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The Measurement Of Change In Well-Being In A Longitudinal Study Of Pre- And Post-Retirees, Marie P. Beaudet

Dissertations and Theses

The primary focus of this dissertation is an empirical investigation of three approaches to the measurement of longitudinal change. For the present study, difference scores, residual change scores, and percentage gain scores are compared to determine if their use results in similar findings when the relationships between three resource areas (health, social, and financial) and subjective well-being are analyzed. The propositions which are tested were derived from current aging theories. Meta-analysis procedures were employed to synthesize past research findings in gerontology. The data which were analyzed are those of the Longitudinal Retirement History Study (LRHS), a research project sponsored by …

1984 Commencement Program, Commencement

Commencement Archives 1980-89

The program for the Portland State University 1984 Spring Commencement ceremony, held at Memorial Coliseum on June 8, 1984, in Portland, Oregon.

Opening remarks by Loren L. Wyss, Oregon State System of Higher Education.

Urban Housing Policy Evaluation In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, Tarek Ali Fadaak

Dissertations and Theses

The rise in wealth for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia led to an increase in demand for more and better housing. In response to this rising demand, and as part of an overall development policy, a housing 60a1 and several housing objectives were identified. To attain the goal and objectives, a formal housing policy was designed and authorized. It involved direct and indirect assistance to the private sector, a subsidized financing program for new housing construction, a serviced land program for the low income, and public housing. This thesis is an evaluation of the urban housing policy in the Kingdom …

Retirement Satisfaction And The Timing Of The Retirement Age: An Analysis Of Retirees And Older Workers From A Fortune 500 Firm, Donna Elaine Stuteville

Dissertations and Theses

This study focuses the effects of demographic characteristics, health status, income, work attitudes, and leisure activity involvements have on satisfaction in retirement and the retirement timing decision. The review of the literature revealed that no single variable alone is the predictor of retirement satisfaction and the timing of the retirement decision. Therefore, a conceptual model was developed to measure the two central research questions. The conceptual model is based on five categorical factors as the determinants of retirement satisfaction and timing. The five main factors in the model are: demographic characteristics, health status, income level, work attitudes and leisure activity …

Life Satisfaction Of Elderly Parents And Parent-Child Relationships In Old Age, Tehchou Yeh

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is designed to explore the nature of the relationship between elderly parents and their children and to investigate the association of that relationship with life satisfaction of the elderly parents. The examination of parents' life satisfaction is based on the activity theory of gerontology. The life satisfaction is measured by Adams's eighteen-item Life Satisfaction Index. The parent-child relationship is viewed from the standpoint of both the parents' expectations of their children and how the children fulfill these expectations. Filial discrepancies between parents' expectations and children's behavior are analyzed to fill a gap in the literature on behavioral and …

The Placement Information Base: Its Utility And Meaning For Nursing Home Placement Decisions, Darlene Schroedl Mckenzie

Dissertations and Theses

The State of Oregon is using the Placement Information Base, PIB, as part of an assessment process to determine the type of placement needed by Medicaid clients. While used for functional assessment, PIB has not been empirically studied for its use as a screening or predictive instrument to differentiate between the need for nursing home care and community care. This dissertation addresses the question of whether PIB is suitable for use as a screening instrument for nursing home placement decisions. Both PIB's measurement and predictive capabilities are examined. Using secondary PIB data on 2287 elderly Department of Human Resources clients, …

The Needs Of Older People As Seen By Themselves And Support Providers, Sarah Movius Schurr

Dissertations and Theses

This study compares perceptions of older people's needs from two vantage points: needs as seen by the older people themselves, and the needs of the elders as seen by their family support group. Two hypotheses were examined. The first hypothesis was that the elders and the support people would disagree on the needs of the elders. Secondly, the disagreement would be strongest on more abstract needs, like life satisfaction and contact with the opposite sex.

The Descriptive Function Of Language: Changes With Age And Pressure To Inform, Eve Susan Liebman

Dissertations and Theses

Currently language is viewed as a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of three interrelated components; content, form and function (Bloom and Lahey, 1978). In recent publications, language function has been referred to as pragmatics (Prutting, 1979). The essence of pragmatic theory is that language is used functionally in social contexts, to accomplish specific types of communication (Wood, 1981). One such communicative function is referred to as the informative function, which occurs when a speaker provides ideas and information to others, as in describing, naming and giving examples {Wood, 1981). It is not clear, however, when children become competent in making specific, clear …

Social Support And Well-Being In Middle-Aged And Elderly Spinal Cord Injured Persons: A Social-Psychological Analysis, Susan Dee Decker

Dissertations and Theses

Advances in health care science are enabling greater numbers of spinal cord injured persons to live to old age. As these persons grow older, there may be additional problems in coping due to stressors such as decreasing health and income and loss of significant others. The purpose of this study was to determine those factors that contribute to the well-being of middle-aged and elderly community-residing spinal cord injured persons. One hundred spinal cord injured persons ranging in age from 40 to 73 were interviewed. Extensive data were collected in order to investigate the relationship among social support, types of social …

Verbal Fluency Performance Of Normal Elderly Subjects, Molly Secrest

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to measure the verbal fluency of normal gerontologic subjects and to determine the extent of association between verbal fluency score and level of education. Specifically, this investigation sought to determine means, ranges and standard deviations for three groups of subjects: those 61 to 69 years of age, those 70 to 79 years of age, and those 80 years of age and above. In addition, correlations between verbal fluency score, and age, sex, years of education, and order of stimulus presentation were computed.

