Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, which is offered at the University of Guelph, is an interdisciplinary department that previously offered three undergraduate majors: child, youth, and family; applied human nutrition; and gerontology; as well as graduate programs at the master's and doctoral levels. Several factors have precipitated a review…

Illustrates how group counseling can facilitate personal development in older adults, using an open-ended support group at a geriatric day care program. Recurring themes included relationship with adult children, housing needs, religion, health issues, and age stereotypes. (JAC)

Offers perspectives on the role of extrinsic factors in the aging process, the long-term consequences of extrinsically initiated changes, and implications for gerontological research. Explains the distinction between usual and successful aging in light of physiologic and psychosocial characteristics. (ML)

Discusses a summer work-study program for medical students which provided a training experience regarding the community elderly and their health and well-being. It represents in microcosm several of the elements of a gerontological component which need to be incorporated into the medical school curriculum. (Author)

Outlines a recent educational initiative in social gerontology at the Western Australian College of Advanced Education: a two-year course on aging and the community. Discussed its educational and national context, the development of the course and its present content. Analyzes the student population to establish typical profiles of those…

Provides suggestions for a unit on the biological process of aging. Includes three activity sheets on the comparison of jaws and dentition from differently aged people, a denture survey, and eating and living without teeth. Includes a framework for organizing a course on the physiology of aging. (RT)

Discusses the concept of "horrendous death" (those caused by other people) and its application in the Adult Health and Development Program at the University of Maryland, a multi-ethnic, interracial, intergenerational health promotion and rehabilitation program. This service-learning program applies gerontological health theory and…

This special issue of the Mensa Research Journal contains four papers written by K. Warner Schaie, a psychologist who focuses on psychological development from young adulthood through old age. The first paper is "Living with Gerontology." In it, Schaie recounts his own childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, his path to becoming a…

The author describes gerotranscendence as a process that occurs when older adults shift from a rational focus on the present-day, material world to a more universal and transcendent perspective. Accompanying this shift is a desire to move toward the end of life with a sense of integrity and acceptance of one's choices. By gaining an understanding…

This paper describes a program designed to help preretirees and retirees prepare for retirement. The program explores the needs, stereotypes, dilemmas, challenges, and satisfactions of retirement. An exercise to explore personal values is described in which previous program participants rank ordered 10 top-priority concerns of income, health,…

This paper describes a program providing support, education, and skill-building within a self-help format for the children of aged parents. The selection of the 18 initial program members, each with relatives living either in their homes, in a nearby location, or in nursing homes is reviewed. The 90-minute group sessions which met weekly for 8…

The beginning phases of a preretirement program at San Jose State University, California, are described. The program, initiated through the interdisciplinary gerontology program, entailed group discussions and individual followup and counseling when appropriate. Discussion topics were housing, legal matters, leisure and volunteer work, health, and…

The activities of the Institute of Gerontology at The University of Michigan from 1975 through 1980 are examined. The Institute offers consultation and support services to instructional units for the development of post-baccalaureate educational programs and sponsors annual series of seminars and workshops for faculty members and professional…

Preretirement education programs can help people (1) to develop an awareness of issues which influence retirement satisfaction, (2) to gain information relevant to retirement planning, (3) to explore options available after retirement, (4) to identify resources for implementing preretirement plans, and (5) to identify community services for…

Describes an interdisciplinary curriculum on aging that incorporates intergenerational activities, inquiry-oriented research, narrative histories, and field trips. Includes separate questionnaires for older adults and primary grade students, an annotated bibliography, and a chart of activities emphasizing knowledge, comprehension, analysis,…