Quality of Life Essay Example for Free

Quality of Life Essay Twenty first century is witnessing a world that has become an increasingly diverse and complex place. Changing global trends are causing a paradigm transformation of social and cultural systems. Western societies are experiencing an accelerated aging and people in general have evolved a misconception about today’s elderly. They are perceived as being sick, isolated, self-centred and a burden on society, which is totally false. There is a need to develop social cohesion between generations and within the older generation to understand the matter in correct perspective. An effort has been made in this paper to focus on this key issue and highlight the importance of inter and intragenerational relationships to quality of life to older people. The present demographic profile of the United Kingdom reflects a number of consistent and marked trends. People are living increasingly longer, the birth rate is showing a steady decline and the mean age is increasing steadily. By 2031, the over 80s population is predicted to double to 5 million, according to the Office of National Statistics. If the health of the elderly population follows current trends that will mean people spend more of their lives fighting various illnesses. Since 1981, the amount of time women can expect to live in poor health has increased by 15%. For men, the length of poor health rose by 34% (Triggle, 2004). Besides health, older people face the mobility problems, poor transport and lack of finance. Car usage declines with age and varies by sex. 77 per cent of men and 64 per cent of women aged 65-74 in 2001 in Great Britain had access to automobiles (National Statistics, 2006). Today, we can observe a significant change in family structures. The realignment of family ethos has caused varying degrees of separation between the young and old members of families and affected familial relationships negatively. As people age and their working lives end, they may have more free time available to spend in a social circle. Barriers of older life further enhance the necessity to promote inter and intragenerational relationships. This paper scrutinizes the various dimensions of quality of life at old age. It overviews the factors affecting quality of life and highlight the significance of relationships at old age. Components of Quality of Life  Quality of life is a wide ranging term. The Department for Work and Pensions of UK (2006) identifies five domains as the most relevant to assessing progress in older people’s quality of life: 1) Independence within inclusive communities. 2) Healthy, active living. 3) Fairness in work and later life. 4) Material well-being. 5) Support and care. Independence within inclusive communities necessitates to address issues like exercising independence, exercising choices that give them control over key aspects of their lives, and participation in local community through inter and intragenerational relationships. Health and active living deals with problems like access to healthcare proportionate to older peoples needs. Fairness in work and later life encompasses factors like job opportunities, involvement in decisions that affect their lives, and no age discrimination in access to goods, services and employment. Material wellbeing includes sustaining key elements of their previous lifestyle, and using their resources to best effect. Support and care encompasses the supply of care and support, availability of support in a variety of forms to meet diverse needs, affordable care, and protection to older people from abuse. Factors Affecting Quality of Life of Older People Good quality of life in old age is a realistic ambition for all. Early old age, sometimes called the Third Age, between 55 and 75 years old, is the phase of life between leaving the labour market and the onset of physical dependency. There are a number of factors that affect quality of life at this age. A research study carried out by Dr Blane (2003) concluded that quality of life for the affluent-healthy is higher than for the deprived-sick. Having control over when and when not to work has a significant bearing on quality of life. Then the quality and density of a persons social network was more important than the number of people in the network. Importance of Intergenerational and Intragenerational Relationships to Quality of Life The term generation has a numerous contemporary meanings, incorporating biological, familial and social factors (Back, 1987). An intergenerational perspective (between and across generations) highlights the reciprocal obligations, rights and influences between different generations. An intragenerational perspective identifies similar age groups and the succession of individuals who are distinguished by the bounds of a society and set apart by time and common experience (Fredriksen, 1993). Historically, within the UK, there had been a strong tradition of the young learning from the old in their role as respected elders or through structures such as apprenticeship schemes and trade guilds (Hatton, 2002). Significance of intergenerational relationships is evident from a survey which reports that to the elderly, welfare of children and grandchildren is twice as more important than their own health and money (Roy, 1999). Older parents have always been providing financial support in the forms of donations, gifts and regular monetary contributions to their children. They are also important sources of instrumental support (shopping, cleaning, home maintenance, childcare) and emotional support (advice, validation) for their children (Bengtson, Rosenthal Burton, 1990). Many elderly people continue to provide support for adult children and the provision of a home for one’s children can extend well beyond middle age (Evandrou, Falkingham, Rake Scott, 2001). Living arrangements are a key dimension of quality of life and well-being in old age. Older people living alone are more likely to enter an institution than those living with other people (Breeze, Slogett Fletcher, 1999). Involvement of older persons in local communities contributes to their quality of life, as well as to the functioning of the community. The relationship between different groups of older persons is therefore very crucial in maintaining the quality of life (UN-Economic and Social Council, 2002). Altered patterns of mortality and fertility have made intergenerational structures in the family more â€Å"top heavy† and vertically extended. While horizontal, intragenerational ties are shrinking, vertical ties across generations are more complex and durable than ever before in history (UN-Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2005). Importance of social groups and networks in later part of life is quite evident from a research study carried out in Scotland (Philip, Gilbert, Mauthner and Phimister, 2003). The participant observations and questionnaires have provided useful insights into the levels and types of participation in social groups among older people in the study area. The report finds that there is high level of participation and involvement in social groups amongst older people (aged over 60). As a whole, respondents attended 68 wide-ranging types of groups including civic participation (e. g. local government), voluntary activities (e. g. Red Cross; Meals on Wheels), friendship, social, leisure, religious, cultural, heritage and special interest groups. Those aged in their seventies and early eighties were the most likely to be involved in social activities Another study summarises that older people preferred the company of others, had a higher level of contact with friends and lower levels of psychological problems (McKee, 2002). In 2002 around three in ten men aged 80 and over and nearly one in five women in England said they owned a mobile phone. Use of mobile phones and the Internet helps older people to remain independent by making it easier for them to communicate with their family and friends or to access public and commercial services (National Statistics, 2006). Conclusion Society in the UK is changing. More people are living longer in greater prosperity. In the next decade, the numbers over 50, over 65 and over 80 will all increase to levels never seen before. We need a coherent strategy to manage that demographic change. Elaborate and diligent plans are required to enable older persons to continue to participate fully in all aspects of life. For a better quality of life, we need to promote the development of a society for all ages through the strengthening of intergenerational and intragenerational solidarity. Young generations have responsibilities and a special role in building a society for all ages. Older generations have equal role to play.

