Through a review of the literature, this article explores the debate between the traditional perspective that conceives it as natural that families take care of their elderly members when frail or in need and an emerging critique of this view. The critique exposes the invisible divisions of caring work between men and women and between public and private arenas, and challenges the comfortable imagery of ‘family care.’ The implications of this analysis for the future are considered, both for constructive changes in social policies and for the reformulation of assumptions on which research and practice with the frail elderly and their families are based.

In this paper the service needs of community-dwelling older persons are examined. Based on the responses from a random sample of 400 residents aged 65 and over, it is found that just over 9 percent of this population is currently using or in need of community services. Thus, the vast majority of older persons are managing without the aid of formal support services. The importance of the seemingly modest proportion of older persons requiring services is discussed. The consequences for public policy of anticipated constraints on family and women as service providers in the future are emphasized.

The present study examined the interrelationships among cognitive and social rigidity, intelligence and personal adjustment in old age, and evaluated a six-week training program teaching social problem-solving skills to the elderly. Ninety-eight subjects, aged 60.9 to 88.0 years, were randomly assigned to the treatment, placebo control, and the waiting-list groups. Subjects were pretested on the TBR Opposites test (cognitive rigidity), the social MEPS (social rigidity), WAIS Vocabulary, and Adjustment of Old Age scales; and post-tested on social rigidity and adjustment The hypothesis that cognitive rigidity is independent of social rigidity was not fully supported. Adjustment to old age was found to be significantly related to social rigidity and, to a lesser degree, to cognitive rigidity. Only treatment subjects showed an overall, significant pre- to post-training improvement on social MEPS scores. The findings suggest that social rigidity is amenable to change.

Evidence is accumulating to suggest that peoples' perceptions of their own memories are important for understanding memory functioning in later life. This paper reviews two questionnaires designed to measure such perceptions, and identifies several research questions requiring further study. In general, memory perceptions appear to be multidimensional and involve belief and affective components as well as knowledge components. In addition, the relationship between memory perceptions and memory performance appears to differ as a function of age and type of task. Salient issues for future research include the extent to which older adults' memory perceptions show systematic state-like fluctuations over time, and the extent to which these perceptions represent an accurate picture of individuals' memory abilities.

The primary purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate the effects of exercise on simple cognitive performance and on psychological well-being in persons over fifty years of age. A secondary purpose was to assess the relationship between a set of subject variables and drop-out from fitness programs. Twenty-nine new and 37 active volunteers from the St. John's 3F fitness club for persons over fifty years of age served as subjects. Initial assessment on fitness and psychological measures was carried out within three weeks of the start/restart of the program. A second testing took place six months later. Significant pre/post differences were obtained on measures of reaction time, flexibility, balance, extra program activity, and digit symbol performance. Group by pre/post effects also reached statistical significance for psychological well-being. These results suggest that the beneficial effects of exercise are not limited to physical fitness variables, but may extend to cognitive and personality processes.

The relationship between ADL self-assessments and physical ability was investigated using data compiled on 128 exercise class participants. Compared with community dwelling respondents, institutionalized seniors were not only less accurate in their subjective ADL estimates, but consistently underestimated their capabilities over comparable ranges of the objective physical scale. Seniors appear to make errors estimating their functional capabilities with respect to daily activities they no longer perform and that may be restricted for reasons of institutional convenience.

This research explores factors which differentiate non-institutionalized elderly persons living alone, living only with a spouse, and living with other persons (with or without a spouse present). Special attention is devoted to the measurement and investigation of several social norms and personal preferences. These factors are organized in terms of a decision-making framework developed from micro-economic and demographic theory. Choice of a living arrangement is seen as the product of underlying norms and preferences, a set of socio-demographic factors, and constraints on choice. This research relies on data from 454 personal interviews drawn from a stratified random sample of persons 65 and over living in private households in London, Ontario, Canada.

Data analysis indicates that the decision of whom to live with is complex and is influenced by a large group of variables. However, the most important factors are the social norms and personal preferences of the respondents. Of these, a preference for independence and privacy surfaces as the strongest predictor of living arrangements. Being able to do what one wants without outside interference in conjunction with a private living style tends to be viewed by older persons as very important household ‘goods’. The expected separateness of the elderly, age segregation or differentiation, and kinship obligations and ties were found to be influential social norms affecting living arrangement decisions. The analysis also suggests that the constraining effects of domestic competence, physical strength and mobility, and availability of kin for co-residence are also important. In addition, several socio-demographic variables including age, sex and ethnicity arise as significant predictors of living arrangements.

This research uses data from the Manitoba Longitudinal Study on Aging and multiple logistic regression analysis to assess the impact of twenty-eight sociodemographic and health status variables on nursing home admission. The results indicate that 1) all the short-term predictors continue to be significantly associated with facility bed use in the long run, suggesting that the high risk elderly can be identified relatively early; 2) the key sociodemographic characteristics are better predictors of admission than health and physical functioning characteristics; and 3) time itself appears to change the relationship of the study variables to admission.

A total of 768 older and younger men and women with average ages of 58 and 20 years, respectively, made judgments of recommended imprisonment for a rapist after learning about one of eight different versions of sexual assaults. Younger subjects in contrast to older subjects recommended longer sentences. The most severe sentences were given by young males for the assault of a demure woman. Older males were least punitive in sentencing. A reliable interaction among age of subjects, sex of subjects and victim demeanor indicated that younger and older women recommended similar jail sentences when a demure woman was victimized but older women were less punitive when a provocative woman was assaulted. The demeanor of the rapist (well-dressed vs. poorly-dressed) and the resistance/nonresistance of the victim failed to influence sentencing. Older persons and males were found to hold reliably higher anti-victim, pro-rape myth sentiments than younger adults and females.

