House Cleaning Research Articles

“Cleaning house” on your computer

Mark L. Jewell, MD, Eugene, Oregon The hard drive on your computer functions much like an electronic filing cabinet that contains your computer's operating system, the software that you installed, and data files. Data files are produced from software programs on your computer or imported from outside sources (e.g., the internet, digital images, sounds, or amenity programs such as CD-ROM clip art). Applications that use digital images such as games or imaging software require large amounts of hard drive space. Although your computer's hard drive may seem to have ample storage capacity, it could still benefit from a periodic “house cleaning” to maintain excellent performance. Your hard drive can become overloaded with useless files in several ways. Use of on-line communications, electronic mail, and the internet over an extended period can expend an enormous amount …

AFFLUENT PLAYERS IN THE INFORMAL ECONOMY: EMPLOYERS OF PAID DOMESTIC WORKERS

This article uses the case of paid domestic work in Los Angeles to argue that affluent and middle‐class members of U.S. society constitute important participants in the informal economy. In‐depth, tape‐recorded interviews conducted with thirty‐five employers of nannies and house cleaners, and survey responses of 154 Latina house cleaners and nannies shows that compliance with government regulations, as indicated by payment of Social Security, Medicare and federal tax withholdings, are rare. Affluent citizens may not directly depend on informally generated income, but as employers of paid domestic workers and nannies, they do depend on informally organized and remunerated services. Employers of paid domestic workers rely on three major narrative strategies to distance themselves from the regulations, arguing that the standards should be followed by certain categories of people (attorneys, celebrities, the very wealthy), that the regulations apply only to those employing full‐time help, and that the regulations are illegitimate because both undocumented workers and the state lack legitimacy. These rationalizations allow them to simultaneously condemn Zoe Baird and yet follow the same practices. Upgrading the occupation requires state support and the education of employers. This process would lead to greater recognition of paid domestic work as an occupation, one that merits the protections and regulatory guidelines governing other jobs.

Informal Caregiving to Aging Family Members: A Critical Review

Since the early 1980s, there has been an explosion of literature on caregiving to aging family members. This work appears in a variety of outlets, but mostly in gerontological journals, and somewhat peripherally in journals specifically focused on families. Within the family caregiving literature, there is great ambiguity around three significant questions: (a) What is caregiving? (b) What are the negative and positive outcomes of caregiving for caregivers? and (c) What is the relation between family or informal caregiving and paid or formal caregiving? Confusion in these three areas makes it difficult to compare findings across studies and to draw reliable implications for practice. Thus, we examine the literature on caregiving to aging family members with particular attention to the family aspect of caregiving, addressing these three central questions. Throughout this review, we note assumptions and empirical gaps in the literature, as well as the implications of this literature for researchers and for practitioners who work with family members, particularly the caregivers. WHAT IS CAREGIVING? Most commonly, family caregiving has been conceptualized as occurring when one or more family members give aid or assistance to other family members beyond that required as part of normal everyday life. Generally, family caregiving begins when aging family members require assistance due to debilitating chronic conditions or diseases, such as severe arthritis, significant sensory loss, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, or when they are otherwise frail. A review of the family caregiving literature, however, reveals that a clear and precise definition, which is essential for researchers and for professionals who work with family caregivers, is 1 missing (Barer & Johnson, 1990; Cantor, 1991; MaloneBeach & Zarit, 1991). Caregiving Versus Aid Caregiving is not always easily distinguished from aid given as a part of the normal exchange in family relationships. Some of the difficulty in defining family caregiving rests in the history and nature of the connection between the caregiver and the care receiver. Even when care receivers have similar levels of dependence, the help provided by family caregivers differs by gender and by generation (Dwyer & Seccombe, 1991). For example, using data from the 1982 National Long-Term Care Survey and the associated National Survey of Informal Caregivers, Dwyer and Seccombe (1991) found that caregiving husbands reported giving more care than wives. The authors suggested that caregivers report activities that are not ordinary for them or that are not part of their normal responsibilities. As wives and/or mothers, women perform many tasks, such as laundry, meal preparation, house cleaning, and so on, that are included in measures of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs; e.g., laundry, meal preparation). Because IADLs are consistent with everyday household work (Sankar, 1993), wives may not consider such tasks to be caregiving activities, but husbands, who are less often involved in household work, and who take on these tasks primarily because their wives are unable to do them, see dusting and vacuuming as caregiving. In the same way, daughters may distinguish the tasks they do in their own households from those they do in the homes of their mothers and fathers. Cleaning house is typically a responsibility of wives in their own homes, but having to do so in another house is caregiving. Similarly, in the National Health Interview Survey, men aged 75 and above were less likely than women to report needing assistance with IADLs, but equally likely to report needing assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing and walking (Pratt, Sasser-Coen, & Acock, 1993). Perhaps older men did not see in themselves a need for IADL assistance because someone had always done these tasks for them, but help with grooming, bathing, and dressing was recognized as aid. …

