Civil Affairs Bureau Research Articles

Association between different adiposity measures and all-cause mortality risk among centenarians: A prospective cohort study

Little evidence on the association between adiposity measures and all-cause mortality was observed among centenarians, and no targeted development of optimal weight recommendations for them. To comprehensively assess the association between adiposity indices and all-cause mortality among centenarians. This prospective population-based cohort study included 1002 centenarians registered in 18 counties and cities in Hainan Province from June 2014 to May 2021. The age of participants at baseline was provided by the civil affairs bureau and verified before enrollment. All-cause mortality was rigorously confirmed as the primary outcome. BMI was calculated by height and weight. BRI was calculated by height and waist circumference. At baseline, the mean (SD) age was 102.8±2.7 years, and 180 participants (18.0%) were men. The median follow-up time was 5.0 (4.8-5.5) years, with 522 deaths. In BMI categories, compared with the lowest group (mean BMI=14.2kg/m2), the highest group (mean BMI=22.2kg/m2) had lower mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.61; 95%CI, 0.47-0.79) (P for trend=0.001). In BRI categories, compared with the lowest group (mean BRI=2.3), the highest group (mean BRI=5.7) had lower mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.66; 95%CI, 0.51-0.85) (P for trend=0.002), and the risk did not decrease after BRI exceeded 3.9 in women. Higher BRI was associated with lower HRs after adjusting for interaction with comorbidities status. E-values analysis suggested robustness to unmeasured confounding. BMI and BRI were inverse linear associated with mortality risk in the whole population, while BRI was observed to be J-shaped in women. The interaction of lower multiple complication incidence and BRI had a significant effect on the reduced risk of all-cause mortality.

“Paired competition”: A new mechanism for the innovation of urban grassroots governance

In recent years, the focus of urban grassroots governance in China has experienced a fundamental change in direction from economic growth to public service and social management. Economic growth can be easily quantified, while public service and social management cannot, thus performance evaluation is largely dependent on “impression-based results”. Under such circumstances, a new mechanism of “paired competition” has been put in place to pair superior vertical lines of authority ( tiao) with subordinate horizontal levels of grassroots governments ( kuai) on a voluntary basis. Pairs compete with other pairs in areas of public services and social management. Paired competition can facilitate close cooperation between the tiao side and the kuai side, promote innovation, and generate quick “impression-based results”. However, the mechanism also generates negative incentives, which lead to excessive innovation and the reluctance to adopt good practices on the part of rival pairings. The case study detailed here is that of a “community analysis tool” promoted by the civil affairs bureau of “district A” in a major Chinese city. In addition to examining the organizational and operational logic of “paired competition”, this study also compared “paired competition” with the traditional methods of the “promotion tournament competition” and “special-purpose project system”.

Social Support, Mindfulness, and Job Burnout of Social Workers in China.

In the last 20 years, amid extensive social and economic reforms, China’s social structure and community life have changed considerably. A large number of social workers are needed to provide many more social services to community residents. The central government has issued many policies to rapidly develop human service organizations and increase the number of social workers. Thus, by the end of 2019, the number of social workers has reached more than 1.5 million in China. At the same time, local governments have issued many policies to promote an increase in the number of social workers. According to statistics from the Chengdu Civil Affairs Bureau, from 2010 to 2021, the number of social workers in Chengdu City increased, remarkably, from 553 to 17,622. Although the number of social workers has increased rapidly, some problems still exist. According to a survey by the Chengdu Social Workers Association, the turnover rate of social workers has reached approximately 20% in Chengdu City in 2018. Therefore, we aim to determine what influences social workers’ job burnout. Through regression analysis and mediation effect tests, we found the following: First, when controlling for gender, age, education, and workday, social support of social workers had a significant negative impact on job burnout ( = − 0.376). Second, the mindfulness of social workers had a significant negative impact on job burnout ( = − 0.320). Third, the mindfulness of social workers played a mediating role between social support and job burnout. The mediating effect was −0.116 (p < 0.001). Fourth, among the three dimensions of social support, mindfulness played a partially mediating role in family support and other support. The mediating effect between other support, which is the support from leaders and colleagues, and job burnout was the strongest, with a mediating effect of −0.109 (p < 0.001). In other words, the support provided by agency leaders and colleagues can maximize the level of mindfulness of social workers, thereby reducing social workers’ job burnout most effectively. We can thus reduce social workers’ job burnout by improving their level of mindfulness and the social support for them in China.

