As our global demographic shifts towards an increasingly aging population, we have an opportunity to transform how we experience and think about getting older and embrace the diversity and contribution that this population can bring to society. The International Handbook of Positive Aging showcases the latest research and theory into aging, examining the various challenges faced by older adults and the ways in which we can bring a much-needed positive focus towards dealing with these. The handbook brings together disparate research from medical, academic, economic and social community fields, with contributions from NHS partners, service users, universities across the United Kingdom and collaborations with international research leaders in the field of aging. Divided into sections, the first part of the book focuses on introducing the concept of positive aging before going on to cover the body over the life course, well-being and care delivery. All contributors recognise the fact that we are living longer, which is providing us with a tremendous opportunity to enjoy and flourish in healthy and fulfilling later lives, and this focus on the importance of patient empowerment is integral to the book. This is a valuable reference source for those working in developmental psychology, clinical psychology, mental health, health sciences, medicine, neuropsychological rehabilitation, sociology, anthropology, social policy and social work. It will help encourage researchers, professionals and policymakers to make the most of opportunities and innovations to promote a person's sense of independence, dignity, well-being, good health and participation in society as they get older.

In 2009 jahrt sich die Wiedergrundung der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften zum hundertsten Mal. Aus diesem Anlass veranstaltet die Landesakademie jeweils gemeinsam mit den acht Universitaten des Landes Baden-Wurttemberg Tagungen oder Vortragsreihen. Das Symposium "Altern gestalten - Medizin, Technik, Umwelt", dessen systematisch geordnete Beitrage diesen Band fullen, wird so gemeinsam mit der Universitat Stuttgart und der Robert Bosch Stiftung geplant und durchgefuhrt. Themenfelder sind: Biologische Plastizitat des Alternsprozesses, moegliche molekulare, zellulare und biochemische Regenerationsprozesse. Auf der mikro- und makrotechnologischen Ebene werden verfugbare Assistenz- und Ersatzsysteme demonstriert, einschliesslich der vielfaltigen Methoden von Gelenkrekonstruktion oder -ersatz, und die Unterstutzungs- und Ersatzsysteme fur defekte Sinnesorgane. Die damit eroeffneten Moeglichkeiten, ungleiches Altern von wichtigen Funktionstragern des Koerpers auszugleichen, werden von fuhrenden Wissenschaftlern der jeweiligen Disziplinen demonstriert. Auch das aktuelle Wissen um die altersgerechte Gestaltung der Umwelt und der Wissensstand uber Assistenzsysteme im Automobil, die auch bei altersbedingten Einschrankungen von Beweglichkeit, Kraft, Sicht und Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit mehr Bedienungskomfort und Fahrsicherheit gewahren, wird vermittelt.

In the context of global ageing societies, there are few challenges to the underlying assumption that policies should promote functional health and independence in older people and contain the costs of care. This important book offers such a challenge. It provides a critical analysis of the limitations of contemporary policies and calls for a fuller understanding of the relationship between health and care throughout the life-course. Located within the tradition of the feminist ethic of care, the book provides a fresh insight into global policy debates and the impact that these have on people's experiences of ageing. Including international evidence on health inequalities, health promotion and health care, this book will be of interest to a range of social scientists, particularly specialists in gerontology and social policy.

This volume presents a clear, concise overview of the current state of knowledge about the biology of aging - serving as both an invaluable graduate-level text and a key reference for practicing professionals. Over a dozen distinguished contributors probe the latest developments in our knowledge of why people age and how the process works. These authoritative chapters are not just written for biologists - but for gerontologists in general. Marks the tenth anniversary of the Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics.

The study of "the end of life" has become a major focus on medicine, the social sciences, ethics, and religion. This volume brings together the latest research on issues around death and dying, life's attributes as it nears death, planning and preparation for death, and care and intervetion-related issues. This evidence-based finding of this volume will help shape how we approach the topic for years to come.

