A program was designed to extend experience of residents and medical students rotating through Family Practice Center in the care of older patients. This educational experience was based on a group of representative geriatric cases at a nursing home and included paramedical personnel in service and educational elements. (Author)

Examines survey data from a metropolitan community to investigate comparative rankings of needs of older persons by service providers and their elderly target population. Training in gerontology, serving elderly clients exclusively, and having direct contact with elderly clients as line staff were not predictors of knowledge of elderly needs.…

Geriatric outpatients were involved in a group resocialization program. Comparison is made between experimental groups whose leader used group intervention techniques, and groups where leader played a nonintervention role. Experimental group members showed changes toward more active problem-solving approaches, while group members remained fixed at…

Purposes of the group counseling experience are to accept the aging process as a natural consequence of living, to promote understanding that a positive attitude toward aging can increase chances of enjoying later years, to provide members with information about community resources, and to develop a support system. (Author)

The relationships between mild hearing losses and cognitive functioning were studied for two samples of aged subjects whose hearing was within normal limits. Hearing losses at various frequency levels were correlated with performance on cognitive tests. Results reveal substantial associations between hearing losses and scores on the intellectual…

Notes that most American institutions are unwittingly geared to age prejudice as in past times they were geared to race prejudice and sex prejudice. In determining needs and abilities, age is quite as irrelevant as is race. (Author/AM)

Concludes that what the older woman needs is what all humans need, but that what she gets, unfortunately, are very limited options. (Author/AM)

Notes that among the urgent needs of Americans is the need to curtail the infernal, self-destructive bad news about American aging. (Author)

Suggests that volunteerism must supplement and not be a substitute for what should be a gainfully employed work force. (Author)

Reviews and describes three programs in which older adults provide their services: foster grandparents, senior companions, and retired senior volunteers. (AM)

Synanon is a community that offers the elderly an alternative to the lives of quiet desperation that many experience. It explores the myth that older people are inflexible and cannot change. (Author)

In a needs assessment of 84 rural health care professionals (44.1% physicians, 15.5% pharmacists, 14.3% nurses, 26.1% other), 39% considered their geriatrics knowledge above average. They were interested in learning more about Alzheimer's/dementia, medication use, and adverse effects. Preferred methods were videotapes, CD-ROM, and an…

An interdisciplinary team from various college allied health departments implemented Project AGE: Alliance for Gerontology Education to develop content to infuse in courses on the themes of age and culture, assistive technology, collaboration, and consumer health education. One goal was to foster interaction among allied health students to prepare…

Pre/post course evaluations by 35 students in an interdisciplinary geriatric training program delivered via distance methods indicated an increase in interdisciplinary team skills. Students working with older clients had better attitudes about teams and were motivated to seek additional training. Distance delivery enabled outreach to underserved…

Notes that despite the frequent claims of the superiority of interdisciplinary teams over more usual care patterns, systematic studies of the effectiveness of geriatric interdisciplinary teams are rare. Illustrates the difficult conceptual and methodological problems encountered by investigators. Suggests future research directions. (Author/ABL)