1981 Commencement Program, Commencement

Commencement Archives 1980-89

The program for the Portland State University 1981 Spring Commencement ceremony, held at Memorial Coliseum on June 7, 1981, in Portland, Oregon.

Opening remarks by Edward C. Harms, Jr., Oregon State System of Higher Education, and Jill Kremen, Class of 1981.

The Assessment Of Service Providers' Attitudes Toward Working With Older Clients In An Urban Social Service System, Marilyn Diane Petersen

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigates attitudes toward working with older clients held by service providers in an urban social service system. Four samples were involved: three of providers (Interview Panel, n = 22; Pretest Sample, n = 89; and Survey Sample, n = 428) and one of providers and their older clients (Encounter Sample, n = 52 providers, 147 clients). The first time samples included 13 provider types: hospital doctors, nurses, and nurses aides; in-home nurses and aides; nursing home nurses and aides; mental health practitioners; and income, nutrition, transportation, housing, and interaction personnel. The Encounter Sample included: in-home nurses and aides, …

An Analysis Of Environmental, Social And Personal Dimensions And Their Relationship To Psychological Well-Being In Late Life, Renee Tissue

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation focused on the relationship between psychological well-being and life situations of older persons. Specifically, this study examined whether life situations were different for persons whose Life Satisfaction Index scores changed over a two-year period compared to those whose scores were stable. The sample included 215 older persons living in reduced circumstances. These persons were interviewed on three occasions separated by one-year intervals. Pearson correlations, analysis of variance, and multiple regression procedures were employed to test five hypotheses. Fourteen case studies were selected to illustrate statistical findings. When the dissertation data were analyzed for each occasion separately, findings from …

Rain, Eco-Net

RAIN: Journal of Appropriate Technology

Volume 6, Number 10

Inside: Energy Co-ops; Changing the Rhetoric; Intensive Agriculture Revisited

RAIN began in October 1974 as a publication of ECO-NET, an environmental education network funded by the Hill Foundation and an Environmental Education grant. Its office was based in the Environmental Education Center at Portland State University. With a focus on the Pacific Northwest, particularly Oregon, RAIN originally described itself as a “bulletin board” with an “emphasis on environmental/energy related and communications kinds of information” and interested in “the evolutionary possibilities of inter-disciplinary connections.”

Social Resources Of The Elderly As Correlates Of Life Satisfaction, Silvana Rigo Hale

Dissertations and Theses

This project has addressed the need for a new and effective theoretical framework in the field of social gerontology by proposing and applying exchange theory as a valid approach to the study of aging. This study specifically analyzed the relationships between life satisfaction and social resources, social contexts and change in order to measure and clarify the significance of the individual factors.

Portland State Perspective; September 1979, Portland State University

Portland State Perspective

A quarterly alumni newsletter. In this issue: returning female students lauded; PSU's 25th anniversary celebrated; Gordon Dodds receives faculty excellence award.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet June 1979, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The June 1979 Monthly packet includes the June agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held May 1979.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet May 1979, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The May 1979 Monthly packet includes the May agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held April 1979.

Self-Concepts Of Institutionalized And Community Residing Elderly, Diana L. White

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the nature of the self-concept in old age. Specifically, the relationship between the self-concept and social relationships and self-concept and living situation (residence in a long term care or residence in one’s own home) are examined. The self-concept was measured by the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS) developed by William Fitts in 1965. Data was collected at two stages (over a two to three year period) from a study sample which consisted of twelve individuals who became institutionalized and twelve individuals who remained in their own homes.

Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods were used. Analysis …

The Threat Index And Two Forms Of Resistance To The Concept Of Death, Henry E. Miller Jr.

Dissertations and Theses

Many investigators of death attitudes have emphasized the limitation of self-report measures of the fear of death in that responses are often unreal and highly questionable due to defenses and ego maneuvers. The Self-Administered Threat Index (SATI) introduced by Rainey and Epting (1977) appears to meet most criticisms of other investigators.

The present study was a partial replication of the Golding, et al. (1966) study with the SATI replacing the Sarnoff Fear of Death Scale. Forty-six introductory psychology students, both males and females, performed a tachistoscopic recognition task, completed the SATI and the Semantic Differential and were administered a brief …

Human Services Aa Degree Programs, Ken Price

Dissertations and Theses

There are two major purposes of this study. One purpose is to provide faculty, administrators, and advisory committees of the Human Services program at Clackamas Community College (CCC) with information for use in recruitment and curriculum planning. The other purpose is to fulfill practicum credit requirements of the Master of Social Work program at Portland State University.