With a few exceptions, critical theorists have been late to provide a comprehensive diagnosis of neoliberalism comparable in scope to their extensive analyses of advanced welfare state capitalism. Instead, the main lines of critical theory have focused on questions of international justice which, while no doubt significant, restrict the scope of critical theory by deemphasizing linkages to larger political and economic conditions. Providing a critique of the Frankfurt School, Brian Caterino and Phillip Hansen move beyond its foundations, and call for a rethinking of the bases of critical theory as a practical, freedom-creating project. Outlining a resurgence of neoliberalism, the authors encourage a fresh, nuanced analysis that elucidates its political and economic structures and demonstrates the threats to freedom and democracy that neoliberalism poses. They propose the reformulation of a radical democratic alternative to neoliberalism, one that critically addresses its limitations while promoting an enhancement of communicative and social freedom.

Imagining Care brings literature and philosophy into dialogue by examining caregiving in literature by contemporary Canadian writers alongside ethics of care philosophy. Through close readings of fiction and memoirs by Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Michael Ignatieff, Ian Brown, and David Chariandy, Amelia DeFalco argues that these narratives expose the tangled particularities of relations of care, dependency, and responsibility, as well as issues of marginalisation on the basis of gender, race, and class. DeFalco complicates the myth of Canada as an unwaveringly caring nation that is characterized by equality and compassion. Caregiving is unpredictable: one person's altruism can be another's narcissism; one's compassion, another's condescension or even cruelty. In a country that conceives of itself as a caring society, these texts depict in stark terms the ethical dilemmas that arise from our attempts to respond to the needs of others.

Silvia Bermudez's fascinating study reveals how Spanish popular music, produced between 1980 and 2013, was the first cultural site to engage in critical debate about ethnicity and race in relation to the immigration patterns that have been changing the social landscape of Spanish society since the late 1970s. In Rocking the Boat, Bermudez examines the lyrics of songs by both renowned and up and coming artists to illuminate how these new migrants challenged Spain's notions of homogeneity, boundaries, accommodation, and incorporation. Bermudez observes that immigration has had such a significant influence on Spanish society that the tattered boats, seen to this day on the shores of Spain and throughout the Mediterranean Sea, have become inverted emblems of the ships that were once symbols of great power and economic development. Rocking the Boat is a nuanced account of how popular urban music shaped the discourse on immigration, transnational migrants, and racialization in Spain's new social landscape.

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces - extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, and their major practical theoretical contributions. Elaine Funnell has played an important role in the study of neuropsychology over the past 25 years. She has been at the forefront of groundbreaking research on individuals suffering with acquired disorders of written and/or spoken language resulting from brain damage. With commentary by Nicola Pitchford and Andrew Ellis, this volume presents Elaine's most significant contributions in her two main specialist areas: adult neuropsychology of semantic disorders, with a focus on disorders of naming in dementia, and acquired language and literacy disorders in childhood. The publications included in this volume date back to 1988, where Elaine co-authored a major review of theories regarding the representation of meanings in the mind and brain. They then bring us right up-to-date with a previously unpublished paper from 2010, which has been recently edited by the co-author, Mike Kopelman, for this edition. Through her exceptional work, Elaine has greatly advanced our understanding of the brain processes behind written and spoken language, and this book represents an original and timely contribution to the field. Acquired Language Disorders in Adulthood and Childhood will be of great interest to researchers and postgraduate students in adult and child neuropsychology, specifically for those specialising in semantic and language disorders.

From the Man Booker shortlisted author of Harvest.

Alfred Busi, famed in his town for his music and songs, is mourning the recent death of his wife and quietly living out his days in the large villa he has always called home. Then one night Busi is attacked by a creature he disturbs as it raids the contents of his larder. Busi is convinced that what assaulted him was no animal, but a child, ‘innocent and wild’, and his words fan the flames of old rumour – of an ancient race of people living in the bosk surrounding the town – and new controversy: the town’s paupers, the feral wastrels at its edges, must be dealt with. Once and for all.

Lyrical and warm, intimate and epic, The Melody by Jim Crace tracks the few days that will see Busi and the town he loves altered irrevocably. This is a story about grief and ageing, about reputation and the loss of it, about love and music and the peculiar way myth seeps into real life. And it is a political novel too – a rallying cry to protect those we persecute.

