This study asks what social networks, demographic and health factors help predict
survival time of the independently living rural elderly. More specifically, the study
addresses how changes in those factors over a 20-year period affect survival time.
Recognizing the powerful effect that gender has on longevity, special attention is
paid to the different effects for men versus women. Substantively, this analysis seeks
to understand the processes that lead to healthy, normal aging. Practically, the study
attempts to shed light on the vexing health care problem of maintaining independence
as one ages.