Ability Assessment of the Elders to Manage Their Own Medication: A First Step for the Empowerment of the Geriatric Population

About 45% of older people are unable to take their medicines as prescribed. Adherence represents a complex behavior that involves both the intention and the ability to take medication. In this way, it is important to distinguish the intention to take medicine and the ability to do so. The daily consumption of medication is a methodical process, marked by routine and that can be affected by several systematic errors associated, not only due to ignorance and illiteracy, but also to its gradual loss of functional ability (physical, cognitive, and sensorial), in order to manage medication. Decreased cognitive skills, visual acuity, and manual dexterity have a significant impact on non-adherence (non-intentional), which may lead to health problems as a result of the absence or incorrect medication administration. This study presented as its main objective to assess the functional ability of community-dwelling elderly to manage their own medication, with recourse to specific tools, validated and adapted to Portugal

The impact of mobile phone uses in the developing world: giving voice to the rural poor in the Congo

In recent years, the rise of information and communication technologies (ICTs) contrasted with the dire living conditions of the world’s poorest has been the subject of debate among industry and academia. However, despite the amount of writings produced on mobile phones, Western bias is surprisingly unbridledly prevailing alongside the fêted dissemination of mobile phones. Expansive literature tends to present the rapid adoption of mobile phones among rural individuals, with little to no indication of how local values and voices are respected or promoted. We undertook semi-structured interviews with 16 rural chiefs to inquire into ways in which mobile phones enabled socio-economic development in the rural Congo. Rather than using quantitative, large-scale, or top-down data, we sought to give voice to chiefs themselves about the role of mobile phones. We found that Western bias dominates the literature and deployment of mobile phones more than usually acknowledged. We suggested some paths forward, while bringing the African communal Utu or Ubuntu culture to the center stage