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The older adult population has been growing since 1950. The quality of life of older Atlanta citizens may be reduced if adopted Lifelong Communities (LLC) initiative principles are executed poorly or not at all. The purpose of this case study was to describe and explore the experiences of local government officials in Atlanta, Georgia who have adopted LLC initiatives. Research questions focused on local government officials' experiences adopting the LLC initiative, their use of the LLC principles, as well as the benefits and challenges encountered when integrating principles within organizations and communities to ensure quality of life for persons served. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Lawton and Nahemow's ecology of aging and ecological change model. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using semi-structured interview questions from 6 government officials in the Atlanta region. Additional data included relevant publicly available documents related to LLC initiatives. All data were inductively coded and then analyzed using content analysis. The findings of this study indicated that strategic planning and forming collaborative relationships with existing organizations and influential persons were key components of the LLC initiative process. According to LLC leaders, the initiative was beneficial for promoting housing and transportation options and enhancing quality of life. Furthermore, the findings of this study were consistent with the principles of the ecological change model. This study has implications for positive social change by providing information to local government officials and other stakeholders about capacity building, strategic planning, and the needs of the elderly that may lead to improving the implementation of LLCs.

No study, to date, has systematically examined the interplay of social contact, depression, functional disability, and cardiovascular health when examining the relation between religious activity and all -cause mortality. This study used Cox regression models as well as a series of structural equation models to elucidate these relations and resultant mortality over a 5-year period. This sample included 3,607 persons, age 65 and older, who participated in the Cache County Study on Memory in Aging, and who were not demented. Results indicate that when using Cox regression modeling, after controlling for other variables related to mortality, both religious activity and social contact remained statistically significant predictors of survival time. Based on hazard ratios obtained from the Cox regression models, it was found that subjects who attend church activities at least once a week or more are 41.6% less likely to die than subjects who attend church less frequently. Subjects who increase their social contact by each additional level gain 3% protection against mortality. Surprisingly, depression was not related to mortality in any analyses. Therefore, the best-fitting structural equation model did not include depression. Possibly, the most interesting findings from this study were the mediating effects found between functional disability, religious activity, social contact, and all-cause mortality. Using a nested series of structural equation models, we found that social contact mediates the relation between functional disability and mortality and that religious activity mediates the relation between functional disability and social contact These results indicate that social contact may be a crucial underlying mechanism, which is triggered by religious activity, and therefore acts as a mediator between functional disability and mortality. Limitations of this study include narrow or unidimensional measures, as well as problems w1th reliability. Due to the homogeneity of this sample, it may be very difficult to justify generalizing these results to a different population. Despite these limitations, this study finds that both religious activity and social contact converge in their effects on mortality and their interconnectedness is evident from these results. Both religious activity and social contact have important implications for the health of our elderly. Nevertheless, many multilayered aspects of religious behavior and social networks have not been addressed in this study. Future work investigating the consequences of the longitudinal aspects of religious belief, social networking, and depression is needed.

The American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) recently sponsored Head Start-Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program partnerships. MFT programs can begin building similarly successful collaborative partnerships with Early Head Start (EHS) programs through using all or portions of this research study. This study has been dedicated to describing the occurrence, co-occurrence, and predictive characteristics of marital discord and depression in families served by EHS programs. This identification of at-risk families can then be used to bolster existing treatment efforts, develop new maritally based interventions, and facilitate increased referrals. Marital discord and depression are two often interrelated problems EHS mothers are at increased risk to face because they have low incomes and very young children (up to age three). Previous research has demonstrated the negative effects of marital discord and maternal depression on child, adult, and family development. Research with various married samples has further identified variables predictive of marital discord and depression. It was the aim of this study to reexamine these predictors and test couple measures to find the most effective identifying variables. Cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal research analyses were conducted from surveys with 148 EHS married mothers and their spouses to answer specific research questions. In general, results revealed that EHS married mothers were (a) slightly less depressed and maritally discordant than what might be expected of lower income parents, (b) more prone to experiencing these problems the more children they had, and (c) more accurately identified by considering couple data, which included similarity in earlier marital discord, earlier depression, religious activity, attachment attitudes or demographic variables. The limitations of this study included weaknesses in measurement and analytic procedures largely resulting from the use of data originally organized at a national level with Jess complementary purposes in mind. In the future research should address the limitations and incorporate the findings of this study into development and testing of theoretically driven marital interventions in EHS samples. Systemic implications and managing ethical concerns of using the proposed marital interventions in EHS- MFT collaborative effort are also discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of family life presently experienced by women who were premaritally pregnant as teenagers. Self-esteem and general life satisfaction were measured in order to evaluate the results of pregnancy decisions made five to 10 years earlier. A survey design was used to (1) obtain demographic data, (2) analyze the relationships between these women and their parents, (3) determine the level and type of education completed by the women, (4) compare mothers who married before the birth of the child, single mothers, and mothers releasing their children for adoption on many variables constituting well-being. Data were gathered during personal interviews with 46 women. In this small unrepresentative sample, the results show no significant differences in the present well-being of women based on their previous decisions. Each of the test groups exhibit interesting characteristics with regard to present marital status, amount of education completed, and relationships with children. The mothers who show higher levels of life satisfaction are also those who are employed either part-time or full- time and have higher family income levels. In general, women in the study were found to be satisfied with their lives and seemed to be functioning well. Some trends were noted, indicating a need for further study, particularly in the area of mothers relinquishing children for adoption.

While the role of obesity in health outcomes has been well described, the role of low body mass index (BMI), body weight relative to height, has largely been ignored. Those with low BMI are commonly excluded completely or combined with the normal BMI category in BMI studies. However, there have been some studies indicating poorer health outcomes among those with lower BMI, particularly that of increased risk of mortality. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of low BMI throughout the lifespan. Data from the Health and Retirement Study was used to evaluate 1) the association between childhood health and socioeconomic status (SES) exposures and low BMI in midlife adulthood, 2) the association between low BMI and health related outcomes in midlife adulthood (ages 50 to 65), and 3) the association between low BMI in midlife and health related outcomes, including mortality, over a longer follow-up (maximum of 20 years). To increase sample size, two low BMI definitions were used: the traditional Few significant results were found. Low BMI status was consistently associated with older age and female gender as well as current smoking status. Childhood exposure of respiratory disease and greater SES disadvantages was more common among those with low BMI in adulthood. In midlife adulthood, low BMI status was associated with increased difficulties with activities of daily living with either definition of low BMI. Increased risk of fracture was associated with a low BMI definition of <18.5. Increased risk of lung disease and decreased risk of high blood pressure was associated with a low BMI definition of ≤20. An analysis of those 30 years old or older found low BMI to be associated with increased risk of mortality and decreased risk of diabetes regardless of low BMI definition. When low BMI was defined as <18.5, those with low BMI were also more likely to experience difficulty with one or more activities of daily living. When low BMI was defined as ≤20, low BMI status was associated with greater risk of lung disease and decreased risk of high blood pressure. Further research is needed to fully characterize the role of low BMI on health outcomes as well as the role of SES on low BMI. Additionally, there is a need for greater understanding of the potential biological mechanisms of low BMI for health outcomes. Currently, there are few studies evaluating health outcomes and SES of low BMI. Limiting studies to the extreme upper end of the BMI spectrum limits the overall understanding of the role of BMI in health and may overlook unique characteristics and challenges those with low BMI may face.