Teams - Making Them Work For You Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Cour

Teams Making Them Work For You The organisational organ known as the team is becoming more and more apparent in today's dynamic business world. Increasingly managers are searching for a means to improve production and keep their organisation competitive in the global market. A lot of these managers have turned to the team as a means for achieving this improvement. Quality circles were looked at to fulfil this role. However, this form of team is being phased out and may have posed as incubator for the current trend; self - managed work teams (Klein, 1995). These teams are increasingly being looked at today to solve many an organisation's production problems and inefficiencies, and in the process are both badly failing and greatly succeeding. Therefore, the discussion of teams is a very important contemporary management issue to address. Managers should be aware of such a concept and learn about it so as a means to further their organisation and for when the time comes to implement a team they are armed with enough knowledge to implement the team properly. As with many management trends or processes, they are often labeled, producing a huge list of "buzzwords", like total quality management, just in time management, management by objectives, downsizing, rightsizing, etc. The organisational team also pulls a long chain of "buzzwords"; workgroup, work team, project team, project group, task force, committees and so on and so on. What these terms basically refer to is a "collection of two or more individuals who interact with each other, share common beliefs, and perceive themselves as being in a group." (Vecchio, Hearn, Southey, 1996:846). This is a very basic interpretation of a team and which can be expanded upon. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company defines a team more specifically as "a group of people with specific roles and responsibilities, organised to work together toward common goals or objectives, in which each member depends on others to carry out responsibilities to reach those goals and objectives." (1986, cited in Denton, 1992:87). The implementation and operation of a team can either be a great success or a costly failure, both money wise and time wise. Many companies have benefited from teams, as Dumaine (1994) points out, "when teams work, there's nothing like them for turbocharging productivity." There are many examples of success... ...close to the problem, they also may be more capable of identifying the most viable solutions. And as authors of the solutions, they have a vested interest in their success. Even without a role in developing solutions, staffs are critical to implementation," (Magee, 1997:26). Bibliography: Denton, D.K. (1992). Building a team. Quality Progress, October, 87 - 91. Dewar, D. (1999). 13 keys to successful teamwork. Workforce, 78 (2), W3. Dumaine, B. (1994). The trouble with teams. Fortune, 130 (5), 86 - 90. Kezsbom, D.S. (1995). Making a team work: techniques for building successful cross - functional teams. Industrial Engineering, January, 39 - 41. Klein, S. (1995). Teams under stress: the effects of work pressures and management action. IIE Solutions, May, 34 - 38. Magee, Y.S. (1997). Teams: avoiding the pitfalls. Public Management, 79 (7), 26 - 28. McGarvey, R. (1996). Joining forces: 12 steps to creating winning teams. Entrepreneur, 24 (9), 80 - 82. Taraschi R. (1998). Cutting the ties that bind. Training and Development, 52 (11), 12 - 14. Vecchio, R.P., Hearn, G., & Southey G. (1996). Organisational behaviour. 2nd edition. Marrickville: Harcourt Brace.

