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Quantitative historical analysis in the United States surged in three distinct waves. The first quantitative wave occurred as part of the "New History" that blossomed in the early twentieth century and disappeared in the 1940s and 1950s with the rise of consensus history. The second wave thrived from the 1960s to the 1980s during the ascendance of the New Economic History, the New Political History, and the New Social History, and died out during the "cultural turn" of the late twentieth century. The third wave of historical quantification—which I call the revival of quantification—emerged in the second decade of the 21(st) century and is still underway. I describe characteristics of each wave and discuss the historiographical context of the ebb and flow of quantification in history.

This article discusses social determinants of health that influence quality of life (QOL) of older people in Botswana and suggests appropriate interventions. A cross-sectional study stratified by district was used to collect information on the elderly (N = 378). Data were collected from: demographics, individual factors (e.g., self-esteem), health-related factors (e.g., self-perceived health), clinical variables (e.g., social dysfunction), environmental assets (e.g., leisure) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). The analyses showed that income earned, self-efficacy and self-esteem, access to health services, self-perceived health, and chronic disease condition were associated with QOL. Social dysfunction and environmental assets (leisure, secure and healthy physical environments) were also significantly associated with QOL The results confirm that QOL is compromised by specific key factors. Thus, eradicating poverty, provision of services and a comfortable environment, promoting positive emotions (e.g., self-efficacy), and changing perceptions about self-rated health and self-rated QOL may enhance QOL among older people. The study has implications for policy, practice and further research.

Growing demands on welfare services, arising from expanding populations of older people in many countries, has led policy makers to consider the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) as a means to transform the cost‐effective delivery of health and social care. The evidence for these claims is examined by reporting the main findings of a review of worldwide published literature documenting the adoption of health informatics applications to improve health and social care for older people. It focuses around two dimensions of the UK government's programme for 'modernising' public services, which emphasise the use of ICTs to facilitate the sharing of health and social services information and its potential to foster person‐centred approaches to independent living. Findings suggest that there is little evidence that these dimensions have been realised in practice and the perceived incompatibility between them is more likely to produce expensive and ineffective health informatics outcomes.