Cognitive frailty predicting death and disability in Chinese elderly

ABSTRACT Objective: Although multiple sclerosis (MS) is known to be an immune-mediated disease, very little is known about its etiopathogenesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding proteins involved in the regulation of gene expression. T-cell activation potential in neurodegenerative diseases has been a research topic of interest in recent years Cytokines play an important role in the course and pathogenesis of MS, The aim of the present study was to analyze expression levels of miR-20, miR-21, miR-26, miR-155, and Let-7, which target the cytokines interleukin IL-17 and IL-23, in order to evaluate the relationship between MS and miRNAs that modulate the expression of cytokines involved in the autoimmune pathway. Methods:The study included 20 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who were at least 18 years of age and were undergoing outpatient immunomodulatory therapy and 20 healthy, unrelated individuals who had no systemic disease and were not taking any medication as a control group. Peripheral blood samples were collected from all participants into EDTA-containing tubes and plasma was isolated for cDNA synthesis . From these cDNA samples, miRNA expression levels were quantitatively analyzed via melting curve analysis using the miScript SYBR Green kit in real-time PCR device. Results: Comparison of miRNA expression levels in the peripheral blood samples and MS patients and healthy subjects revealed that the MS patients had significant upregulation of miR-20 and downregulation of miR-26 and miR-155 compared to the control group (p<0.005). Conclusions:Dysregulation of miRNA expression may play a role in the pathogenesis of MS.

Relationship between metabolic syndrome and total bilirubin in nonagenarians and centenarians living in Hubei Zhongxiang Province

Metabolic syndrome is closely related to target organ injury such as heart, brain, and kidney. And bilirubin is an effective antioxidant. At present, there is a lack of research data on metabolic syndrome and serum total bilirubin in longevity elderly people. This study aimed to study the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its correlation with serum total bilirubin level in nonagenarians and centenarians living in Hubei Zhongxiang Province. According to the demographic information provided by Zhongxiang Civil Affairs Bureau, 128 elderly people were interviewed and 11 of them were excluded. A total of 117 population were included in the study. Questionnaires, physical examination, and blood test were made. 117 subjects aged 90-113 years with an average age of (98.6±4.8) years old were analysed. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its diagnostic components were obesity 19.7%, hyperglycemia 29.9%, hypertension 94.0%, hypertriglyceridemia 33.3%, low high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels 17.1%, and metabolic syndrome 23.9%. Logistic regression analysis found that the total bilirubin level was negatively correlated with metabolic syndrome and triglyceride levels(P 0.05). The nonagenarians and centenarians have a low prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Zhongxiang, Hubei Province, total bilirubin was negatively correlated with metabolic syndrome and triglyceride. Key words: Elderly people; Metabolic syndrome; Total bilirubin

Analysis on the consistency and timeliness of death data gathered from different sources in the residents of Beijing

Objective: To further improve the quality of mortality data for Beijing residents, through describing and analyzing the current death data gathered from different sources in Beijing. Methods: Data on death of the Beijing residents from Beijing Public Security Bureau, Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau and Beijing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (BJCDC) were collated and compared. Timeliness of related data from the three different sources were described and analyzed. The overall consistency and reported timeliness of data from the three sources appear good, but the consistency on the causes of death needs to be improved. Result: Numbers of deaths from the three different sources were 95 318, 130 906 and 160 779 respectively, with 387 003 in total. Data from the Beijing Public Security Bureau and BJCDC seemed better in terms of integrity and accuracy. Data from the Beijing Public Security Bureau had the highest filling rate of ID card number while data from the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau had the best timeliness. The most informative source of data was from the BJCDC. Conclusion: The overall quality of the exchanged death data from Beijing Public Security Bureau, Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau and BJCDC appeared good but remained some areas for improvement.

Care services for elderly people with dementia in rural China: a case study.

ObjectiveTo determine the state of the health and supportive services available to elderly people with dementia – and their families – in rural Lanxi county, in the province of Zhejiang, China.MethodsIn November 2014 and January 2015, we interviewed 14 key informants on dementia care face-to-face, using a semi-structured questionnaire. The informants included three rural physicians, an urban geriatrician, seven directors of institutions for the care of the elderly and three officials of the civil affairs bureau. We also completed in-depth interviews with five family caregivers of elderly people with dementia.FindingsThe interviewees indicated that there was a lack of specialized services designed specifically to address the needs of individuals with dementia and their family members. Non-psychiatric medical services and the available facilities for long-term care appeared to be ill-equipped to manage these needs. They lacked both clinical staff and standardized, evidence-based practices for the diagnosis, care, treatment and rehabilitation of patients with dementia. As care facilities often refused to admit elderly people with dementia, families were generally forced to care for elderly relatives with dementia at home.ConclusionIn Lanxi county – and probably in much of rural China – more public resources are needed to support family caregivers and to improve the capacity of care facilities for the elderly to care for individuals with dementia.

