Academic literature on the topic 'Family demography – Malawi'

This article is about the process of socioeconomic transformation in rural Malawi. It examines the survival strategies and enterprising spirit of Malawian migrant workers and their households. It argues that the strategies of these people often went beyond survival in the provision of basic necessities. Those who had the economic drive and entrepreneurial skills were able to use the proceeds of labor migration to improve their own and their households’ socioeconomic life. In March 1988, the South African Chamber of Mines stopped a century-old tradition of recruiting migrant workers from Malawi. This has arrested and put to a halt a process of accumulation taking place in the households of the returned migrant workers in the rural economy. Thus, the effects of the retrenchment of the workers will spread from the migrant and his family through the economic and social wellspring of all sectors of rural communities and their commercial lives.

The 1992 Malawi and Demographic Health Survey data are used to assess the association between breast-feeding practices, socio-economic and morbidity variables, and the nutritional status of children under the age of five years using multilevel models. About 27% of under-five children in Malawi are underweight, and nearly 50% are stunted. The results of this study suggest that socio-economicfactors, morbidity, and inappropriate feeding practices are some of the factors associated with malnutrition in Malawi. High socio-economic status, as measured by urban residence, the presence of modern amenities, and some maternal education, is associated with better nutritional status, whereas morbidity within two weeks before the survey is associated with low weight-for-age Z scores. Breast-feeding is almost universal and is carried on for about 21 months, but the introduction of complementary food starts much too early; only 3% of Malawian children under the age of 4 months are exclusively breastfed. Children aged 12 months or older who were still breastfeeding at the time of the survey were of lower nutritional status than those who had stopped breastfeeding. The analysis also showed a significant intra-family correlation of weight-for-age Z scores of children of the same family of about 39%.

ABSTRACTSub-Saharan Africa's older population is projected to nearly double in size by 2030. At the same time, demographic changes have caused major shifts in the units primarily responsible for the care of older adults: the family and household. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between household composition and health at older ages in rural Malawi. We use data from the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health, which contains detailed information on household and family structure, along with measures of mental and physical health (from the Short Form-12). We focus on several measures of living arrangements that are expected to be associated with health: overall household size, sex composition and kin structure (based on co-residence with offspring and grandchildren). Results show that: (a) older women who co-reside with offspring have better mental and physical health compared to those living only with grandchildren; (b) older men who live in larger households or in households with a higher proportion of females have better physical health.

PurposeThe Migration and Health in Malawi (MHM) study focuses on a key challenge in migration research: although it has long been established that migration and health are closely linked, identifying the effect of migration on various health outcomes is complicated by methodological challenges. The MHM study uses a longitudinal panel premigration and postmigration study design (with a non-migrant comparison group) to measure and/or control for important characteristics that affect both migration and health outcomes.ParticipantsData are available for two waves. The MHM interviewed 398 of 715 migrants in 2007 (55.7%) and 722 of 1013 in 2013 (71.3%); as well as 604 of 751 (80.4%) for a non-migrant reference group in 2013. The total interviewed sample size for the MHM in both waves is 1809. These data include extensive information on lifetime migration, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, sexual behaviours, marriage, household/family structure, social networks and social capital, HIV/AIDS biomarkers and other dimensions of health.Findings to dateOur result for the relationship between migration and health differs by health measure and analytic approach. Migrants in Malawi have a significantly higher HIV prevalence than non-migrants, which is primarily due to the selection of HIV-positive individuals into migration. We find evidence for health selection; physically healthier men and women are more likely to move, partly because migration selects younger individuals. However, we do not find differences in physical or mental health between migrants and non-migrants after moving.Future plansWe are preparing a third round of data collection for these (and any new) migrants, which will take place in 2018. This cohort will be used to examine the effect of migration on various health measures and behaviours, including general mental and physical health, smoking and alcohol use, access to and use of health services and use of antiretroviral therapy.

