The Relation of Lifetime Cognitive Activity and Lifetime Access to Resources to Late-life Cognitive Function in Older African Americans

ABSTRACT

Research in older Caucasians has demonstrated that cognitive activity is related to cognitive function in late adulthood. Knowledge of this association is limited in older minority populations. We examined the relation of cognitive activity and access to cognitive resources, with cognitive function in a group of 108 older African Americans. We constructed two scales to measure the frequency of cognitive activity and the presence of resources that promote cognitive activity during early and late life. Both measures had high internal consistency and the cognitive activity scale had adequate temporal stability over a 4-week interval. In analyses that controlled for age and education, more frequent lifetime cognitive activity was related to current cognitive function, but lifetime cognitive resources only approached significance. The results suggest that both measures are psychometrically sound in a minority population and that lifetime cognitive activity may contribute to current cognitive function in African Americans.     

Uwagi o dowodzie sformalizowanym i konsekwencji

Allatum est die 8 Octobris 1968     

Single-point entry: an organizational form in the delivery of services to the aged.

Demographic shifts, the further commercialization of the health and human services industry, and various economic trends point to a restructuring of the systems delivering services to the aged. Emerging are approaches that offer a broad range of services under the auspices of separate organizational entities. Called continuums of care, such organizational forms use single points of entry as mechanisms to control access to the array of available services. Using the life care community as the prime example, this article examines the operations of single-point entry organizations. The authors also explore the implications of such structures for the health and human services industry, noting their potential for stratifying the aged along the dimensions of health and income.     

The school psychologist as expert witness in due process hearings

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