Journal of aging and health
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African American, Latino, and American Indian older adults are underrepresented in clinical research studies. A significant barrier to participation in research is mistrust of the scientific community and institutions. The aims of this article are to discuss the lack of representation of ethnic minorities in clinical research. ⋯ The RCMAR centers are building trust with the communities they serve, resulting in the recruitment and retention of ethnic minority older adults in clinical research studies and health promotion projects. Implications are discussed for other researchers toward building trust with ethnic minority elders to increase their participation in research.
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To estimate the effect of spousal depressive symptoms and physical health on respondents' depressive symptoms in a national sample of older married couples. ⋯ Our findings suggest that health care providers treating older adults should be sensitive to the possibility that spouses may be affected when clients suffer poor mental or physical health.
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The study examined whether ethnicity or socioeconomic status influenced a group's ability to meet eligibility criteria and willingness to enroll. ⋯ Recruitment efforts should address barriers to eligibility and barriers to willingness to enroll.
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This study examines whether patterns of social network size, functional social support, and loneliness are different for older persons with different types of chronic diseases. ⋯ The specifics of a disease appear to play a (small) role in the receipt of instrumental support and feelings of loneliness of chronically ill older persons.
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Although advance directives for health care are widely advocated, usage rates among the elderly are low. Reported is a study testing comparative educational strategies to increase the use of advance directives among elderly persons ages 65 to 93. Follow-up interviews (n = 293) with intervention participants and controls showed that only 1 of 6 different strategies increased use. ⋯ Most intervention participants preferred to defer to family surrogates and avoid executing advance directives. Level of education was a factor in use. Proposed is a restructuring of the advance directives process to accommodate elderly persons' wishes to authorize family members for surrogate health decision making, a policy that would assist the majority of people, including those who either wish to avoid or fail to execute advance directives.