day hospital participants

Among the several kinds of health care programs enabling the elderly to maintain community residence is the geriatric day hospital. An investigation was undertaken, utilizing structured interviews, to determine what factors influenced life satisfaction and functional disability among the elderly attending three day hospitals in Winnipeg, Canada. Findings indicate that the major predictors of functional disability include perceived health, Canadian ethnicity and differential services. Those for life satisfaction (activity, socio-economic status and health) were similar to those cited for elderly generally in the population.

Health Care in Regression: Contradictions, Tensions and Implications for Canadian Seniors

Aging and seniors pose perplexing dilemmas to neoliberal agendas of health care "reform" and the concept of cost-cutting efficiency. At the same time, seniors are affected directly, and often first, by shifting health care priorities and processes, and they influence health care change. Contradictions, tensions and implications of current trends in Canadian health care are explored along five dimensions: the valuing of public health care by Canadians, attitudes toward cost-reductions, good health and longevity as intergenerational legacies, the vision of health care reform versus the reality, and health as a private/public good. Contradictions abound as well as a significant gap between current health care reform tendencies and public opinion.

The Conceptualization and Measurement of Individualized Care

Individualized nursing care, a form of person-centered care delivery, is accepted as best practice, yet its implementation into actual care is far from complete. Appropriate measures of this elusive concept are needed to better understand barriers to implementation. This study explored and tested the convergent validity and the reliability of 2 individualized nursing care measures. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data using the Individualized Care Scale and the Individualized Care Instrument (ICI) from a sample of nurses (n = 263, response rate 71%) working in older peoples' care settings in Finland, and the data were analyzed statistically. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the ICI scales (.63–.80) and ICS-A and B subscales (both α = .91) demonstrated only moderate correlation between the 2 instruments (r = –.39 to .50) and possibly the complexity of measuring “individualized care.” The study acknowledges the latent influence of culture and care approach to the conceptualization of individuality. It concludes that the concept may best be measured at this point with the use of other factors in addition to instruments to capture its multiple domain