What is age? A simple question but not that easy to answer. 'Unmasking Age' addresses it using data from a series of research projects relating to later life. This is supplemented by material from a range of other sources including diaries and fiction. Drawing on a long career in social research, Bill Bytheway critically examines various methods and discusses ways of uncovering the realities of age.

Traditionally, the most preferred social research methods in dementia studies have been interviews, focus groups and non-participant observations. Most of these methods have been used for a long time by researchers in other social research fields, but their application to the field of dementia studies is a relatively new phenomenon. A ground-breaking book, Social Research Methods in Dementia Studies shows researchers how to adapt their methods of data collection to address the individual needs of someone who is living with dementia. With an editorial team that includes Ann Johnson, a trained nurse and person living with dementia, this enlightening volume mainly draws its contents from two interdisciplinary social research teams in dementia, namely the Center for Dementia Research [CEDER] at Linkoeping University in Norrkoeping, Sweden and the Dementia and Ageing Research Team [DART] at The University of Manchester in Manchester, UK. Case examples are shared in each of the main chapters to help ground the social research method(s) in a real-life context and provide direction as to how learning can be applied to other settings. Chapters also contain key references and recommended reading. This volume will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers, interested in fields such as: Research Methods, Qualitative Methods and Dementia Studies.

Throughout the world's hinterland regions, people are growing old in resource-dependent communities that were neither originally designed nor presently equipped to support an ageing population. This book provides cutting edge theoretical and empirical insights into the new phenomenon resource frontier ageing, to understand the diverse experiences of and responses to rural population ageing in the early 21st century. The book explores the resource hinterland as a new frontier of rural ageing and examines three central themes of rural population change, community development and voluntarism that characterize ageing resource communities. By investigating the links among these three themes, the book provides the conceptual and empirical foundations for the future agenda of rural ageing research. This timely contribution contains 15 original chapters by leading international experts from Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK, Ireland and Norway.

One of the most pressing questions facing society today is how to care for its burgeoning elderly population. By the year 2050, experts predict that one-third of the world's population will be over 60 years old. Health promotion for the elderly is therefore becoming an increasingly important topic in public policy and planning. This book examines the challenges presented by an ageing global population, our varying expectations of healthy ageing, and the importance of exercise and physical activity for the elderly. Drawing on empirical research from around the world, it considers the factors that influence health and well-being in later life and compares practices and policies designed to promote healthy ageing. It presents case studies from 15 countries spanning Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia, and sheds light on how attitudes to physical activity differ across nations, regions and cultures. Ageing, Physical Activity and Health: International Perspectives is important reading for all students, researchers and practitioners with an interest in physical activity, public health, exercise science or gerontology.

This new Reader aims to guide students through some of the key readings on the subject of terrorism and political violence.

In an age when there is more written about terrorism than anyone can possibly read in a lifetime, it has become increasingly difficult for students and scholars to navigate the literature. At the same time, courses and modules on terrorism studies are developing at a rapid rate. To meet this challenge, this wide-ranging Reader seeks to equip the aspiring student, based anywhere in the world, with a comprehensive introduction to the study of terrorism. Containing many of the most influential and groundbreaking studies from the world s leading experts, drawn from several academic disciplines, this volume is the essential companion for any student of terrorism and political violence.

The Reader, which starts with a detailed Introduction by the editors, is divided into seven sections, each of which contains a short introduction as well as a guide to further reading and student discussion questions:

• Terrorism in Historical Context
• Definitions
• Understanding and Explaining Terrorism
• Terrorist Movements
• Terrorist Behaviour
• Counterterrorism
• Current and Future Trends in Terrorism.

This Reader will be essential reading for students of Terrorism and Political Violence, and highly recommended for students of Security Studies, War and Conflict Studies and Political Science in general, as well as for practitioners in the field of counter-terrorism and homeland security.

Contributors: David C. Rapoport, Isabelle Duyvesteyn, Jack Gibbs, Leonard Weinberg, Ami Pedahzur, Sivan Hirsch-Hoefler, Alex Schmid, Martha Crenshaw, Max Taylor, John Horgan, Magnus Ranstorp, C.J.M. Drake, Ehud Sprinzak, Jennifer S. Holmes, Sheila Amin Gutierrez de Pineres, Kevin M. Curtin, Xavier Raufer, Donatella della Porta, Robert Pape, Mia Bloom, Chris Dishman, Andrew Silke, Muhammad Hanif bin Hassan, Gary Ackerman, Bruce Hoffman, John Mueller, Mohammed Hafez, Karla J. Cunningham, Jonathan Tonge, Lorenzo Vidino and Michael Barkun.