The four chapters of this practicum cover background information about Associate of Arts (AA) programs and CCC, the review of the literature, the empirical research, and implications of the study for the CCC Human Services Department.

Portland State Perspective; December 1977, Portland State University

Portland State Perspective

A quarterly alumni newsletter. In this issue: the future of urban universities; profile of English professor Primus St. John; recruiters forecast good job market.

Wages, Welfare, Or What? [Statement Of Norman L. Wyers] - Salem, Or, Norman L. Wyers

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

In his testimony to joint hearings before a task force of the welfare reform subcommittee of the US House of Representatives held on November 9, 1977, in Salem, Oregon, as part of a proposed welfare reform bill, H.R. 9030, Professor Norman L. Wyers shared the diverse opinions of participants of Oregon town hall meetings on economic security, entitlement, eligibility and responsibility. The public opinion survey findings revealed Oregonians' support for humanitarian policies, universal benefits, and a focus on job creation over training. Wyers urged policymakers to consider the liberal attitudes uncovered in the survey, emphasizing the need for a steady …

Disengagement Of Older People In An Urban Setting, Melvina Somers

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation reevaluates the controversial Disengagement Theory of aging introduced by Elaine Cumming and William E. Henry in their book, Growing Old (1961), with particular emphasis on aging in the city.

Disengagement theory embodies the antithesis to the traditional activity theory of aging based on a work ethic. Disengagement theory holds that normal aging is an inevitable mutual withdrawal or disengagement between the aging person and others in the social system, that it is universal, and that, by impl ication,it is a mutually satisfying condition since it results in a new equilibrium between society and the aging individual. The theory …

Personal Incidental Fund: A Study In Policy Making, Shirley Rackner

Dissertations and Theses

Originally, the focus of this project was to be a policy analysis and survey of the new procedures and regulations established by the state of Oregon for the protection and management of nursing home residents' Personal Incidental Funds (PIF). The analysis was to be divided into four phases, according to a pre-planned timetable. The last phase was to be a field survey of the policy's impact upon nursing homes and adult service workers. The timetable was synchronized with that of the Congregate Care Consultant from the Public Welfare Division's (PWD) Adult Services Unit, whose responsibility it was to develop and …

Evaluative Research And Nutrition Programs For The Elderly, Leonard D. Cain

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report looks at the means to evaluate the Nutrition Act, Title VII-Nutrition Program for the Elderly, (Public Law No. 258, 1972).

Self-Esteem And The Elderly : An Exploratory Study Of A Residential Population In A Home For The Aged, Vernon E. Hoffer

Dissertations and Theses

The two primary purposes of this exploratory study were (1) to establish the theoretical tenability of focusing on the maintenance of self-esteem as a means for enhancing the quality of life in the institutionalized elderly, and (2) to identify factors related to self-esteem in a home for the aged sample.

Literature reviewed relative to the importance of self-esteem, its development, and its maintenance or change indicated that (1) self-esteem is related to personal satisfaction and effective social functioning: (2) self-esteem develops and is maintained or changed as a function of factors in an individual’s immediate interpersonal environment; and (3) institutionalization …

The Black Elderly Volunteer, Sandra E. Gonzales

Dissertations and Theses

The present study represents an attempt "to seek out one possible subgroup of the black elderly population--the volunteer. Black elderly volunteers are a puzzled about but largely unknown group. Very little systematic research has been done on this subject. Recently there has been an increased interest in volunteering among the elderly population as a whole, as social welfare planners seek new ways for the aged to find fulfillment and enjoyment. It is felt that volunteering can offer prestige, feelings of usefulness and other gratifications that may be lacking in the aged person's life.

Role Exits Among The Aged, Nancy Whitelaw Mancini

Dissertations and Theses

The concept of role exit presented by Zena Smith Blau in her book, Old Age in a Changing Society, refers to the ongoing process of relinquishing previously enacted social roles; a process which is part of everyday life for men and women of all ages. However, Blau argues that role exits in later life are different from those in earlier stages of the life cycle because they tend to be terminal and involuntary. These factors, according to Blau, cause role exits in old age to negatively influence the individual's overall satisfaction with life.

This thesis examines the concept of …

Private Pensions And The Free Market, John Louis Dobra

Dissertations and Theses

In light of the retirement phenomena, the development and utilization of private pensions may be viewed as a market response based on individual and collective recognition of the need to plan to finance retirement from the labor force. This market response however, is shown to have produced a profusion of independent differential pension schemes which may vary with respect to their administrative mechanisms, the type and adequacy of benefits paid, the level at which contributions are made to the plan by participants and the basis of these contributions, and the adequacy of funding. As a result, it is not only …