Grant: Operating Grant - PA: Regional Partnership Program - Newfoundland and Labrador

The old elderly, those people aged 80 and over, are the fastest growing group of the population. This group is often thought to be in poor health. However, the physical and mental health, living situations, and activity levels of this group are quite wide-ranging. Some do indeed reach the age of 80 having accumulated many medical problems. However, at the other end of the spectrum, many of those aged 80 and over are healthy, active, and alert with very few chronic medical problems,few or no ongoing medications, and living independently without assistance. What is different between these two groups now? What was different about their life's circumstances and experiences that might have contributed to their current situation? What is likely to happen to them in the coming years? These are questions we hope to answer with the current study, a comparison of old elderly individuals who are physically independent and those who are not. We plan to recruit 200 study participants through family physician offices, personal care homes, and nursing homes; 100 in each group (physically independent versus physically dependent). After each person is recruited we will begin collecting information about him or her This information will include basic demographics (age, sex, education level, marital status, etc.), as well as assessments of activities of daily living, lifestyle, current medical conditions and medications, self assessed health status, depression, general happiness, and life expectancy (both in terms of number of years and quality of life). This study will improve our understanding of the health outcomes and needs of the aged.