The Fund supports networks of state health policy decision makers to help identify, inspire, and inform policy leaders.
The Milbank Memorial Fund supports two state leadership programs for legislative and executive branch state government officials committed to improving population health.
The Fund identifies and shares policy ideas and analysis to advance state health leadership, strong primary care, and sustainable health care costs.
Keep up with news and updates from the Milbank Memorial Fund. And read the latest blogs from our thought leaders, including Fund President Christopher F. Koller.
The Fund publishes The Milbank Quarterly, as well as reports, issues briefs, and case studies on topics important to health policy leaders.
The Milbank Memorial Fund is is a foundation that works to improve population health and health equity.
September 2005 (Volume 83)
Quarterly Article
Douglas A. Wolf
Kelly Hunt
James Knickman
December 2024
Dec 19, 2024
Back to The Milbank Quarterly
A decline has been found in the prevalence of disability among the older U.S. population during the 1980s and 1990s. One source of evidence for this decline is data from the National Long-Term Care Survey (NLTCS). This article investigates possible ambiguities in measuring disability using large-scale household surveys, illustrating the consequences of such problems with new analyses of NLTCS data. The reanalysis suggests a more gradual decline in disability than that found in prior research. The article also discusses three societal trends in areas other than health or functioning that might contribute to declines in disability levels: a reduced supply of informal care, changes in the technology of self-care, and changes in the definition and perception of both “ability” and “disability.”
Author(s): Douglas A. Wolf; Kelly Hunt; James Knickman
Keywords: disability; trends; measurement
Read on Wiley Online Library
Read on JSTOR
Volume 83, Issue 3 (pages 365–395) DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2005.00406.x Published in 2005
