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This research examines the relationship between the utilization of family help with activities of daily living and the use of formal community services among elderly persons for both Blacks and Whites. The analysis tests a nonrecursive model proposing a reciprocal relationship between the use of family for help with ADL/IADL tasks and the utilization of services by race. Two contradictory hypotheses are tested: the "compensatory" or "substitution" hypothesis, which suggests a negative reciprocal relationship between the use of informal and formal support, and the "linking" hypothesis, which indicates a positive reciprocal relationship. A multivariate analysis of data from the 1984 Supplement on Aging tested these hypotheses. The results fully support the "substitution" hypothesis for older Whites, but only partially for older Blacks. Receiving formal services is not associated with lower use of informal supports among Blacks.

The frequency of senior center attendance was studied using the 1984 Supplement on Aging of the National Health Interview Survey. Unlike previous research, which focused on whether people ever attend a senior center, this study estimates a multinomial logistic regression model to distinguish between persons who rarely, sometimes, and frequently attend. There is evidence that the more frequent users are older, which may indicate difficulty in recruiting new active members. Greater frequency is associated with lower income and lower education but is unrelated to functional disability. The most frequent users are persons who are more socially involved. Finally, those who live in rural areas are more likely to be only occasional users, which may reflect a lack of accessibility or less frequent program availability in those areas.

Objectives. This research uses age stratification, isolation, compensatory, and ethnic community perspectives to predict differences by race in the utilization of formal organizations across cohorts. Voluntary organizations are classified into three general types: social service clubs, job-related groups, and neighborhood organizations. We hypothesize that racial differences in organizational participation will be wider for older cohorts than for younger cohorts, as a result of historical racism. Moreover, we expect the racial differences across cohorts to be greater for those organizations (i.e., social service and job-related groups) where racial barriers to membership were strongest.Methods. We use the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) and logistic regression analysis to determine the predicted probabilities of membership in organizations by race, age, and type of membership.Results. The results reveal higher levels of participation in organizations for young Blacks (than for young Whites). At the oldest ages, however, the race differential reverses direction for social/service and job-related organizations. For neighborhood organizations, the race differential is more stable across cohorts, consistent with expectations.Discussion. We interpret these race-cohort patterns as evidence of historical discrimination that affected the oldest cohorts to a greater extent-especially for social/service and job-related organizations.

Using data on 575 black respondents from a national probability sample survey conducted in 1984, we examined gender differences in levels of contact with children among black middle-aged and elderly persons, and in the determinants of that contact. Men, especially those who live alone, experienced substantially fewer visits and phone calls per year than did women. This difference was not explained by controls for variables measuring needs, resources, and child availability. The process determining contact with children, however, appeared to be highly similar for men and women, with the exception of the effect of living alone. This effect was related to marital status and may reflect differences in history of living arrangements with children.