Photos from the Past

Recent house cleaning and downsizing preparations have un earthed some images from my past that are worth sharing. Honolulu 1970, Richard Nixon was President and the

Host susceptibility to indoor air pollution

Host susceptibility to indoor air pollution

Mothers' experience with household roles and social support during the first postpartum year.

This prospective, longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the changes in the division of household labor, and in the emotional and practical support received by new mothers during the first postpartum year. Questionnaires were completed by 436 married, recently employed mothers at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after they had delivered their first child. Results showed that women assumed primary responsibility for the majority of household tasks studied, and that they perceived declines over time in their husbands' participation in household chores, their husbands' and others' expressions of caring, and in the frequency with which friends and relatives "helped out" during the year. Women who had had cesarean sections (versus those with vaginal deliveries) and who returned to work (versus those who stayed home) believed their husbands participated more in traditionally feminine household chores. Women's satisfaction with their husbands' contribution to household activities was significantly related to their own mental health, delivery type (cesarean section), job status (being at home vs. back at work), and family income; and to their husbands' occupation, expressions of caring, and participation in child care and certain household chores (house cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, washing clothes and dishes, household repairs, car maintenance, and garbage removal). Overall, these findings showed diminishing levels of emotional and practical support for women at a time when the need for support was likely greater: following the birth of their first child.

Past and present physical activity and endometrial cancer risk.

We examined the relation between physical activity and endometrial cancer using data from a multicentre case-control study involving 405 endometrial cancer cases and 297 population controls. Estimates of recreational (i.e. active sport, walks and hikes) and nonrecreational activity (i.e. house cleaning, climbing stairs and walking or standing on the job) were obtained using interview information. After adjustment for age, study area, education, parity, years of use of oral contraceptives, years of use of menopausal oestrogens and cigarette smoking, recent recreational inactivity was associated with increased risk (RR = 1.9 for lowest vs highest tertile). Similarly, recent nonrecreational inactivity was associated with increased risk (RR = 2.2 for lowest vs highest tertile). Further adjustment for body mass and nonrecreational activity attenuated the association between risk and recent recreational inactivity (RR = 1.2; 95% CL = 0.7-2.0) but adjustment for body mass and recreational activity did not alter the association between risk and recent nonrecreational inactivity (RR = 2.0; 95% CL = 1.2-3.1). To evaluate the relation between risk and sustained inactivity, we simultaneously examined activity levels at three periods (RR i.e. age 20-29, age 30-39 and recently) in women age 50 and older. After adjustment for potential confounders and body mass, risk was elevated among women who were always recreationally inactive (RR = 1.5 for always active vs always inactive) and among women who were always nonrecreationally inactive (RR = 1.6 for always active vs always inactive). This study suggests that physically inactive women may be at increased risk of endometrial cancer because they are more likely to be overweight or obese. Our data also suggest that inactivity per se may be associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that our results, particularly those for nonrecreational activity, reflect unmeasured confounding factors. Future studies should attempt to obtain more detailed assessments of physical activity, including the intensity with which an individual engaged in an activity and the actual time involved in exertion.

Rotten Kids or Manipulative Parents: Are Children Old Age Security in Western Kenya?

