"The Little Next Steps." The Conference Group on Welfare of the Aged, Welfare Council of New York City, is a center of activities following a one-day conference, May 28, sponsored by the Group. "The Older Person in New York City" was the topic of the meeting. Topics of the 5 work sessions were: "Aging in General," "Family Life and Living Arrangements," "Employment Including Income Maintenance," "Health Maintenance and Rehabilitation," "Community Organization Including Education, Religion, and Recreation." "It is hoped," said a Group announcement, "that out of these meetings will come a broader awareness of what is now available; a clearer understanding of our present resources and practical suggestions for 'the little next steps' we in this community can take to move ahead toward our long-range goals."

Boarding Homes Study. Activity programs for older adults living in communal homes is the subject of research undertaken by the Minneapolis, Minnesota, Family and Children's Service. The study will include 8 homes with a total population of 104 and is financed by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, Public Health Service, Federal Security Agency.

Older Women in the Labor Force. Married women in the middle and older age groups are regarded as being responsible for an influx of women workers in industry. The participation rate for married women 45 years of age and over has actually exceeded the 1944 wartime peak. Late figures show 18.7 million women in the labor force of the United States.

Church Q and A Sponsorship. A series of talks with question and answer periods about aging and family relationships of the several generations is offered to younger groups in a large community church in Cleveland, Ohio.

New York Legislation. In 1951 the New York State Legislature passed bills (1) to permit cities to set up sheltered workshops for the aged, (2) to enable schools to set up recreational programs for older people, (3) to institute licensing of nursing homes, and (4) to allow retired public employees to work part-time or seasonally for a public agency without loss of pension.

"A Place in the Sun." The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Recreation Association has published "A Place in the Sun," a description by Georgene Bowen of the Association's program for older people. Other materials available from this Association are: (1) "Salient Points in the Organization of Clubs for Older People" (15 cents); (2) "An Ideal Job for a Volunteer" (20 cents); (3) "Philadelphia's Recreational Project for Older People" (15 cents); and (4) "Merrily We Play," a collection of 50 party games for older people (30 cents). They may be obtained from the Philadelphia Recreation Association, Health and Welfare Council, 311 South Juniper Street, Philadelphia 7, Pennsylvania.

"Shooting for One Hundred." This is the title of a series of 13 radio programs to improve employment opportunities for older persons which are now in course of preparation in Portland, Oregon, under the sponsorship of the West States Life Insurance Company. The projected programs are an outcome of the activities of the Portland Council of Social Agencies and will be made available for use in other communities. The plan is to have a person in the later years present his problem in each of the programs, and then to have people with varied backgrounds help him to solve it. Cooperating with the sponsor in the preparation of the programs is a committee composed of representatives of the Oregon State Employment Service, and Portland Public Schools, Goodwill Industries, and the local social security office. Ted Hallock, a popular radio interviewer, will conduct the programs.

In October 1949, the Governor of Florida by executive order directed the Florida State Improvement Commission to study the migration of retired persons into Florida and the social and economic implications of that movement. The Governor also created a 15-member Citizens Committee on Retirement in Florida to advise him and the public on the matter.

THE BACKGROUND

These significant developments, all having a bearing upon the number of retired persons who move into Florida, were taken into account: First, the age pattern of the United States is gradually changing so that the aged are forming a progressively larger proportion of the population as the years pass. Second, in the years to come more people will be able to retire when they are ready to do so. Industry pension plans in 1950 covered more than 5 million workers-three times as many as enjoyed such benefits in 1948--according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Millions more participate in other retirement systems or will receive social security benefits and life insurance annuities. Third, thousands of these new retired persons can be expected to migrate to Florida each year. This is suggested by trends revealed by the United States census and by a survey of northern workers who are contemplating retirement.

THE GOALS

The Retirement Research Division of the State Commission is working toward these objectives:

1. To stimulate interest in the opportunities and the problems which retired people represent;

2. To stimulate institutions of higher learning and other agencies to conduct research in all aspects of retirement;

3. To cooperate with other State agencies in investigating various aspects of retirement in Florida;

4. To conduct research projects to secure needed information;

5. To encourage private individuals, Corporations, and institutions to provide housing designed specifically for retired people:

6. To provide reliable information for retired people who wish to live in Florida. The presence of a large number of retired people with inadequate incomes would lead to an increased welfare burden and unhappiness among the retired persons. It is believed that through study of present conditions the State will be enabled to avoid such an undesirable situation. THE QUEST

Through its work the division will obtain basic facts about retired people and their impact on the State. It will seek answers to such questions as these: How many retired people live in Florida, and where do they reside? What are the characteristics of these people-age, race, place of birth, relative number of men and women, marital status, education, occupational status, religious preferences? How much income do they receive, and from what sources? What have Florida communities done to adjust themselves to their retired citizens? What other actions are desirable? How many persons nearing retirement in other States will move to Florida? What kinds of part-time and self-employment are most suitable for retired people? How can such employment be provided? Why do people choose to retire to given Florida communities? What are the special health and medical needs of older people? How can these be provided for? To what extent are retired people politically active? How can adult education best serve them? What are the religious needs of the aged? How can churches satisfy these needs? What problems of personal adjustment face retired persons? What factors make for best adjustment? Do our senior citizens have How can suitable special housing needs? housing be made available? What are the recreational needs of retired persons? How can they best be met?

