Sharan B. Merriam’s research while affiliated with University of Georgia and other places

Community well-being is a function of many factors working in concert to promote an optimal quality of life for all members of a community. It is argued here that attention to gender equity including the education and health of girls and women has a direct impact on numerous indicators of community well-being. Numerous international studies suggest that attention to gender equity creates human and social capital that enables community well-being. Human capital is the knowledge, skills and health embodied in individuals and social capital refers to the patterns and qualities of relationships in a community characterized by norms of trust and reciprocity. Women’s education has been linked to a reduction in infant and childhood mortality, socio-economic development, community development, physical and mental well-being as well as other factors. Attention to gender equity and in particular girls and women’s education, leads to greater human and social capital which in turn leads to community well-being.

Community wellbeing is a function of many factors working in concert to promote an optimal quality of life for all members of a community. It is argued here that the promotion of lifelong learning among older adults can significantly contribute to community wellbeing. The aging society is a worldwide phenomenon presenting both opportunities and challenges to community wellbeing. Research suggests that the more active, healthier, and educated older adults are, the less drain they are on family and community resources and services. At the same time, active and healthy elders contribute to community wellbeing through their accumulated life experience, expertise, and service. The relationship between lifelong learning and community wellbeing is argued from a social capital perspective. This framework contends that formal, nonformal, and informal learning activities of older adults promote an active and engaged lifestyle that helps create and preserve community. Issues of access and opportunity are also addressed.

Background: For a number of reasons from cultural compatibility, to accessibility, to cost, traditional healers are a major source of health care in developing countries. In Malaysia, 'en estimated that upwards of 80% of the population consult traditional healers even if simultaneously seeking treatment from the Western medical system. Partially as a result of the widespread practice of visiting traditional healers, cancer diagnosis and treatment in Malaysia is often delayed or interrupted resulting in late presentation, advanced stage diagnosis, and a higher mortality rate than in Western countries. However, there is very little research on the role of traditional healers in cancer treatment in Malaysia. Materials and methods: This qualitative study was designed to identify the roles traditional healers play in cancer diagnosis and treatment, with an eye to alleviating the cancer burden through educational responses with four publics in mind-policy makers, Western medical personnel, traditional healers, and the general public. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 Malay traditional healers, 13 cancer survivors who had seen both traditional healers and Western doctors, and 12 cancer medical specialists. Results: Analysis of the data from these 39 participants revealed four roles traditional healers play in cancer treatment-medicinal healer, emotional comforter, spiritual guide, and palliative caregiver. Conclusions: Three roles (emotional, spiritual, palliative) can be seen as complementary to the allopathic system. Emotional and spiritual roles may augment the effectiveness of biomedical treatment. Cancer awareness and education programs need to position traditional healers as complementary, rather than an alternative to Western medical treatment; Validating the roles Traditional Healers can play in cancer treatment in MY through health promotion and education will contribute to alleviating the nation's cancer burden.

Traditional healing is a common practice in low and middle income countries such as Malaysia. Eighty percent of Malaysians consult traditional healers or "bomoh" at some time in their life for health-related issues. The purpose of our study was to explore why breast cancer patients visit traditional healers. This is a qualitative study utilizing in-depth interviews with 11 cancer survivors who sought both traditional and Western medicine. The findings revealed the following reasons for which patients seek traditional healers: (1) recommendation from family and friends, (2) sanction from family, (3) perceived benefit and compatibility, (4) healer credibility, and (5) reservation with Western medicine and system delay. These factors work together and are strongly influenced by the Malaysian cultural context. The issue with the Western health system is common in a developing country with limited health facilities.

Abstract Developing countries share a disproportionate burden of late-stage cancer presentation and cancer-related deaths. This burden is often a function of an inadequately resourced healthcare system along with easier access to and preference for traditional healers. In Malaysia, traditional healers are so embedded in the culture that they are often the first and sometimes only source of cancer information and treatment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to assess the willingness and the means by which Malay traditional healers and Western cancer specialists might work collaboratively in addressing the country’s cancer burden. Interviews were conducted in urban and rural areas of Peninsular Malaysia with 14 Malay traditional healers known for treating cancer and with 12 cancer specialists. Findings from traditional healers suggest that there is a range of receptiveness for working with the Western medical system, with Islamic healers being the most receptive. Medical doctors readily acknowledged the presence of traditional healers and their personal willingness to cooperate; however, cooperation was conditional depending on the nature of the healer’s practice, the timing of the healer’s intervention, and the instituting of government oversight/regulation. Suggestions for fostering interaction and implications for healthcare policy are discussed.

Early discussions of insider/outsider status assumed that the researcher was predominately an insider or an outsider and that each status carried with it certain advantages and disadvantages. More recent discussions have unveiled the complexity inherent in either status and have acknowledged that the boundaries between the two positions are not all that clearly delineated. Four case studies - a Black woman interviewing other Black women, Asian graduate students in the US interviewing people from ‘back home’, an African professor learning from African businesswomen, and a cross-cultural team studying aging in a nonWestern culture - are used as the data base to explore the complexities of researching within and across cultures. Positionality, power, and representation proved to be useful concepts for exploring insider/outsider dynamics.

Situated learning theory understands learning to be a sociocultural activity, and individuals experience identity development as they participate in communities of practice. The purpose of this study was to understand how Korean older adults’ computer learning in a classroom is a situated activity and how this learning influences older adults’ identities. Eleven sessions of an intermediate course for older adults were observed, and 10 older computer learners were interviewed. This study revealed that social interactions, learning tools, the physical setting, and Korean culture were embedded in the course and shaped the learning processes. This study also found that the participants’ learning in the community of practice in the classroom as well as the larger community of general computer users influenced their identity.

As the population of older adults increases, the field of adult education needs to respond accordingly. The study reported in this paper examined motivations for learning among older adults actively engaged in formal lifelong learning. One hundred eighty-nine members of a Learning in Retirement institute were surveyed using Boshier's Education Participation Scale. Cognitive interest appeared to be the strongest motivator for learning. Social contact was the second most influential motivator. The findings of this study are consistent with, and add to, our knowledge derived from previous studies pertaining to the participation of older adults in formal learning. Recommendations for future research on older adult learning in different settings are presented.

The aging population is a worldwide challenge. Understanding how older adults have been portrayed would provide a foundation on which future scholarship can build. This study assesses and critiques the assumptions underlying the portrayal of older adults and their learning in adult education journals from 1980 to 2006. On reviewing 93 articles in five adult education journals, three themes emerge. First, older adults have been portrayed as a homogeneous group in terms of age, gender, race, class, ethnicity, and able-bodiedness. Second, older adults have been viewed as capable and motivated learners with few cognitive or physical limitations. Third, programmatic responses have been driven by the life context of older adulthood. Of the 93 articles reviewed, 26 are empirical studies. The findings are discussed and suggestions presented for future research and scholarship on older adult learners.

Drawing from previous chapters in this volume, this final chapter proposes that adult learning theory is attending more to the various contexts where learning takes place and to its multidimensional nature.