Purpose: The Medicare Consumer Assessments of Healthcare Providers and Systems (MCAHPS) survey, a primarily English-language mail survey with English and Spanish telephone follow-up, is the primary means of assessing the health care experiences of American seniors. We examine unit (whole survey) and item nonresponse for this survey to explore…

Purpose: Assess psychometric properties of scales developed to assess experience and perception of physical, psychological, and existential suffering in older individuals. Design and Methods: Scales were administered to 3 populations of older persons and/or their family caregivers: individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their family…

Purpose: Cognitive training improves mental abilities in older adults, but the benefit to minority elders is unclear. We conducted a subgroup analysis of subjects in the SeniorWISE (Wisdom Is Simply Exploration) trial to examine this issue. Design and Methods: SeniorWISE was a Phase 3 randomized trial that enrolled 265 nondemented…

Purpose: This study assessed the effectiveness of Active Start, a community-based behavior change and fitness program, designed to promote physical activity among sedentary community-dwelling older adults. Design and Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used. Data were analyzed using a within-group pretest-post-test design to calculate changes…

Purpose: Evidence suggests that healthy lifestyles may help maintain cognitive health. The Prevention Research Centers Healthy Aging Research Network, 9 universities collaborating with their communities and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is conducting a multiyear research project, begun in 2005, to understand how to translate this…

Purpose: To examine older adults' perceptions of the link between physical activity (PA) and nutrition to the maintenance of cognitive health. Design and Methods: Forty-two focus groups (FGs) were conducted with 396 ethnically diverse (White, African American, American Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Hispanic) community-dwelling older adults. FGs…

Purpose: To examine perceptions about aging well in the context of cognitive health among a large and diverse group of older adults. Design and Methods: Forty-two focus groups were conducted with older adults living in the community ( N = 396; White, African American, American Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Hispanic). Participant descriptions …

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between functional disability and the use of health care services in a nationally representative sample of older adults by using the Andersen behavioral model of health services utilization. Design and Methods: The study used 12 years of longitudinal…

Examined intergenerational relationships and roles of older Salvadoran late-life immigrants to the United States. Found many similarities between these parents' roles in El Salvador and in United States, but fewer were employed and more had assumed childcare responsibilities. Children had strong sense of filial obligation; parents asked for little…

Examined records of Puerto Rican/Hispanic patients (N=25) residing in, or discharged from, one nursing home and compared records to those of control group (N=50) admitted during same time. Found Puerto Rican/Hispanic group was younger with more disabilities. Suggests that Hispanic patients' families may not have been able to care for disabled…

Examined age identification and age-appropriate behavior among 160 older Hispanics of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban origin. Revealed an extensive use among all three groups and both sexes of realistic qualifiers about one's age. Although there was consensus on age, as well as sex-appropriate behaviors, there were greater strictures for women…

Speculates on the future of minority elderly, specifically Blacks and Hispanics. Asserts that the decline of industrialization and the accompanying growth of high technology and service sectors hold little promise for the economic assimilation of Blacks and Hispanics who are increasingly concentrated in larger cities. (Author/ABB)

Examines how 1990 state elderly populations have been affected by "new elderly births" (a state's population, ages 55-59 in 1985, which survived to ages 60-64 in 1990) as well as by migration components. During the 1985-90 period, elderly births exerted a greater impact than migration on elderly gains and demographic composition for all…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine neuropsychiatric symptom frequency and intensity in demented and cognitively impaired but not demented Latino elderly persons, evaluate whether overall neuropsychiatric symptom intensity is associated with higher levels of caregiver depression, and identify factors that modify the relationship…

Reports the results of a survey of recent and ongoing aging-related data sources supported by U.S. federal agencies. The purpose of the study was to determine the suitability of the data sets for research on minority elders. Formal tests of the adequacy of data set sample sizes to support analysis on various minority groups were performed; most…