Drug Monitoring Program

While the war on drugs has seemingly gotten better, there is a certain type of drug that is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of and control. Most people would have never thought that pharmaceutical drugs would be the cause of more deaths in the state of Florida than heroin and cocaine related deaths combined in 2007. Nearly 550 of those death happened in the Tampa Bay area, leading this to becoming one of the biggest drug abuse crisis in quite some time. A drug monitoring program would be such a program that keeps track of the dispensing of pharmaceuticals, mainly controlled substances, that would potentially disable distribution of street drugs, put a halt to â€Å"doctor shopping†, put doctors that write fake scripts under the radar, hopefully reduce the amount of people that become dependent upon narcotics and diminish the number of people of overdosing on these lethal prescription drugs. A study was conducted by an independent contractor to assess the proficiency of drug monitoring programs. The research showed that in states where a drug program was in place the supply of illegally obtained pharmaceuticals and the likelihood of abuse was significantly reduced. The study also showed that if law enforcement, rather than health oriented officials, were the ones to monitor the information there was a greater chance of success in reducing pharmaceutical abuse. Florida is currently one of the only states that does not have a drug monitoring program in place. For years, lawmakers in Florida have turned down such programs saying cost and privacy as their main concerns. Even the federal government has offered the state money, many states have already bought in; however, Florida has not. Some lawmakers state â€Å"programs are too expensive† and worry about â€Å"placing private patient information in the hands of the government† (Tisch, & VanSickle, 2008). Thirty four other states, however, do have programs in place. Surrounding states such as: Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas all have drug monitoring programs. Kentucky's KASPER program â€Å"started in 1999 as a fax-based system and in 2005 was converted to the first self-service, Web-based system of its kind. It tracks all schedule II-IV controlled substance prescriptions dispensed by licensed pharmacists within the commonwealth and helps medical practitioners physicians, pharmacists and law enforcement fight â€Å"doctor shopping.† A KASPER report shows all scheduled prescriptions for an individual over a specified time period, the prescriber and the dispenser† (KASPER grant release, 2008). Additionally, Indiana's INSPECT program require licensed pharmacies in Indiana are required to report dispension of schedule II controlled substances. In early 2004, grant funding through the Harold Rogers grant program, helped create INSPECT in its current form. Additional funding for the programs is provided by the state itself and all data collection and maintenance are handled in-house, meaning information is only accessible to registered users and through a secure Web site connection that is run by program staff. With the death toll rising, along with the number of those addicted, it would be impossible for me as a member of the health care community to deny the obvious need for a drug monitoring program in Florida. Before reading the plethora of articles available on the subject, I knew there was a problem; I suppose I just wasn't aware of how severe it really was. I am shocked it has gotten to the point it has without intervention and to be honest a bit embarrassed of the burden we have become to surrounding states. I don't have experience dealing with pharmaceutical abuse in my nursing practice as of yet. I do, unfortunately, have experience dealing with the all too commonly abused oxycodone in interpersonal relationships. I have seen the damage it can do to people firsthand. The way it can slowly steal someone you love, replacing them with someone you don't know at all. These drugs can have incredible therapeutic benefits if used in the context intended, but are too often used for reasons far beyond detrimental. I truly hope the information I have learned doesn't ever make me doubt anyone who says they are in pain, but I can't see how it won't. I will not, however, deny anyone in my care pain relief if they say they need it.

The Understanding Of An Individual Culture Background

We know that culture intelligence is related to cross-culture competence. The understanding of an individual culture background. My key objective is that people fail to adjust to understand new cultures, behavioral, cognitive, and motivational aspect of other cultures. Before anyone goes to a foreign country for a new job, living or visiting, we should educate ourselves before taking that journey. We know going to another country can be scary, but we can learn new things from them and they can learn new things from our country and culture. You have to know how to motivate a multicultural group with different languages, and who have different culture context. Know their sensitivity and habits. We all have different thinking patterns. All†¦show more content†¦Feelings are related to beliefs, to our notion of what is the right way to behave. We should take notice of our ability to cope with one’s own and other people’s emotional reactions when awkwardness and cultural misunderstandings occur. The cognitive component is the rational component. It is based on reason and the capacity to develop mental structures which enable us to understand each other’s mindset, or to think about what is going on and to make judgments based on conceptual frameworks and language. There is understanding of oneself as a cultural being as well as understanding people with a different cultural background (Ackerman’s (1996) This component is about what happens during an encounter, sometimes we decide to based us on judgments about the situation coming from the emotional and rational data we have collected from other people. We should show different actions and communication during the cultural encounter, what participant would actually do this in encounter we need to communicate more like, interpersonal communication, for example, listening, questioning, summarizing, agreeing or disagreeing etc. as well as skills which we have learned to manage relationships in general involving body language, etiquette, rituals, rules and techniques. The developmental continuum of cultural sensitivity The Intercultural Development Continuum is a set of knowledge/attitude/skill sets or orientations toward