Midlife and older women: family life, work and health in Jamaica

... This study is essentially one about the family life, work and health of so-called midlife and older women in Jamaica in the early 1990s. Here reference is being made to two groups of women who are usually kept separate in demographic studies. At the point of data collection and in the data analysis these women are recognizble as being in "midlife" (fifty to pfifty-nine years old) and "older" (sixty to seventy-four years old)... The book argues that, while the familial contribution of older women is sometimes acknowledge by the society outside of academic discourse they tended, up to 1991, to have been seen as "carers" rather than "minders' (Rodman 1978). Even in the negative presentation of their sexuality, older women are portrayed as caregivers ... The book covers a range of issues, including family relationships, religion, financial security, migration, loneliness and sexuality. Midlife and Older Women will be of particular interest to sociologist, anthropologists, social workers, and labour, health and welfare workers (AU)

Young adult reproductive health survey, Jamaica 1987: final report

Survey attempts to explore the attitudes of young adults towards to sex education and sexual activity, the history of their sexual experience and the use of contraceptives and to arrest fertility trends among Jamaican youths. Project aimed to: to obtain the necessary data on sexual behaviour and contraceptive use of young adults and to provide information for the development of new programme strategy of existing national family planning programmes and strategies, provide information to develop new educational material in the national programme and to make available data for regional comparisons (AU)

A preliminary study of the coping skills and attitudes of the main caregivers of the elderly and some implications for health education

Technological and medical advances together with improvements in public health measures have resulted in substantial gains in life expectancy for populations world wide. The challenges now are to improve the quality of life for individuals and to increase the period of independence for the growing numbers of elderly. The challenges are especially strong in the third world and Jamaica is no exception. This preliminary study was undertaken to describe the elderly living in the August Town/Hermitage/Goldsmith Villas areas of East Rural St. Andrew, to describe and determine their coping skills and attitudes and to ascertain the implications for health education. Findings indicated that the coping capacity of caregivers in the area was very good, their attitudes towards the elderly positive and that, far from having an adverse effect on their lives, caring may have filled a void. Findings also indicated that the main caregivers of the elderly were female relatives, and that family support was strong. Some implications for health education were that there was among caregivers and the church, untapped resources which may be usefully explored (AU)

Adolescent pregnancy in Grenada: a qualitative study

The study attempts to explore the sources and dynamics of adolescent pregnancy in Grenada and from the findings make effective recommendations for controlling this trend. Field research was executed using purposive sampling techniques. The survey was conducted in four parishes, i.e. St. George's., St. John, St. Andrew's and St. David's. Issues raised during the interviews covered topics such as sources of sex education, attitudes to pregnancy, the context of love relationship and the social impact of pregnancy. Findings state that teenage pregnancy is essentially a lower class problem. The young mothers often lack the moral support needed to avoid similar sexual behaviour to that of their communities. Sex education is learnt mostly from sources other than parents and attitudes to family planning programmes are negative though the desire to limit fertility is positive

Characteristics of first admissions to a mental hospital: a preliminary report

330 first admissions to the Mental Hospital were compared with 330 controls taken from admissions to the General Hospital. There was a significant difference between the admissions and controls in the number of relatives found to be or have been mentally ill. There was little evidence to suggest that environmental factors were a contributory cause to the finding. (AU)

Hereditary persistence of foetal haemoglobin: A family study suggesting allelism of the F gene to the S and C haemoglobin genes

A large family is described in which the inheritance of a gene responsible for high levels of foetal haemoglobin (the F gene) and its interaction with the gene for haemoglobin-S is followed through three generations. Four cases of SF combination are reported. An example of the the CF combination is described. Evidence is produced that the F gene is situated at the same locus as the S and C genes and the gene for classical thalassaemia, and that it is therefore an allele of them. As an altenative explanation it is suggested that the high levels of foetal haemoglobin may not result from direct gene action but may be due to a failure of inheritance of normal haemoglobin following a deletion at the A-S-C locus (or a mutation lethal for beta-chain production), with a consequent revival of the dormant mechanism of foetal haemoglobin synthesis. Sickle-cell anaemia and the SF combination are phenotypically indistinguishable, and the difficulties in explaining the very marked clinical difference between them are discussed (Summary)