Assembling the Career Firefighter Health Study cohort: A methods overview.

Background: Studies of World Trade Center (WTC)-exposed rescue/recovery workers report the increased occurrence of health conditions after work at the WTC disaster site. However, the extent to which these associations are due to WTC exposure is unclear, in part due to the lack of suitable comparison groups. Accordingly, we identified a previously assembled National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) cohort of career firefighters from three US cities (n = 29,992).

Impact of a Web-based Information and Referral Tool on Access to Federal and State Programs for Older Adults.

Federal and state governments provide a plethora of benefits programs intended to help older Americans, but take-up rates for the programs is low. BenefitsCheckUp® is an online tool intended to increase enrollment in these programs. To evaluate the impact of this national online screening tool providing individualized benefit information, we conducted a web survey of individuals who screened potentially eligible for programs including Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, Medicare Savings Programs, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and energy assistance.

Organizational Directors' Perceptions About Awareness of Services Among Their Employees and the Older Adults They Serve.

This study explores the extent to which directors of organizations perceive that (a) older adults are aware of and interested in using services, and (b) their employees are aware of complementary services in the community and are willing to coordinate care or refer older adults to these services. We conducted 41 qualitative semistructured interviews with organizational directors who provide services to older adults. Directors perceived that not only older adults but also some providers were unaware of services in the community.