Learn how public policies can help families provide the care their elderly relatives need Family and Aging Policy examines how public initiatives to assist the elderly in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Denmark, and Sweden can impact families who provide them with long-term care. For the majority of older people, the aging experience involves their families directly and indirectly, affecting income security, housing, and health care. This unique book addresses the aging issues that matter most to families struggling to deal with the demands of care giving and provides answers on how the public sector can help. As the traditional nuclear family becomes a memory and the notion of extended family disappears, the need for public interventions to help the elderly increases. A significant number of people grow old without families they can depend on. Others have families who want to help, but lack the financial means or the housing needed to provide care. Family and Aging Policy offers options on how families and formal services can share responsibilities, including how families can juggle jobs and care giving, the effects of the Family and Medical Leave Act, consumer-directed service options, community-based care programs, accessory dwelling units and zoning ordinances, and provisions for caregiver support in each of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia. Family and Aging Policy examines: extensive welfare programs in Sweden publicly funded home care programs in Denmark family-oriented social policies in Singapore shared responsibilities of families and formal services in Canada the Administration on Aging's National Family Caregiver Support program in the United States California Caregiver Resource Centers and much more! Family and Aging Policy is an invaluable tool for researchers and policy analysts working in family policy issues and as an essential supplemental text for course work in gerontology, sociology, family relations, and social work.

The relationship between ageing and crime has been a much neglected issue, the focus rather being on youth. This books aims to redress this imbalance, bringing together a group of leading authorities to address key issues on the subject of crime and ageing, considering older people as both victims and perpetrators of crime, and looking too at conditions faced by older prisoners. The book draws upon both criminology and gerontology, as well as sociology and social policy, to help understand the complex relationship between ageing and the criminal justice system, and argues that the needs of elders must be far more firmly on the penal policy agenda than is the case currently. Ageing, Crime and Society will be concerned with 'unsilencing' a group who because of their age and status have been muted by the criminal justice system.

The relationship between ageing and crime has been a much neglected issue, the focus rather being on youth. This books aims to redress this imbalance, bringing together a group of leading authorities to address key issues on the subject of crime and ageing, considering older people as both victims and perpetrators of crime, and looking too at conditions faced by older prisoners. The book draws upon both criminology and gerontology, as well as sociology and social policy, to help understand the complex relationship between ageing and the criminal justice system, and argues that the needs of elders must be far more firmly on the penal policy agenda than is the case currently. Ageing, Crime and Society will be concerned with 'unsilencing' a group who because of their age and status have been muted by the criminal justice system.

Discover a vital source of volunteers for your organization By the year 2020, there will be 65 million people aged 65 and over living in the United Statesa new generation of active older adults expecting to use the expertise, experience, and life skills they've gained to make valuable contributions to society in their retirement years. Civic Engagement and the Baby Boomer Generation presents the latest research findings and evaluation studies that help promote a thorough understanding of the programs, policies, and civic opportunities available to people aged 50 and older. This unique book is an essential resource for nonprofit organizations seeking to meet their needs with a generation of volunteers eager to explore new options, work in new capacities, and continue lifelong learning. More than any previous generation, baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) are defying stereotypes about aging while seeking new and meaningful lifestyles. Civic Engagement and the Baby Boomer Generation defines an agenda for future policy, research, and practice to help reverse the well-documented decline in civic engagement in the United States, providing older Americans with opportunities to have an impact in their local, national, and global communities. The book's contributors focus attention on the value of civic engagement in creating vital social capital and social networks. Civic Engagement and the Baby Boomer Generation examines: current issues and trends in civic engagement results from senior corps. examinations expanding youth service concepts lifelong learning institutes the relationship between civic engagement and leadership issues in elder service and volunteerism outcomes of a national agenda setting meeting intergenerational relations and civic engagement Civic Engagement and the Baby Boomer Generation is an important source of information for anyone working with nonprofit, government, and corporate organizations concerned with public policy, community affairs, volunteerism, research, practice, and education.

Population ageing is among the most important developments of our time. This book explores the profound challenges faced by an aging world. Leading experts from diverse disciplines describe the fundamental impact demographic aging has on pension systems, on the concepts of retirement and old age, and on the balance of generational justice.