'Both moving and hilarious' Spectator, Books of the Year 'A tale of gloriously eccentric British pensioners. Aitken rivals Alan Bennett in the ear he has for an eavesdropped remark ... boy, can he write.' Daily Mail, Book of the Week FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE ACCLAIMED A CHIP SHOP IN POZNAN. One millennial, six coach trips, one big generation gap. When Ben Aitken learnt that his gran had enjoyed a four-night holiday including four three-course dinners, four cooked breakfasts, four games of bingo, a pair of excursions, sixteen pints of lager and luxury return coach travel, all for a hundred pounds, he thought, that's the life, and signed himself up. Six times over. Good value aside, what Ben was really after was the company of his elders - those with more chapters under their belt, with the wisdom granted by experience, the candour gifted by time, and the hard-earned ability to live each day like it's nearly their last. A series of coach holidays ensued - from Scarborough to St Ives, Killarney to Lake Como - during which Ben attempts to shake off his thirty-something blues by getting old as soon as possible.

The second edition of this engaging text reflects a welcome new paradigm for aging-that of aging as a positive stage of life. Written for undergraduate and masters-level students, it provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the wide variety of subject areas within gerontology, and combines research with engrossing narratives, new trends, and controversial topics. Substantially updated, the second edition features integrated content on the diversity of the aging population. State-of-the-art information includes new science on the biology of aging; chronic conditions; integrated care; changing roles for older adults; new demographics; and critical policy issues. The second edition examines career opportunities in gerontology and includes Practical Applications and Activities for Students, new scenarios, and many more charts and graphs. The book also includes PowerPoint slides, a test bank and an instructor's manual. Key Features: Conceptualizes a positive approach to aging, with an emphasis on the advantages and opportunities presented by the large and growing number of older Americans Delivers comprehensive, interdisciplinary coverage of aging topics Dispels negative myths about aging Engages the reader with vivid narratives and thought-provoking activities Offers a broad range of subject areas in the field, from biological aging processes, to economics and living arrangements Provides Instructor's Manual, PowerPoint slides, and multiple resources for additional learning New to the Second Edition: Presents a new chapter on careers in aging, which explores expanding opportunities Explores new and updated demographics Includes new information on personality, palliative care, age-friendly communities, homelessness, social networks, Medicaid and more Presents a new approach to elder abuse focusing on solutions to social isolation, a major cause of abuse Includes coverage of policies throughout the book, as they apply to their role in an aging society, in the workplace and retirement, in providing opportunities for older people to give and receive support, and in health care Uses Bloom's latest taxonomy for Learning Objectives

Media narratives in popular culture often assign interchangeable characteristics to childhood and old age, presuming a resemblance between children and the elderly. These designations in media can have far-reaching repercussions in shaping not only language, but also cognitive activity and behavior. The meaning attached to biological, numerical age-even the mere fact that we calculate a numerical age at all-is culturally determined, as is the way people "act their age." With populations aging all around the world, awareness of intergenerational relationships and associations surrounding old age is becoming urgent. Connecting Childhood and Old Age in Popular Media caters to this urgency and contributes to age literacy by supplying insights into the connection between childhood and senescence to show that people are aged by culture. Treating classic stories like the Brothers Grimm's fairy tales and Heidi; pop culture hits like The Simpsons and Mad Men; and international productions, such as Turkish television cartoons and South Korean films, contributors explore the recurrent idea that "children are like old people," as well as other relationships between children and elderly characters as constructed in literature and media from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. This volume deals with fiction and analyzes language as well as verbally sparse, visual productions, including children's literature, film, television, animation, and advertising.

The Handbook of Research Methods in Human Memory presents a collection of chapters on methodology used by researchers in investigating human memory. Understanding the basic cognitive function of human memory is critical in a wide variety of fields, such as clinical psychology, developmental psychology, education, neuroscience, and gerontology, and studying memory has become particularly urgent in recent years due to the prominence of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's. However, choosing the most appropriate method of research is a daunting task for most scholars. This book explores the methods that are currently available in various areas of human memory research and serves as a reference manual to help guide readers' own research. Each chapter is written by prominent researchers and features cutting-edge research on human memory and cognition, with topics ranging from basic memory processes to cognitive neuroscience to further applications. The focus here is not on the "what," but the "how"-how research is best conducted on human memory.

