The Elements of Cognitive Aging provides a qualitative overview (mostly using graphical meta-analysis) of the vast literature on aging and speeded tasks-bringing together, for the first time, almost everything we know about aging and processing speed. The book investigates age-related slowing in elementary tasks (including updated parameters for the Aging Human Information Processor) and tasks of executive control (inhibition, task shifting, and task coordination). It examines regularities in the age-related effects of these tasks that might hint at underlying brain-related mechanisms, while having a keen eye for alternative explanations (such as increased caution with age). It models the course of speed-of-processing over the lifespan and investigates the influence of generational differences on mental speed. Finally, it examines the influence of age-related mental slowing on other aspects of cognition (working memory, executive control episodic memory, aspects of fluid intelligence), and provides the first systematic review of age-speed-cognition mediation in a longitudinal context.

Working with the needs of patients with Alzheimer's disease can be a major challenge for primary care physicians, psychiatrists, and other mental-health professionals. Alzheimer's wreaks havoc on the patient, and its degenerative nature can create a protracted period of anguish and anxiety for the patient's family. Dr. Marc Agronin has put his years of experience as a geriatric psychiatrist to work to create an eminently useful resource for psychiatrists and others who treat patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease or other dementias. Now in its third edition, Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias uses concise and clear language to outline the symptoms, effects and treatments used to combat the progress of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias likely to be suffered by older patients. Enriched by case studies from his own clinical practice, Dr. Agronin creates a volume full of humanity, insight, and knowledge that is sure to inform and improve the habits and methods of any clinician who deals with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

This is a comprehensive reference for long-term care administrators, practitioners and students who want to understand the options, issues, and trends related to the effective administration and management of long-term care communities. The book is unique in its in-depth focus on what needs to be accomplished and the evidence-based information about what actually works. Multifaceted insights address the ever-changing world of the long-term care industry and offer best practices and model programs in eldercare.

This multidisciplinary book covers the most crucial aspects of management including federal and/or state regulations required to provide long-term care services and operate long-term care communities. It offers advice on care at home, naturally occurring retirement communities, and continuing care retirement communities, client care, staff retention, preventing elder abuse and neglect, anticipating and managing litigation and arbitration in long-term care, aging and human diversity, Alzheimer's Disease, palliative care, care transitions, and much more. Distilling many years of practical, research and teaching experience, the authors provide the necessary tools and tips that will enable professionals to maximize the quality of care and the quality of life for older adults living in long-term care communities. Each chapter includes helpful pedagogical features such as learning objectives, case studies, effective practices, and/or model programs in eldercare.

Key Features: Based on federal and/or state regulations required to provide long-term care services and operate long-term care communities Examines the complex operations of long-term care options for effective eldercare Highlights the most cost-effective practices and model programs in long-term care communities that are currently used throughout the United States Provides useful tips about client care and staff retention as well as marketing and census development, financing and reimbursement, and legal issues Promotes innovative collaboration between education, research, and practice that is reflected by the training of the editors and contributing authors

This book analyses the key issues inherent for the voluntary sector as it relates to the experiences of older people. The book reviews the major issues for older people's needs and rights. The book attempts to develop and foster interdisciplinary arguments for linking business principles to capacity building of the voluntary sector.

This book explores the relationship between globalisation and global changes in populational structures across the world. The book begins by surveying the issue of inequality across the world and some of the key hot spots for social exclusion which is very uneven in different continents across the globe. The book moves its attention to a case study in a country that is fast becoming the world's strongest economy: China. The chapter explores aging in China and the issues inherent of how older people's needs are being met or not. This raises significant questions relating to theory, policy and practice.

No field of study more completely integrates the mature person over the life course than does gerontology. Understanding senior citizens-who represent a continually growing population-is becoming increasingly important. AGING, THE INDIVIDUAL, AND SOCIETY introduces readers to gerontology in a compassionate way that helps them understand older people and know how to work with them. The book balances academic research and practical discussions, integrating social and cultural perspectives with the story of the individual aging process. Activities and enhance reader's understanding and skills by providing many opportunities for experiential learning.

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.

