Personal development through the lifespan takes place in the context of the family, which is itself changing over time. Change occurs at three different levels – the institution of the family, dyadic relationships within it, the developing individual. Change at different levels and affecting different individuals is sometimes coordinated but often unsynchronised, with consequences for family members' sense of control and well-being. Using autobiographical material from the Mass-Observation Archive it is possible to examine a range of subjective experience, some of it illuminating themes in the literature of social gerontology, some of it prompting new lines of enquiry. The use of autobiographical material is justified by its richness and capacity to illustrate the uniqueness of experience. The case study method is appropriate for the study of sensitive issues, ambiguous concepts and uncharted areas of experience.

All 67-year-old pensioners in a primary care district (N = 142) participating in a multi-disciplinary population study were followed until the age of 83. At 83 years of age, 65 persons had survived and continued to take part in the study. Social, psychological and medical factors predicting survival during the period have previously been reported (Samuelsson et al. 1992). In the present analysis, the same variables at age 67 were used to predict health, measured with six different health indicators, at 83 years. The analysis has been performed separately for women and men. Variables at 67 years of age as determinants for health at age 83 have been identified and ranked through successive selection in a step-wise discriminatory analysis. For women, reported diseases at 67 was a very strong predictor but quite the contrary for men. Blood pressure and sleep medication were strong predictors for men but not for women. Psychological factors were more frequently included in the predictive models for women than for men. Social factors were of comparatively less importance for both men and women. There was greater accuracy in the prediction of health for women. The individual variables most often included in the predictive model for women were coping and reported health at age 67. For men, blood pressure, sleep medication and intelligence were the most frequent predictors. The analysis demonstrated clear sex-specific prediction patterns. When comparing predictors for survival and predictors for differentiated health in the same population no similarities were found.

This paper describes association with changes in functional ability among very elderly people who were interviewed first in 1987 when they were aged 85+, and followed-up in 1990. It focuses, in particular, on those with severe difficulties with ADL. It was notable that while those with chronic problems with disability used more health and social services, few received services specific to rehabilitation and social support (e.g. physiotherapy, occupational therapy and social work), and substantial numbers in this group (30–45%) did not receive any chiropody services; although the provision of instrumental aid with tasks of daily living was relatively high from home help services, and, in particular, from relatives.

Older people are increasing in number and proportion of the population in Latin America and, as they do their health needs and social resources are becoming more apparent. In response, gerontologiacal health promotion is emerging as a new field emphasizing the community as a unit of health and the participation of older people in the process. Recognizing the need for more empirical research on the topic, this paper identifies initiatives that promote the health of perople in Costa Rica, Chile, and Argentina, by enabling them to plan programmes, develop services, and advocate change at the community level. It analyzes some of their common themes, and discusses general prospects for the future.

In this commentary on recent planning for multidisciplinary research on ageing in the United States, we argue that Sir Douglas Black's pessimistic conclusion about the irrelevance of such planning is off the mark. Created by the U.S. Congress in 1975, the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) was a novelty in the National Institutes of Health. NIA was mandated to have a broadly multidisciplinary research agenda that included behavioural and social sciences and to produce periodic reports to the Congress on a consensual agenda for future research. Two previous research agendas were developed internally by NIA. The recently released third agenda, which is of interest here, was organized externally by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), National Academy of Sciences. While the subagendas in ageing research for basic biology, clinical medicine, and health services research will be of interest to some, the focus here is specifically on the behavioural and social scientific agenda. High priority substantive issues were identified. Beyond the building of a consensus concerning research priorities, other functions of national research planning are identified in the field of ageing.