THE FINDINGS

From time to time the Retirement Research Division will publish reports of significant research and announcements about developments of general interest. Although its work has to do primarily with retired people, the division is also interested in gerontological material in general. Communications should be addressed to Retirement Research Division, Florida State Improvement Commission, P. O. Box 930, Tallahassee, Florida.

The Department of Public Health of the State of Illinois has chosen the lubricant of cooperation rather than the "big stick" of rigid control in its supervision of nursing care homes for the aged within the State. It has assisted operators in organizing the Illinois Association of Nursing Homes, which is now affiliated with the American Association of Nursing Homes, and its staff continues to furnish consultant service to committees of the association and to appear on their programs in matters such as nursing, nutrition, and sanitation.

The Department has also cooperated with the Illinois State Nurses' Association and other health groups in promoting legislation to define practical nursing and regulate the instruction and practice of this important member of the health team caring for sick and infirm older people.

Last year and again this summer, the Department cooperated with the State Associa tion of Nursing Homes and the Extension Division of the University of Illinois at Urbana in the giving of institutes on the business manage ment of nursing homes. In June of this year the Department cooperated with Loyola University in the second of a series of institutes on the nursing of older patients.

In Kansas. Nursing home operators in Kansas held their first State-wide meeting in May of this year and organized a permanent State association.

A pilot seminar for operators of nursing care homes has been announced by the Extension Division of the University of Kansas. The plan is to follow with four or more additional seminars in different parts of the State during the summer and with regular courses in the fall.

The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, have been the settings for recent pioneer activities in dealing with problems of aging. A MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTE

Active interest in aging on the part of those specializing in mental hygiene was reflected in a one-day institute on aging sponsored by the Dallas County Mental Health Society. The president of the society, R. H. Iglebart, invited participation by various organizations. Dr. Evelyn M. Carrington, lecturer for the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, contributed two addresses, at the opening and closing of the institute. Her subjects were: "The Significance of Increased Life Expentancy" and "Meeting the Challenge of Added Years." Section discussion centered around these topics: "Participation in Community Affairs," "Personal and Family Adjustment," "Education and Recreation." Special emphasis was laid on the importance of finding ways and means not only of leading the community to a better understanding of aging and the aged but of surveying the needs and desires of its older people and planning to meet them.

A TRAINING COURSE FOR VOLUNTEERS

A 3-day institute in Fort Worth was representative of a start toward training volunteers for work with old people. The first day was given to explanation of the Hogg Foundation, to emphasis of the need for volunteers, the necessity of training, and the qualifications and responsibilities of volunteers. Representatives of other agencies concerned with older people in Fort Worth told of their work. These included the Community Chest agencies, American Red Cross, agencies for old-age assistance, old-age and survivors insurance, city welfare, and private nursing homes. Medical and mental aspects of aging were dealt with on the second day. Featured topics were: "Fitting the Older Person Into Family Life," "Meeting Emergencies With Older Persons," and "Religious Counseling." "Why We Behave Like Human Beings," with panel discussion of cases, took up the morning session of the third day. rest of the day was devoted to ways of approach to the individual, social activities, interest groups, and organization procedures. At the close of the institute, certificates were awarded to the volunteers who had completed the course.

The

Cleveland, Ohio, is dealing realistically with the fact that, as the proportion of older persons in its population increases, there also is evidence of an increasing age in job seekers.

In the Greater Cleveland community, for example, the county population increased 10 percent between 1930 and 1946 while the number of people 45 and over increased 33 percent. In 1947, 25 percent of all job applicants at the Cleveland office of the Ohio State Employment Service were 45 years and older, but by 1950 this percentage had risen to 31 percent.

THE BEGINNINGS

In the late summer of 1949 statistical evidence of this trend was brought to the attention of the Board of Trustees of the Welfare Federation of Cleveland, a community planning organization comprised of 181 health, welfare, and recreation agencies. The great expansion of industrial pension plans was in progress at the time. Labor organizations were pressing for increases in pension benefits. Introduction of pension proposals was expected in forthcoming sessions of State and Federal legislative bodies. A study of trends in pensions and retirement with their implications for welfare planning was suggested.

