Suchergebnisse

Am 21. September 1999 zerstörte ein schweres Erdbeben das Landesinnere Taiwans und forderte mehr als 2000 Opfer. Sechs Monate nach dem Beben wurde die Arbeit von Sozialarbeitern im Rahmen der Erdbebenhilfe mit Hilfe eines standardisierten Fragebogens untersucht. Zusätzlich wurden über Expertengespräche, Aktenanalysen, Gruppendiskussionen und offene Befragungen qualitative Daten erhoben. Die Untersuchung zeigte, dass Sozialarbeiter eine wichtige Rolle bei der Rettung und Rehabilitation von Opfern spielten, vor allem bei der Verknüpfung der Bedürfnisse der Opfer mit vorhandenen Ressourcen. Sozialarbeiter aus dem öffentlichen wie privaten Sektor sowie Studenten taten viel, um den Opfern zu helfen. Bedauerlicherweise fehlte es den meisten taiwanesischen Sozialarbeitern, die an der Rettungsaktion beteiligt waren, an einer Ausbildung in Katastrophenhilfe. Dieser Bereich ist im Studium der Sozialarbeit bisher nicht vorgesehen. Offensichtlich ist man sich in Taiwan der Bedeutung der Sozialarbeit in der Katastrophenhilfe noch nicht in vollem Umfang bewusst. (ICEÜbers)

AbstractAs studies of the quality of life (QoL) of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) in Taiwan have been limited, the authors assessed how Taiwanese adults with ID experience their QoL, including comparisons with their counterparts in other countries. The study involved administering the Cross‐Cultural QoL Indicators Survey and the Quality of Life Questionnaire in 2004 and 2005 to a total of 481 adults with ID who either were living with their family or residing within a facility. Results indicated that the domain of "social inclusion" was the lowest for both adults using residential services or living with family. In addition, Taiwanese residents with ID have lower levels of overall QoL, particularly among those living in institutions; although they were easily satisfied with their lives, compared with their counterparts in other countries. The authors recommend that the improvement of QoL among persons with ID in Taiwan must not be ignored by the policy makers, practitioners, and their families, particularly with respect to enabling individuals with ID to be more included in society.

BackgroundMothers with lifelong care responsibilities might involuntarily be non‐employed or work part‐time, both of which are defined as "underemployment." This study aimed to investigate who these underemployed mothers are and what are the factors associated with such employment hardship when having a child with intellectual disability (ID).MethodAn interview survey was conducted in 2011 in two local authorities of Taiwan on 876 working‐age mothers with a child with intellectual disability; 514 of them were working part‐time/non‐employed and chosen as participants of this study.ResultsThe mothers with a younger child with intellectual disability, a higher level of education, a lower level of family income and more family members with disabilities were more likely to be underemployed compared with the mothers who were voluntarily working part‐time/non‐employed.ConclusionsThe underemployed mothers were more likely to have financial difficulty and heavy caregiving loads; their employment hardship should be of concern for policymakers.

BackgroundThe universal breadwinner model means both parents are employed; while the universal caregiver model implies that the father's hours of caregiving are equal or higher to those of the mother. This study aims to examine the hypothesis that the universal caregiver model is more related to the overall well‐being of mothers of children with intellectual disabilities than the universal breadwinner model.MethodsFace‐to‐face interview surveys were conducted in 2011 inTaiwan with 876 working‐age mothers who had an offspring with intellectual disabilities. The survey included 574 mothers living with their husbands who became our participants.ResultsBothanovaand regression analyses indicated that, compared with mothers in the universal breadwinner group, mothers in the universal caregiver group had higher levels of maternal marital and family life satisfaction, but not of work satisfaction and quality of life.ConclusionsAn incentive policy is critical for supporting the fathers involved in lifelong caregiving and to promote the mothers' quality of life.

Background  This cross‐sectional study aims to assess whether there are differences in staff job satisfaction, including organizational and individual characteristics, between three residential models for adults with intellectual disabilities (small residential home, group home and institution) and to investigate the organizational and individual variables associated with staff job satisfaction.Methods  A standardized self‐administered questionnaire (Job Satisfaction Survey) was distributed together with demographic questions between April 2007 and June 2007. In total, 1301 staff members completed the questionnaire.Results  We found that staff working at small homes had a significantly higher level of job satisfaction than staff from the other two models. Logistic regression revealed that the characteristics of the organizations at which they were employed rather than the staff's individual characteristics were strongly associated with job satisfaction.Conclusion  This study suggests that the residential model and the provider sector of the residential setting are the factors of concern when ensuring staff job satisfaction.

BackgroundThis study explored the experiences of working mothers with an adult child with intellectual disabilities to understand how they reconcile paid work and care responsibilities.MethodsFifteen working mothers in Taiwan with an adult child with intellectual disabilities were interviewed, and an interpretative phenomenological approach was adopted for data collection and analysis.ResultsAll included mothers prioritized their caregiving role over paid work. The strategies used by these mothers to make paid work fit with caregiving included having strong social networks and informal support for their care work, use of formal services, personal religious beliefs and positive attitudes towards care, as well as having flexible working hours due to self‐employment, good relations with employers, working positions and work locations.ConclusionsFormal systems, which include both welfare and labour policies, need to be responsive to and involved in supporting these working mothers, especially those who lack good personal networks.