The report as a whole represents contributions from every member of the
panel. Many of the chapters were drafted and redrafted by panel members, and
all chapters were subjected to detailed review at numerous sessions. The panel
divided itself into working groups, which determined the structure and most of
the substance of the report; the panel is particularly indebted to the chairs of the
three working groups for their efforts. The Working Group on Health and Related
Issues and Data Requirements, chaired by Daniel Blazer II, identified topics the
panel should consider. The Working Group on Improvement of Data Resources
for Policy Analysis of Aging, chaired by Dorothy Rice, developed the
recommendations to fill the data gaps. The Working Group on Statistical
Methodology for Health Policy Analysis, chaired by Gary Koch, took
responsibility not only for the chapter on statistical methodology, but also for
much of the material on health transitions and longitudinal studies found in other
chapters.
The panel profited greatly from the perspectives provided by the liaison
representatives of the seven federal agencies who sponsored the study; they were
always ready to respond to questions raised by the panel. The liaison
representatives, and in addition Jacob Feldman of the National Center for Health
Statistics and Richard Suzman of the National Institute for Aging, deserve
special thanks for their willingness to share with the panel their in-depth
knowledge of health data and research related to the elderly. Early in the study,
Leo Selker, who as a National Research Council fellow in residence at the
Institute of Medicine, participated in the panel activities, contributed material for
the demography chapter, and provided effective coordination with the Institute's
activities related to the elderly. Joan Van Nostrand of the National Center for
Health Statistics deserves our special appreciation not only for her management
skill as monitor of a project complicated by multiple agency funding, but also,
and more important, for her many contributions to the panel's activities and
deliberations. Her advice and suggestions contributed significantly to the panel's
report.