Domestic Space As a Survival Strategy for Low-income Women

Low-income government provided housing has been continually transformed by its beneficiaries, especially women. The transformations are a major sign that there is discontentment about the houses since low-income households are excluded from the design process of these houses. By transforming the houses, the low-income households are trying to fit their houses or environments to their ways of living. This paper intends to review the housing transformations at the Masese Women’s Self-Help Housing Project at Masese, Jinja, in Uganda to understand how women practice space. Studying the spatial alterations can help guide architects towards finding inclusive housing design approaches that can benefit the low-income households and prevent governments and donors from spending finances on futile housing prototypes that get eventually abandoned. The paper adopts a qualitative methodology comprising of precedent studies at Masese, and a literature review to analyse the various housing transformations in an attempt to address the problem of inadequate housing for low-income households.

The Problem and Prospects of Slum Dwellers in Urban Areas: Case Study of Nashik City

The word “slum” is often used to describe informal settlements within cities that have inadequate housing and miserable living conditions. They are often overcrowded, with many people crammed into very small living spaces. Slums are not a new phenomenon. They have been a part of the history of almost all cities, particularly during the phase of urbanization and industrialization. Slums are generally the only type of settlement affordable and accessible to the poor in cities, where competition for land and profits is intense. The main reason for slum proliferation is rapid and non-inclusive patterns of urbanization catalyzed by increasing rural migration to urban areas.

Are Socio-Economic Determinants Important for Patient’s Knowledge, Attitude and Practice: Evidence from Hepatitis-C Patients

Background: Hepatitis C is one of the commonest and fatal diseases in Pakistan as well as around the World. There were around 17 million people all over Pakistan with infected Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Patient’s knowledge, attitude and practice are important determinants to combat this fatal disease. In this regard, socioeconomic factors including low income, low educational status and inadequate housing conditions may effect on patient’s knowledge, attitude and practice. The main objective of this study was to identify the impact of socio-economic determinants on patient’s knowledge, attitude and practice. Methods: The convenient sample technique was used to collect the data of 278 patients of HCV from Hepatitis C Clinic at Social Security Teaching Hospital Multan Road Lahore. Logistic regression was applied to identify the socioeconomic determinants that was crucial important regarding patient’s knowledge, attitude and practice Results: The results indicate that those patients who had low educational status, low income, unemployed, and inadequate housing conditions had poor performance regarding knowledge, attitude and practices towards Hepatitis C. There was a significant association between socio-economic determinants and its effects on patient’s knowledge, attitude and practice. Conclusion: Poor knowledge, negative attitude and bad practice towards HCV were the main reasons behind poor socioeconomic determinants. Poor knowledge, bad practices, helpless peoples, low income, low status, inadequate housing conditions and educational status effects on patient’s health.

Navigating Intersecting Forms of Oppression in the Search for Employment

Opportunities for refugees to engage in occupations within host countries can be constrained by factors such as governmental policies or language barriers (Smith). Female refugees with physical disabilities may experience compounding barriers to participation related to their identity markers. The main aim of this study is to understand the experiences of female refugees with physical disabilities in seeking, preparing for, and obtaining employment. This study used an instrumental case study using semistructured interviews with five primary participants and four caregivers. Thematic analysis (Clarke & Braun) identified five key barriers to securing employment: (a) stigma and discrimination, (b) restrictive traditional labor market, (c) inaccessible and inadequate housing, (d) lack of cohesion and information across services, and (e) English language predominance. Findings highlight complex challenges experienced by the women who faced intersecting systems of oppression and can enable occupational therapists to address barriers associated with occupational injustice by improving services to better meet their needs.

Migrant workers and COVID-19

ObjectivesDaily numbers of COVID-19 in Singapore from March to May 2020, the cause of a surge in cases in April and the national response were examined, and regulations on migrant worker accommodation studied.MethodsInformation was gathered from daily reports provided by the Ministry of Health, Singapore Statues online and a Ministerial statement given at a Parliament sitting on 4 May 2020.ResultsA marked escalation in the daily number of new COVID-19 cases was seen in early April 2020. The majority of cases occurred among an estimated 295 000 low-skilled migrant workers living in foreign worker dormitories. As of 6 May 2020, there were 17 758 confirmed COVID-19 cases among dormitory workers (88% of 20 198 nationally confirmed cases). One dormitory housing approximately 13 000 workers had 19.4% of residents infected. The national response included mobilising several government agencies and public volunteers. There was extensive testing of workers in dormitories, segregation of healthy and infected workers, and daily observation for fever and symptoms. Twenty-four dormitories were declared as ‘isolation areas’, with residents quarantined for 14 days. New housing, for example, vacant public housing flats, military camps, exhibition centres, floating hotels have been provided that will allow for appropriate social distancing.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted migrant workers as a vulnerable occupational group. Ideally, matters related to inadequate housing of vulnerable migrant workers need to be addressed before a pandemic.

Running Away

Probationers held on technical violations represent a substantial part of the jail population; yet, they are typically not considered in jail reform programming. Jail stays can have collateral consequences for individual employment, social ties, and overall well-being. Existing research suggests that even short periods of incarceration can have criminogenic effects. Incarcerating probation violators in the short term may be a quick fix for problem behavior, but this type of programming has the potential to exacerbate mental health challenges, create substantial barriers to employment, and strain family and other social support linkages. The chapter outlines the needs of individuals remanded to jail for a probation technical violation. We also detail an innovative program designed to mitigate the costs of jail incarceration for individuals incarcerated for a new technical violation while addressing the root causes of recidivism, including inadequate housing, employment needs, substance abuse, and mental illness.