Can audit play an effective role in the charity governance?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between external auditor selection and charity donation, that is, whether the governance role of external audit is effective and how it plays in China's charitable market.Design/methodology/approachUsing data from 2005 to 2009 of China's national charity, the paper applies empirical regression method to test the hypothesis.FindingsEmpirical evidence suggests that, when charities select national Big 100 as the auditors, the governance role of audit plays effectively, thus attracts more donators. When charities select successful bidders of Civil Affairs Bureau as the auditors, the governance role of audit cannot play effectively, thus will not increase donation significantly.Research limitations/implicationsCharities' annual report disclosure is not ample, so research samples could not include the regional charities, and in self‐selection model, independent variables do not include audit fee which could affect the results of self‐selection.Practical implicationsTo some extent, the above conclusion suggests governance effect of external audit exist in the charitable market, and the effects depend on high quality audit. In view of the governance effect of high quality audit, the paper's conclusion could provide reference for the current non‐profits governance mechanism construction, at the same time, Civil Affairs Bureau should further improve the tender evaluation content and make them more objective and quantification when they bid the financial auditor, also, they should not be restricted charity choose auditor such as high quality outside the bidding scope.Originality/valueFirst, previous literature of external audit research mainly gathered in capital market, but charity market different from the capital market, it is significance for whole non‐profit organization. Second, the paper's conclusion could provide some empirical evidence available for the perfection of charity governance mechanisms.

Gerard Lemos, The End of the Chinese Dream: Why Chinese people fear the future

an original method to explore, in a scientific fashion, what ordinary people in Chongqing were really thinking and dreaming about. His strategy was to use a traditional object found everywhere in China called the tree, which is used during folk celebrations as a popular expression of devotion by traditional Tibetan Buddhists as well as by Daoists, and not only in China but also in Japan and in Korea. The function of these trees, on which the people are invited to attach papers expressing their wishes, is based on the belief that the wind carries prayers, including wishes written on sheets of paper, from earth to heaven. Lemos prepared his special survey at the beginning of 2007 by asking a graphic artist in the UK to design such a tree and corresponding leaf cards. The tree was printed on posters the size of large advertising boards. The leaf-shaped cards contained only four questions: Who are you? What event changed your life? What is your biggest worry? What do you wish for? 4 Lemos obtained a kind of official go-ahead through some senior officials in the Chongqing Civil Affairs Bureau that he got interested in his project. In May 2007, his Wish Tree was installed successively in three different locations in Chongqing. The first was in Hemu Lu (Harmony Road), a new housing development for farmers. At this first stop, 311 participants put leaves on the tree. The next day, another wish tree was erected in the community square of Ma'anshan, a village of 1,500 residents located in the northeast corner of Chongqing, and 624 more cards were collected there. In both places a community worker prepared for the event with posters that invited people to the wish tree. Lemos himself delivered a short speech in Mandarin, after which people took cards, thought carefully about their responses, and then put them on the tree. The next day, a third wish tree was erected in Banshanercun in Jiulongpo District, a large community stretching along winding roads and dominated by a long, brick factory where 3,000 people had once worked producing tyres, but in which only 1,000 were still employed at the time of the experiment. Another 492 wish cards were collected there. In this way, a total of 1,427 cards were collected. Gerard Lemos then had them translated and analysed thematically.

Factors influencing the decision to participate in medical premarital examinations in Hubei Province, Mid-China

BackgroundTo investigate the attitudes of premarital couples towards the premarital screening program after the abolition of compulsory screening in China and to study the factors influencing participation.MethodsBetween July 1st 2010 to August 31st 2010, 650 people who registered for marriage at the civil affairs bureau of Wuhan, Suizhou, Zaoyang in Hubei province were studied using questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to examine the factors influencing participation in the premarital screening program.ResultsThe premarital screening rate was 34.8% (95% Confidence Interval: 31.0% to 38.5%). Several demographic factors (age, residence, profession), awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards premarital screening all had significant influence on participation in the premarital screening program.ConclusionsPromotion activities and health education to improve knowledge and attitudes to premarital screening will help increase the rate of voluntary premarital screening.