This study of old age assistance is based on a sample of elderly households (>60 years) in Karateng sublocation which is 375 km west northwest of Nairobi Kenya. In the area nonagricultural sources of income predominate. Interviews were conducted at the height of the hungry season. Whether parents can influence the level of assistance their offspring provide by adapting the bargaining model of intergenerational transfers developed by Bernheim et al. (BSS) is examined. This model captures both the conflict and cooperation within a family. There is brief discussion of the BSS model demographic and economic characteristics of the elderly and the nature of assistance from children. An econometric model of the determinants of the levels of assistance is provided. The results of the analysis are that children serve as old age security by providing food money and assistance with household tasks. The most common form of assistance was water (70.3% secured water on at least 1 occasion). >50% had received meals in the previous week. Collection of firewood and house cleaning were also widespread. Frequent assistance was low for washing clothes fetching firewood and going to market. 55.7% of assistance was provided by sons and their wives and children. The most common foodstuffs received were maize and maize flour tea and sugar. Nonfood items were rarely received. The largest single receipt was money and absent sons. More than 60% received assistance in the form of materials or cash for dwelling construction. Wealthier parents are more likely to receive greater transfers. Elderly households with greater numbers of children are better cared for than those with fewer children. In Karateng in contrast to other South Asian studies successful elderly parents had both migrant sons and children resident or adjacent to them. In the econometric analysis the hypothesis that the elderly can manipulate behavior to obtain higher levels of care is supported. Sons provide assistance out of a sense of duty and not for personal gain. Household heads >50 years responded that the land would be divided equally among the sons. In fact land was equally divided in only 40-50% of the cases. The small sample size restricts the applicability of results.

Spring Fever: A Major Writer's Block

Which time of year is the one which seems to be the hardest for you to complete writing or editing projects? Although the December holiday season may seem the most obvious because it is a busy period, it probably is not the worst season for finding time to work on publishing projects. For me, the Christmas holiday season is relatively short and I can usually plan around it without long writing delays. Because it is colder in Winter and the days are shorter, I am somewhat content staying inside for writing projects. There are indeed some days with blowing snow outside the window that I feel content to stay put and write. Now comes the hard time—Spring. Spring is clearly the most difficult period for me. After the long winter, the flowers and spring air are intoxicating. The sun is not only higher in the sky, but stays longer, thus pulling you outside more. Not only do you want to enjoy it, but you probably have projects like Spring cleaning (oh, no!) and gardening to add to your list of personal projects. There is a physiologic response as well, since exposure to sunlight helps to increase the secretion of anti-depression hormones. In the Spring, I am ready to sit in the warm sun, not write. I notice that other authors have the same problem. I can count on most manuscripts coming in late during Spring for all three journals I edit (Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, Recruitment & Retention Report, and Nurse Author & Editor). This is so common, that I can actually plan around it. I get to know the express mail delivery people well during this season; they agree that late papers are so common during this season that it even helps provide them with job security from increased business. Spring Fever can take a toll on your motivation to write. So, I now keep a writing project handy on one side of my desk along with my sun visor and sun glasses, ready to go at any moment. This short respite helps me to use my time efficiently and motivates me to write. I start to anticipate extra writing sessions by looking out the window to see if it is a day for these short writing periods. Delegate typing to a secretary. If you do not have a secretary, or yours is too busy, see if there is one in another department and ask for permission to work with her or him. For the book I wrote, High Risk Parenting, an out-patient physician's secretary was able to use her off time for extra typing jobs, plus she was able to use the department's computer as long as I bought the floppy disks. Consider delegating “Spring Cleaning.” Hire a local house-cleaning service to clean your home. One of the most acclaimed prizes awarded to nurses at one hospital during May Nurses' Week is a certificate good for a house cleaning. You might find you like it so well that you continue even after Spring turns to Summer. Spring is a wonderful time for renewed enthusiasm. You can make the Spring-time writer's blocks work for instead of against you, with these new strategies. — Suzanne Hall Johnson, RN MN, Nurse Author & Editor and Director, Hall Johnson Communications, Inc., Lakewood, CO., (303) 988-0056.

Dermatitis-Sympathetic Dysfunction in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

A 52-year-old woman complained of numbness affecting the thumb, index, and middle fingers of both hands. The patient was managed with night splints with partial relief of symptoms. As a house cleaner, the patient was routinely exposed to water and detergents. About a year later, the patient developed contact dermatitis in the fingertips innervated by the median nerves. Electromyographic studies confirmed the presence of bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. The temperature of all the fingertips was measured. The median innervated fingertips were warmer than those innervated by the ulnar nerves. The median sympathetic fibers may be compromized by compression in the carpal tunnel. This caused vasodilation, increased finger temperature, and lack of sweating in the median innervated fingers. Due to regular exposure to water and detergents, the susceptible dry fingertips developed contact dermatitis. The patient was managed conservatively, and the rash and numbness disappeared.