It's terrible to get old? Life is all downhill after fifty? That's what our youth-centered culture may think but don't be duped. Selected as a finalist for 2006 Independent Publisher Book Awards, this book can change how you think about aging, even make you feel good about getting old! ". . . a liberating change is happening, a change as momentous as the liberation movements of the 1960s and 70s. It brings respect for older people, appreciation for maturity, and the promise of a more balanced culture."-from the Introduction by Margaret Karmazin and Janet Amalia Weinberg. Discover a new, positive way of looking at aging with Still Going Strong: Memoirs, Stories, and Poems About Great Older Women. This exuberant, inspiring anthology celebrates the vitality of older women and shows them having adventures, facing loss, enjoying romance, and feeling more capable and confident than ever. The 42 authors included in the collection know that life after middle age is not the diminished state dreaded by our youth-centered culture, but rather, a time of growth and fulfillment, enriched by the wisdom of experience and perspective. Get a taste of the passion, wit, and wisdom of some of these women: From "Why Vermont" by Elayne Clift: "It was great not to be driven by achievement. I was learning the art of laid-back living. Spending a day writing, or reading, was heavenly and I was reminded of my freedom whenever a friend said, 'I'd give anything to be doing that!'" From "Gray Matters" by Marsha Dubrow: ". . . finally [I] have decided to enjoy being a gray. It links me with a powerful sisterhood, complimenting each other on our gray badge of courage. A woman with dreadlocks resembling pillars of salt approached me on the street and said, 'You go, girlfriend. We're gray and we're proud-and gorgeous.' We smacked high fives." From "Katherine Banning: Wife, Mother, Bank Robber" by Melissa Lugo: "Crazy, you say? Well, wait till you hit 90 and realize you still want to live, that even though you're way past menopause you want another child, and that even though your breasts make tracks in the mud, you still want a lover, and that even though your hands shake, there are still things that you didn't get to do (like going to the Olympics and bringing home the gold) things you want to do, that you will do. Then, see what you're capable of. And you'll be perfectly sane. Senility, temporary insanity, it's all bull. Old folks know exactly what they're doing. One of the good parts about being an old fart is that you have a license to be loony tunes, to live the wild way you didn't have the balls for before. At 90, you see, your dignity's gone the way of dirty diapers, and your life is heading the same way fast. You have nothing to lose except the moment." From "A Different Woman" by Joan Kip: "My relationship with Seth is, I tell him, my great experiment. He calls me on every one of my tightly-held protections, and his pleasure in meeting my body is matched by my own freedom to respond. Ours is a relationship with no hidden agenda, no commitments. Our occasional evenings of uncomplicated delight are the intertwining of two desires who touch down and embrace one another, knowing they will meet again, sometime, somewhere. And while sex is not absent from our meetings, it is, rather, my compelling ache to be touched and held and to touch and hold that pulls me back each time to Seth. Like the newly-born whose being depends upon the enfolding presence of a parent, those of us who are now so old, glow more warmly when we, too, may share our tenderness." Still Going Strong counters demeaning stereotypes of "little old ladies" by offering positive, empowering views of women over fifty. It is a hopeful voice that speaks to any woman facing her own future.

