Purpose: This article reports on a study to identify "building blocks" for quality report cards for geriatric care. Its aim is to present (a) the results of the study and (b) the innovative step-by-step approach that was developed to arrive at these results. Design and Methods: We used Concept Mapping/Structured Conceptualization to…

To successfully practice geriatrics, one must keep up-to-date with rapidly evolving knowledge, recognize heterogeneity among older people, seek answers through longitudinal studies, and accept no symptoms nor loss of function as being simply old age. Functional loss must be the focus and thus rehabilitation is essential to good geriatric care.…

Compares gerontology master's degree curricula for length, content, and requirements. Results showed they have great comparability and fall within established guidelines. Master's degree programs in gerontology appear to be sufficiently similar to allow for beginning discussions of accreditation. (JAC)

Describes errors regarding the meaning of increase in life expectancy found in 7 of 17 gerontology textbooks examined. Discusses the myth that increase in life expectancy at birth indicates an increase in life span. Attempts to clarify the nature of this increase and reviews common misconceptions concerning it. (NRB)

Describes the development and evaluation of an eight-hour educational program designed to prepare staff nurses to perform in a new role, the unit-based acute confusion Resource Nurse (ACRN). Tests showed that knowledge and confidence significantly increased for participants as a result of their participation in the educational program. (Author/GCP)

Introduced 68 families, who were caring for neurologically impaired elders, to legal-financial planning via a 3-hour workshop. A post-study survey indicated that over 90 percent had taken one or more planning actions following the workshop, including the development of specific plans for providing and financing services. Implications for other…

Purpose: This study examined the association between cognitive functioning and completion of a durable power of attorney for health care. Design and Methods: Participants were from the Second Longitudinal Study on Aging (LSOA II), a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling persons who were at least 70 years of age at the time of…

Adaptation to the retirement process by male sociologists and psychologists was studied for the age period 60-75 in the group of men who held academic positions in departments of psychology or sociology for at least 15 years immediately before the age of 60. Men were grouped into three publication levels. (Author)

People with elderly parents met in five eight-week counseling groups to make decisions about the extent of responsibility they could comfortably assume for their parents and work toward reaching a stage of filial maturity. Results indicate that this informal, supportive modality is effective in helping adult children make decisions. (Author)

Reviews legacy of Charles Tibbitts by discussing Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE). Notes that the 1987 Tibbitts Award lecture stressed the need to monitor medicalization of gerontology, recognize continued vulnerability of gerontological education, develop a closer alliance between AGHE and Gerontological Society of America,…

Purpose: We assess how perceived rewards and problems with caregiving work and supervision relate to intent to leave among direct care workers who are employed in provider organizations participating in the Better Jobs Better Care (BJBC) demonstration; we also examine how these relationships vary by provider type. Design and Methods: Direct care…

American society has been transforming itself from one in which older people were held in increasingly low esteem and characterized by a multiplicity of derogative stereotypes to one in which the roles and styles of life of older adults will be viewed as positive and contributive. (Author)

Asserts that the recent growth of graduate programs in gerontology has been fostered, at least in part, by the perception that careers in the field are numerous and that they are expanding. Questions about these assumptions are raised, along with some doubts about the wisdom of encouraging further program growth. (Author)

The humanistic instructional strategies employed in a retirement education program package represent a previously untried and viable alternative to traditional instructional strategies. A heuristic evaluation study measured pilot program participants' reactions to several aspects of the program package; 74 percent responded favorably and 93…

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)