The Welfare Federation Trustees authorized the study, and a 22-member committee headed by Dr. Winfred G. Leutner, president emeritus of Western Reserve University, was appointed. Included in the membership were industrialists, labor leaders, bankers, business analysts, and welfare experts. Frank L. McFarlane, special agent of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, became the committee's vice-chairman.

A steering committee headed by Mr. McFarlane proposed that the committee's interest should be limited to a consideration of trends and their effects on planning in both private and public welfare, with little effort toward determination of the principles of pensions or their administration. This subcommittee also arranged for the appearance of d a half-dozen pension plan experts, from industry, organized labor, education, and welfare, to give the committee background material.

A TWO-PRONGED STUDY

As a result of discussions in these early meetings, it was decided to prepare the

committee report in two sections. The first part would deal with pension and retirement trends, and the second with the implications of these trends for welfare planning. Two subcommittees were appointed to prepare these sections. The subcommittee on pension and retirement trends was headed by John W. Love, business columnist for the Cleveland Press. It included several industrial executives and labor leaders. In a series of meetings, in which subcommittee members frequently engaged in lively debate, this section of the report was written with a number of conclusions and minority opinions. Thomas D. Weiler, field representative for the Ohio Division of Aid for Aged, was chairman of the subcommittee on implications for welfare planning.

Just a year after the major committee had held its first meeting, during which there had been 14 meetings of the full committee and 26 subcommittee meetings, the completed report was presented to the Welfare Federation Board of Trustees. They joined in praising the committee membership for attendance, active participation, and valuable contributions in what had turned out to be a quite broad and difficult assignment.

On the suggestion of the chairman, who had urged that the report not be merely accepted and filed, a special subcommittee of the Board of Trustees was appointed to investigate means of distributing the report. The committee approached the Chamber of Commerce, the Associated Industries, the CIO, and the AFL, and by May 1951 it had received requests for more than 300 copies of the report. THE OUTCOME

Some of the findings of the report are as

follows:

Fewer persons 65 and over will require financial aid from tax-supported welfare agencies because of increasing pension and social security benefits.

On the other hand, private agencies which give social rather than financial aid will be called upon to expand their services to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of older persons in our population.

Demands upon health and welfare organizations will greatly increase if there should be continuation of the long-time trend toward retirement of persons over 65.

private welfare agencies in the near future. It held this to be true because increased benefits do little more than compensate for the rise in cost of living and because newly covered workers do not immediately qualify over a long period of time. However, cuts in expenditures for State old-age assistance may be expected, the report said, even in view of the increasing number of persons over 65.

The growing emphasis on retirement will increase need for recreational facilities, preventive case work, and medical and hospital care, the committee concluded. This problem, it said, will have to be met by private agencies.

It is along the broad lines of approach indicated in this community study that the Welfare Federation of Cleveland is advancing for solution of problems related to pensions and retirement. The report in full may be obtained by applying to the Federation's Director of Public Relations, 1001 Huron Road, Cleveland 15, Ohio.

This has recently been issued by the Public Health Service, Federal Security Agency as the first of a Public Health Bibliography Series. Illness in the later years is given considerable attention. Mrs. Violet B. Turner, as Consultant to the Division of Public Health Methods, Public Health Service, selected the material for inclusion in the volume and prepared and classified the digests. A foreword by George St. J. Perrott, Chief of the Division, points up the importance of activity for the prevention and control of

chronic illness. "It is hoped," says Mr. Perrott, "that this compilation will provide a useful background of material that will stimulate further action in the field of chronic illness-a field that has been widely recognized as presenting the chief public health problem and the medical challenge of the day." The new bibliography may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. The price is 50 cents.

The following film productions dealing with problems of aging have been released:

Date of Birth. This is a depiction of the older worker's high standard of dependability and productivity and a plea for the removal of age barriers to employment. Following a brief dramatic sequence, the film presents the actual record of employees in the older age group. The importance of giving these workers a fair chance is set forth, and ways are described by which the problem is being approached. Running time, 16 minutes. Sale price, $60. Rental, $3. National Film Board of Canada, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York 20, N. Y.

Steps of Age. In this film a widow of 62 years is the central figure in a story of an older woman's adjustment to later years. Steps up a hill to her daughter's home are employed to symbolize the steps by which the mother has reached awareness of age and its frustrations. A happy solution is indicated in a final sequence in which an opportunity for usefulness is found. Running time, 25 minutes. Produced by Film Documents for the Mental Health Film Board; sponsored by the South Carolina State Department of Health. Distributed for purchase and rental by the International Film Bureau, 6 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago 2, Illinois.