The Ohio State College of Medicine began its Senior Partners Program (SPP) in 2001 as part of its commitment to integrate geriatric education throughout all four years of the medical curriculum. For participating senior partners and medical students, the SPP has signified a journey through a continuum of aging. Initial evaluations suggest that…

This issue of the Canadian quarterly "Transition", in French and English language versions, examines issues related to the demographic shift Canada will experience as the baby boom generation enters "old age." Major articles in this issue are: (1) "Of Mutual Benefit," which outlines some of the challenges Canada faces…

Intergenerational activities are any activities planned to be of mutual benefit to more than one age group. This manual concentrates on school-age children and older adults sharing experiences in the library or elsewhere using library materials. The following four models are introduced: (1) Sharing Letters; (2) Sharing Stories; (3) Sharing…

Temple University's Institute on Aging (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) has developed a unique model for cross-age learning. During the summers of 1980 and 1981, two intergenerational learning retreats were held which (1) provided participants with an innovative educational and cultural experience; (2) fostered communication among persons at different…

Research on helping behavior has focused on help to elderly individuals rather than help by elderly individuals. To investigate the determinants and consequences of helping by older adults, 117 adults, from five Detroit senior citizen residences, with a mean age of 75.6 (67 percent female) completed a personal/demographic questionnaire, including…

Human sexuality is discussed in terms of misconceptions about its function and the changing sexual needs of older adults. A review of history indicates that human sexuality has traditionally been connected with ideas of purity and strict importance of procreation. Judaeo-Christian ethics and the doctrine of Saint Augustine illustrate these…

Information processing, beliefs, and motivations can be coupled with the principle of causal attributions to provide a framework for assessing the causes to which individuals attribute their own behavior. For example, an elderly man who forgets to buy something at the store presents himself with an identity based on cultural stereotypes--in this…

The second part of a study compared health and social service needs of older persons residing in public housing and older persons residing in the neighboring community. A survey was conducted of 461 residents in four buildings supported by the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) and 422 residents age 62 and older living within five blocks of one…

Because relationships with family and friends may cause stress for women, the effects of interactions with family, friends, and community on women's adaption to the experiences of aging are important. Interviews were conducted with 75 women between the ages of 44 and 77 who were educated, relieved of child-rearing responsibilities, and relatively…

The components of a college course on communication and aging are described and discussed in this paper. The first section of the paper focuses on appropriate assignments, their underlying strategies, and necessary materials for enhancing young people's communication with older adults and their appreciation of the situations that elderly people…

The Trowbridge House Geriatric Aide Program, performed at MDTA centers in Akron and Cleveland, Ohio, was developed to demonstrate whether the active and positive recruiting methods widely used by proprietary schools could be adapted to obtain more and better qualified disadvantaged persons for skills training; whether a high quality,…

Telephone interviews with 31 Mexican-American grandparents collected information about interaction behaviors of 53 grandparent-grandchild dyads in which grandchildren were aged between 3 and 12 and saw the grandparents often, but did not live in the same household. Results indicate a high degree of involvement by most grandparents. (Author)

Effects on the personal development of participants in the Foster Grandparent Program (FGP) are evaluated. In a series of studies conducted at the Detroit FGP, foster grandparenting positively influenced the children's social, verbal, and intellectual development. Positive outcomes for the older participants included life satisfaction, adjustment,…

As part of a 4-year research initiative on adult/youth relationships programs, this study assessed relationships between elders and at-risk youth at the following four Linking Lifetimes intergenerational mentoring demonstration sites developed by Temple University's Center for Intergenerational Learning in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania): (1)…

Two empirical studies were conducted in Indiana to ascertain the types of contributions residents of small towns and rural areas feel their community can perform for their subjective well being and to determine the degree to which these contributions are comparable among elderly and younger rural and urban residents. An "individual level…