Faculty and Community Partners in Gerontological Curriculum Enrichment

There is considerable confusion in the media and the public about healthy behaviors in contrast to “antiaging” behaviors designed to make one look “younger.” As an aid in clarifying the differences between these two types of behaviors, we have developed a questionnaire called the Health Behavior Inventory (HBI). We also wanted to estimate differences in the frequency of different types of behaviors, differences between older and younger respondents, and differences between men and women.

The HBI consists of 10 Healthy Behaviors and 10 Age Denial behaviors. We tested the HBI in a mailed survey to 250 older persons. The questionnaire was returned by 222 persons. We used Cronbach's alpha to test for consistency reliability of the two scales. Healthy Behaviors were reported much more often than Age Denials, but 1/3 reported 1 or more Age Denials. Younger persons and women tended to report substantially more Age Denials than men. The scales appear to have good face validity, and the Age Denials scale has fairly consistent internal reliability. The HBI appears to be a useful tool for research on the frequency and distribution of Healthy Behaviors and Age Denials among different groups of older persons. It may also be used in educational settings and the media for raising awareness of the need for more Healthy Behaviors and for reducing useless and dangerous types of Age Denials.     

Relating to Older People Evaluation (ROPE): A Measure of Self-Reported Ageism

The Relating to Older People Evaluation (ROPE) is a 20-item questionnaire that measures positive and negative ageist behaviors that people may engage in during everyday life. In this article, we report the first findings from several administrations of the ROPE along with initial psychometric information on the instrument. Respondents were college students, community-dwelling older adults, and persons affiliated with a university community. Results indicate that most people of all ages readily admit to positive ageist behaviors. Younger and older adults appear to participate in similar amounts of ageist behavior. Analyses by gender indicated that women endorsed the positive ageism items more often than did men. Psychometric analyses yielded estimates of adequate test-retest reliability and internal consistency reliability. Implications for current views of ageism as a social phenomenon and strategies for reducing ageist behaviors in everyday life are discussed.     

University Counseling Centers’ Perceptions and Experiences Pertaining to Emotional Support Animals

Increasing numbers of students are requesting accommodations for emotional support animals (ESAs) in higher education settings. Since the legislation pertaining to this type of service animal differs from the laws governing disability service animals, colleges and universities are faced with developing new policies and guidelines. A sample of 248 University Counseling Centers (UCCs) completed a survey about student requests for ESA letters of support from their counselor. The UCCs were also asked if they issue official disability diagnoses for clients. Responses showed that UCCs are not yet being asked to write many letters of support for ESAs—56.9% almost never do it, and 31.05% do it only several times per year. And, only 47.18% of UCCs write official diagnosis letters in support of disability accommodations. Yet, most UCCs are aware of the need for official policies in this arena. This article provides general recommendations for establishing university policies.     

Image quality in electronic journals: A case study of Elsevier geology titles

This study's purpose was to establish the image quality of photographs and figures in online journals verses the print format of five Elsevier titles. The images were evaluated on a point scale, taking three issues out of each journal every five years from 1970 to 2000. The study discovered that there is a significant loss of content in the online photographs from 1970 to 1995. The data found in this study provide important discussion points when considering the purchase of electronic journal backfiles.