We live in a broken world with broken people. Often it is easy to ignore the needs of the people around us. But what would God want us to do? In His ministry here on earth, Jesus reached out to the most hurt, most abused, and most reviled members of His community. He healed not only their bodies but their spirits. Should we do any less? The Seventh-day Adventist Church has a unique opportunity to serve the hurting in their community through a Home-Based Care ministry. With our mission to love, serve, and teach, and with the numerous church resources already available, we can do what many others cannot—be the safe haven of health and healing that God intends His church to be. While this book focuses on ministry to individuals and their families dealing with HIV and AIDS, the principles found here can be applied to anyone with a terminal illness who finds himself/herself on the other side of accepted society. It shows us that instead of being critical, we should accept where people and their choices have led them, doing our best to minister with the love and care of Jesus.

This publication carefully describes the HIV/AIDS pandemic and how it is understood in some African contexts, which hampers prevention initiatives. It also delineates the complex nature of the poverty and HIV/AIDS interplay. To address the situation, a family systems practical ecclesiological theology and approach to HIV/AIDS ministry, and a pastoral counselling approach that derives from and is sensitive to the African context, are proposed.

Africa has emerged as a prime arena of global health interventions that focus on particular diseases and health emergencies. These are framed increasingly in terms of international concerns about security, human rights, and humanitarian crisis. This presents a stark contrast to the 1960s and ‘70s, when many newly independent African governments pursued the vision of public health “for all,” of comprehensive health care services directed by the state with support from foreign donors. These initiatives often failed, undermined by international politics, structural adjustment, and neoliberal policies, and by African states themselves. Yet their traces remain in contemporary expectations of and yearnings for a more robust public health. This volume explores how medical professionals and patients, government officials, and ordinary citizens approach questions of public health as they navigate contemporary landscapes of NGOs and transnational projects, faltering state services, and expanding privatization. Its contributors analyze the relations between the public and the private providers of public health, from the state to new global biopolitical formations of political institutions, markets, human populations, and health. Tensions and ambiguities animate these complex relationships, suggesting that the question of what public health actually is in Africa cannot be taken for granted. Offering historical and ethnographic analyses, the volume develops an anthropology of public health in Africa. Contributors:Hannah Brown, P. Wenzel Geissler, Murray Last, Rebecca Marsland, Lotte Meinert, Benson A. Mulemi, Ruth J. Prince, Noémi Tousignant, and Susan Reynolds Whyte

The Caring Ministry program was developed by the Pastoral Care Team at St. John as Episcopal Cathedral in Denver, Colorado, to train lay people in basic pastoral skills. Its premise is that there is no better way to cultivate a receptive posture toward others than by practicing listening to God. The Caring Ministry Approach thus combines basic pastoral skills and guidelines along with an emphasis on being grounded in prayer. It invites both clergy and lay ministers to deepen the well of relationship with God as a means to developing a caring, listening heart. The text weds expertise with reflection and draws up the rich stories and lessons from scripture that add the spark of wisdom and grace to psychological programs. It is particularly suited for use in church-based pastoral care programs.

As global populations age, governments around the world are investigating how to fund long-term care (LTC) in an equitable and sustainable manner. The research reported here has three objectives: (i) to identify and classify middle-income countries (MICs) and high-income countries (HICs) that have established LTC for older populations; (ii) to describe the financing features and undertake a detailed assessment of the public LTC programmes in these countries; and (iii) to identify and discuss the benefits, disadvantages and challenges of the different public LTC financing strategies, based on the experiences of high-income countries and on observations of the reviewed countries. The public LTC financing system of 13 countries is reviewed: five HICs (Australia, Japan, the Netherlands (Kingdom of the), Singapore and Uruguay), and eight MICs (China, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Serbia, South Africa and Thailand). Although information on LTC expenditure is not consistently reported or available for all countries, the 13 reviewed countries vary considerably in terms of their national income, total spending on health and public share of health care spending. This report concludes with some deliberations and lessons learned on financing options for LTC, specifically for low- and middle-income countries. Overall, the report offers valuable insights into how policy-makers can design effective and sustainable public LTC financing systems, ensuring that individuals and their families receive the necessary support and assistance to lead dignified lives as they age.

This bibliography offers valuable annotated references on housing for older population for those interested in these initiatives and discussions. It begins with an overview piece on the state of policy, practice and research on housing for the older population in Singapore. This is followed by an annotated bibliography featuring published and unpublished work, spanning recent decades, pertaining to housing for the older population with emphasis on Singapore. It encompasses theoretical and empirical research reported in journal articles and book chapters as well as grey literature, like dissertations and theses, conference proceedings, working papers and newspaper articles. The bibliography also contains additional citations covering global studies, in particular, in Asia, North America and UK. It is hoped that this bibliographic material will serve as a useful starting reference point for discussions on housing of older people in Singapore and also for key developments in other parts of the world. The goal is to encourage additional scholarship.

This is the first book tackling the topic of world suffering. It compiles in one place the ideas, perspectives, and findings of researchers from around the world who pioneered research-based understanding of human suffering. Some chapters use the paradigm of ‘quality of life’ to explore ways to enhance knowledge on suffering. Other chapters show how concepts and knowledge from suffering research can benefit studies on quality of life. By bringing together in one volume, ideas and research experience from the best minds and leading researchers in the fields of pain, suffering, poverty, deprivation, disability and quality of life (including well-being and happiness), this volume advances social science solutions to a number of major threads of research, most notably suffering. As a whole, the volume advances the fields of suffering and deprivation by suggesting a working typology of suffering and by pointing out the major paradigms for relief of suffering, such as humanitarianism, human rights, caring, and healing. This volume provides a wealth of insights about the interaction between suffering and quality of life, the most up-to-date characterization of worldwide suffering, and a grasp of the implications of these data for local and global policy on health and social well-being.

Most of the HIV/AIDS caregivers in Kenya live in various parts of the country and share many of the trials and tribulations associated with providing care to someone suffering from a terminal illness. Some have been forced into the role due to the death of their love one, while others may have voluntarily taken on the responsibility on a firm belief that the care they provide will make a difference. The experiences shared in this book capture some of day-to-day political, social, economic, cultural challenges and obstacles encountered by the HIV/AIDS caregivers in Nairobi, Kenya. Caregiver challenges are reviewed and recommendations are offered on the way forward. It also explores the role of the church and international social work in addressing international issues.