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Examined 331 adult children with parents in nursing homes. Predictors of depression were poor health, time pressures, viewing parent as demanding, and lack of involvement with instrumental activities of daily living tasks. Emotional effects specific to parent's situation were predicted by poor health, negative perceptions of nursing home staff, upsetting visits, time pressures, and being female and young. (Author/NB)

An evaluation of help offered to disabled elderly parents by five groups of parent-caring daughters reveals that daughters provide at least 50% of total care by themselves. Never-married daughters and widowed daughters provide 77% and 62% of the total hours of care. Separated/divorced women in the same household used maximal proportions of paid care.

When middle-aged daughters are caregivers to their mothers, the mother-daughter relationship is strained, but little research has been done on the social and psychological factors involved. The present study examined middle-aged daughters' assessments of their own personalities and their mothers' personalities, within a caregiving setting. The data elicited information on how the caregiving daughters viewed themselves in relation to their mothers; what characteristics of the mothers were related to perceived differences in personality; and whether different types of impairment were related to different personality assessments by daughters. A sample of 150 mother-daughter pairs were identified in which the daughter was the primary caregiver for the mother. All the daughters were married and all the mothers were widowed. Caregiving daughters were interviewed for sociodemographic information, perceptions of caregiving demands and burdens. Each rated their own and their mothers' personalities using 17 specific attributes. Mothers were assessed using competency measures and intellectual functioning scales. On the whole, the mothers in this sample were highly functional, requiring help only with such tasks as shopping and transportation, and the average score for cognitive functioning was slightly above a level that would indicate impairment. The daughters tended to see themselves more positively than they saw their mothers. This was true for both positive and negative personality traits. Mothers' psychological symptoms, as perceived by daughters, and daughters' satisfaction with the mother-daughter relationship seemed to be the most significant factors. Caregiver age, level of cognitive impairment, and residential status were significant influences as well. The level of functional impairment of the mother was not a significant factor in the ratings. It is difficult to draw anything but inferences from the data, but it is suggested that the results are, in part, due to the daughters' desires to be different from their mothers. It is also possible that the psychological state of the mother has more of an impact on the mother-daughter caregiving relationship than the perceived burden or other forms of impairment. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Conducted a three-generation study of women's attitudes toward gender-appropriate roles and filial responsibility. United States gender-role attitudes were more egalitarian than those of the Japanese. In both countries, all three generations agreed that care of the elderly is a family responsibility, but attitudes toward filial responsibility were more positive among the Americans. (Author/BL)

Explores some complex factors that interact to determine filial behavior and notes ways that social policy responds to knowledge about filial behavior. Suggests hypothesis to explain persistence of myth that adult children today do not take care of elderly parents. (NRB)

Describes variations in patterns of help to disabled elderly widows when caregiving adult daughters work and when they do not. Mothers of the two groups received the same total number hours of help from all sources combined. Working daughters provided less personal care and cooking than did nonworkers, with the difference being offset by purchased help. (Author/ABB)

Compared four groups of parent caring daughters. Found that the "conflicted" workers and women who had quit work had the most impaired mothers and more of them had experienced lifestyle disruptions and caregiving strain. Two groups of workers were more career-oriented; two groups of nonworkers held more traditional views of women's roles. (Author/ABB)

Compared daughters who were principal caregivers to disabled elderly mothers with their geographically proximate sisters and brothers in amount of help they provided, effects of care they experienced, and feelings toward siblings' interactions regarding caregiving. Found negative intersibling interactions associated with less emotional closeness and mothers' greater care needs. (Author/CM)

Older people (N=132) reported details of their day-to-day mental and physical health symptoms. Pain of various types, fatigue/weakness, mental health symptoms, and worries, bothered the largest percentages of people. Different symptoms had differing effects in curtailing activities and disturbing sleep. Results underline the interrelationships among mental and physical symptoms. (Author/RC)

Compares a group of not-married daughters with exclusive male friends with not-married women who did not have such friends and with married women on the effects of such status while providing care to an elderly parent. One-way ANOVAS for three groups of caregiving women; Aspects of relationships with the men in subjects' lives; Effects of caregiving on the lives of not-married daughters.