Social Governance Innovations in Shenzhen: An Interview with Liu Runhua (刘润华)

Editor’s Note Over the past thirty years, as a special economic administrative region, Shenzhen has blazed many new paths of reform. Now, after thirty years, Shenzhen is once again leading the way with innovations and trials in the area of social reforms. From the Yantian Model (盐田模式) to “three half-steps”, the reformed method of social organization registration; from non-governmentally run social work units to establishment of community service centers; from encouraging the growth of the One Foundation’s operations in Shenzhen to inviting national philanthropic figures to participate in Shenzhen’s public-interest work, Shenzhen’s reforms have been inseparable from the encouragement of its Civil Affairs departments, inseparable from the innovative reform mindedness of the “Former Civil Affairs Bureau Chief”, Liu Runhua. In 2011, a team led by Professor Wang Ming (王名), Director of the NGO Research Center at the Tsinghua School of Public Policy and Management, conducted in-person interviews with this “social reformer”. Liu Runhua, then still Director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, stood both atop history and outside of his departmental context, to offer us far-reaching reflections on Shenzhen’s social management innovations. At the time of writing, Mr. Liu had been promoted up to Guangdong, where, as Managing Deputy Director of the Guangdong Provincial Social Work Committee, he is now able promulgate his ideas on public-interest activities in practice from a higher platform.

Social Governance Innovations Practices in Shanghai: An Interview with Ma Yili

Editor’s Note On August 25, 2011, Professor Wang Ming (王名) of the Tsinghua University School of Public Policy and Management and members of his research team conducted an interview with Mr. Ma Yili, Chief of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau on the topic of social governance innovations (社会管理创新) and practices and reflections in Shanghai. The talks revealed the following characteristics of Shanghai: first, the social management system has fully integrated characteristics peculiar to the current phase of Shanghai’s economic and social development. A Social Work Committee (社会工作党委) was organized as a non-entity (非实体) implementing department responsible for conducting macro-level research and undertaking coordination in the area of social management and society building. Second, Shanghai has continually adjusted relations between government and society in practice through social organization management. In addition, while emphasizing social organization capacity building, Shanghai has protected social organizations’ independence through agreements to purchase their services and other mechanisms. Third, in order to form a positive organizational ecology and collaborative culture, Shanghai has adopted an ecological view toward social organization enhancement and emphasized incubator building and enhancement of support-type organizations. The following represents the interview content following reorganization and editing.

How China responded to the May 2008 earthquake during the emergency and rescue period

This article describes the overall damage caused by the May 2008 earthquake in Beichuan County of Sichuan Province in China and the response over the initial three-month 'Emergency Response and Rescue Period' as defined by the Chinese government. We hope to inform people by sharing observations and that lessons from the earthquake can be learned in order to make response to similar disasters more effective in future. We used questionnaires to collect data from the County government authorities, including the health bureau, civil affairs bureau, county hospital, and authorities in four townships, four township hospitals, and four village health posts. In addition, we conducted semi-structured interviews with major directors of each department. The catastrophic damage caused by the earthquake attracted rapid and widespread responses from all the departments within the County as well as many external organizations. The inputs from the central government and other provincial and municipal government authorities, external medical teams, voluntary associations, other countries, and international organizations played important roles in minimizing the risk to survivors and maintaining social order. By formulating emergency plans, departments could more effectively fulfill their functions. Additional strategies are required to enhance cooperation and coordination between different sectors, and to help social organizations and the general public actively contribute so that similar disasters can be more effectively dealt with in the future.

The Politics of the Revival of Infant Abandonment in China, with Special Reference to Hunan

It is argued that abandonment of infant girls is severe in some regions and that abandonment results in death and the problem of girls. It is estimated that over 1 million girls are missing each year. There are many difficulties in accurately assessing the extent of abandonment. This article examines the problem of abandonment in Hunan province. Statistical data is supplemented by other documentary evidence. Abandonment of infant girls was widespread in Hunan and other parts of China prior to 1949. Orphanages were available from the late 17th century through the late 1930s. Historians reported that abandonment and infanticide declined significantly in Hunan from the 1950s through the early 1970s. The problem reappeared during the late 1970s after restrictive birth planning was introduced. Abandonment increased considerably by the late 1980s. During 1986-90 over 16000 children were brought to Hunan civil affairs departments as abandoned children. 92% were girls and many were only days old. 25% of the abandoned children were handicapped. Increased abandonment during 1986-90 followed a similar pattern in Hebei province. Hunans Civil Affairs Bureau (HCAB) reported a link between abandonment and birth planning campaigns. Abandonment is attributed by the state to feudal attitudes of peasants and not to central policy or son preference. The author asserts that the problem is related to layers of religious cultural and sometimes political factors supporting son preference and social security needs. The HCAB report partially disclosed how those in power directly and indirectly contributed to abandonment. The state civil affairs departments run the government welfare centers for foundlings which are poorly run and underfunded and face difficulties in obtaining official residential registration for orphans. Obstacles to adoption are identified. Womens rights activists face multi-layered political obstacles to the treatment prosecution and prevention of abandonment. Public attention to the problem of orphans and disabled institutionalized children has increased since 1993. It is suggested that better care of orphans is a positive effective way of responding to abandonment.