One of the most important political and economic challenges facing Europe and elsewhere is the ageing of societies. Must ageing populations create conflict between generations and crisis for health systems? Our answer is no. The problem is not so much demographic change as the political and policy challenge of creating fair, sustainable and effective policies for people of all ages. This book, based on a large European Observatory study, uses new evidence to challenge some of the myths surrounding ageing and its effects on economies and health systems. Cataclysmic views of population ageing are often based on stereotypes and anecdotes unsupported by evidence. How we address ageing societies is a choice. Societies can choose policies that benefit people of all ages, promoting equity both within and between generations, and political coalitions can be built to support such policies. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This fascinating book examines rural retirement migration from the older in-migrants perspective and from the vantage point of the destination communities to which they move. This integrated approach permits the authors to view older in-migrants as embedded in environments that facilitate and/or constrain their opportunities for productive living during older age. It also permits the examination of positive and negative effects of older in-migration for destination communities."

This volume brings together leading researchers on quality of life in old age to focus on one of the most important issues in both gerontology and quality of life studies. Quality of life is a holistic construct and assessed from many different perspectives and by many disciplines. Moreover, the concept of quality of life can be applied to practically all important domains of life. Thus, quality of life research has to include social, environmental, structural, and health related aspects and be approached from an interdisciplinary perspective. Recently research in gerontology has begun to systematically study quality of life - following the WHO dictum 'years have been added to life and now the challenge is to add life to years' - however there are very few texts available on this topic and none of an international and multi-disciplinary nature. Quality of life studies have neglected older people and, given the size and growth of this population, it is time to publish a volume on this topic that systematically pursues a comprehensive perspective and includes theoretical approaches and empirical findings with respect to the most important components of quality of life in old age. For these reasons and the high quality of the authors we have assembled, this will be a seminal text for both gerontology and quality of life researchers.

This stimulating, carefully-researched book on The Late Life Legacy of Very Early Life by Dr. Gabriele Doblhammer is the second volume of a new series of Demographic Research Monographs published by Springer Verlag. The topic of the book is fascinating. Is a person's lifespan influ enced by health and nutrition in-utero and shortly after birth? If so, why? The answers uncovered by the diligence, demographic and statistical ex pertise, and probing intelligence of the author are surprising but convinc ing. To pry open the mystery of the lingering impact of very early life, Dr. Doblharnmer focuses on month of birth. It turns out that people born in some months live substantially longer on average than people born in other months, not because of astrological forces but for reasons of health and nutrition. Dr. Doblhammer was educated in statistics and demography and earlier this year was the first person ever to receive the "Habilitation" de gree, the recognition given in the German-speaking world to proven scho lars who are qualified to become professors, in Demography. This book, which is evidence that she fully deserves this award, will not only provide important new fmdings about the legacy of early life but will also serve as a comprehensive foundation of knowledge on which future scholars can build. The series of Demographic Research Monographs is under the editorial supervision of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. Prof. James W. Vaupel, Founding Director of the Institute, is Editor-in-Chief."

This book, now in paperback, revisits Peter Townsend's classic study of residential care for older people in Britain conducted in the late 1950s. It provides not only a fascinating account of residential care for older people over the last 50 years but is also an important contribution to the literature on research methods.

This book investigates the changing culture of grandparenting. Depending on the group, the period, and the family, grandparents have been powerful patriarchs and matriarchs, reliable second parents, dependents, burdens, or community figures. The book examines the history of grandparenting and the changing depiction of grandparent culture from "old" to "hip," including the development of the celebrity grandparent, the emergence of media technologies that allow for new communication and relationships between grandparents and their grandchildren, new rituals associated with grandparenting, the growth of the marketing of grandparenting as a new stage of life, and the impact on our culture of the commodification of grandparenting. Prior to the twentieth century, within the United States the idea of the modern grandparent likely did not even exist. Many people did not live long enough to reach the grandparent stage of life. Today, people are living longer, and grandparenting is occupying a longer phase in one's life. Grandparenting is becoming its own life stage, where new rituals exclusive to grandparents are emerging. Newer technologies, such as Skype, Google Hangout and FaceTime, allow grandparents who are far away to establish relationships with their children. Many grandparents also use social media and blogs to chronicle their experiences. Some grandparents have turned their grandparent lifestyle into a business. The representation of grandparenting in popular culture is shifting as well. Grandparents are becoming their own figures on television and film programs, including reality shows. Others have been thrust into the public eye across social media. Marketers have realized the power of this new consumer subgroup and have begun to direct marketing campaigns to grandparents. Yet, despite the pervasive images of grandparents, some of which present empowered figures, grandparent representation in popular media continues to mimic many of the stereotypes commonly associated with aging, encouraging people to laugh at versus laugh with these figures. The Third Act: Grandparenting in a Digital Age examines grandparenting through history, interviews, and popular culture to study the changing image of grandparents in society.

