Academic literature on the topic 'Caregivers Samoans'

The apparently readily comprehensible descriptive discourse in Margaret Mead’s famous ethnographic study Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) (CAS) presents a discursive challenge that is greater than one might expect from a book that has gained a wide readership. Through theoretical analysis, and in relation to the notorious Mead/Freeman controversy, we seek to contribute to understanding CAS as discourse, and even more specifically as educational discourse. Three research questions are addressed: How can the account of Samoan culture presented by Mead in CAS be understood as discourse? How can her account of early childhood education be understood in relation to Freeman’s account? Is Mead describing permissive education when describing patterns of early childhood education in Samoa? We argue that Mead produced an overlapping research discourse that has appealed to the wider public because of its cultural suppressed message aimed at the unconscious in culture. Mead’s and Freeman’s contradictory accounts of Samoan cultural patterns in relation to early childhood education can be explained by differences in the perspectives of the social and hierarchical positions of respectable elders and chiefs (Freeman) and of young girls who were caregivers of even younger children (Mead). Finally, we argue that early childhood education in Samoa at that time was clearly not permissive. Young Samoan girls internalized the symbolic Law (Lacan) and were therefore able to act in an authoritative way as caregivers. In the field of education nearly a century later, Mead’s descriptions of early childhood education in Samoa still provide an intricate case study.

Abstract Faith-based communities are uniquely positioned to support members of their congregation with dementia and their caregivers. Aligned with their ministry and service work, congregations can identify individuals who need help and provide needed instrumental and emotional support. This poster will present preliminary findings from a pilot study with a Chinese, Mandarin-speaking church and a Samoan church in Honolulu, Hawaii. Using the Dementia Friends USA curriculum, which was translated into Mandarin and Samoan, the pilot study examined the potential for the Dementia Friends approach to mobilize a congregation and support caregivers. Findings indicate that there was great interest and need for information and dementia within the church community. In addition, a strong ministry and high proportions of older congregation members were keys to the success of the pilot. Finally, misperceptions of dementia within the Chinese and Mandarin communities were common and needed to be addressed in order for church members to fully embrace Dementia Friends principles (i.e., it is possible to have a good quality of life with dementia.) Future work will further explore faith-based community characteristics and other program components that lead to improved support for persons with dementia and their caregivers, as well as stronger dementia-friendly, faith based communities.

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTIONPatient and health professional engagement is a crucial factor for the effectiveness of service delivery and the management of care. Low health literacy amongst Pacific peoples is likely to affect their engagement with health professionals. AIMTo explore the health literacy of Samoan mothers and their experiences with health professionals in primary care. METHODSTwenty Samoan mothers and caregivers living in Auckland were interviewed about their experiences when engaging with health professionals. Semi-structured interviews guided by open-ended questions were conducted with individual participants in either Samoan or English. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed. RESULTSA key finding was the significance of the health professionals’ role, in particular general practitioners, in providing resources and information to participants. Many participants recognised their general practitioner as their primary source of information. The findings revealed the negative experiences participants faced while engaging with general practitioners and shared how this affected their ability to manage care. Themes about enablers of open communication with health professionals included mothers understanding their rights as patients and being acknowledged as an expert on their child’s health. Themes about barriers to open communication with health professionals included limited consultation time, language barriers, medical jargon, closed answers, power relations and the shame associated with not fully understanding. DISCUSSIONThis research can inform health care engagement practices with patients. This study is relevant to health-care providers, development of health resources, health researchers evaluating health-care communications between providers and patients, to inform culturally appropriate and effective health-care delivery. The importance of shared responsibility in addressing issues of health literacy is noted, shifting the focus to everyone involved in providing and receiving information and in making decisions and managing care.

The ‘ Tausi Feagaiga (Covenant Keeper) project was a partnership between community organization Pacific Youth and Community Development, faith-based organization Roman Catholic Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago, and higher learning institute University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine. Over the course of 5 years from 2016 – 2020, 125 caregivers were trained in family caregiving. Fa’a Samoa, or the Samoan way supports traditional values of tausi matua encouraging caring for your elders. Training was conducted through an intensive workshop followed by practicum at Hope House, Catholic Diocese home for the aged. Confidence in caregiving increased following the training and feedback was extremely positive. Competence in geriatric syndromes was improved after attending the workshop (p<0.0001). Technical assistance was provided to create jobs for newly trained caregivers and sustainability through reimbursement from government health insurance Medicaid. Hope House received the designation of Medicaid Assisted Living Facility provider. ‘ Tausi Feagaiga transformed the lives of the residents of Hope House and elders in the community.

Abstract Background The Sustainable Development Agenda calls for population monitoring of children’s development. A census approach, as implemented in Pacific Island Countries (PICs), offers advantages beyond nationally representative survey samples in informing local policy and practice. Methods A census approach was employed in Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu to collect information from caregivers and teachers on the development of every child aged 3-5 years. Funded by the Global Partnership for Education through the Pacific Early Age Readiness and Learning Program, data were collected from 2013-17 using the early Human Capability Index (eHCI), a population measure of holistic child development. Results Locally, whole-of-country data collection in Kiribati (n = 8339), Samoa (n = 12191), Tonga (n = 6214), and Tuvalu (n = 549) enabled empowerment and mobilisation of communities to support children’s development through use of their own data. Nationally, a census approach provided reliable information on the magnitude of inequality within and across populations, understanding of development amongst sub-populations and minority groups, and the interplay between geographic and socioeconomic position and children’s development, together, highlighting what was working well and where extra supports were needed. Conclusions In PICs, information collected through implementation of the eHCI national census was able to inform a progressive universalist approach to policy and service delivery, including provision of the right mix of universal and targeted services needed to support populations. Key messages A census approach to monitoring child development can inform policy and practice in ways not otherwise possible via survey sampling, particularly in contexts where population estimates and weighting are not available/accurate.