Household Demand for Market Purchased, Home Producible Commodities

The purpose of this study was to obtain a better understanding of the household‐'s choice to purchase market commodities that could be substituted for home pro duced commodities. A household production model provided the theoretical framework. Logit demand functions for 12 different market commodities were estimated. The commodities were house cleaning, car repair, home repair, lawn care, exterior painting, interior painting, wall papering, food preparation, clothing construction, clothing repair, clothes laundering, and day care for children. The empirical results were used to classify these various activities as relatively sepa rable or inseparable household production activities. The value of time was found to be an important determinant in the purchase of market commodities. The results have implications for family economists and for marketers of household services.

Cracks in Geriatric Aircraft

A SPATE OF STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS IN OLDER PLANES RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT THE AIRWORTHINESS OF THE U.S. PASSENGER FLEET. INDUSTRY PLANS A MAJOR HOUSE CLEANING

Bristol report highlights need for services.

A range of community services such as chiropody, house cleaning, meals on wheels and dental care are needed to make care in the community a reality, says a report on health visitors and community nurses in Bristol.

A CASE-CONTROL STUDY OF BLADDER CANCER USING CITY DIRECTORIES AS A SOURCE OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA

Commercial city directories, currently produced in 1,250 United States cities, potentially provide yearly information on occupation and employer for all city residents over age 18 years. To investigate the usefulness of these occupational data, the authors have conducted a case-control study of male bladder cancer mortality in Hamilton County, Ohio (which includes Cincinnati). A total of 731 bladder cancer cases who died during 1960-1982 were matched on age, sex, race, date-of-death, and residence at death to two controls per case. Risks of bladder cancer death were calculated by occupation, industry, and specific employer, using both city directories (multiple statements) and death certificates (single statement). Four companies showed a significant excess bladder cancer risk when using city directories. Only one would have been identified using death certificates, which ask for usual lifetime type of industry rather than a specific company name. Using city directories, significant positive associations were found between bladder cancer and occupation as an engineer, tailor, carpenter, furnace operator, blending machine operator, chemist, pressing machine operator, house cleaner, or salesman. For industry, the authors found significant positive associations for the textile, chemical, grain mill, foundry, petroleum, building service, entertainment, and advertising industries. A significant increase in risk for those with 20 or more years of employment was seen for those employed as truck drivers and furnace operators, or those employed in the railroad industry. A check of the validity of city directory data indicated that 77 per cent of the listings agreed with Social Security earnings reports for employer in any given year. One limitation of Hamilton County city directory data was the fairly large number of yearly listings without any occupational data (15 per cent for occupation, 36 per cent for employer). While city directory data do provide work history over time, unlike death certificates, such data are available only for years of residence in the city in question.

Rotavirus and Enterotoxigenic Escherichia Coli Infections of Calves on a Closed Finnish Dairy Farm

Rotavirus and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli infections of calves were surveyed during 2 successive years on a closed Finnish dairy farm consisting of 90–105 milking cows. From a clinical standpoint, diarrhoea was of moderate to high severity during the first year, compared to the milder disease in the second year of the study. Diarrhoea or abnormal faeces were found only in calves less than 8 weeks old, with the peak occurring during the first 2 weeks of life. In the first year, rotavirus was detected throughout the calving season in diarrhoeic or abnormal faeces of calves aged 1 day to 7 weeks. In the second calving season, rotavirus was detected only during the 4 autumn months and in calves aged 11 days to 8 weeks. Rotavirus was detected in only 1 sample of normal faeces in both years. Electron microscopy revealed no enteropathogenic viruses other than rotaviruses. Enterotoxigenic K99 E. coli was found in about half of diarrhoeic or abnormal faeces in both years and throughout the calving seasons. K99 E. coli was also found in 5–10 % of normal faeces. In the second year of the study, 45 of 101 pregnant dams were vaccinated with 2 doses of E. coli antigen. The vaccination trial did not prevent or reduce altered faeces in calves whose dams had been vaccinated compared with calves whose dams had not been vaccinated in the same year. Comparing the 2 years, the earlier uptake of colostrum together with better cleaning and disinfection of the calf house, contributed to the later and rarer occurrence of rotavirus infection in the second year of the study. The earlier uptake of colostrum together with better cleaning and disinfection of the salf house, in the second year, could not prevent enterotoxigenic E. coli infections in calves but partly prevented and modified the disease.