Background To describe the epidemiology and visual outcome of patients with ocular trauma treated at Queen Elizabeth Central hospital in Malawi. Methods A prospective, observational study was undertaken from September 2017 to December 2017. Data on socio-demographic features, aetiology of trauma, type of ocular injury pre-referral pathway and treatment of ocular trauma was collected as the exposure variables. The main outcome variable was best corrected visual acuity at 8 weeks following initial visit. Results A total of 102 patients (103 eyes) with ocular trauma were recruited with loss of follow up of 11 participants at 8 weeks following recruitment. The most affected age group were children under 11 years old (35.3%), followed by young adults of age between 21–30 years (22.5%). The male-to-female ratio for ocular injury was 2.8:1. Most participants had closed globe injuries (n = 72, 70.6%), with over half the population injured by blunt objects (n = 62, 60.8%). Furthermore, among the adult population, majority (n = 19 38%) were injured on the road during assaults (n = 24, 48%), while most paediatric injuries (n = 32, 61.5%) occurred at home during play. The incidence of monocular blindness was 25.3% at eight weeks after the first presentation. Factors that were associated with monocular blindness on multivariate analysis were living in rural areas and open globe injuries. Conclusion Ocular trauma led to monocular blindness in a quarter of the study population. There is need for preventive education of ocular injuries at both family and community level.

Abstract Under the regime of public health insurance, the utilization of health cares are determined by various socio-demographic and economic characteristics of the beneficiaries. These determinants are estimated in this study where we apply the dummy variable regression technique to the AMULET data bank, a 1971 cross-section of 8,608 beneficiaries in the province of Québec where most of health cares are free. In increasing order of importance, we find that : i) The individual utilization of health care is increasing with the age of beneficiaries and is higher for women than for the men for the age-group 15-50 years. This tendency is reversed for the age-group 50 years and older since the rate of increase in utilization is higher for men. There is, however, any significant difference in utilization on the basis of sex discrimination for the age-group 0-15 years. The structure age-sex, being of course a proxy of the health status of the beneficiaries, is the most important determinant of health cares utilization. ii) Individual utilization depends on the income class to which belongs the beneficiary. The beneficiaries of the highest and the lowest income class utilize more health care than those belonging to the so called "middle class". Notice however that the lowest income class in the data sample is composed in majority of aged beneficiaries. iii) The size of the beneficiaries' family is not a significant determinant of the utilization of health care for children of age-group 0-15 years. For other age-group however, utilization decreases with this family size for men, but increases for women. iv) The geographic area where the beneficiaries are identified is a weak determinant of utilization. Beneficiaries in urban area utilize more of health care than those living in rural area.

A research report submitted to the Faculties of Health Sciences and Humanities, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the field of Demography and Population Studies
Nowhere has the family’s important role in ensuring optimal development of people been seriously put into disrepute. Since time immemorial, the family has endured the impact of socioeconomic and political challenges and it is still regarded as pivotal in the development of cultures and nations (Emran, 2009). Apart from reproduction, socialization, production, consumption, accumulation and social networking, and care for vulnerable groups, families are important in intergenerational transfers such as material, cultural values and social capital. In spite of these notable values, modernization and industrialization continue to alter the traditional systems leading to emergence of new family forms. Malawi has one of the highest rates of single families, within the Sub-Saharan Africa region, especially among women, with a rate as high as 61% by the time a woman reaches 45 years of age. Further, about 56% of children under the age of 15 were not co-resident with both parents. Unstable families are associated with several wider negative outcomes such as poor economic and health outcomes to individual, communities and nations at large. Despite such challenges, it is surprising that little attention has been paid to fully analyse factors that are causing such changes in the family. Thus, the aim of this paper was to identify the levels and trends and assesses the demographic, socioeconomic and cultural factors associated with family structure in Malawi between 2000 and 2010. The study was motivated by inadequate literature and scientific knowledge on the scope of the impacts of different factors which have caused changes to family arrangements over time. Study Method: Two data sets were employed in this study. These data sets were extracted from the Malawi Demographic Heath Survey for the year 2000 and 2010. The unit of analysis was women aged 15-49 years of age from different households. In order to identify trends, the Chi2 square test was used. As for measuring the association between the various demographic and socioeconomic factors and family structure, the Multinomial Logistic Regression model was used. Results: The study reveals that there was a 2.5% increase in the rate of single families between 2000 and 2010. Further, the inferential results shows that age of household head is statistically associated with changing family structure in Malawi in the year(s) 2000 and 2010 for both the nuclear and extended family categories (p-value 0.000). In addition, being in the age bracket (25-39) has a higher statistical assocition with changing family structure in both 2000 and 2010 (p-value 0.000). Further, belonging to households headed by a female is statistcially associted with family structure in 2000 and 2010 for both nuclear and extended family (p-value 0.000). The results also show that being a Muslim woman is statistically associated with family structure in 2010 (p-value 0.039) but not in 2000. In terms of education, having primary and secondary education is statiscally asocited with family strcuture [primary: 2000 and 2010 (p-value 0.000 for both) secondary: 2000 and 2010 (p-value 0.001 for both). As for residence, residing in rural area is statistically associated with family structure in Malawi (2000 (nuclear: p-value 0.000; extended: p-value 0.028) and 2010 (nuclear: p-value 0.006; extended: 0.013). As for wealth, the results show that having middle and richer wealth quintile is statistically associated with family structure in 2010 for both nuclear and extended families (p-value 0.000) but not in 2000. Similarly, women in employment is statistcially associated with family strcuture for nuclear and extended family categories (p-value 0.000 for both 2000 and 2010). Lastly, the results also show that having few children (1-2), average number of children (3-4) and many children (5 and above) is statistically associated with family structure in the extended family category only (p-value 0.000). Conclusions: The study reveals that single families are on the increase while nuclear and extended families are decreasing. Policy and programmes to the wider sectors such as; HIV/AIDS, gender, reproductive health and education should be directed to the family if Malawi is to achieve health, and socioeconomic grown which are some of the key areas of interest in achieving the sustainable development goals
MT2017

