Abstract:

This paper draws on primary publications in Australian gerontology to review Australian knwoledge on ageing and familes. Government funding has played a large part in increasing psychological research on caregiver stress and applied studies of the needs and supports of older clienst of community services. Priorities for further research are: better appreciating diversity among different social groups, revealing older people's own experiences of families and developing better theoretical frameworks of how individuals fit within broader social structures. Research can play a major party in confronting public misconceptions of ageing and suggest how practitioners can work most effectively with frail older people according to their particluar family situations.