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Showing papers in "Gerontologist in 1969"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Two scales first standardized on their own population are presented, one of which taps a level of functioning heretofore inadequately represented in attempts to assess everyday functional competence, and the other taps a schema of competence into which these behaviors fit.
Abstract: THE use of formal devices for assessing function is becoming standard in agencies serving the elderly. In the Gerontological Society's recent contract study on functional assessment (Howell, 1968), a large assortment of rating scales, checklists, and other techniques in use in applied settings was easily assembled. The present state of the trade seems to be one in which each investigator or practitioner feels an inner compusion to make his own scale and to cry that other existent scales cannot possibly fit his own setting. The authors join this company in presenting two scales first standardized on their own population (Lawton, 1969). They take some comfort, however, in the fact that one scale, the Physical Self-Maintenance Scale (PSMS), is largely a scale developed and used by other investigators (Lowenthal, 1964), which was adapted for use in our own institution. The second of the scales, the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL), taps a level of functioning heretofore inadequately represented in attempts to assess everyday functional competence. Both of the scales have been tested further for their usefulness in a variety of types of institutions and other facilities serving community-resident older people. Before describing in detail the behavior measured by these two scales, we shall briefly describe the schema of competence into which these behaviors fit (Lawton, 1969). Human behavior is viewed as varying in the degree of complexity required for functioning in a variety of tasks. The lowest level is called life maintenance, followed by the successively more complex levels of func-

14,832 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the affluent community of Chevy Chase, recent events have revealed a complex interweaving of class, color, and age discrimination that may highlight the impact of these forces in the authors' national life.
Abstract: MALCOLM X, the Kerner Commission Report, and a variety of other persons, events, and materials have made the concept of racism familiar. Social class discrimination also needs no introduction. However, we may soon have to consider very seriously a form of bigotry we now tend to overlook: age discrimination or age-ism, prejudice by one age group toward other age groups. If such bias exists, might it not be especially evident in America; a society that has traditionally valued pragmatism, action, power, and the vigor of youth over contemplation, reflection, experience, and the wisdom of age? In the affluent community of Chevy Chase, recent events have revealed a complex interweaving of class, color, and age discrimination that may highlight the impact of these forces in our national life. On January 30, 1969, the National Capital Housing Authority, the public housing agency of the District of Columbia, held hearings on its proposal to purchase Regency House, a high-rise apartment building in Chevy Chase, for the elderly poor. If finally approved, Regency House would be the first public housing project west of Rock Creek Park, the traditional boundary between black and white in Washington, D.C. The middle-class and middle-aged white citizenry of Chevy Chase appeared at both the hearings and at the Chevy Chase Citizens' Association meeting at a local public school on February 17. They vigorously protested on a variety of grounds the National Capital Housing Authority proposal. Some of these aroused citizens demonstrated that they could practice the politics of protest and confrontation in a manner as impassioned as that of the young and alienated. Chevy Chase residents were irritated and angered by a proposal to provide what they considered luxury housing (there is a swimming pool

1,508 citations



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190 citations


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Erdman Palmore1

133 citations




Journal Article

36 citations


Journal Article

36 citations




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