Assesses the stability of nursing home residents' preferences for medical treatments. Nondemented, nondepressed residents (N=37) were surveyed serially over a six-month period. Subjects preferred more treatment for their current health concerns than for all hypothetical conditions. All preference changes were toward less intervention. Most…

Purpose: Relationships are examined between age and out-of-pocket costs for different health goods and services among the older population. Design and Methods: Age patterns in health service use and out-of-pocket costs are examined by use of the 1990 Elderly Health Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 1,031, age 66+). Multivariate…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore how medical care is delivered to older people in assisted living (AL) settings and to suggest ways for improving it. Design and Methods: We present a review of the limited research available on health care for older AL residents and on building testable models of better ways to organize primary…

People in the counseling profession make some profound assumptions about the freedom that all people have (or seem to have). From the moment that each counselor began counselor training, the notion that people are able to generally choose and make decisions for themselves has been associated with the dominant process models of the profession. As a…

Cross sectional data indicate that about four percent of elderly persons reside in nursing homes. Yet many studies, some using death certificates, show actual risk of institutionalization is upwards of 25 percent. This paper presents a death registration study that examined all deaths in North Carolina and analyzed rural and urban differences. The…

This paper is concerned with the spoken communication of chronically ill and aging residents of long-term care institutions. Spoken communication is a vital component of social interaction and psychological well-being underlying such concepts as isolation, integration, and adjustment; it is a fertile area for investigation and analysis. (Author)

Using modified versions of games and sports, satisfying recreational programs can be organized in convalescent homes. (MM)

Describes the Nursing Home Community Council Project which was developed to improve the quality of resident life through organized community involvement. Reports issues in organizing nursing homes, the group-to-group approach, and providing advocacy in the context of service. (Author/ABB)

Describes program in which nursing home staff (N=20) who were not involved in one-to-one caregiving each befriended one nursing home resident. Found satisfactions included feeling appreciated by resident, seeing their positive impact, having a new social tie, and learning about aging. Found residents benefited from expanded social network,…

Evaluated Connecticut's Medicaid Home and Community-Based Care program which allowed elderly persons to remain in community with home and community-based services instead of entering nursing homes. Results did not reveal if the program was cost effective. Recommends rigorous preadmission screening of nursing home applicants to increase likelihood…

Examined social and spatial integration among residents of a life care facility who varied in mobility status. Able residents reported more personal discomfort with wheelchair users than with residents who used canes or walkers. These reports were reflected in their spatial separation from, and low levels of interaction with, the less mobile…

Discusses problems and needs of the Black elderly in terms of social security, medicare and social services, and nursing homes. Also discusses the need for qualified Black personnel in programs designed for the Black elderly, and offers suggestions for legislation and funding. (CMG)

Describes the volunteer advocacy program developed by the East Tennessee Advocacy Assistance Program to assist the ombudsman/director in resolving problems of residents in long-term care facilities. Effective volunteer participation requires intensive training, well-defined policies and procedures, coordination with aging network and long-term…

The article describes the Project on Aging, which was undertaken by the Virginia Commission for the Visually Handicapped to avoid the institutionalization of elderly blind persons. (Author/DLS)

Evaluates a brief educational program designed to increase staff awareness of intergenerational speech modifications, such as elderspeak and strategies to enhance communication. After the training, Certified Nursing Assistants reduced their use of elderspeak including terms of endearment, inappropriate collective pronouns, and shortened sentence…