While research has documented the strengths of the family as a support system to the elderly, there is less understanding of what happens when supports are needed over an extended time. To study family care when support needs persist for a long period, 115 older adults were studied after discharge from the hospital and again about 8 months later.…

This paper describes the Winnebago County (Wisconsin) Community Options Program, begun in January, 1982, which provides for a comprehensive assessment of all elderly persons within the target area who are at risk of becoming institutionalized. The paper focuses on the planning activities for the first year of the pilot program including community…

An indication of the failure of the mental health system in this country is reflected in the increasingly visible homeless population, many of whom suffer from some form of untreated mental illness. Public policy priorities have shifted from proactive, treatment-oriented policies to reactive, punitive institutionalization. The…

This study was designed to determine the most common health needs and problems that family nurse practitioners (FNP) deal with, to determine how competent FNPs judge themselves to be, to determine what sources in nursing education FNPs judge to be most valuable, and to determine whether or not there were significant differences in the level of…

Findings are presented from a 1978 survey of 330 parents of developmentally disabled children in Lake County, Illinois regarding their current satisfactions and projected needs. The first section portrays the sample demographics (age, sex, type of disability, yearly family income, area of residence). A section on family support analyzes responses…

The following issues are addressed in this paper: (1) blacks are significantly dependent on public general hospitals for their medical care; (2) public hospitals represent an important community resource to the black community; (3) there are a number of forces at work on public general hospitals to either close or to significantly reduce the…

Addressing the shortage of health care providers in rural areas, this study examined the relationship between selected sociodemographic and background factors of students to intentions to practice as physician assistants in rural underserved areas. Respondents in the study were 82 students in the University of Kentucky physician assistant program…

Despite evidence that levels of social support can affect health, there has been little work isolating the factors which actually mediate the relationship between social support and health. In an attempt to analyze the role of nutrition as a mediating factor of health and social support among the elderly, female older adults (N=43) responded to an…

This paper discusses the importance of maternal and infant health for children's educational achievement. Education, health, and nutrition are so closely related that changes in one causes changes in the others. Improvement of maternal and preschooler health and nutrition is a precondition for improved educational achievement. Although parental…

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…

This discussion document from a symposium on shut out youth attempts to heighten awareness of the housing problems experienced by youth in Ireland. It is based on information obtained from a questionnaire sent to voluntary organizations working in local areas. It focuses on homelessness and its related issues of health, education, and the…

Research has found a strong relationship between aggregate economic indicators and the number of individuals receiving services from mental health facilities. To examine the relationship between macroeconomics and health, the broad utilization patterns and demographic information on the aggregate number of individuals using the mental health…

Life expectancy among certain American Indian tribes is only 50 years of age as compared with 74.6 years for the general population. Leading causes of death among Indian infants continue to be respiratory, digestive, infective, parasitic disease, and congenital malformations. Child obesity, dental caries, atherosclerosis, iron deficiency anemia,…

The introduction to this Technical Committee Report reviews the health status of the older population and examines major disease entities where health maintenance and promotion can play a role. Part One, "Health Maintenance and Health Promotion Services," discusses the physical and social environments, indicators of change in physical…

This paper discusses the problems faced by young Australian Aboriginal families and particularly their children as they attempt to find a satisfactory solution to being Aboriginal in a dominant white urban society. The paper is restricted to a consideration of country-urban Aborigines categorized as 'fringe dwellers,' because they live…