Studies on informal caregiving in institutional settings are rare. The impact on their burden of 197 caregivers' perceptions of their elderly dependents' autonomy was investigated. The results of previous research on caregivers' burden in non-institutional contexts were used to provide an empirical starting point for the research. The results of regression analysis show that help for bathing and concurrent demands have an impact on objective burden, but caregivers' perceptions of their elderly dependents and the social support they receive affect subjective burden.

L'objectif principal de cette recherche était de déterminer si les embêtements de la vie quotidienne sont plus fortement reliés au bien-être physique et psychologique chez les personnes âgées que les événements majeurs. Les modèles de prédiction du bien-être physique et psychologique ont été déterminés en fonction de la contribution des embêtements et des événements majeurs ainsi que d'autres variables incluant l'évaluation subjective de la santé. Deux cents personnes âgées ont rapporté les événements majeurs des trois dernières années et les embêtements survenus au cours du dernier mois. Les sujets ont également évalué leur état de santé et le degré d'incapacité dans les activités quotidiennes conséquente à chacune de leurs maladies chroniques. Des analyses de régression multiple par étapes ont montré que (1) l'évaluation subjective de la santé, l'incapacité dans les activités quotidiennes et la fréquence des embêtements sont reliées au bien-être physique et que (2) le bien-être psychologique est associé à la fréquence des embêtements, l'âge et l'incapacité dans les activités de la vie quotidienne. La fréquence des événements majeurs récents ne contribue pas significativement à l'un ou l'autre des modèles. Des résultats similaires ont été obtenus selon que l'Échelle des Embêtements ou seulement les items de cette échelle qui ne correspondent pas à des symptômes étaient utilisés dans les analyses de régression. Les résultats suggèrent que la fréquence des embêtements est plus fortement reliée au bien-être chez les personnes âgées que la fréquence des événements majeurs.

This investigation measured the physical fitness and anthropometrie parameters of a sample of 100 Saskatchewan women and men, aged 65 to 75 years. Subjects were grouped by age (65–69 years and 70–75 years) and these data were compared to the results from the Canada Fitness Survey (CFS) for women and men aged 65 to 69 years. In general, the Saskatchewan women in this study demonstrated an age-associated decline in the fitness and anthropometric variables measured. The Saskatchewan men, aged 65–69 years were significantly poorer in four variables (weight, sum of trunk skinfolds, Body Mass Index (BMI) and Maximal Oxygen Uptake (V02 MAX)) compared to the age-matched men tested in the CFS. However, the Saskatchewan men, aged 70–75 were not significantly different from the younger CFS subjects for these variables. Within limitations of the cross-sectional design, the results of this study indicate that Saskatchewan men in their early retirement years may require particular attention and further study with respect to their physical activity behaviour and fitness.

Future time perspective (FTP), defined as the temporal extension of goals, is considered, by some authors, to be increasingly limited in older age. Restriction in FTP is sometimes observed in the elderly but could be explained by various factors other than age. In order to verify this hypothesis, the aspirations or goals of 708 elderly (aged 65 to 90 years) were collected with a sentence completion technique. An index of future extension was established after the analysis of answers. The results confirm that there is no relationship between FTP and chronological age for the elderly. A reduced FTP is observed for women. A similar tendency is found for subjects of low socio-economic status and for subjects of low educational level. FTP is also relatively stable for healthy and autonomous subjects and it increases in subjects of low autonomy who are still living at home. This research shows that, even in the presence of negative factors and with individual differences taken into account, elderly persons have goals and are open to the future.

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of stressors and other factors on psychotropic drug consumption among the elderly, with an emphasis on individual rather than social factors. Respondents were recipients of a home care program that focusses on personal care rather than health-related care. Data were derived from two in-home interviews (one week apart) of 99 users of psychotropic drugs residing in a socially deprived suburb of a major Canadian city. The initial path-analytic model explained a significant amount (19%) of variance in the amount of drug use. Age, sex, attitudes towards psychotropic drug use, and life events were the predictors which remained in our trimmed model of drug use which explained 17 per cent of the variance. The results suggest that younger individuals reported greater drug use than older respondents. Positive attitudes towards psychotropics and being female were associated with the highest level of drug use. Path analysis did not support our hypothesis of a stress-related mental health model of drug use and, instead, raised important questions regarding social factors. Several explanations for the results are discussed. Suggestions for future study and clinical implications are offered.