The differential geographic distribution of groups of older individuals in Lucas County, Ohio. (Social Science, Environmental, Field Biology Poster Session 02:00 PM-03:00 PM).

Chang, Stephen S. ; Smith, Bruce W.

BOARD 01

The number of Americans over the age of 60 has been growing in recent years and the variation in their living conditions and needs has increased. One aspect of that variation is the geographic distributions of subgroups of elderly, which is analyzed in Lucas County, Ohio, including Toledo. Data for census block groups with persons aged 60 to 74, 75 to 84, and 85 and older were obtained from the 2000 Census. The distribution of each age group was mapped and compared with the other groups. The greatest dissimilarity occurred when comparing the 60 to 74 group with the over 84 group. The partial correlation coefficient between the geographic distributions of these two groups, using total population as a control variable, was only 0.268, whereas the other coefficients were 0.660 and 0.747. A map analysis of the difference in the spatial distributions of the youngest and oldest age groups of the elderly population showed that the greatest disparities were in census block groups situated on the periphery of Toledo and in the rural area, which have only 307, or 4%, of the total aged 85 and older. Persons aged 60 to 74 are in these locations probably because they moved there during their middle age and are, subsequently, aging-in-place. Delivering services to older persons residing in peripheral locations may become a new challenge for social service agencies, since elderly in the past have generally been concentrated in the city.

STEPHEN S. CHANG SCHANG@BGNET.BGSU.EDU AND BRUCE W. SMITH BSMITH4@BGNET.BGSU.EDU, DEPT OF GEOGRAPHY, BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY, BOWLING GREEN OH 43403