New Dimensions in Spirituality, Religion, and Aging expands the traditional focus of religiosity to include and evaluate recent research and discoveries on the role of secular spirituality in the aging process. Contributors examine the ways conventional religion and other forms of spirituality affect human development, health and longevity, and they demonstrate how myth-creation enables humans to make meaning in their lives. Taken together, the book points to further research to enhance current knowledge, approaches to care, and social policies.

New Dimensions in Spirituality, Religion, and Aging expands the traditional focus of religiosity to include and evaluate recent research and discoveries on the role of secular spirituality in the aging process. Contributors examine the ways conventional religion and other forms of spirituality affect human development, health and longevity, and they demonstrate how myth-creation enables humans to make meaning in their lives. Taken together, the book points to further research to enhance current knowledge, approaches to care, and social policies.

To begin new relationships in later life is increasingly common in large parts of the Western world. This timely book, part of the Ageing in a Global Context series, addresses the gap in knowledge about late life repartnering and provides a comprehensive map of the changing landscape of late life intimacy.

State and Local Retirement Plans in the United States explains how economic and political events have shaped the development of pension plans in the last century, and it argues that changes in the structure and generosity of these plans will continue to shape policy and funding in the future. It also brings to bear a new rationale to the policies behind public sector pension plans. The authors use the history of how early public pension plans were established, how they matured and how they have grown in generosity to analyse what changes may be expected in years to come. Unique in its scope, this comprehensive history of the development of public sector pension plans in the United States during the twentieth century expands upon current ideas relating to the changing economic environment, the passage and evolution of social security and the expansion of the public sector. With the exception of military pension plans, which date from the eighteenth century, the first public sector plans, dating from the late nineteenth century, were established to cover teachers, police officers and firefighters in large cities. Over time, these retirement plans were extended to other public sector workers and the local plans were often merged with plans for state workers; all of these date from the twentieth century. Here, the authors show just how pension coverage for public sector workers expanded steadily, through the first half of the twentieth century, so that by the 1960s the vast majority of public sector workers were covered by a plan. This analysis demonstrates how economic events and shifts in public policy at the federal, state and local levels helped to shape public sector retirement plans. The authors also compare public plans with private sector plans, and the final chapter focuses on recent changes in public pensions in response to the `Great Recession', concurrent sharp declines in equity markets and the aging of the public workforce. Scholars and students of economics, history and public policy, public administrators, policymakers and all those with an interest in policy development will find the analyses discussed and conclusions drawn here of significance.

Uniquely wide-ranging in its coverage of key concepts, themes and issues relating to human growth and development in adults, this textbook explores the crucial challenges and transitions that adults negotiate in their lives. It examines key topics and issues within professional practice with adults and their families, covering a wide range of practice areas and fusing essential theory and research with practical application. Drawing on insights and debates from across sociology, psychology, criminology and aligned disciplines, this textbook is thoughtfully structured to provide an accessible and supportive resource. Key features include: * chapter-by-chapter summaries, case studies and practice examples; * active learning activities to consolidate knowledge; * a broad range of tools to develop critical thinking and reflective practice. With a companion volume that addresses children and young people, this is an essential tool for students and a valuable refresher resource for experienced practitioners.

In recent years, the literature on the topic of ethnic and racial issues in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias has increased dramatically. At the same time, the need for cultural competence in all of geriatric care, including dementia care, is increasingly being acknowledged. Dementia is a large societal problem affecting all communities, regardless of race or ethnicity, and understanding dementia for specific groups is tremendously important for both clinical knowledge and for health planning as a nation. This third edition of Ethnicity and the Dementias offers invaluable background information in this area, while also examining how those suffering from dementia and their family members respond or adapt to the challenges that follow. Thoroughly updated and revised throughout, the book features contributions from leading clinicians and researchers in the field, with particular attention given to genetic and cultural factors related to dementia, effective prevention and treatment strategies, and issues in caregiving and family support. Chapters offer specific recommendations for dementia care in eleven ethnic/racial groups, as well as suggestions for working effectively with LGBTQ families. Providing a truly comprehensive resource on ethnicity and dementia, and including reflections on emerging trends and the future of caregiving, this new edition is ideal reading for clinicians, educators, researchers, policy makers, and families, in search of the most current ethnogeriatric findings.

