Caregiver awareness of reproductive health issues for women with intellectual disabilities

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Limited attention has been paid to the issue of reproductive health as it affects women with intellectual disabilities, despite reproductive health being a vital issue in public health policy for women in the general population. This paper describes caregiver awareness of reproductive health issues relative to women with intellectual disabilities who are being cared for in welfare institutions in Taiwan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study employed a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study which recruited 1,152 caregivers (response rate = 71.87%) from 32 registered disability welfare institutions in Taiwan. We classified their understanding/awareness of reproductive health issues into four domains: menstrual (1) and menopause (2) issues, sex education (3), and reproductive health services (4). Each domain had five associated yes/no questions and the total score for the four domains was out of a maximum of 20. Data were analyzed using SPSS 15.0 software.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that most of the caregivers were familiar with matters concerning sex education, menopause, and reproductive health services, but they lacked adequate understanding of issues associated with menstruation in women with ID. Many aspects of reproductive health such as "menstrual pain", "age at menarche", "masturbation", "diet during perimenopause", and "publicly available reproductive health services" were issues in which caregivers lacked adequate knowledge and required further instruction. Logistic regression analysis revealed that female caregivers with a university degree, and those who had experience assisting with reproductive health care were more inclined to have higher reproductive health awareness scores than their counterparts.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study highlights that service providers should offer appropriate reproductive health education to institutional caregivers, and that more attention be focused on the personal experiences and concerns of intellectually disabled women in future research.</p

Study of the causes for not buying life insurance

Over the recent years, a strong growth in life insurance industry was brought about by a tremendous growth in new business sales and the improved persistency of policies. With the increasing affluence and a higher standard of living among Singaporeans, the statistics in the MAS Report revealed a higher percentage of the population currently having life insurance in comparison over the period of last decade. Despite this, there was still a significant proportion of the population not covered by life insurance. The need to explore into the contributing factors of this phenomenon motivated the team to carry out a survey on a random sample size of 500 people. The objectives of the project were to find out the reasons why people did not buy life insurance and to make recommendations to improve the purchasing level of life insurance . Personal interviews and distribution of questionnaires were carried out on a sample size of 500 people. Other sources of obtaining information included the Insurance Commissioner Report 1990 and Population Census 1990. In this project, the team's emphasis was on individual life insurance only and excluded group life insurance because of time constraint.BUSINES

Occasions and non-occasions: identity, femininity and high-heeled shoes

This article addresses theoretical problems around the notion of &#039;choice&#039;, using empirical data from a three-year, ESRC-funded study of identity, transition and footwear among both women and men. With a focus on female participants who wore, or had worn high-heeled shoes, it draws on Budgeon&#039;s argument for viewing the body as event, as becoming, and Finch&#039;s use of the concept of display, to explore the temporalities of high-heeled shoe wear, particularly as an aspect of &#039;dressing up&#039;. Data from both focus groups and year-long case studies allowed everyday and life course patterns of high-heeled shoe wear to be explored - in many cases, as they unfolded. This material has led us to critique the linear, goal-oriented nature of a modernist &#039;project of the self&#039;, and to argue that identification, as a dynamic process, may often be erratic, partial and temporary. Emphasized femininity, it is suggested, can be &#039;displayed&#039; episodically, as an aspect of &#039;doing gender&#039;, a perspective that problematizes notions of a &#039;post-feminist masquerade&#039; that inevitably secures gender retrenchment. Through an examination of the occasions and non-occasions that pattern the temporalities of women&#039;s lives, therefore, the article demonstrates a distinction between displaying femininity and doing gender, one that simultaneously sheds light on their relationship with one another

The study design and methodology for the ARCHER study - adolescent rural cohort study of hormones, health, education, environments and relationships

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adolescence is characterized by marked psychosocial, behavioural and biological changes and represents a critical life transition through which adult health and well-being are established. Substantial research confirms the role of psycho-social and environmental influences on this transition, but objective research examining the role of puberty hormones, testosterone in males and oestradiol in females (as biomarkers of puberty) on adolescent events is lacking. Neither has the tempo of puberty, the time from onset to completion of puberty within an individual been studied, nor the interaction between age of onset and tempo. This study has been designed to provide evidence on the relationship between reproductive hormones and the tempo of their rise to adult levels, and adolescent behaviour, health and wellbeing.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The ARCHER study is a multidisciplinary, prospective, longitudinal cohort study in 400 adolescents to be conducted in two centres in regional Australia in the State of New South Wales. The overall aim is to determine how changes over time in puberty hormones independently affect the study endpoints which describe universal and risk behaviours, mental health and physical status in adolescents. Recruitment will commence in school grades 5, 6 and 7 (10–12 years of age). Data collection includes participant and parent questionnaires, anthropometry, blood and urine collection and geocoding. Data analysis will include testing the reliability and validity of the chosen measures of puberty for subsequent statistical modeling to assess the impact over time of tempo and onset of puberty (and their interaction) and mean-level repeated measures analyses to explore for significant upward and downward shifts on target outcomes as a function of main effects.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The strengths of this study include enrollment starting in the earliest stages of puberty, the use of frequent urine samples in addition to annual blood samples to measure puberty hormones, and the simultaneous use of parental questionnaires.</p