Gerontology Commons^™

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.

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 …

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).

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 …

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 …

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 …

Some Correlates Of Morale Among Nursing Home Residents, Gail Olmsted Sydnor, Patricia Mears Wold

Dissertations and Theses

This is a study of twenty-six patients aged sixty years and over residing in a nursing care facility in Portland, Oregon in the fall of 1973, which explores the relationship of their morale and selected environmental and social factors.

There are three major aims of the study. The first is to measure variances in morale states as experienced and reported by the respondents. The second aim is to determine how a given set of factors correlate with the self-reported morale of each of the respondents. Selected for consideration are 1) attitudes: expectations upon entering the home and choice, comparison of …

An Analysis Of The Mental Health Services Available To The Elderly Within Oregon: Using Multnomah County As A Special Case Study Area, Joan Nadine Hoss

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify the mental health services available to the elderly residents of Oregon, and to assess the effectiveness of these services in providing mental health treatment to elderly persons.

In order to reasonably narrow the scope of this study, the investigation of mental health services was limited primarily to those agencies which are publicly funded and controlled by state or local bodies. In addition, Multnomah County was selected as a case study area in order to further narrow the scope of the study. Multnomah County was selected because of the convenience of its geographical …

Designing And Evaluating Workshop "Bridges": A Training Project To Upgrade Social Services In Long Term Care Facilities, Corrine C. Williams

Dissertations and Theses

Early in the fall of 1973, the Oregon Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) decided to sponsor a statewide training project in cooperation with seven chapters in other Department of Health, Education and Welfare (DHEW) regions across the United States. These workshops were to comprise Stage I of a two-stage plan; they were to serve as demonstration projects. Their planning, implementation and evaluation were to be seriously reviewed and studied afterword in an attempt to devise a model, or models, for Stage II, when a great number of such workshops would be held across the nation. The …

Two Delivery System Contexts For The Elderly:The "Institutional" Approach And The "Community" Approach., Mary Sarita Freer

Dissertations and Theses

Theoretically every society has some institutional means which seeks to prevent and alleviate personal misfortune and illness "Institutions are standardized solutions to collective problems." The increasing population rate of older persons, many of whom suffer from chronic diseases and disabilities, does pose a collective problem for society. Formerly, the "institutional" approach developed to address the needs of chronic aging patients and society. Today the "community" approach, by which community service agencies whose goal is to help older adults remain independent of total institutional care by supplying supportive services, is achieving recognition .

This thesis is an exploratory study to assess …

Medical-Social Needs In A Sample Population Of Elderly Post-Hospital Patients, Rose N. Cooper

Dissertations and Theses

The EPP Project was a descriptive and inferential study designed to determine the psychosocial and medical needs of elderly post-hospital dischargees.

The areas of need assessed were (1) living arrangements, (2) use of leisure time, (3) vocational adjustment, (4) financial functioning and (5) adjustment to illness.

The instrument adopted for the purpose of this study was an adaptation of a scheduled in the New York Study. The New York Study, described in The Elderly Ambulatory Patient: Nursing and Psychosocial Needs by Doris Schwartz, Barbara Henley and Leonard Zeitz was a long-range study of the needs of elderly clinic patients. The …