NEWS FLASH: A NATION OF CAREGIVERS. According to a 1997 survey by the National Alliance for Caregiving there has been a dramatic rise, over the last decade, in households caring for older adults. Almost 25% of of U.S. households were found to be providing caregiver services to older people. This was a three times increase over a similar AARP poll done in 1987. The full results are found in Family Caregiving in the U.S., Final Report, published by AARP, 1997. 

A follow-up to this work is found in The MetLife Juggling Act Study: Balancing Caregiving with Work and the Costs Involved - Findings from a National Study by the National Alliance for Caregiving and the National Center on Women and Aging at Brandeis University, November, 1999. www.caregiving.org/content/reports/JugglingStudy.pdf

GERONTOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN ACTION:
 

"Where are the Bones in their Noses?." Anthropologists David and Dorothy Counts present a multimedia lecture comparing their work in Papua New Guinea and among RVing Seniors in North America

BEING OLD IN THE INNER CITY: SUPPORT SYSTEMS OF THE SRO AGED by Jay Sokolovsky and Carl Cohen  SRO resident in a tiny public square near her hotel in mid-town Manhatttan PILLARS OF THE MIDDLE CLASS COMMUNITY Anthropologist Madelyn Iris reports on "The Qualitative Study of Aging in Chicago,"  part of the multi-disciplinary Aging in Chicago Project. This was an ethnographic study of older adults living in 5 distinct communities in the greater Chicago area.

PROJECT TO FOLLOW: "Stress Reduction for Family Caregivers: Effects of Adult Day Care Use," is a National Institute on Aging project running from 1992-1999 and conducted by Steven H. Zarit, Mary Ann Parris Stephens, Aloen Townsend and Rickey Greene. This project is important not only for the subject matter but because they have linked up with a similar project in Sweden and are beginning to look cross-culturally at the impact of daycare on caregivers to the elderly.  Recent publications include: Goodman, C.R., Steiner, V. & Zarit, S.H. (1997). "Personal orientation as a predictor of caregiver strain." Journal of Aging and Mental Health, 1, 149-157.  Jarrott, S.E., Zarit, S.H., Berg, S., & Johansson, L.   1998. "Adult day care for Dementia: A Comparison of Programs in Sweden and the United States." Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 13:99-108, 1998.

WEB SPECIALS:                      top of page

Papers in Microsimulation Series Paper No. 5: SHRINKING KIN NETWORKS IN ITALY DUE TO SUSTAINED LOW FERTILITY by Cecilia Tomassini and Douglas A. Wolf              www-cpr.maxwell.syr.edu/microsim/pdf/micro5.pdf

AGING IN RURALITY. www.une.edu/com/othrdept/ahec/ruralaging/default.htm
This is a very special site based on a study of the aged in Bucksport, Maine. There is a focus on helping heath care providers understand the cultural context of care. The site is linked to specific case studies and an interactive educational CD-ROM.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF PERSONHOOD AMONG THE AGED:  A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF AGING IN ISRAEL AND ENGLAND by Haim Hazan A brilliant study of how the nature of community shapes the perception of health and frailty in two national contexts. 

INFORMAL CAREGIVING: COMPASSION IN ACTION
A booklet developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a good deal of data on care of the elderly.
http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/daltcp/reports/carebro2.pdf
 

PRINT RESOURCES: 

Coward, R.T. & J.A. Krout, eds. 1998. Aging in rural settings: life circumstances and distinctive features of aging in rural America. NY: Springer. 

Savishinsky, Joel. 1998. At work, at home, at large: the sense ofperson and place in retirement. North American Dialogue 3(1): 16-18.

Scheidt, R.J. & P.G. Windley, eds. 1998. Environment and aging theory: a focus on housing. Westport CT: Greenwood.

deVries, B., C. Jacoby and C.G. Davis. 1996. "Ethnic Differences in Later Life Friendship. "  Canadian Journal of Aging 15(2): 226-44. 

Navon, L. and N. Weinblatt. 1996. "'The show must go on': behind the scenes of elderly spousal caregiving." Journal of Aging Studies 10(4): 39-42. 

Noonan, A.E., S.L. Tennstedt, F.G. Rebelsky. 1996. "Making the best of it: themes of meaning among informal caregivers to the elderly." Journal of Aging Studies 10(4): 313-27. 

Norris, J., ed. 1996. Daughters of the Elderly: Building Partnerships in Caregiving. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 

Shenk, D. and E. Fullmer. 1996. "Significant relationships among older women: cultural and personal constraints of lesbianism." Journal of Women and Aging 8(3/4): 75-89. 

Slaughter, V. 1997. The Elderly in Poor Urban Neighborhoods. New York: Garland Press. 

van Willigen, J., N.K. Chadha and S. Kedia. 1996. "Power and social engagement: a study of social aging in a Delhi neighbourhood." Ageing and Society 6(1/2): 33-47.

Walker, A. and L. Warren. 1996.Changing Services for Older People: The Neighbourhood Support Units Innovation. Open University: Buckingham, 

Zimmer, A. and H.S. Lin. 1996. "Leisure activity and well-being among the elderly in Taiwan: testing hypotheses in an Asian setting." Journal of Cross- Cultural Gerontology 11(2): 167-86.