Current social policy recognizes that older people should be treated as experts in their own lives and be actively involved in their care. This book explores what can be learned from older people's experiences in managing ageing. Direct connections are made between the everyday experiences and perspectives of older people, related research, and theoretical perspectives. This yields an engaging and informative analysis of how older people manage the ageing experience and what this means for policy and practice directed at promoting older people's wellbeing. The book provides an original and much-needed exploration of the strategies used by older people. It is topical and highly relevant to current issues in social policy, social work, and social care. As a unique and valuable resource for teaching, research, and practice in these areas, it provides key messages from recent and current research, relating to the experiences of older people and different aspects of community care practice.

Disaster Public Health and Older People introduces professionals, students and fieldworkers to the science and art of promoting health and well-being among older people in the context of humanitarian emergencies, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income country settings. Older people face specific vulnerabilities in physical, mental and social well-being during disasters. They are likely to experience socio-economic marginalisation, isolation, inaccessible information and a lack of relevant post-emergency support services. Meanwhile, although older people can also significantly contribute to disaster preparedness, response and recovery, their capacities are often under-utilised. Drawing on a range of global case studies, this book provides readers with a theoretical underpinning, while suggesting actions at the individual, community and national levels to reduce the health risks to older people posed by the increasing frequency and intensity of disaster, in particular those resulting from natural hazards. Topics covered range from the health impact of disasters on older people and response to their post-disaster health needs, to disaster preparedness, disease prevention, healthy ageing, global policy developments and the contributions of older people in disaster contexts. This book draws on lessons learnt from previous disasters and targets students and professionals working in disaster medicine, disaster public health, humanitarian studies, gerontology and geriatrics.

Are we in control of our own development in adulthood, or are we shaped by circumstances beyond our control? By adopting the concept of intentional self-development (ISD), this text outlines an action-theoretical approach to human development that emphasizes both an individual's ability to shape their own development throughout the lifespan, and the extent to which this potential is limited. By examining general age-related changes and critical life events, Intentional Self-Development and Positive Ageing explores the adaptive cognitive-motivational processes that generate positive development in adulthood, including developmental tasks, cognitive changes, life-stage transitions, and biological and neural processes. Leipold goes on to discuss the concept of positive ageing, highlighting the flexibility of the term and evaluating it from multiple perspectives to demonstrate its subjectivity, as well as its importance. This text also discusses the importance of resilience in positive development, contributing to the search for conditions conducive to positive life conduct across the lifespan. This book will be essential reading for undergraduates and postgraduates studying lifespan development and gerontology, positive psychology, or health psychology, as well as researchers in those fields. It will also be of interest to developmental counsellors, clinicians, and other applied occupational groups who are seeking to understand the psychological basis of actions.

The ageing of the population has enormous implications for the provision of, and access to, health care. Christina Victor's important textbook provides comprehensive overview of the experiences of older people, chapters on physical health, mental health, disability and lifestyle, a thesis of current policy developments, the key debates on the future health of elders and an international, up-to-date perspective. Written by a leader in the field, the book covers key questions such as the fitness of future older people, the widening inequalities in their health and whether health in old age is related to habits and behaviour in earlier life.

Why are the elderly so often perceived as burdensome and unproductive members of our society? Altruism in Later Life explores and refutes this view with cogent, empirical data. Authors Elizabeth Midlarsky and Eva Kahana introduce the results of a series of investigations on assistance offered by--rather than to--the elderly, in the context of historical, philosophical, and theoretical trends in gerontology and altruism research. Following a brief but inclusive historical survey of aging treatments, they present their own theoretical model of successful aging: Based on a carefully applied methodological review of research focusing on altruism and the elderly, the results reveal the relative frequency, nature, correlates, and ramifications of the contributions they make. Dispelling many of the misapprehensions held about the elderly, this work will prove to be a vital, timely resource for professionals and students in fields including gerontology, psychology, social work, sociology, counseling, and the health sciences.