This study focussed on aspects of the relationship between older parents and their middle aged children. Interviews with 74 parents and with one of their children informed us about topics and perceptions relevant in this intergenerational relationship. Data were analysed in terms of agreements and disagreements between parent and child, and of perceived agreements and disagreements. Four items were selected for closer analysis as they exhibited both a high amount of disagreement and a low amount of perceived disagreement. These findings are discussed in terms of the developmental stake theory, a metaorientation and assymmetry in the parent-child relationship.

A combined questionnaire and interview procedure was used to explore the perceptions and obligations to assist a frail old person with physical care, financial aid, and psychological support. Subjects for the interview were 80 women aged 18–25, 30–45, 50–65, and 65–85 years, all residents of a small town in Maritime Canada. The questionnaire was omitted in the case of the oldest group. The results showed that children were perceived to have a strong obligation to assist, substantially reduced, however, by circumstances such as geographical distance or financial exigency. The obligation of government was also strong for all but psychological needs. Siblings, friends, and the church were perceived to be common sources of assistance, particularly psychological, but with significantly less moral obligation compared to other sources. Differences between age groups were small. The interviews, however, showed the youngest group to be less realistic and more absolute about children's responsibilities for old people than were old people for themselves. Similarly, the oldest subjects were more likely than younger subjects to stress the responsibility of the old person for his/her own welfare.

An ongoing, structured, low-intensity exercise program designed to foster physical, social and cognitive functioning was evaluated in 128 seniors ranging in age from 55 to 101 years. The sample included individuals residing in the general community, seniors' apartment complexes and institutional care facilities. Participation in other exercises was found to increase since joining the program. The program appeared to be providing an opportunity for social interaction among participants, and the exercises appeared to be mentally stimulating. Implications for program modifications, including building in self-monitoring procedures, are discussed.

Structured interviews were conducted with forty-eight older clients discharged from a public health nursing service in order to: (1) describe their social support network and (2) identify specific components of social support related to physical, social and emotional health. The sample was comprised primarily of older widows living alone to whom family and relatives contributed the largest amount of support. Correlation analyses revealed that: (1) age, emotional support given by older persons to their supporters and aid given and received by older persons were related to physical functioning; (2) emotional, decisional and aid support given by older persons to their supports (total reciprocity) and femaleness were related to emotional functioning and; (3) emotional and aid support received by older persons and reciprocity were related to social functioning.

In the present study, 50 French speaking elderly, living in a home for the aged, were asked to indicate situations which provoked depressive feelings and the strategies they used to cope with these situations. The results show marked differences between the depressed and the non-depressed elderly in the situations that provoke and/or maintain depressive feelings. In regard to the type of strategies reported to cope with depressive feelings, the results show that the depressed elderly not only reported employing fewer strategies, but also noted having less success in coping with these situations. The findings have implications for the clinical assessment and treatment of depression in the elderly.

The relocation stress hypothesis that older people find the move into a nursing home to be stressful was examined using archival time-series data. The prevalence of psychological distress following admission was obtained from nursing notes written on monthly medical charts for 159 residents of four Saskatchewan nursing homes. Excluding those with an organic psychotic disorder (19.5%), the results showed that the majority of new residents (82.7%) were not distressed by the move. However, a large proportion of those who were stressed and, in particular, those who had behavioral problems prior to admission did experience psychological distress on admission, and this proportion dropped slowly over an eight month period. While this evidence does not support a general relocation stress hypothesis, it is consistent with a perceived control interpretation of this hypothesis as well as a number of other interpretations focussing on alternative explanations for the behavioral problems variable.

Stress, perceived well-being, and coping behaviours were studied comparing a sample of aging Chinese immigrants with Anglos. The Chinese sample found growing old a more stressful experience, reported lower psychological well-being, depended more heavily on external and palliative coping strategies, and felt less effective in coping as compared to the Anglo counterparts. The finding supported the double jeopardy hypothesis of ethnic minority aging.

Admission data from 159 residents of four Saskatchewan nursing homes were analysed in order to identify predictors of level of care. Multiple regression analyses showed that a high level of care was assigned to those who were unable to perform various activities of daily living, those who had behavioral problems, and those who had recently experienced a stressful life event; with these variables and a nursing home variable explaining 47.2% of the variance. Appropriately, the most important predictor is activities of daily living. The other major predictor is behavioral problems which, the results suggest, are caused by either an organic psychotic disorder or a high level of stress. It is recommended that, following admission, new residents with behavioral problems caused by stress should be the recipients of programs designed to help them cope with this stress and mitigate their behavioral problems. Then, they should be reassessed and, where appropriate, reassigned to a lower level of care.

This paper reports the development of a psychological assessment instrument for evaluating the deteriorated elderly patient. The instrument provides information on patient function in eight areas including communication abilities, cognitive status and mood. Analyses were undertaken to determine the psychometric properties of each component of the instrument. Examination of the means and standard deviations indicated that the full range was used for each scale. Examination of interrater reliability yielded values ranging from .92 to .99. Several indices that may be of use in evaluating the significance of change in test scores are also presented. Suggestions are also made for the application of this instrument in both clinical and research settings.