In this paper the service needs of community-dwelling older persons are examined. Based on the responses from a random sample of 400 residents aged 65 and over, it is found that just over 9 percent of this population is currently using or in need of community services. Thus, the vast majority of older persons are managing without the aid of formal support services. The importance of the seemingly modest proportion of older persons requiring services is discussed. The consequences for public policy of anticipated constraints on family and women as service providers in the future are emphasized.

This research uses data from the Manitoba Longitudinal Study on Aging and multiple logistic regression analysis to assess the impact of twenty-eight sociodemographic and health status variables on nursing home admission. The results indicate that 1) all the short-term predictors continue to be significantly associated with facility bed use in the long run, suggesting that the high risk elderly can be identified relatively early; 2) the key sociodemographic characteristics are better predictors of admission than health and physical functioning characteristics; and 3) time itself appears to change the relationship of the study variables to admission.

A total of 768 older and younger men and women with average ages of 58 and 20 years, respectively, made judgments of recommended imprisonment for a rapist after learning about one of eight different versions of sexual assaults. Younger subjects in contrast to older subjects recommended longer sentences. The most severe sentences were given by young males for the assault of a demure woman. Older males were least punitive in sentencing. A reliable interaction among age of subjects, sex of subjects and victim demeanor indicated that younger and older women recommended similar jail sentences when a demure woman was victimized but older women were less punitive when a provocative woman was assaulted. The demeanor of the rapist (well-dressed vs. poorly-dressed) and the resistance/nonresistance of the victim failed to influence sentencing. Older persons and males were found to hold reliably higher anti-victim, pro-rape myth sentiments than younger adults and females.

Stress, perceived well-being, and coping behaviours were studied comparing a sample of aging Chinese immigrants with Anglos. The Chinese sample found growing old a more stressful experience, reported lower psychological well-being, depended more heavily on external and palliative coping strategies, and felt less effective in coping as compared to the Anglo counterparts. The finding supported the double jeopardy hypothesis of ethnic minority aging.

Admission data from 159 residents of four Saskatchewan nursing homes were analysed in order to identify predictors of level of care. Multiple regression analyses showed that a high level of care was assigned to those who were unable to perform various activities of daily living, those who had behavioral problems, and those who had recently experienced a stressful life event; with these variables and a nursing home variable explaining 47.2% of the variance. Appropriately, the most important predictor is activities of daily living. The other major predictor is behavioral problems which, the results suggest, are caused by either an organic psychotic disorder or a high level of stress. It is recommended that, following admission, new residents with behavioral problems caused by stress should be the recipients of programs designed to help them cope with this stress and mitigate their behavioral problems. Then, they should be reassessed and, where appropriate, reassigned to a lower level of care.

Routine thyroid function tests have been advocated for the geriatric population, as the clinical presentation both of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism may be atypical. Results are presented on the prevalence of dysthyroidism in patients referred to a geriatric service (2% hypothyroidism and 2% hyperthyroidism) and an attempt is made to distinguish between those suspected (hyperthyroid 6 cases, hypothyroid 11 cases) and those unsuspected on clinical grounds (hyperthyroid 4 cases, hypothyroid 7 cases). Outcome of treatment is examined and the cost of detecting one unsuspected but treatable case of hypothyroidism in this referred geriatric population is estimated at 1,000 to 2,653 1984 Canadian dollars.