Examined extent and patterns of financial planning among a range of professionals. Found that respondents (N=457) placed their primary emphasis on pensions (including Social Security) and continued work-related income, although four types of pre-retirement financial planning were identified. The most consistent predictor of the extent of planning…

Partnership project for collaboration between families and professionals was demonstrated in eight Massachusetts communities. Project proved successful in its strategies to heighten public awareness, strengthen interagency networking, and improve community resources. (Author)

Conducted series of four ethnographic interviews with 15 family caregivers. Found five organizing themes of meaning: Senses of Self, of Managing, of Future, of Fear/Risk, and of Change in Role and Responsibility. Relationships among family caregivers, care-receivers, other family members, and professionals were characterized by theme of tension…

Examined preretirement intentions of 234 African-American professionals. Found that professionals who were highly committed to their work, had few financial investments, and socialized primarily with co-workers tended to avoid planning for retirement. Results have implications for practitioners concerned with meeting preretirement and retirement…

Compared extent and patterns of financial planning among 234 Black professionals with those of White professionals. Data revealed similar expectations of continued income, supplementing finances by working in another occupation, pension income, and dependency on spouses for income. Although Blacks invested less in stocks and bonds and bank…

This study examines how some of the country's future professionals perceive the aged. The data indicate that among social work, law, and medical students there is a striking absence of knowledge of the most basic facts about the elderly. (Author)

Examined retirement attitudes of 50- to 60-year-old professional men and women (N=72). Looked at work contingencies influencing whether respondents anticipated retirement positively. Found that respondents who had unfinished work agendas, reported high job satisfaction, perceived retirement as financially unfeasible, and retained their health were…

Examined commonalities of aging consciousness among 72 professional men and women between 50 and 60 years old. Found frequency and intensity of aging messages increased in the fifties, fostering a quickened sense of aging during this decade. Identified four categories of age reminders characteristic in the fifties: body, generational, contextual,…

Discusses the need for a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of older persons because the elderly are likely to have a combination of social, psychological, and medical problems when they become ill. Discusses the role of the psychiatrist in light of his/her training, practice, and outlook. (Author/ABL)

Discusses the need for members of several different professions to work closely together to achieve an integrated resolution in the best interests of an older person. Proposes that the physician's legal and ethical responsibilities toward an older patient would include a duty to interact and cooperate with other relevant health or human service…

Professionals (N=228) were interviewed about their case experiences with neglect and abuse of the elderly. It was suggested that environmental contexts and situational problems trigger such behavior, and that the behavior is primarily based on flawed development of the perpetrator and disordered family relationships. (Author)

Techniques have been developed for research and teaching purposes on the sensory losses that accompany the aging process. By experiencing the sensory loss, those working with the aged understand how the environment and professional interaction can assist, support, and enhance coping and functioning by the older person. (Author)

Surveyed perceptions of the causes, severity, and treatment of elderly substance abuse as reported by 30 drug-abuse, health care, and social service practitioners. Perceptions differed as a function of both the basic type of services an agency provided and its specific response to older abusers. (Author)

Sampled members of two professional societies which supported the development of gerontology as a profession. Enthusiasm for this development varied with educational attainment of the respondent. Those with graduate degrees generally preferred gerontology as a specialization within a traditional profession. (Author/JAC)

Studied effects of professionally led and peer-led family caregiver groups (N=56) on psychological functioning, informal support networks, and positive personal changes in handling of caregiver role. Found professionally led groups produced greatest psychological functioning improvement and peer-led groups produced greatest increases in informal…