Abstract
THE Trustees of the Nuffield Foundation have published a report on the social medicine of old age prepared by Dr. J. H. Sheldon in a survey of a random sample of 477 old people*. His object was "to discover the medical and mental condition of old people living at home, and the stresses and strains to which both they and the younger people caring for them may be subject". The survey forms an appendix to the report entitled "Old Age", published by a Survey Committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Seebohm Rowntree. Wolverhampton was one of the towns covered by the Rowntree Report, and the same sample of people has provided the material for the new survey. The town, which has a population of 150,000, was selected because it was large enough to ensure a fair mixture of all income classes and sufficiently compact to enable the compiler to undertake the amount of visiting involved. Old age for the purposes of the survey has been taken to begin at sixty for women and sixty-five for men. The sample was obtained from the register of ration cards, every thirtieth name in the selected age group being included in the survey.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Social Medicine of Old Age. Nature 162, 466 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162466a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162466a0