Although social support includes help from neighbors and friends, family members usually provide most of the physical, emotional, social, and economic support. Family caregivers play a key role in delaying, if not preventing, institutionalization of the chronically ill older person. In fact, about 80% of home health care is provided as informal support by family [...]
Frequently, retirement is the first major transition faced by older persons. About 33% of retirees have difficulty adjusting to certain aspects of retirement, such as reduced income and altered social role and entitlements. Individual circumstances surrounding retirement decisions influence the severity of adjustment problems. Some persons choose to retire and look forward to quitting unpleasant [...]
A person or family may experience several transitions in residences in later years, including the sale of the family home and a move to smaller quarters, a move into senior-citizen or retirement housing to minimize the burden of upkeep, and finally a move into a nursing home. Some experts contend that such moves produce relocation [...]
A complex phenomenon, bereavement changes many aspects of the elderly person’s life. Loss of companionship is accompanied by a decline in social interaction and a change in social status. The loss of a spouse has different effects on men and women. In the 2-yr period following the death of a spouse, men tend to have [...]
For most elderly persons, late life is a period of transition and adjustment to loss. Transitions include retirement, relocation, and bereavement following the death of a spouse, family members, or friends. Retirement: Frequently, retirement is the first major transition faced by older persons. About 33% of retirees have difficulty adjusting to certain aspects of retirement, [...]
The array of health services used by older persons is complex and fragmented. These services have different eligibility requirements and sources of funding, and they are regulated by different agencies. Acute care hospitals provide services to many older people requiring care for acute illnesses, exacerbations of chronic illnesses, and accidents. Hospitalized elderly persons are at [...]
The principal public health insurance for those > 65 yr, Medicare paid out an estimated $146 billion in 1993. Medicare comprises two complementary but distinct parts: hospital insurance (Part A) and supplementary medical insurance (Part B). About 95% of those > 65 yr are enrolled in Part A; nearly everyone covered by Part A enrolls [...]
Health care is provided to veterans without charge for service-connected disabilities and, on a complicated priority basis, for other conditions. The Veterans Administration operates 172 hospitals, 16 domiciliary facilities, and more than 100 nursing homes; it also contracts for care in community hospitals and nursing homes. The Veterans Administration has launched several innovative geriatric programs, [...]