For people with disabilities caused by nonprogressive brain injury, challenges in everyday living can be multifaceted and overwhelming. This book presents key principles of holistic neuropsychological rehabilitation, helping practitioners stay on track through complex terrain. Leading authorities Barbara A. Wilson and Shai Betteridge provide a framework for effective intervention based on a collaborative understanding of clients' strengths and needs. They describe essential strategies for assessing and remediating the impact of cognitive and psychosocial problems in everyday life. Detailed case examples illustrate the process of building partnerships with families, setting meaningful goals, developing skills and supports, and addressing emotional and mental health concerns. Innovative uses of technology are highlighted. Several reproducible clinical tools can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

This book provides readers with a compelling case for the inclusion of contextual therapy in comprehensive healthcare settings by presenting its applications to individual and family health across the lifespan. Part I gives an overview of contextual therapy, including case conceptualization, assessment, intervention, and supervision. Part II provides specific recommendations for incorporating contextual therapy in diverse and multidisciplinary settings. Case studies illustrate how concepts such as justice, loyalty, and balanced giving and receiving influence families' adjustment to chronic illnesses and mental health disorders. Accounting for the trend toward increased collaboration between providers in traditional mental health and medical settings, this book will empower clinicians to expand their current range of assessment methods, intervention techniques, and supervision experiences

Issues in Aging combines social, psychological, biological, and philosophical perspectives to present a multifaceted picture of aging. Novak illustrates both the problems and the opportunities that accompany older age. This text helps students understand the tremendous variability in aging and introduces them to careers working with older adults. This new edition reflects the continued changes in the way we age. The fourth edition has been updated to include emerging issues in aging. These include the prevalence of HIV/AIDs in later life, current research on mental potential in old age, the creation of age-friendly cities, and new options for end-of-life care. Each chapter begins with a set of learning objectives to guide students in their reading, and concludes with a list of main points, questions for discussion or study, suggested readings, and relevant web sites to consult. Each chapter also includes up-to-date charts and graphs as well as key terms to help students understand the issues presented. Break out boxes reveal the human side of aging through the stories of individuals in real life and in the media.

As anthropologists, we offer this book about aging in a wide variety of human societies in the hope of its making three contributions. First, this book will help to remedy a massive neglect of old age by the discipline of anthropology. The pioneering work of Leo Simmons (1945) has remained a lonely monument since the 1940's, for despite recent interest in the subject of aging in modern Western societies on the part of social gerontologists and sociologists, little has been done by anthropologists on aging in non-Western societies. Where it has been treated at all, it has been in the form either of a few final paragraphs in the discussion of the life cycle or of a simple ethnographic fact among other facts about a certain social system. What has been missing has been any attempt to put aging in a cross-cultural or comparative perspective, to give this vital subject the same treatment that has been accorded marriage, for example, or death or inheritance or sex roles.
Second, this book will bring a needed cross-cultural perspective to the study of social gerontology. The recent explosion of interest in this field has been largely confined to the study of aging in North America and Europe. But we anthropologists feel that such a culturally limited study, though interesting and productive in its own right, is dangerously narrow if it does not consider what aging is like in other societies. What aspects of aging, for example, are human universals and have to be planned for as inevitable, and what aspects are cultural particulars and can be avoided, modified, or strengthened under certain social conditions? By presenting both a biological account of the universals of human aging (Weiss), and specific ethnographic accounts of aging in a wide variety of societies, we believe we can help to put North American aging into perspective
Third, we hope this book will serve as an illustration of a particular anthropological approach to unity and diversity in human societies and cultures. Perhaps the main task of sociocultural anthropology is a twofold one: the explanation of cross-cultural universals, somehow rooted either in the biological nature of the human species or in universal imperatives of social organization, and the explanation of intercultural variations, rooted in a dialectical interaction between culture and the material conditions (partially created by culture) in which it exists. If unity and diversity can indeed be explained in this way, the cross-cultural study of aging can serve as a paradigm. By first setting out what seem to be the universals determined by the biology of the human species, and by then exploring the range of variation in cultural solutions, we ought to be able to formulate a set of principles that will allow us to explain why variations occur in a certain way. Nine ethnographic case studies are enough, we believe, to enable us to formulate some preliminary hypotheses about the nature and causes of variation in the social process of aging.