The effects of stress on the psychosocial well-being of older persons have been well documented. Research on stress among the aged has generally considered recent life events as salient stressors in late life and has focussed on older persons without regard to racial differences. Interviews were conducted with 400 elderly black and white residents…

Research with older persons suffering from physical illness presents numerous challenges to gerontologists. Issues of conceptualization pertaining to the definition of illness, its location in the research paradigm, and the context in which illness occurs must be addressed prior to dealing with methodological problems. Access to physically ill…

The topic of caregiving was investigated with respect to the burden experienced by primary caregivers of older persons who had recently suffered a myocardial infarction. Structured interviews were completed with 104 primary care providers who were part of a larger National Institute on Aging funded survey. The caregivers were of both sexes and…

Although illness is often linked to low morale among the elderly, most persons cope with and adjust to illness. A hypothesized model of favorable family response to illness suggests the importance of resources as mediators to avoid crisis. To test this model, 53 older patients with lung disease and their spouses were interviewed about individual…