Study sought to describe the very old living in rural areas and make predictions of survival rates of rural elders to very old age. Among the findings, very old rural adults were found most likely to live with others. Demographic and early life achievement influenced survival to very old age. (RJM)

These six papers report on future-oriented studies of the situation of the elderly. "Changing Elderly in a Changing Society: Danish Elderly in the Next Century" (Henning Friis) reports on research dealing with preferences of the future elderly for their life when they grow older. "Aging Effectively: Meeting the Challenge of an Aging…

A survey of the 29 Michigan community colleges was conducted in regard to the services each provided to older Americans. The survey data indicated that two fundamental strategies exist for serving the older population: an integrated effort whereby the objective is the inclusion of older adults in existing services; or specific programmatic efforts…

Describes the results of projects exploring the potential of information technology for delivering health care. Describes a proposed project coupling the telephone with computerized audiotext responses, which would provide elderly patients with information, contact, and reassurance. (SR)

Examines differences in perceived caregiver availability among a random sample of Mexican American and non-Hispanic white young-old residents in three socioeconomically distinct neighborhoods. For MAs across all three socioeconomic status groups, being female, widowed, and having more chronic illnesses was associated with a lesser likelihood of…

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of an educational intervention on the knowledge and attitudes of pre-allied health students toward older adults. The subjects were 41 pre-allied health students assigned to an intervention (n = 19) or comparison group (n = 22). The intervention group participated in a six-hour multi-modal…

A study compared effects of two methods of teaching geriatric dentistry: traditional approach based on readings, and computer-assisted simulation of patient interaction and clinical decision making. Although subjects (n=20) showed no significant differences by treatment, computer-trained students had statistically nonsignificant higher performance…

The development and testing of an instrument for assessing dental students' attitudes toward the handicapped is presented. This instrument is easily administered (approximately 10 minutes) and scored, and possesses sound psychometric properties. Norms were derived from 826 students in 8 regionally-distributed dental schools. Content validity of…

This report contains the proceedings of four sessions of the Interagency Panel for Research and Development on Adulthood (October 1978 - April 1979): (1) Postsecondary Education Reauthorization and the Adult/Nontraditional Learner, (2) Changing Socio-Demographics in the United States and Their Impact on Social Institutions, (3) Stress and Social…

A 24-month study of 96 patients in a community-based oral health promotion project found the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI), a self-report measure of oral health, to be sensitive to provision of dental care. Some further development of measures is needed. Potential applications of this and similar self-report measures in dental…

Rapid technological change in American society has been accompanied by accelerating growth of the population over 65. This report discusses the new challenges that will face the public and private sectors in both responding to the needs and making use of the resources of older Americans. The report discusses five chronic conditions that severely…

The psychological factors associated with paranursing expertise were examined in a study of 135 certified nursing assistants (CNAs) at a geriatric nursing facility in Amarillo, Texas. Data were collected through a project-developed screening tool called the Geriatric Employee Screening Tool (GEST), which is a true-false instrument patterned after…

Purpose: More than 14 million persons are projected to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) by the year 2020; therefore, it is not surprising that the literature contains numerous caregiver intervention studies. What is surprising is that although minority elders represent one of the fastest growing segments of the older population, they are…

Estimates the effects of various parent and child characteristics on the choice of care arrangement of the parent, taking into account the potential endogeneity of some of the child characteristics. Three equations are estimated: care choice, child location, and child work. Results suggest a hierarchy of family decision making; child locations…