The services that residents require from their local governments vary depending on the demographics of their populations. While municipalities have long sought to consider how changes in the young population may impact their school system needs, few systematic considerations have been developed relating to how aging populations may impact municipal service provision. This study aims to address this issue by focusing on demands on emergency services at the municipal level. Using data from the Massachusetts Ambulance Trip Record Information System (MATRIS) we explore the association between emergency medical services (EMS) demand and population age-structure. The data shows an overrepresentation of older people among EMS users. People age 65 and older represent 16% of Massachusetts’ population but account for 31% of the transported emergent calls —e.g., 911 calls— and 60% of the scheduled transports. Results from the OLS regression analysis suggest that communities with larger shares of older residents have significantly higher numbers of EMS calls. The type of community and other age-related community features such as the percentage of older residents living alone and the percentage of older population dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid are also significantly associated with the number of EMS calls. Contrary to our expectations, other resources available in the community such nursing homes or assisted living facilities were not significantly associated with number of EMS calls. Our research indicates that if growth in the older population occurs as projected, the demand placed on the EMS system by older populations will grow considerably in coming decades.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore factors associated with perceptions of grandparent responsibility for grandchildren in three-generation households, focusing especially on a comparison of grandparents’ and parents’ financial contributions to the household and ethnicity of grandparent(s). The analysis used information about three-generation families in the 2011–2015 American Community Survey, retrieved through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. In 30% of these families, grandparents said they were “primarily responsible” for the grandchildren, even though the child’s parent was also in the household. Logistic regression models showed that grandparents who contributed a larger share of household income and grandparents who were householders were significantly more likely to report being primarily responsible for grandchildren in three-generation households, suggesting that the distribution of financial resources (or resource balance) within the household was associated with perceptions of responsibility. However, grandparents’ race and ethnicity moderated this association, indicating that cultural norms may intersect with resources in shaping these reports. The findings suggest that perceived responsibilities of grandparents in three-generation households may be shaped by the balance of financial resources among household members, but also by cultural norms of grandparenting.

Subject age is predictive of future morbidity and mortality and can be potentially viewed as a psychological resource. However, there seems to be a reciprocal relationship between subjective age and health. In a series of analyses, we demonstrated that various measures of health status such as number of chronic illnesses, self-rated health and sensory impairment have an adverse association with older adults’ subjective age. Specifically, chronic illnesses seem to have a period effect and age effect. Living with chronic illness over a period of time seems to attenuate its association with subjective age. Similarly, the association between chronic illnesses and subjective age gets weaker with increase in older adults’ chronological age. Therefore, asking those living with chronic health conditions and specifically younger older adults about their subjective age and providing appropriate resources, counseling and reassurance about chronic illness management may prevent the downstream negative health effects of increased subjective age.

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