Black Elderly in Rural America: A Comprehensive Study Book

Sponsored by a research grant from the Administration on Aging in the Office of Human Development Services in Washington, DC, this is the most extensive database study ever done on Black elderly in rural America. A landmark study, Dr. Park's investigation opens up whole vistas of new information and insight into the nature of the phenomenon and provides ample opportunity for further study and policy formation. A must read for any American gerontologist or sociologist and written with the general public in mind."Although research activity in social gerontology has increased significantly in America during the past three decades", observes Dr. Parks, "very little of this research has focused upon rural elderly persons. Such a deficiency is not altogether surprising, because innovation and new fields of inquiry typically emerge in urban research centers, where urban populations tend to be studied. Then, only gradually, do these advances in scientific knowledge spread to the more remote areas. Since social gerontology is a relatively new discipline, research in this area has only recently been conducted in non-urban locations. The failure of researchers to concern themselves with the study of rural aged populations is directly related to the very nature of their work. For example, most social gerontologists are urban dwellers or persons who at least work in urban institutions. Therefore, their research efforts have been mainly directed toward studies of human aging among those in metropolitan settings. Therefore, it has become quite self-evident in government and social scientific circles that the rural elderly populations of America have not been studied adequately, and there has been asimilar lack of empirical research conducted on black aged populations as a whole. In summary, over the past few decades, the bulk of gerontological research has centered primarily on elderly white populations with the result being that very little is known about elderly blacks and/or elderly rural black Americans. The purpose of this nationally-sponsored data-base study is specifically to correct this void in scientific research with an eye toward providing information needed for effective and responsible social policy".