Mother Care

Independence Health Plan, a health maintenance organization, offers a post-natal care program called MOTHER CARE, which allows the mother and newborn to return home within twenty-four hours of delivery. A nurse from the Visiting Nurse Association of Metropolitan Detroit visits the mother and baby the day following hospital discharge and again three days later. A home care aide from Homemakers Service of Metropolitan Detroit provides up to twenty-four hours (divided among several days) of aide service; responsibilities may include house cleaning, meal preparation, shopping and child care. Two goals are accomplished: mothers and babies return home with adequate support to ensure a safe, comfortable recovery and family integration; hospital costs are reduced. An evaluation of the program is in process.

Examination of Turkey Eggs, Poults and Brooder House Facilities for Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacter jejuni was not isolated from fertile turkey eggs or from newly-hatched poults. The organism was present in 16 to 76% of fecal swabs of 15-to 19-day old turkeys from two commercial brooder facilities, and was isolated from litter and drinking water. Extensive cleaning of a brooder house and application of new litter seemed to exclude litter, water, feed and grit as initial sources of contamination. Newly-hatched poults could be raised in a Campylobacter-free environment for 19 to 21 d without evidence of this organism in fecal swabs.

Needs of the elderly in Finland: Descriptive results of a national population survey

The growing demand for health and social services among the retired population is one of the great challenges in the developed countries in the 1980s according to recent population estimates. As a part of a larger population survey the paper attempts to assess the present needs of the elderly in Finland. The basic health status, the ability to move, the need for assistance from another person in basic daily activities and the prevalence of selected complaints are described among 1766 persons of at least 65 years of age. They formed a nation-wide representative sample of the retired non-institutionalized population. The data, which are a part of the Finnish national health and social security survey in 1976, were collected by public health nurses in household interviews. About 80% of the retired population had at least one defect or injury that lowered their general working capacity or activity or at least one chronic illness. This percentage did not vary greatly among the retired population by age. One third of the retired population had restrictions on the ability to move in the age group of 65–69 years and this percentage grew by age so that the same proportion was about 50% in the age group of 75 years and over. Women suffered more often than men from restrictions on the ability to move. The need for assistance from another person in basic daily activities grew clearly by age among the retired population. House cleaning and shopping were activities for which the need for assistance from another person was the most frequent. The need for assistance was rather rare for dressing, visits to the WC and eating among the non-institutionalised retired population, which suggested that problems in these activities were one of the main factors causing institutionalization. Fatigue and sleeplessness were the most prevalent perceived complaints among the retired population. Women experienced all complaints more often than men. The results supported the views that the health problems of the very old are different from those of the younger retired population, because the functional health status, i.e. the social consequences of health problems, seems to initiate a greater need for care among the more elderly age groups.

PRODUCTIVE TIME OF HOUSEHOLD HEADS

This study is an analysis of the utility value of time. Time is viewed on a productivity continuum with activities that result in measurable products such as income or home sewing at one extreme of the continuum and activities such as sleep at the other extreme.The use of time by unemployed and employed heads of households was the basis for this analysis. Four measures of time were constructed to determine the amount of time spent in market, household, leisure and personal activities.Unemployed heads of households spent more time in household and leisure activities than employed heads. Assuming that household activities have productive value, time spent in child care, shopping, house cleaning, etc., were viewed as having utility value for the household. Thus, reallocated time had utility value for the household. In addition, it was found that a significant relationship existed between employment status and use of time, regardless of position on the productivity continuum.From this study comes a better understanding of how time is reallocated during unemployment so that the economic loss for the household as well as the economy can be minimized.

EVALUATION OF HEALTH SERVICES

". . . one of the dangers, then, of too rigorous an examination of medicine, requiring proof beyond a reasonable doubt, is that ‘caring’ might be lost in the ‘house cleaning.’"