Cultural and language differences of the elderly Hispanic population and socioeconomic and health problems which afflict them disproportionately represent a unique and difficult challenge to public and private service providers. Information from various federal agencies provided material for a report examining demographic characteristics, living arrangements, marital status, housing tenure, income, poverty, employment status, education, and health of the Hispanic elderly. In 1980, about 791,000 persons of Spanish origin (Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, and others) 60 years of age and over represented 2% of the 33 million persons in this age group in the United States. In March 1979, over 83% of older Hispanics lived in metropolitan areas; about 80% lived in a family setting; half of them had completed 6.7 or fewer years of schooling. In 1978 the per capita income in Hispanic families with 65+ heads ($3,749) was only 64% as high as in non-Hispanic families ($5,898); 23% of elderly Hispanics had incomes below the poverty level. The health of the elderly Hispanic population was apparently poorer than that of persons of all races in the same age group, but older Hispanics were less likely to visit doctors or dentists or to be hospitalized. (NEC)