Evaluated medical services for elderly members in Social Health Maintenance Organization (SHMO) demonstrations. SHMOs generally failed to offer special geriatric medical services to frail elderly, and coordination of SHMO medical services with special long-term care and case management services offered by SHMOs was limited. (Author/NB)

The Appalachian Geriatric Education Center Consortium is a partnership between area health education centers and geriatric education centers that ensures a stronger resource base from which to offer high-quality continuing education. Both types of centers must collaborate to train new health professionals as well as update current health providers…

Purpose: We describe the development of a 24-hr curriculum for nonclinical direct care workers in elder care that features active-learning strategies and consumer-directed approaches. Design and Methods: Our curricular design was based on adult education theory and a survey of 70% of the community's service providers. Training was completed by 88…

We considered whether positive and stable self-stereotypes of stigmatized group members can influence functioning (in contrast, stereotype threat theory suggests these influential self-stereotypes are limited to ones that are negative and situational). Specifically, we examined older individuals' positive age stereotypes after a life-threatening…

Mental health needs of older persons are projected to grow significantly over the course of the next years. Consequently, the need for training counselors to work with the aging population is presented. Addressed are 4 curriculum models, as well as areas of training related to geriatric counseling, that can be incorporated into counselor training…

This paper describes development, implementation, and evaluation strategies of a longitudinal geriatric curriculum, the Senior Mentor Program (SMP). The rationale for exposing undergraduate medical students to healthy, community-dwelling older adults is to use the relationship and activities as vehicles for improving knowledge of aging and…

Recent studies by the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Rand Corporation have suggested that most physicians in the United States are inadequately trained to cope with the care of the elderly, in spite of the fact that over 11% of the population is over age 65. At present, nearly 30% of all health care…

This document represents transcripts of a series of workshops presented for the staff of a long-term care facility for aged patients. A specialist in geriatric psychiatry leads the discussions, which cover topics such as the definition of brain syndrome; testing procedures; emotional and behavioral problems; and the optimal environment for the…

The relationships between somatic and sociological-psychological variables are complex. Each mental change which occurs in aging is more or less closely accompanied by somatic changes. The reverse is also true. The objective state of health and the subjective feeling of well-being are linked. Both can exert an influence over behavior and…

From a study on drug treatment effects on the memory and affective functioning of ambulatory geriatric volunteers, the author recommends several methodological accommodations as necessary and expedient to geriatric assessment. Special procedural attention is required by certain characteristics unique to, or exaggerated among, elderly participants.…

As emphasis on intensive educational training increases, effective gerontological curricula and content planning to assure learner satisfaction are becoming more important. This article considers four key variables related to learner satisfaction, and six guidelines for increased training effectiveness are suggested. (Author)

Courses designed to encourage understanding of the aging process will help today's young people cope with old age. (RC)

Clinical interest in individual psychotherapeutic intervention with the aged mentally ill has gradually risen during the past several decades. However, a broad review of the literature suggests that published descriptions of such interventions have generally been global and vague. (Author)

The Sheltered Care Environment Scale (SCES) measures the social environment of sheltered care settings, as perceived by residents and staff. This instrument was developed and tested in a sample of 40 facilities representing the breadth and variety of currently existing congregate housing for the elderly. (Author)