Living Conditions and Needs of Older People (1984)

The situation of older people in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Topics: type and extent of social contacts; desire for more contacts;
conversation partners and reference persons; interest in moving to a
residence for older people, old people´s home or nursing home; most
important reasons for the decision for such a move; possession of a
telephone; frequency of telephone contacts; judgement on the efforts
for old people in the city and desired improvements; neighborhood aid;
sociability and feelings of loneliness; type and extent of leisure
activities practiced; satisfaction with financial situation;
employment; things missed from giving up employment; honorary or unpaid
activities exercised; sources of income; detailed information about
type and extent of monthly household expenditures as well as household
income; hobbies one cannot afford; self-sufficiency with warm meals;
knowledge about and interest in the meal service ´Meals on Wheels´;
shopping habits with foods; judgement on one´s own manner of nutrition
from a health point of view; diet food; stays at a health resort and
vacation travel in the last few years; reasons for doing without
vacation travel; length of vacation and destination of last vacation;
media usage; judgement on personal condition of health; illnesss;
preventive measures applied and judgement on them; use of medication;
self-treatment or prescription; last visit to the doctor; place of
residence of children; living together with children or reasons for
living separately; number of one´s own living-rooms.

Demography: age; sex; marital status; school education; size of
household; respondent is head of household; characteristics of head of
household; respondent is person managing household.

Interviewer rating: place of interview; residential area.

Also encoded was: ZIP (postal) code.