Purpose of the Study: This paper is a revision of the Kent Award Lecture given at the Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America held in New Orleans, Louisiana, in November, 2010. Design and Methods: This paper looks at the evolution in geriatric social work assessment and outcomes research and concludes with observations of the…

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL), known as presbycusis, is characterized by progressive deterioration of auditory sensitivity, loss of the auditory sensory cells, and central processing functions associated with the aging process. ARHL is the third most prevalent chronic condition in older Americans, after hypertension and arthritis, and is a…

Purpose of the study: The Alpert Medical School of Brown University began to integrate geriatrics content into all preclerkship courses and key clerkship cases as part of a major medical school curriculum redesign in 2006. This study evaluates students' responses to geriatrics integration within the curriculum using journals kept by volunteer…

Derived from Buddhism, mindfulness is a unique approach for understanding human suffering and happiness that has attracted rapidly growing interest among health care professionals. In this article I describe current thinking about the concept of mindfulness and elaborate on why and how mindfulness-based interventions have potential within the…

To meet the special needs of and provide quality health care to nursing home residents, the health care workforce must be knowledgeable about the aging process. Health professionals are minimally prepared in their academic programs to care for older adults, and few programs have required rotations in geriatrics. Teaching nursing homes (TNHs) have…

Purpose: We sought to characterize self-neglect definitively as a geriatric syndrome by identifying an association with functional impairment. Design and Methods: We performed a cross-sectional home evaluation of 100 community-living older adults referred by Adult Protective Services for geriatric self-neglect and 100 matched adults from a…

Discusses the Compression of Morbidity hypothesis, which maintains that the age of onset of significant disability may be moved upward by postponement of chronic illness. Objections to the thesis are examined, a series of qualitative and quantitative confusions are discussed, and predictions for the future offered. (Author/JAC)

The Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock is addressing one of the most pressing policy issues facing the United States: how to care for the burgeoning number of older adults. In 2001, the Institute created the Arkansas Aging Initiative, which established seven satellite centers on…

Examined knowledge of geriatric health policies of 154 physicians training in medicine, surgery, and psychiatry. Found a widespread lack of knowledge that could interfere with physicians' ability to use the health care system appropriately for patients' benefit and to function effectively as a gatekeeper to health care utilization. (Author/ABL)

Describes a health education program at a life care community, based on Knowles' theory of androgyny. The program significantly affected participants' health behavior which reduced the effects of aging. Planning guidelines, audiovisual considerations, format, and cost are discussed. (JAC)

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…

Administered Palmore's Facts on Aging Quizzes I and II and Facts on Aging Mental Health Quiz as single test to third-year medical students before and after their six-week Community Health and Family Medicine clerkship. Clerkship contributed to small improvement in students' knowledge about aged; net bias scores decreased from pretest to posttest.…

Widespread claims of extraordinary longevity continue to receive widespread publicity even in first-rate publications. The story of Charlie Smith is reasonably typical of such cultural apocrypha. Development of chemical methods of determining biologic longevity promises to end what often has been heralded as evidence of national distinction.…

In this Gerontological Society of America-sponsored Congressional Briefing Seminar, authorities from several disciplines summarize history, rationale, strengths, weaknesses, and future challenges of Medicare program. In current arena of health care reform, role of Medicare is far from certain, and it is crucial to understand and confront multitude…

Reviews the important pedagogical, clinical, and ethical issues involved in the design and use of case studies in the study of aging. Reviews literature in narrative and clinical ethics on case studies as stories, including consideration of facts and values, debate on generalization versus specificity, and the need for interpreters. Considers the…