Older people's recommendations for treating symptoms: repertoires of lay knowledge about disease.

This paper explores the content of older people's repertoires of lay knowledge regarding treatment strategies for commonly occurring symptoms. Data were collected through in-depth personal interviews in a sample of people 65 years and older living in community settings and managing their own health. Respondents mentioned a total of 657 specific treatment recommendations for 15 symptoms.

Factors affecting the frequency of health enhancing behaviors by the elderly.

The authors examined the frequency of health-enhancing behaviors practiced by the elderly living in community settings, with emphasis on the impact of disease and disability on the frequency of those practices. Data were collected through personal interviews with a probability sample of 667 respondents in a 4-county region of northeastern New York. Almost all respondents said they engaged in at least one health-enhancing practice on a regular basis.

Drug combinations and potential for risk of adverse drug reaction among community-dwelling elderly.

Data were gathered through personal interviews from a sample of 667 people 65 years of age and older, living in community settings and managing their own health. Almost two thirds of these older respondents reported at least one drug-drug or drug-alcohol combination associated with a possible adverse reaction. The largest percentage of respondents were taking combinations of medications that could place them at risk for hypotension and cognitive impairment.

Alcohol use and potential risk for alcohol-related adverse drug reactions among community-based elderly.

This paper documents the frequency of alcohol consumption and concurrent use of alcohol and medications in a random sample of elderly community dwellers. Further, a profile of older persons who are likely to be drinking alcohol is developed and the extent to which they are at potential clinical risk due to their concurrent use of alcohol with prescription and over-the-counter medications is explored. While approximately 43 percent are abstainers, the majority of older respondents reported using alcohol.

Lay evaluation of symptoms by older people: an assessment of potential risk.

This paper examines the appropriateness of lay evaluations of potential risk of symptoms among a sample of 667 elderly people living in community settings. Data were gathered through personal interviews and 3 weeks of structured health diaries in which older respondents recorded the symptoms they experienced. Potential medical risk was determined on a symptom by symptom basis based on clinical information gathered during the interviews.

Application of differential reinforcement to control disruptive behaviours of mentally retarded students during remedial instruction.

This research was concerned with training special education practitioners to utilise DRO procedures (differential reinforcement of other behaviour) to control disruptive behaviours of mentally retarded students during remedial instruction. The procedures consisted of delivering an edible treat to the students if they failed to exhibit specified problem behaviours during selected time frames. In Study I, out-of-seat behaviour of a six-year-old mildly retarded girl was eliminated in two classroom settings following application of DRO.