The demographic phenomena of increased life expectancy, increasing global population of older adults, and a larger number of older people as a proportion of the total population in nations throughout the world will affect our lives and the life of each person we know. The changes will result in challenges and benefits for societies and people of all ages. These events need to be understood, explained, and their consequences addressed; sociological theories about aging are an essential part of this process.

In "Understanding Aging and Diversity: Theories and Concepts," Patricia Kolb presents important sociological theories and concepts for understanding experiences of older people and their families in a rapidly changing world. She explores concepts from phenomenology, critical theory, feminist theory, life course theory and gerotranscendence theory to explain important issues in the lives of older people. This book investigates similarities and differences in aging experiences, focusing in particular on the effects of inequality. Kolb examines the relationship of ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation and social class to international aging experiences.

This book explores the relationships between older people and social systems in different ways, and informs thinking about policy development and other strategies for enhancing the wellbeing of older adults. It will be useful for students and scholars of sociology, gerontology, social work, anthropology, economics, demography and global studies.

The number of workers age 55 and over experiencing long-term unemployment has grown substantially since the recession. This raises concerns about how long-term unemployment will affect older workers' re-employment prospects and future retirement income. In light of these developments, this book examines how older workers' employment status has changed since the recession; what risks unemployed older workers face and what challenges they experience in finding re-employment; how long-term unemployment could affect older workers' retirement income; and what other policies might help them return to work and what steps the Department of Labor has taken to help unemployed older workers.

Das Thema Alter und Altern mit seinen vielfaltigen Aspekten, von der kontinuierlichen Zunahme der mittleren Lebenserwartung seit 1850 um etwa 3 Monate pro Jahr und der erheblichen Abnahme der Fortpflanzungshaufigkeit bis zur Gefahrdung des Generationenvertrags und der Altersversorgung jungerer Jahrgange, wird seit einigen Jahren, wenn auch mit beachtlicher Verspatung, in der Offentlichkeit und Politik wahrgenommen.

Die daruber kursierenden Vorstellungen entbehren nicht einer gewissen, mitunter erheblichen Einseitigkeit.

Die Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften hat mit der Natur- und Geisteswissenschaften ubergreifenden Kompetenz ihrer Mitglieder und mit Forderung durch die Robert-Bosch-Stiftung, die auf dem Gebiet der Altersforschung und fursorge umfangreich und erfolgreich tatig ist, das Thema aufgegriffen. Der grundlegende Ansatz, die Frage nach Ursprung, Wesen, Folgen und Bewaltigung des Alterns aus dem Blickwinkel aller relevanten Wissenschaften analysieren zu lassen, von der Molekularbiologie und Medizin uber die Politik- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften "

This upper level textbook provides a coherent introduction to the economic implications of individual and population ageing. Placing economic considerations into a wider social sciences context, this is ideal reading not only for advanced undergraduate and masters students in health economics and economics of ageing, but policy makers, professionals and practitioners in gerontology, sociology, health-related sciences, and social care. This volume introduces topics in the economics of happiness, quality of life, and well-being in later life. It also covers questions of inequality and poverty, intergenerational economics, and housing. Other areas described in this book include behavioural economics, political economy, and consumption in ageing societies.

This book provides a theoretical critique and analysis of the development and consolidation of power in China as it applies to ageing. In seeking to deal with this increased proportion of elderly people, Chinese state policy seeks to introduce ways of reducing the fiscal burden of ageing upon the state, and indeed upon those many families who have been markedly affected by the modernisation process. This book, however, fundamentally questions the assumption that populational policies in the Chinese state are unbiased in their social practices with older people. The book explores new topics of ageing in China grounded in and drawing from developments in social theory, (ie), Foucauldian theory and postmodernism.

