Existing research on the health care utilization patterns of older Canadians suggests that income does not usually restrict an individual's access to care. However, the role that income plays in influencing access to health services by older adults living in rural areas is relatively unknown. This article examines the relationship between income…

Steps involved in formalizing end-of-life care preferences and factors related to these steps are unclear in the literature. Using data from the third wave of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA-3), we examined the relations between demographic and health predictors, on the one hand, and three outcomes, on the other (whether participants…

Despite the focus on burden of caregiving in gerontological research, studies have shown that few caregivers are overly burdened. This article compares predictors of role-specific burden and two quality-of-life measures among caregivers experiencing heavy care demands to assess role-impact on each. The study included 92 community-based caregivers…

This study examined the relationships between culture and the health status of older Chinese in Canada. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with a cross-sectional, randomly selected sample of 2,272 older Chinese between 55 and 101 years of age in seven Canadian cities. Health status was assessed by the number of chronic illnesses,…

While the benefits of participating in care or medical decision making are widely reported, research on decision-making participation preferences usually reveals some portion of individuals who do not want to be involved. Data collected through structured, in-person interviews with 100 residents of six long-term care (LTC) facilities in Victoria,…

Urinary incontinence is common in the elderly. The epidemiology of fecal and double (urinary and fecal) incontinence is less known. The Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) is a national study of elderly living in the community at baseline (n = 8,949) and interviewed in 1991-1992, 1996, and 2001. Using data from the CSHA, we report the…

The purpose of this paper was to identify predictors of social isolation and loneliness for very old rural and urban adults. With data from the 1996 Aging in Manitoba Study (N = 1,868; age range 72-104), separate multiple regression models were constructed for rural and urban sub-samples, using the life space index (LSI) to measure social…

There are numerous ways to better integrate the elderly into communities, many of which are contingent upon whether they will remain in their pre-retirement homes or make a move. Using a life course perspective, this paper establishes that residential history, social and family relations, socio-economic status, and health trajectories measured at…

While concern has been expressed for some time about the impact of rising female employment on informal help to older adults, few studies have directly compared employed and not-employed women and only rarely has research utilized national, population-based samples. This article examines whether paid employment reduces the provision and/or the…

Place of death was determined for all 58,689 seniors (age greater than or equal to 66 years) in Ontario who died during fiscal year 2001/2002. The relationship of place of death to medical and socio-demographic characteristics was examined using a multinomial logit model. Half (49.2 %) of these individuals died in hospital, 30.5 per cent died in a…