A husband-wife team long active in counseling with the old, residing in an institution for old persons, have a conviction that there is a need for counseling of the old and their families by counselors who also are old. (Author)

A procedure is described that involves iterative use of univariable optimal discriminant analysis (UniODA) to construct a classification tree model for discriminating observations from different groups. The procedure is illustrated using an application that involved discriminating 125 geriatric and nongeriatric patients on the basis of their…

An educational program on geriatric foot care was completed by 59 nurse practitioners, 12 physicians' assistants, and 1 physician. The 3 1/2 day program included interactive sessions, observation, and hands-on patient care. Posttest results and 6-month follow-up showed significant knowledge increases and incorporation of learning into practice.…

Discusses delirium and how it differs from other types of mental status changes seen in the elderly and what interventions are most appropriate in affected individuals. Presents data from a study regarding nursing assessment of patients with delirium and outlines an educational model. (JOW)

Nurses (N=30) employed in nursing homes were trained as Geriatric Nurse Practitioners and then implemented their new clinical roles as direct employees of the original facility. Results showed the nurses, their directors, and administrators perceived the nurses as having positive effects on resident outcomes, but described difficulties in…

In a previous ethnographic study (Sebrant, 2000) a social constructionist view of how social identity is produced among professional groups in Swedish healthcare was developed. Looking at the workplace as an important environment for identity construction suggested that these processes were conditions for learning. The purpose of this paper is to…

Despite findings that depression is a risk factor for heart disease and for death following cardiac events and that depressed cardiac patients experience significantly reduced quality of life and are less likely to follow treatment regimens, depression is neither adequately identified nor treated in cardiac patients. Recent calls in the literature…

This special issue of "The Gerontologist" contains session by session abstracts from the society's 51st Annual Scientific Meeting. Abstracts are arranged numerically by the number of the session in which they appeared and in the order of presentation within each session. There are a total of 391 sessions. Session topics are not provided; and there…

Older subjects responded slower than younger subjects on a spatial task which required them to rotate mentally a perspectively drawn figure in order to judge whether it was congruent with a second figure. (Author)

Surveyed 24 key informants concerning new geriatric program. Found inservice education program and hospital-based community resource directory were received positively and implemented quickly. Community physicians hesitated to make referrals to geriatric assessment team, citing fear that team would steal patients and threats to physicians'…

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)

Surveyed a national sample of 416 hospitals to describe the range and frequency of services offered specifically for older adults and to identify characteristics of hospitals associated with particular services. The findings show that hospitals of all types throughout the nation offer a broad array of health and related social services for older…

Describes the Southeast-Bayview Mental Health Center Geriatric Services Unit, which provides a comprehensive mental health program for the elderly of San Francisco. The program emphasis is on crisis intervention, with reliance on home visits and follow-up services as well as screening and referral. (JAC)

Presents a historical perspective on the meaning of senility, representing a significant change in beliefs about the nature of old age. Before the nineteenth century, to be senile meant simply to be old. By the late nineteenth century, old age was assumed to be synonymous with debilitating illness. (JAC)

This special issue of "The Gerontologist" contains session-by-session abstracts from the society's 52nd Annual Scientific Meeting. Abstracts are arranged numerically by session number and in the order of presentation within each session. There are a total of 375 sessions. An index of participants is provided with references to their…