Eldercare employees (73 women, 15 men) at rural and urban facilities in Australia responded to two open-ended questions related to perceptions of older adults. On average, employees assisted 62 adults per week, working at the facility for 19 years. Participants identified the following characteristics of an "independent older adult:"…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility and reliability of a home hazard checklist published in Health Canada, "The Safe Living Guide: A Guide to Home Safety for Seniors" (2003). Methods: 76 community-dwelling seniors evaluated the guide, and inter-rater reliability was determined through comparison of ratings of…

Individuals with moderate to significant disabilities experience the most serious challenges in accessing employment and independent living when they exit high school. Therefore, the process of transition assessment conducted in school should be structured to provide relevant information for adult service providers and employers. For individuals…

The American Bar Association-American Psychological Association (ABA-APA) Working Group on the Assessment of Capacity in Older Adults was established in 2003 under the auspices of the Task Force on Facilitating ABA-APA Relations. This handbook is designed for psychologists evaluating civil capacities of older adults. Contemporary probate law…

People with psychiatric disabilities represent a growing group within the population of nursing home residents in the USA. Despite a preference for living in community-based settings, the availability of supportive services for community living is hindered by barriers at both the service provision and public policy levels. Therefore, understanding…

The young adult years (approximately the age when one leaves high school to age 23) are pivotal to adult life success. They are the years when adolescents typically assume dramatic increases in responsibility for self-direction in areas such as socialization, independent living, citizenship, employment, education, and mental and physical health.…

In 1981, Lighthouse Youth Services, a private nonprofit agency in Cincinnati, Ohio, began one of the first independent living programs for adolescents in the state. The local county children's services supervisors and Lighthouse administrators had been hearing numerous stories of youth who had left the county's foster and group homes and were…

The transition from a care setting to face the often grim realities of living more independently is arguably the most significant challenge that faces those who have been in public care and the workers offering them support. In the Scottish context, the past ten years have witnessed a growing awareness and engagement with this challenge, informed…

In this article life history data from the U.S. National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), and the Dutch survey on Older Adults' Living Arrangements and Social Networks (NESTOR-LSN) are used to shed light on the various pathways leading to and associated with childlessness, and the proportions of men and women who have followed a…

This book addresses the basic issues that require resolution in the design of an effective, comprehensive independent living program for adolescents who are moving out of foster care placements. It provides recommendations for improving the delivery of services and encourages adoption of certain policies and practices to improve conditions…

Examined how well older frail households cope with requirements of independent living (household operation activities, housing consumption adjustments, health-related activities). Found that those lacking financial resources and informal supports were less likely to cope with independent living requirements and that families carried major burden…

Surveyed independent living centers (N=74) to identify prevalence and functions of support and self-help groups for people with disabilities. Results suggest that independent living center staff refer a significant number of consumers to self-help groups and that independent living centers sponsor a variety of such groups. (Author/ABL)

Developed motivation training program which systematically employed four methods for changing self-efficacy (performance accomplishment, verbal persuasion, emotional arousal, vicarious learning/modeling) among 183 recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children who were referred to Hawaii's Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Programs.…

Examined effects on funding of standardizing the independent living center model. Findings from 55 Independent Living Programs that had complete funding diversity indexes and 58 that had designated their total budgets revealed that more programs tended to become compliant over time, but funding also became more diverse over time regardless of…

Investigated self-sufficiency in older widows (n=300). Found ability of widows to accomplish traditional female tasks was related to health, education, age, and work history, whereas for male tasks it was related to income, living alone, and work history. Concludes society that overvalues independence may unwittingly create pressure on elderly to…