There is a current trend towards maintaining dementia patients at home and postponing institutionalization as long as possible. Previous research has suggested that frequency of help and support received by the caregiver is more predictive of burden than memory or behavior problems of the patient. Burden and distress were investigated using a…

While there are acknowledged physical, psychological, and social benefits to be derived from maintaining sexual activity in old age, the negative cultural attitudes displayed by younger members of society as well as by their own peers constitute a barrier to the achievement of a satisfactory sex life for the elderly. A study was undertaken to…

Sixty older parents were interviewed about plans for the future living arrangements of their 35 adult mentally retarded sons and daughters. Seventeen of the 35 families lived in rural communities, 18 in an urban area. Questions focused on (1) whether or not group care was perceived as an alternative to sibling care or institutional placement; and…

Some research has found that women's retirement from the labor force produces significant changes in their lives and requires further investigation. The effects of career pattern and retirement on activity involvement and life satisfaction for women who had been in the work force was investigated. Subjects were members of the Terman Study of the…

Because of increased life spans and lower fertility rates, adults over 65 will continue to comprise a larger proportion of the population. The traditional emphasis on individual and family care of older Americans has been replaced by an emphasis on the obligation of society. Currently, poor health is the most prevalent problem reported among older…

This paper describes a Nursing Home Ombudsman Program, developed to provide employment for the "unemployable" older adult, that hired 19 older adults to work 20 hours per week for a year, providng friendly visits to senior residents living in nursing homes and minimum outreach services to community seniors. A two-week, eight-session orientation…

A 1980 sample of 271 elderly (133 rural, 138 urban) in 3 south-central Oklahoma counties (Coal, Murray, and Pontotoc) was surveyed to see if: an economical tool could be devised to assess program effectiveness; professionals providing services to the elderly were influenced by, and influenced the opinions of, recipients in urban areas due to their…

Studies conducted in specifically age-segregated housing for older persons suggest that such age-homogeneous settings encourage networks of friendships and mutual assistance. Since patterns of age segregation exist within communities, such segregation may result in similar social benefits. Interviews (N=1,185) assessing social networks were…

This report describes a technique developed as part of the As Parents Grow Older (APGO) Project at the University of Michigan Institute of Gerontology which uses audiotape recordings in the analysis and evaluation of group intervention programs such as those designed to aid middle-aged adults in understanding and caring for their aging parents and…

Only a longitudinal study, in which retrospective reports can be verified against data collected earlier, can determine what topics tend to be reported accurately and whether certain types of individuals are more likely to be accurate reporters. A representative group of adults who became parents 50 years ago are now part of the oldest and longest…

An important reaction to individuals involved in problem solving is detecting the accuracy of their responses. Prior research has established that young adults are accurate in estimating correctness to responses on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). These findings were extended to the elderly; also considered was whether…

Although the older person's economic stiuation has improved, older women, minorities, and rural residents have incomes significantly lower than those for the older population in general. Older married women may appear to be financially secure, but many of their resources often disappear when their husbands die. Widowhood or divorce endangers the…

The reading interests of a group of older adults were examined. Subjects were 16 adults between the ages of 50 and 85 who read five stories from "Readers' Digest" short story collections and who responded to a questionnaire about their preferences for the stories, their reading habits and interests, and the appealing elements of the stories. The…

The confidant relationship is a qualitatively distinct dimension of the emotional support system of the aged, yet the composition of the confidant network has been largely neglected in research on aging. Persons (N=940) 60 years of age and older were interviewed about their socio-environmental setting. From the enumeration of their relatives,…

Recent efforts have been made to develop more age-appropriate intelligence measures for the elderly to determine the nature of age differences and changes in adult cognitive development. Spatial and reasoning performances of young, young-old and old-old individuals were compared on traditional versus familiar and presumably more meaningful…