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.