Many western nations have experienced a rise in the number of marginalised and deprived inner-city neighbourhoods. Despite a plethora of research focused on these areas, there remain few studies that have sought to capture the 'optimality' of ageing in place in such places. In particular, little is known about why some older people desire to age in place despite multiple risks in their neighbourhood and why others reject ageing in place. Given the growth in both the ageing of the population and policy interest in the cohesion and sustainability of neighbourhoods there is an urgent need to better understand the experience of ageing in marginalised locations. This book aims to address the shortfall in knowledge regarding older people's attachment to deprived neighbourhoods and in so doing progress what critics have referred to as the languishing state of environmental gerontology. The author examines new cross-national research with older people in deprived urban neighbourhoods and suggests a rethinking and refocusing of the older person's relationship with place. Impact on policy and future research are also discussed. This book will be relevant to academics, students, architects, city planners and policy makers with an interest in environmental gerontology, social exclusion, urban sustainability and design of the built environment.

Navigating the maze of modern American health care is rarely easy; those who enter it are confronted with a dizzying array of specialists, practitioners, and clinics from which to choose, and are forced to make decisions regarding drugs and treatments about which they may know very little. For immigrants, finding their way can be difficult -- especially for those to whom Western medicine is itself unfamiliar.

In this engaging, accessible, and detail-rich book, Zibin Guo narrates elderly Chinese immigrants' response to contemporary American medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes self-care and the medicinal value of foods and herbs; American doctors' responses to the ailments of their Chinese patients can seem impersonal and unnecessarily interventionist. Distrust, expense, and problems of communication and interpretation often frustrate both patient and practitioner.

Guo paints a picture of a population that, despite its outward appearance of homogeneity, demonstrates a surprisingly wide variety of health-care knowledge, practice, and belief. Using case materials and interviews, he analyzes the blend of folk treatments and respect for Western science that coexist in the health care regimens of these elderly Chinese immigrants.

How does aging affect the interaction between people and their social environment? This intriguing book examines that question from various perspectives, exploring in detail the social and psychological dimensions of the aging process. Drawing on the insights of many disciplines, articles investigate such issues as subjectively evaluated age, facts influencing adjustment, and attitudes, projections, and perceptions of competence.

There is no shortage of political and moral commentary on family life. Frequently the underlying theme of these commentaries is the decline of contemporary family commitment, particularly when older people's family experiences are the focus. "Family Practices in Later Life" challenges many common stereotypes about the nature of family involvement as people age. The book explores diversity and change in the family relationships older people maintain, looking at how family relationships are constructed and organised in later life. It recognises that the emerging patterns are a consequence of the choices and decisions negotiated within family networks, emphasising older people's agency in the construction of their family practices. In exploring such themes as long-term marriage, sibling ties in later life and grandparenthood, the book highlights the continued significance of family connection and solidarity in later life, while recognizing that family relationships are inevitably modified over time as people's social and material circumstances alter. "Family Practices in Later Life" will be of interest to students, researchers and academics in the fields of social policy, family studies and social gerontology. It provides a valuable contribution to the developing field of critical social gerontology as well as to an understanding of family process.

Robert Butler's call for life reviews has exerted a key influence on the way gerontologists have looked at reminiscence and remembering. Widely thought to be a helpful mechanism for integrating past and future, the process of life review needs better specification and evaluation based on sound research. ""The Meaning of Reminiscence and Life Review"" brings together both research and application pieces covering the range of possibilities. It examines important controversies and asks: ""Does it work?"" and ""What is the evidence?"" Given their own voice, what do old people say about looking back?

"Aging in place" is among the newer terms to be included along with "senior citizen," "golden agers," and others in the lexicon of gerontology. Since aging is a lifelong process and each of us occupies three-dimensional space, we are, of course, always aging in place, but two factors have caused aging in place to emerge as a salient concern for gerontological policy makers. The first is the explosive growth of homeownership after World War II, the other is the perception that thousands of older people have been flowing into nursing homes unnecessarily when they can and should remain in their own home or apartment.

Includes 16 essays which address many issues from a different perspective suggested by the experience of aging in America. This study explores the political, social, and economic realities which have an impact on Americans as they grow older.