[Health professionals in part-time employment: the challenge of balancing work and family]. / Professionnelles de la santé en précarité d'emploi: le défi de la conciliation travail-famille.

Looking at the case of occasional part-time nurses, this study highlights the difficulties in balancing work and family that are inherent in nonstandard jobs. Eight focus groups were held, involving 48 nurses in 4 regions of Quebec. Analysis of the data collected reveals that nurses "on call" are particularly affected by overwork and experience great difficulty in balancing their work and family obligations. The participants proposed a variety of solutions, such as establishing day care centres adapted to the needs of nurses on call and instituting a timetable grid for occasional part-time nurses so that they can plan their work hours.

Mental health, stress correlates and psychotropic drug use or non-use among aged caregivers to elders with dementia.

The goal of the study was to compare caregivers who used psychotropic drugs with caregivers who were non-users in order to pinpoint differences in coping styles between the two groups. We performed a secondary analysis of a study on the stress and psychological well-being of persons caring for relatives with dementia. We compared elderly caregivers, as either psychotropic drug users (n = 61) or non-users (n = 133), over various psychosocial characteristics relating to the care-giving context. Results reveal that users, as compared to non-users were: (a) more disturbed (appraised a greater stress) by the relative's dysfunctional behaviours, after controlling for the frequency of the behaviours; and (b) experienced more conflict during interpersonal interactions, although their appraisal of self-satisfaction with formal and informal support to their care-giving activities did not differ significantly. Strikingly, users combined and called on a greater number of problem-focused and emotion-reducing coping strategies than did non-users. They more frequently used affective regulation and information seeking coping styles. Stress-related measures (especially stress appraisal and conflict) contributed more to the variation in mental distress of users than of non-users. Results provide a theoretical and empirical rationale for therapeutic interventions such as the cognitive behavioural approach.

[Perceptions, adaptation and health care strategies of the elderly family caregivers from the standpoint of the shift to ambulatory care]. / Perceptions, stratégies adaptatives et attentes des femmes agées aidantes familiales dans la perspective du virage ambulatoire.

This article presents the results of an exploratory study funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The objectives of this research were to explore (a) the perception by elderly women caregivers of the shift to ambulatory care; (b) their use of coping behaviours in the face of this major change within the health care system; and (c) their perceptions of health care services. In a theoretical framework of stress and coping, and using standardized questionnaires and open-ended questions, 40 home interviews were initially conducted with elderly women, each of whom was caring for her spouse after his discharge from hospital. Additional data were collected through focus groups. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that elderly women caregivers perceive ambulatory care in a positive manner and as a change involving challenges only when they feel in control of the health care situation and when the care does not necessitate specialized abilities. When the care to be provided is complex and requires continued involvement and specific competence on the caregiver's part, the situation results in insecurity for elderly women. Caregivers use cognitive coping strategies to deal with their problems and are not inclined to use formal services in their social support network. Participants in this study wished to be better informed about the health care system in general ("how the system works") so that they could acquire a sense of predictability. Other expectations of elderly women caregivers concerned the importance of continuity in health services delivery, better preparation for the transition from hospital to home and availability of psychological support for themselves. These results suggest a critical analysis of the present paradigm guiding health care services, in which family caregivers are considered as resources or coworkers instead of coclients.

Sex differences in the marital functioning of treated alcoholics.

Fifty-five treated alcoholics (31 males and 24 females) were matched with a control group of social drinkers on four dimensions: sex, age, level of education and number of children. Spouses of alcoholic and non-alcoholic respondents were also sampled (total n = 199). Respondents and spouses completed the following questionnaires: The Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), the Areas of Change Questionnaire (AC), and the Marital Status Inventory (MSI). Major results were as follows: (1) Alcoholics reported poorer marital functioning than non-alcoholics. (2) Male alcoholics described less troubled relationships than did female alcoholics. (3) However, spouses of alcoholics described strained marriages in both cases. (4) Alcoholic couples were less congruent than control couples on conscious decisions regarding marital dissolution. (5) Alcoholic wives had taken more steps towards marital dissolution than their husbands had, whereas alcoholic husbands had taken fewer steps than their wives had. It was suggested that male alcoholics externalize their drinking and deny its impact on their marriages, whereas female alcoholics acknowledge their drinking and take the blame for their marital problems. Therapeutic and research implications were discussed.

[Aging in Québec : from one generation to another.]. / Vieillir au Québec : d'une génération à l'autre.

Throughout the upcoming century, retirement will be different from what it is today on several points. It will be comprised of a proportionately larger population, of more autonomous women, of elderly people more educated and more sensitive to the issues of growing old. This, along with the fact that government will be in a weaker position tomorrow than it is today to manage the needs of the elderly (social and medical services), brings the author to suggest a new approach to the golden age. Instead of trying to adjust themselves to becoming old, the author emphasizes that individuals should take charge of their future as an elderly person. As well, the author recommends a theoretical approach based on a dynamic perspective of retirement ; focussing attention on a person's life experience rather than a point in time (passage from middle age to golden age) and, therefore, respecting their personal growth.