This paper focuses on three issues: (1) gender seems to structure life chances so that women and men end up with quite different fates in later life; (2) maintaining a sense of adequate masculinity seems to remain very important to men until the end of life, and most women also seem to need to experience themselves as feminine, but are less…

Since the elderly are a significant population of health care consumers, health care professionals should be trained to deliver health services to them as effectively and humanely as possible. While the primary tool for delivery of health care services to people is human communication, there is evidence that the communication between the providers…

Suggests alternatives to the medical education model for teaching geriatrics. Proposes geriatric learning that shows interdisciplinary care, stresses wellness over illness, and demonstrates examples of care, support, independence, and limited maintenance away from nursing homes and hospitals. (Author/ABB)

Problems of elderly persons in developing nations are rising. Identification and execution of research priorities and training in gerontology and geriatrics for medical, paramedical, and community personnel and older adults themselves would help achieve healthy aging. (SK)

Although there is some geriatric content in optometry curriculum, such as pathology and diseases associated with aging, the emphasis would be better placed on aging as a normal process. Further education about the elderly population as a whole and further legislation for comprehensive care are needed. (MSE)

The origin of the responsibility of pharmacy schools to provide continuing education for pharmacists is examined. Characteristics of pharmacists as learners are identified in order to formulate the learning opportunities. Resources needed by schools to develop learning alternatives and strategies for meeting pharmacist needs are also discussed.…

Outlines a framework for organizing discussions of quality of life for elderly persons with disabilities, reviews relevant empirical research, and develops a framework for understanding the different interpretations of quality of life as it is used in communication among health care providers, elderly patients, and their families. New models of…

Health communication, gerontology/geriatrics, and the interdisciplinary team approach to health care are considered together in this paper as a critical field for communication research. The first section of the paper offers a definition of interdisciplinary health care teams, then reviews their goals, composition, history and training. The second…

Reviews a set of five studies reevaluating the "myth of relocation trauma" and supporting a no effect conclusion. Fallacies and sources of unreliability are discussed and general issues of relocation research are raised. The second article is a response to the first and defends the assertions made. (JAC)

This article discusses the following questions: What opportunities and challenges for nursing leadership present themselves in institutions that provide care for our expanding aged population? Should nursing administrators take up these challenges? If so, what skills, resources, and attitudes will they need? (Author/CT)

The Geriatric Assessment Unit (GAU), which has proven successful in urban areas, may be a viable system for providing health care to the elderly in rural areas. GAUs engage in assessment, follow-up response to findings, education, and research. The assessment component includes, at minimum, physical health, functional ability in activities of…

Suggests using the paradigm of qualitative research, consistent with the bio-psycho-social perspective, rather than the "rule out" decision-tree method of diagnosis for training in geriatrics. Argues that this paradigm would provide clinicians with the broadest picture of the presented problem. (Author/ABB)

Contains 16 articles exploring the following: the impact of sociodemographic change on long-term care; current concerns and future challenges in recruiting and retaining health care workers; the responses of social work, geriatric medicine, nurse practitioner, and allied health educators to the growing demand; and the increased need for volunteer,…

Forces acting on medical education and compelling a reexamination of current approaches include cost containment, competition and price sensitivity, new technologies, the physician surplus, and a rapidly expanding, politically assertive aging population. (MSE)

The challenge of geriatric medicine in an era of limited resources is addressed. Focus is on containing the costs of health care in several neglected areas of geriatrics: stroke, long-term care, patient and family counseling, and death. (JMD)