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Approximately one half of the patients takes prescribed medications irregularly or omits these altogether. On the basis of our own observations and published reports we analyze the factors influencing compliance. The motivation of the patients plays a decisive role, it is rooted in the meaning the patient gives to his existence, to where the strength of his family bonds and the confidence in the care-taking persons lays as well as the possibility to express himself which is most important. The better guidance and training of the doctors in the difficult task of strengthening such motivation may contribute to substantially improve this situation.

A survey of housing conditions of 730 elderly people has revealed the progressive, though not yet complete, disappearance of apartments without hot water, inside toilets or bathrooms. In any event, the poorest people remain at a disadvantage in this respect, and a relatively large number of the elderly live in old buildings without elevators or laundry equipment. In the event of their independence becoming limited (i. e. if they were unable to assume their own housekeeping), 66% of the surveyed would wish to stay in their own homes, if adequate help were available. In the case of a more severe handicap, 41% would prefer to live in a pension for old people, 30% in a type of housing providing special care for old people, and 12% in a flat specially designed for old people in a building open to all age groups. These last two choices, which are incompatible with conditions governing admission to the institutions in the survey area, reveal a lack of information but also show a desire for the development of institutions where elderly people can feel really at home. Only an extremely small minority considered the possibility of living with their children. According to the survey, the general wish is that institutions for old people should be situated in the section of town where the people concerned have lived, and not isolated in the countryside.

The results of a survey conducted among 535 elderly people living in their own homes in urban areas make it possible to analyse the familiar and social relationship of this population. Cohabitation becomes rare as age increases and as most people, especially women, lose their spouses. More than half of the elderly people surveyed had good contacts with family and/or friends, but, for about a quarter of them, social relations were extremely rare. The authors of this article try to define the influence of age, sex, matrimonial status and the socio-professional milieu on the various forms of relationship. These data lead to the identification of a number of groups of people particularly exposed to the risk of isolation: former manual workers or persons having had very subordinate functions (this generally corresponds to a low level of schooling); people who were divorced or separated; men having lost their spouses (overall, men have somewhat fewer contacts than women with family and friends). Widows, though 25% of them were very isolated, generally had good family and social relationships; nevertheless, they often felt at a disadvantage in social life. Practically, the aim of the authors will not be to tackle isolation and solitude of the aged in general, but to design specific measures which will meet the real needs of the various groups at risk.