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A rich literature on public policy abounds in social gerontology and related gerontology curriculum. However, much less emphasis has been placed on public policy in the geriatric education curriculum. This article discusses the need for a greater infusion of public policy into training modules and core curriculum of geriatric education. The view is presented that public policy is, by its nature, a valuable area for interdisciplinary study, cutting across the discipline-specific areas of geriatric education. This emphasis is particularly acute and timely, given rising social and political criticism of safety net programs for the elderly such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Public policy curriculum design will be suggested as well as intervention strategies of use to public health professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The basis of social support that provides political legitimacy for age-related public policy is being called into question. Critics focus on the rapid growth of entitlement benefits for older people, both in terms of utilization and costs. Some have even suggested that if the current levels of spending are not curbed, we will sacrifice the economic legacy of our children. Programs being specifically targeted for criticism are Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. This article presents an issues overview of these programs in the context of current calls for reform. It suggests that aging public policy can be usefully taught and analyzed from the perspective of two conflicting schools of thought, which hold widely disparate views - the devolutionists and the safety netters. Devolutionists would tightly curtail the sustaining federal role in providing benefits to the elderly, while safety netters maintain that the federal government's role is indispensable. Relative deprivation theory, as advanced by Gurr (1970), is posited as a useful framework for explaining how aging public policy evolves and for illustrating the dynamics that underpin the process. Prescriptive recommendations are drawn out for the future of the aging network in terms of strategic positioning and advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate pressurised wideband acoustic immittance (WAI) tests in children with Down syndrome (DS) and in typically developing children (TD) for prediction of conductive hearing loss (CHL) and patency of pressure equalising tubes (PETs).Design: Audiologic diagnosis was determined by audiometry in combination with distortion-product otoacoustic emissions, 0.226 kHz tympanometry and otoscopy. WAI results were compared for ears within diagnostic categories (Normal, CHL and PET) and between groups (TD and DS).Study sample: Children with DS (n = 40; mean age 6.4 years), and TD children (n = 48; mean age 5.1 years) were included.Results: Wideband absorbance was significantly lower at 1–4 kHz in ears with CHL compared to NH for both TD and DS groups. In ears with patent PETs, wideband absorbance and group delay (GD) were larger than in ears without PETs between 0.25 and 1.5 kHz. Wideband absorbance tests were performed similarly for prediction of CHL and patent PETs in TD and DS groups.Conclusions: Wideband absorbance and GD revealed specific patterns in both TD children and those with DS that can assist in detection of the presence of significant CHL, assess the patency of PETs, and provide frequency-specific information in the audiometric range. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]