The research stems from a legal pluralism approach to law which postulates that different levels of law can operate simultaneously in a given situation. The concept is applied to nursing homes in New Brunswick. The research had three phases. A grid of the rights of nursing home residents was first built. Secondly, New Brunswick law was analysed with that grid. Thirdly, administrative policies gathered from nursing homes were also analysed. The law is often silent with respect to the rights of nursing home residents. However, that vacuum is filled by administrative policies which vary from one nursing home to another. Statistical differences are found between nursing homes administered by religious organizations and those administered by non-profit corporations. Recommendations are made to better protect the rights of nursing home residents.

The purpose of this study was to describe the elderly marital partners' perceptions of conjugal support and coping strategies and the relationship between these perceptions and their well-being. A multistage sample of 135 community-dwelling elderly couples, 65 years of age and over, was drawn from users and non-users of the health and social systems in a large metropolitan area. A series of questionnaires, presented within an interview format, were used to measure the variables. Each spouse was separately interviewed at home. Paired t-tests revealed that husbands tended to perceive more support from their spouse and to use less external social support than wives when coping with daily problems. Intraclass coefficients of correlation between husbands' and wives' coping strategies were only low to moderate. However, for both marital partners, results revealed significant positive correlations between availability and reciprocity of conjugal support and well-being and a negative association between conflict within the conjugal relationship and well-being. Only two cognitive coping strategies, namely reframing and active appraisal were positively related to the well-being of both spouses. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that congruency of perception between husbands and wives had an effect only on wives' well-being. These findings suggest psychosocial interventions and are discussed in relation to previous studies and future research.

The relationship between family cohesion, perceived control, received social support types (emotional, informational, and tangible), and the coping strategies used by mothers of separated or divorced offspring was examined. Data were obtained from 84 mothers aged 45 to 78 (M age 61). Two multiple regression analyses were conducted with avoidant coping (focus on and venting emotion, behavioural disengagement, mental disengagement) and active coping (active coping, planning, positive reinterpretation and growth) serving as criterion variables. Greater use of avoidant coping was associated with low family cohesion, low perceived control, and high received emotional support. In addition, greater use of active coping was associated with high received emotional support.

This study examined whether off-target verbosity should be conceptualized as a distinct process from high levels of talkativeness in every day social situations. The relationship of age to these speech styles was also determined. The responses of 125 community-based elderly adults to a life-history interview were independently rated by two research assistants for the frequency and extent of off-target verbosity. The participant's activities in daily life, including talkativeness, were independently rated by the participants themselves, 125 similar-aged peers and 10 professional workers acquainted with the participants. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a model postulating off-target verbosity and talkativeness as two largely independent latent factors. Age was associated with the verbosity factor. The results were interpreted as indicating that off-target verbosity cannot be explained by the same processes that underlie social talkativeness. Possible mechanisms of the verbosity factor were discussed.

Chemical dependency in the elderly has been recognized as a serious problem since the early 1960s. Few practitioners however, have developed intervention or treatment programs for this age group. The Elders Health Program, a research demonstration project, established the fact that the problem of enabling behaviours had to be addressed. Active family and professional enablers became significant factors influencing the design of intervention and treatment programs.

The performance of seven Parkinson patients on a discrete pursuit tracking task was studied under alleviated (medicated) and unalleviated (non-medicated) conditions, and compared with the performance of seven non-Parkinson subjects matched for age and gender. All subjects completed 2,000 responses on the tracking task, which provided variations in directional probability and the distance to be moved. Overall, results suggested that once given sufficient practice to learn a novel task, and when under drug control, Parkinson patients were not significantly different from their age-matched controls. Two exceptions where Parkinson patients evidenced slower responses were noted: (a) their ability to make decisions when movement direction was less predictable: and (b) when they had to readjust their motor responses after an unexpected movement error.

Jacques Laforest provides an introduction to gerontology viewed as an interdisciplinary field of study and reflection on old age. Old age is defined from a developmental perspective as two opposite yet complementary processes: those of decline and growth. The final stage of life is marked by an existential crisis of one's identity, autonomy and belonging. Researchers and specialists from all disciplines are invited to contribute towards an understanding and a resolution of this crisis. The purpose of this publication is to initiate the process of integrating knowledge and reflections on gerontology. This goal is achieved.

Ce livre comporte une série d'articles présentés et écrits par des spécialistes canadiens et européens reconnus pour leur connaissance des services communautaires pour les personnes âgées dans la province de l'Ontario et partout ailleurs au Canada. Ces articles ont été préparés en fonction d'ateliers tenus à Toronto en 1988 qui visaient à élaborer de nouvelles politiques et des programmes pour les personnes âgées. Les articles traitaient plus particulièrement des programmes de l'Ontario et du Manitoba et font quelques comparaisons avec d'autre pays. Ils abordent aussi sommairement d'autres programmes extrêmement bien élaborés comme ceux de la Colombie-Britannique ou de la Saskatchewan. Le livre s'adresse aux decideurs politiques, aux planificateurs, aux étudiants ou aux administrateurs du domaine des soins à domicile.

This book groups a series of articles presented at a symposium held in Trois-Rivières on October 10, 11 and 12, 1990. It covers the main issues of training and instrumentation of people working in contexts of abuse and violence towards the elderly. Several programs and testimonies of intervention in Quebec are also presented. This is a well-researched book, which, in addition to outlining the broad elements of the issue, gives an analytical presentation of recent publications and tackles the touchy subject of unrecognized old age homes. Therefore, in its composition, Vieillir sans violence offers an excellent synthesis of the state of current knowledge on violence towards the elderly. However, the large number of themes touched upon is somewhat detrimental to a sense of unity. Also, the highly descriptive nature of the texts can at times make for fastidious and arduous reading. Despite these few flaws, this is nonetheless an accessible book that contributes greatly to our understanding of the phenomenon of violence.