Sixteen occupational therapy students participated in service learning with older adults in nursing homes and 20 with people with disabilities. Both groups were aware of reciprocal benefits from service learning. Older adults seemed unaware of their own efficacy as educators. (SK)

Older adults' preferred partners for collaborative everyday problem solving and the types of everyday problems solved alone and with others were examined in a sample of community dwelling older adults (N = 112, M age = 71.86 yrs., SD = 5.92 yrs.). Family members (i.e., spouses, adult children) were the most frequently nominated partners for…

A total of 227 college students from Joliet, Illinois in the USA and Shanghai in the People's Republic of China (PRC) answered open-ended questions on their perception of being old. Topics also included participant's knowledge about older adults' regular activities, social policies and benefits for senior citizens, the happiest and the most…

Purpose: This article reports on a within-family study to identify factors that lead mothers to expect that a particular child will serve in the role of primary caregiver. Design and Methods: Data for this study were collected by in-person interviews with a representative sample of 566 mothers between the ages of 65 and 75 years residing in the…

Rates of sexual activity have been found to decline over the life course, as individuals experience marital transitions and the loss of partners, health problems, and decreased sexual interest. This article compares and contrasts earlier and later-life sexual experiences and examines the changing meanings that older women ascribe to sexuality over…

As many as 40% of older people in the United States live long enough to become great-grandparents, yet little is known about the content of this role within the American kinship system. Great-grandparents (N=20) living in the South responded to a depth anthropological interview which explored their perceptions of great-grandparenthood as a kinship…

This study suggests that the feelings of isolation experienced by some older people may be more likely than their actual lack of interaction. Data were collected from 163 subjects, aged 60 and older, by interview. Significant differences were obtained for the age and income variables and two of the proximity variables. (Author)

Use of the life history technique with the elderly is described in two settings--in a university class and in a class of senior citizens. The technique helps the elderly to record and interpret their histories, to make intergenerational connections, and to experience the continuity of their lives. (Author)

Because the life expectancy of women is longer than that of men and because men seem to marry younger women, most of the literature on caregivers of the elderly has focusd on women who care for elderly, disabled husbands. In order to explore the role of men as caretakers of disabled wives, 25 elderly widowers (aged 63-93) participated in…

Selected recent adolescent novels which center on a young adult's relationship with an older adult are analyzed. In these novels which feature older adults and young adults as main characters, the older character has qualities that the teenager examines, then accepts or rejects. In today's nuclear family, teenagers sometimes have very little…

Examined the differential effect of kinship and friendship relationships on the life satisfaction of older people. The data indicated the relatively greater importance of friends over grandchildren for maintaining morale in old age. (Author)

Surveyed 299 older adults to develop hypotheses concerning the influence of life cycle, cultural, and structural factors on psychological desires satisfied through the social network. Findings pointed to the importance of diversity in the social networks of the aged. No one type of relationship satisfied all three psychological desires. (JAC)

Spirituality and aging are two emerging areas of importance for the field of counseling. Research in the broad area of spirituality is limited. The research in spirituality and aging is even more limited. While the amount of research is growing, there are still few instruments that explicitly measure human spirituality. The purpose of this study…

Describes one solution to the problem of housing in later life. Findings of a descriptive study suggest that home sharing offers an alternative for a segment of the older population (N=89). Economy, companionship, and need for services are important motivating factors but most shared living arrangements are of short duration. (Author/JAC)

Studied 655 older Black urban residents to investigate contacts with family and friends. Results showed that the neighborhood is an important place for socializing with both family and friends. Whereas social contacts increase with higher income for Whites, for these Black elderly adults social contacts decreased with higher income. (JAC)