This book provides an integrative framework for the anthropological demography of health, a field of interdisciplinary population research grounded in ethnography and in critical examination of the social, political, and economic histories that have shaped relations between peoples. The field has grown from the 1990s, extending to a remarkable range of key human and policy issues, including: genetic disorders; nutrition; mental health; infant, child and maternal morbidity; malaria; HIV/AIDS; disability and chronic diseases; new reproductive technologies; and population ageing. Collaboration with social, medical, and demographic historians enables these issues to be situated in the evolution of institutional structures and inequalities that shape health and care access. Understanding fertility levels and trends has widened beyond parity and contraception to the many life course risks and alternative healing systems that shape reproductive health. By going beyond conventional demographic and epidemiological methods, and idealised macro/micro-level units, the anthropological demography of health places people’s health-seeking behaviour in a compositional demography based on ethnographic observation of group formation and change over time, and of variance between what people say and do. It tracks family and community networks; class, linguistic, and religious groups; sectoral labour and market distributions; health and healing specialisms; and relations between these bodies and with groups controlling local and national governments. The approach enables examination of how local cultures and experience are translated formally into measures on which survey and clinical programmes rely, thus testing the empirical adequacy of such translations, and leading to revision of concepts of risk and governance.

Despite significant progress since the 2000s, malaria remains in Africa a major health problem for families who, in the absence of medical coverage, have to manage all the health problems occurring among household members. For economic reasons, the practice of self-medication is important, facilitated by a very active informal drug market. Thus, understanding the malaria burden in sub-Saharan Africa requires a dual approach combining quantitative measures estimating the extent of observed phenomena, and a qualitative ethnographic approach to better understand households’ management of these health issues. This chapter describes fifteen years of interdisciplinary research incorporating medical anthropological and social epidemiological approaches to explore ways of managing malaria in families and access to medicines outside the control of medical facilities. This was a collaborative research project, first conducted in parallel and then jointly as part of a European programme concerning pharmaceutical markets and Artemisinin-based combination therapies. Analyses and findings presented in this chapter based on surveys in Senegal and Benin highlight the impact that such a combined approach may have in improving the adaptation of malaria control strategies to people’s life contexts.

At the Thai-Malaysian border, a majority of the population comprises the Thai-Melayu ethnic group, as speakers of the Pattani-Malay dialect. Here, heritage language maintenance presents a salient factor. The ethnicity resides on both sides of the border. This study aims to investigate the heritage language maintenance and identities of the Thai-Melayu ethnic group in Jaleh Village, Yarang District, Pattani, Thailand, and to examine their attitudes towards the language used in their community. The samples-set comprised 20 local respondents who were born and raised in the village. A questionnaire addressing the effects of the heritage language maintenance of the Thai-Melayu was employed as a tool of data collection. A descriptive analysis method was used for data analysis. The results of the study revealed ideological underpinnings of the ethnic group with regards to language, as well as demographic information that informs population and cultural studies. These factors include that the Pattani-Malay dialect constitutes a major language, where the Thai language in comparison has a minor usage in the community. The Pattani-Malay dialect is used in the family domain, with extended families, or with neighbors, and in ritualistic or religion domains. In contrast, Thai is used with strangers, in government and official domains, in the school domain, and in the domain of public health. Moreover, the results support that the dialect has not as yet become endangered, evidenced by that the samples prefer the Pattani-Malay dialect as the main language for daily life, and for passing on their ethnic language to younger generations, a process labeled as ‘accidental maintenance.’