Change in measures of well-being of all subjects of the Community Housing study as a function of change in environment was assessed over a 6-month period. Favorable changes in housing satisfaction were associated with improvement in dwelling-unit ambience; housing satisfaction and functional ability improved with change to a smaller unit, each of these changes occurring independently of a variety of other measures. It was concluded that environment was a significant element in generalized well-being, but that good environmental quality should be thought of as an intrinsic goal in its own right, regardless of whether other measures of psychological and social functioning improve. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the Philadelphia Geriatric Center's innovative project Community Housing for the Elderly (CH), the experimental group of tenants was compared with two control groups of people who also applied to CH: those who moved elsewhere and those who failed to move. This paper describes the project, reviews previous findings (at 6-month post-move followup CH tenants had fared best), analyzes reasons the individuals in all groups had wished to move, presents data on predictors of moving/not moving, and traces the whereabouts of the subjects 3 years later. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An experimental group of older people (E) who moved to Intermediate Housing (1H) sponsored by the Philadelphia Geriatric Center is compared at baseline and at 6-mo. post-move follow-up to two control groups: those who applied to 1H but moved elsewhere (Cl) and those who applied but did not move (C2). 1H tenants clearly fared better: they improved in over-all satisfaction with living arrangements and apartments; their wish to move had dissipated to a much greater extent, and they had increased in enjoyment of life and social contacts. Problems evidenced at baseline in dissatisfaction with neighborhood were solved by both sets of movers (E and Cl) but remained for the nonmovers (C2). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A demonstration respite project for caregivers of older people with Alzheimer's disease was evaluated by a randomized experiment. Three hundred and sixteen volunteer primary caregivers were offered respite services and 315 completed the research portion without the offer of respite. The research indicated that even before the demonstration most families, had some respite he1p in place. Of all those offered respite, 58% availed themselves of the offer. During the project year experimental and control subjects were equal in using slightly more services and there was no evidence that formal services had substituted for informal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

No abstract available for this article. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

No abstract available for this article. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Interviews were conducted with geographically distant adult children whose female siblings were primary caregivers for elderly widowed mothers. Female distant siblings were more likely than males to express guilt, strain, and other emotional effects deriving from the mother's situation, as well as certain intersibling tensions relative to the mother's care. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Behavioral observations were conducted on aged mentally impaired females in an institutional environment on a weekly basis for a 2-year period. An eight-category taxonomy was used to rate the complexity level of the subjects' behaviors. Although the average weekly performance showed significant linear decline over the 2 years, half the subjects remained stable in the level of their behavioral functioning. In comparison to subjects exhibiting declines in level of functioning, the stable subjects evidenced less serious medical conditions, had better comprehension of their situations, were more socially reactive, manifested fewer neurotic conditions, and had greater control over impulses and aggression at the beginning of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study investigated subjects' characteristics which related to improvements from individualized treatment of mentally impaired aged. Project variables (158) were reduced to 12 Q-type factors. The excess disability (ED) criteria were partialled into experimental/control influences (ED/) and residual ed variance. Statistical regressions were run on the ED/ criteria vs. age and the 12 Q factors. Age significantly predicted post-treatment ED functioning in both conditions. Younger subjects (ages 65-82) profited most in both groups. After the statistical removal of age in the regression, factor Q-3 still retained a significant relationship to ED/ for the experimentals. The correlations indicate the importance of social capabilities, irrespective of age level, with regard to improvements due to ed treatments. For the control subjects, Q-12 and Q-5 showed significant independent relationships to the criteria. Subjects' competence appeared most important for ED/ gains made without treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In a research study of individualized treatment of the excess disabilities (ED) of mentally impaired institutionalized elderly women, staff raters and outside (blind) raters agreed that experimentals improved significantly compared to controls. When ratings of change were made again 9 mo. after cessation of treatment, outside raters judged that the ED of both groups had declined; staff raters judged that controls had shown slight improvements. Although the two groups of raters differed on the absolute level of ratings, they agreed on the relative standing of the subjects. Ratings were consistent over the two rating periods and between the two sets of raters. This evidence and validity studies indicate that ratings of staff were not capricious. The authors conclude that when experimental treatment ceased, ED declined. Evidence to date indicates that with this population, maintenance of gains can only be achieved by sustained treatment input. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article discusses the clinical aspects of a research study of a highly individualized interdisciplinary treatment program of elderly women in the Philadelphia Geriatric Center's (PGC) institutional facility, the Home for the Jewish Aged (HJA). In addition to the 340-bed home, the geriatric center includes two apartment buildings for the elderly accommodating a total of 500 people, a fully accredited hospital, and the Gerontological Research institute. The highly individualized approach stemmed from accumulated knowledge regarding the heterogeneity of older people. The major research findings support the hypothesis that the behavior and functioning of the mentally impaired residents with moderate to severe chronic brain syndrome could be improved. It is recognized that this group is characterized by a multiplicity of disabilities that often cluster and interact so as to mask and exacerbate each other. For this reason an interdisciplinary approach was indicated, with treatment in each sphere specific and clear, yet integrated to focus on the whole person.

There has been a significant accumulation of knowledge concerning the programs, services, and environments required by the one million older people in long-term care facilities. Nevertheless, the powerful forces at work that determine the nature of care combine to nullify that knowledge and to force a Procrustean model (i.e., “tending to produce uniformity by violent methods”). Those forces are identified and discussed and some possible future directions are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]