The Facts on Aging Quiz: A Handbook of Uses and Results

By Erdman B. Palmore. 162 pp. New York, Springer Publishing Co., 1988, $22.95.

Those of us who have used Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz (FAQ 1), first pub- lished in The Gerontologist in 1977, will.be delighted to find in this text a new form of the quiz (FAQ2) to facili- tate pre- and posttesting and a new Facts on Aging and Mental Health Quiz (FAMHQ).

The first three chapters of the text present the revised versions of FAQ 1, FAQ2, and FAMHQ, along with up- dated supportive data. Users will ben- efit from a careful reading of Chapter 4, which details specific instructions for the many different purposes of the quizzes. Limitations of the FAQs in measuring attitudes are noted.

The remaining chapters of the text, along with Part II which summarizes the results of the more than 90 known studies using the quizzes, will acquaint the reader with the outcomes of the de- cade-long work using the FAQs. Chap- ter 7 explores how well FAQ1 is achieving the functions for which it was developed and contains recom- mendations to facilitate its use.

This book, which is part of the Springer Series on Adulthood and Ag- ing, is superbly executed. And because the FAQs have been used so success- fully by persons from different disci- plines working in a variety of settings with the elderly, it is sure to have a wide readership.

While the quizzes are short, they cover the basic physical, mental, and social facts about aging, as well as its most common misconceptions. Any nurse hoping to stimulate interest in and discussion about aging with stu- dents, staff, community groups, and the elderly will find this book to be a modest investment yielding rich re-

sults. Those interested in research in- volving knowledge of and attitudes to- ward aging will discover 10 years of research carefully synthesized.--SR. CAROL TAYLOR, RN, CSFN, MSN, assistant professor of nursing, Holy Family Col- lege, Philadelphia, PA.

Communication Skills for Working with Elders

By Barbara Bender Dreher. 141 pp. New York, Springer Publishing Co., 1987, $16.95.

An upbeat energizing book! It is infor- mative, reads with ease, and stimu- lates "imaging" of communicating with elders. While its goal is "to over- come the silence barrier often suffered by the elderly and to enhance the qual- ity oftheir lives," its use can surely be extended from its target audience of employees in health and helping pro- fessions to family caregivers.

The first chapter is theoretical and philosophical, supporting the author's assertion that knowledge of communi- cation and aging are the "foundations for building a bridge to another gener- ation." A strength of Chapter 1 is the presentation of models, functions, and forms of communication including ex- ercises for identifying how to assess these in individuals. A brief overview

of disengagement and activity theories of aging is also presented.

The subsequent eight chapters ad- dress how aging and illness affect com- munication, interactions with elders, and communication from the perspec- tives of overcoming barriers, decision- making, group involvement, promot- ing self-expression, and preserving morale. Discipline-specific jargon is used and then defined in simple, clear terms, or with lay terms used inter- changeably, for example, foodpipe/ esophagus, stroke/CVA.

Physiological and pathophysiologi- cal terms may appear to be quite sim- ple at times; however, this is not dis- iracting, especially as presented in case studies. For example, jargon and lay language blend in a story-like fashion to illustrate a sequence of events focus- ing on how each illness, such as a CVA or laryngectomy, affects communica- tion skills.

A variety of models, theories, exer- cises, case studies, tables, and figures are used throughout the book to em- phasize the important points of each chapter. References are diverse, repre- senting most of the health care disci- plines. Classic and current citations are used, as well as the usually un- tapped sources such as master's theses and doctoral dissertations.

This book can be extremely useful as a teaching tool. Many of the exercises can be used in a classroom or clinical teaching situation with nurses or with multidisciplinary groups who care for elders. It is a worthy addition to one's bookshelf, not only for its vast number of suggested exercises (after each chap- ter) and its diverse reference/reading list, but also because its positive ap- proach will stimulate the gerontologi- cal nurse (and others) to think about new ways of using Dreher's ideas to communicate with elders.--VERONICA F. REMPLISHESKI, aN, C, PHD, program di- rector and nurse researcher, geronto- logical nursing, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, ~IA.

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