Explains why there is a crisis in caring for elderly people and how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated it Because government policies are based on an ethic of family responsibility, repeated calls to support family members caring for the burgeoning elderly population have gone unanswered. Without publicly funded long-term care services, many family caregivers cannot find relief from obligations that threaten to overwhelm them. The crisis also stems from the plight of direct care workers (nursing home assistants and home health aides), most of whom are women from racially marginalized groups who receive little respect, remuneration, or job security. Drawing on an online support group for people caring for spouses and partners with dementia, Elder Care in Crisis examines the availability and quality of respite care (which provides temporary relief from the burdens of care), the long, tortuous process through which family members decide whether to move spouses and partners to institutions, and the likelihood that caregivers will engage in political action to demand greater public support. When the pandemic began, caregivers watched in horror as nursing homes turned into deathtraps and then locked their doors to visitors. Terrified by the possibility of loved ones in nursing homes contracting the disease or suffering from loneliness, some caregivers brought them home. Others endured the pain of leaving relatives with severe cognitive impairments at the hospital door and the difficulties of sheltering in place with people with dementia who could not understand safety regulations or describe their symptoms. Direct care workers were compelled to accept unsafe conditions or leave the labor force. At the same time, however, the disaster provided an impetus for change and helped activists and scholars develop a vision of a future in which care is central to social life. Elder Care in Crisis exposes the harrowing state of growing old in America, offering concrete solutions and illustrating why they are necessary.

Research Design in Aging and Social Gerontology provides a review of methodological approaches and data-collection methods commonly used with older adults in real-life settings. It addresses the role of normative age-related sensory, cognitive, and functional changes, as well as the influence of generational cohort (age-period-cohort) upon each design. It discusses the role of older adults as true co-researchers; issues uniquely related to studies of persons residing in community-based, assisted, skilled, and memory-care settings; and ethical concerns related to cognitive status changes. The text concludes with detailed guidelines for improving existing data collection methods for older persons and selecting the best fitting methodologies for use in planning research on aging. Features of Research Design in Aging and Social Gerontology include: Descriptions and evaluations of a wide range of methodological approaches, and methods used to collect data about older persons (quantitative, qualitative, mixed, and emergent methods: photovoice, virtual environments, etc.) Ways to match research questions to selection of method without a preconceived methodological preference or dominance Real-world and applied examples along with cases from the gerontological literature "How to" sections about reading output/software reports and qualitative-analysis screenshots (from ATLAS.ti) and quantitative (SPSS) output and interpretation Pedagogical tools in every chapter such as text boxes, case studies, definitions of key terms, discussion questions, and references for further reading on chapter topics Glossary of key terms, complete sample research report, and an overview of past methodological research design work in gerontology Companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/Weil where instructors will find PowerPoint presentations, additional discussion questions, and a sample syllabus; and students will find flashcards based on glossary terms, a downloadable copy of the sample research report in the text, and links to data sets, related websites, further reading, and select gerontological journals This text is intended for upper-level undergraduates and masters students in aging and gerontology as well as students in human development, applied anthropology, psychology, public health, sociology, and social-work settings. Health care professionals, social workers, and care managers who work with older adults will also find this text a valuable resource.

When a country emerges from violent conflict, the management of the environment and natural resources has important implications for short-term peacebuilding and long-term stability, particularly if natural resources were a factor in the conflict, play a major role in the national economy, or broadly support livelihoods. Only recently, however, have the assessment, harnessing, and restoration of the natural resource base become essential components of postconflict peacebuilding. This book, by thirty-five authors, examines the experiences of more than twenty countries and territories in assessing post-conflict environmental damage and natural resource degradation and their implications for human health, livelihoods, and security. The book also illustrates how an understanding of both the risks and opportunities associated with natural resources can help decision makers manage natural resources in ways that create jobs, sustain livelihoods, and contribute to economic recovery and reconciliation, without creating new grievances or significant environmental degradation. Finally, the book offers lessons from the remediation of environmental hot spots, restoration of damaged ecosystems, and reconstruction of the environmental services and infrastructure necessary for a sustainable peace. Assessing and Restoring Natural Resources in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding is part of a global initiative to identify and analyze lessons in post-conflict peacebuilding and natural resource management. The project has generated six books of case studies and analyses, with contributions by practitioners, policy makers, and researchers. Other books address highvalue resources, land, water, livelihoods, and governance.

Despite acute labour shortages during the Second World War, Canadian employers--with the complicity of state officials--discriminated against workers of African, Asian, and Eastern and Southern European origin, excluding them from both white collar and skilled jobs. Jobs and Justice argues that, while the war intensified hostility and suspicion toward minority workers, the urgent need for their contributions and the egalitarian rhetoric used to mobilize the war effort also created an opportunity for minority activists and their English Canadian allies to challenge discrimination.Juxtaposing a discussion of state policy with ideas of race and citizenship in Canadian civil society, Carmela K. Patrias shows how minority activists were able to bring national attention to racist employment discrimination and obtain official condemnation of such discrimination. Extensively researched and engagingly written, Jobs and Justice offers a new perspective on the Second World War, the racist dimensions of state policy, and the origins of human rights campaigns in Canada.

"Transitions and the Lifecourse" investigates and challenges dominant interpretations of transitions in late life. Amanda Grenier takes a cross-national and interdisciplinary comparative approach to the topic of aging and the life course, yielding a fresh perspective on these transitions as well as considering some innovative strategies for addressing concerns related to them. Scholars and students interested in social gerontology, policy studies in health and social care, and older people's accounts of lived experience will find this book to be a stimulating read.

This eighth edition comes with a significant revision of cognitive development through childhood, revised and updated chapters on adolescence, and more attention to emerging and early adulthood.

The Older Americans Act (OAA) is the major federal vehicle for the delivery of social and nutritional services for older persons. These include supportive services, congregate nutritional services (meals served at group sites such as senior centres, community centres, schools, churches, or senior housing complexes), home-delivered nutritional services, family caregiver support, community service employment, the long-term care ombudsman program, and services to prevent the abuse, neglect and exploitation of older persons. This book provides an overview of the services and issues of the Older Americans Act and provides information about legislation which would increase authorisations or funding to certain OAA programs.

Life must be understood as the result of evolution, and human life as the emergence of the species Sapiens from the genus Homo of the family of apes. If the emergence of human life as an evolutionary fact is coupled with the notion of social life, we are referred to the constructive production of human life forms, of which social participation is an integral part. On the one hand, participation is tied back to the phylogenesis of the species Sapiens, but on the other hand, it has to be newly acquired and practiced by every human being in the process of ontogenesis, depending on the environment. Participation in old age is a separate specification of the conditions of this process and can be illustrated on the basis of a large number of empirical findings.

Walking sticks have had a bad press. For too long the walking stick has been portrayed as a workaday item of codgerism, a simple support for the aged and infirm. This is not the case. Possession of a walking stick opens up a whole gamut of opportunities beyond the simple 'leaning against' purpose. In 49 Uses for A Walking Stick Frank Hopkinson explains the variety of practical uses a walking stick can be put to, from flicking filthy slugs off a lawn and parting crowds to alerting a theatre-goer two rows in front that his rapid consumption of fruit bonbons is ruining everyone's enjoyment. Illustrated throughout, the book also includes a miscellany of walking stick trivia, facts and figures and fun information.

Development of Adult Thinking is a timely synthesis and evaluation of the current knowledge and emerging issues relating to adult cognitive development and learning. Focusing on psychological and educational cutting-edge research as well as giving an overview of the key theorists such as Piaget and Kohlberg, Kallio and the team of expert contributors offer a holistic view on the development of adult thinking, representing perspectives from developmental, moral, and social psychology, as well as education and philosophy. These topics are divided into three sections: Adult cognitive and moral development, Perspectives of adult learning, and Open questions and new approaches, offering introduction, analysis, and directions for future research. This text is essential reading for students and researchers in developmental psychology and related courses as well as adult educators and teachers working in adult education.

Literally hundreds of papers have been written about interface issues experienced by older adults, but how many actually influence the designs older adults use? The sheer number of articles available, the fast pace of the industry, and time constraints combine to build barriers to knowledge transfer from theory into practice. A distillation of decades of published research, Designing Displays for Older Adults is a primer on age-related changes in cognition, perception, and behavior organized into meaningful principles that improve understanding.

Using theory backed up by evidence provides an understanding of why we see certain problems with many displays and often predicts solutions. This understanding surpasses an individual interface and provides practitioners with ways to plan for older adults on multiple display types. Based on this, the book delineates the theories, then explores how to apply them in real design exercises, providing specific guidelines for display examples that bridge theory and practice. The authors explore the complex set of mental and physical changes that occur during aging and that can affect technology acceptance, adoption, interaction, safety, and satisfaction.

This book provides a fundamental understanding of age related change and explores how such information can influence design from the very beginning stages, rather than waiting for testing to reveal the problems users have with the product. The authors open the way for designing with an understanding of these changes that results in better products and systems for users in all life stages.