It's terrible to get old? Life is all downhill after fifty? That's what our youth-centered culture may think but don't be duped. Selected as a finalist for 2006 Independent Publisher Book Awards, this book can change how you think about aging, even make you feel good about getting old! ". . . a liberating change is happening, a change as momentous as the liberation movements of the 1960s and 70s. It brings respect for older people, appreciation for maturity, and the promise of a more balanced culture."-from the Introduction by Margaret Karmazin and Janet Amalia Weinberg. Discover a new, positive way of looking at aging with Still Going Strong: Memoirs, Stories, and Poems About Great Older Women. This exuberant, inspiring anthology celebrates the vitality of older women and shows them having adventures, facing loss, enjoying romance, and feeling more capable and confident than ever. The 42 authors included in the collection know that life after middle age is not the diminished state dreaded by our youth-centered culture, but rather, a time of growth and fulfillment, enriched by the wisdom of experience and perspective. Get a taste of the passion, wit, and wisdom of some of these women: From "Why Vermont" by Elayne Clift: "It was great not to be driven by achievement. I was learning the art of laid-back living. Spending a day writing, or reading, was heavenly and I was reminded of my freedom whenever a friend said, 'I'd give anything to be doing that!'" From "Gray Matters" by Marsha Dubrow: ". . . finally [I] have decided to enjoy being a gray. It links me with a powerful sisterhood, complimenting each other on our gray badge of courage. A woman with dreadlocks resembling pillars of salt approached me on the street and said, 'You go, girlfriend. We're gray and we're proud-and gorgeous.' We smacked high fives." From "Katherine Banning: Wife, Mother, Bank Robber" by Melissa Lugo: "Crazy, you say? Well, wait till you hit 90 and realize you still want to live, that even though you're way past menopause you want another child, and that even though your breasts make tracks in the mud, you still want a lover, and that even though your hands shake, there are still things that you didn't get to do (like going to the Olympics and bringing home the gold) things you want to do, that you will do. Then, see what you're capable of. And you'll be perfectly sane. Senility, temporary insanity, it's all bull. Old folks know exactly what they're doing. One of the good parts about being an old fart is that you have a license to be loony tunes, to live the wild way you didn't have the balls for before. At 90, you see, your dignity's gone the way of dirty diapers, and your life is heading the same way fast. You have nothing to lose except the moment." From "A Different Woman" by Joan Kip: "My relationship with Seth is, I tell him, my great experiment. He calls me on every one of my tightly-held protections, and his pleasure in meeting my body is matched by my own freedom to respond. Ours is a relationship with no hidden agenda, no commitments. Our occasional evenings of uncomplicated delight are the intertwining of two desires who touch down and embrace one another, knowing they will meet again, sometime, somewhere. And while sex is not absent from our meetings, it is, rather, my compelling ache to be touched and held and to touch and hold that pulls me back each time to Seth. Like the newly-born whose being depends upon the enfolding presence of a parent, those of us who are now so old, glow more warmly when we, too, may share our tenderness." Still Going Strong counters demeaning stereotypes of "little old ladies" by offering positive, empowering views of women over fifty. It is a hopeful voice that speaks to any woman facing her own future.

This book coaches marketing practitioners and students how to best satisfy the needs of the older consumer population. It first highlights the heterogeneity of the older consumer market, then examines the specific needs of the older consumer. Lastly, the book highlights the most effective ways of reaching and serving older consumer segments for different products and services such as financial services, food and beverages, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and travel among others. It presents segment-to-industry specific strategies that help marketers develop more refined and targeted micro-marketing strategies and customer relationship management (CRM) systems for building and retaining a large base of older customers. These strategies also help demonstrate how companies can make decisions that increase profitability not only by satisfying consumer needs and wants, but also by creating positive change and improvement in consumer well-being.

This book promotes an understanding of ageism, discrimination and mistreatment of older adult workers, incorporating an international human rights perspective. The impact of ageism on the mistreatment of older adult workers has not to date been examined in depth through the lens of international human rights instruments, nor has discrimination against older adults in the workplace been framed as a form of elder abuse for research and policy making purposes. This book presents a multi-disciplinary exploration of these themes as they affect work and retirement of older adults. It reflects the view that older people who choose to work into old age should be able to do so in enabling work environments that promote dignity and are free of abuse. The contributing authors come from many disciplines, including law, psychology, social work, business, and international affairs. Many are members of the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA), a non-governmental organization with consultative status at the United Nations, and have devoted their professional careers to increase awareness and understanding of elder abuse in order to prevent it. The editors hope that broadening the framework within which elder abuse in the workplace is understood will stimulate further research, policy and program development to address this troubling social problem.

Understand the impact of a global ageing population on how products are bought, and the effect this has on how to market and advertise these products and services to the older generation of consumers. This book contains models for companies to evaluate the success of their own strategies, with tools for improving their age-friendly marketing campaigns.

Gain first-hand knowledge of how today's lesbians aged 60 and over survived the 20th century! I didn't know we were lesbians. We lived together 13 years! Whistling Women is a unique, candid collection of the life experiences of 44 lesbians between 62 and 82 years of age. This book explores new ground with interviews about their memories, feelings, and thoughts on a diversity of perspectivesfrom growing up during the Depression and World War II, to retirement and old age at the height of the gay liberation movement. This unprecedented resource captures a first-person view of lesbian history and documents the struggles and achievements of the women who lived it. All my schooling was women-orientedso I was able to see what women and girls could give to each other. In Whistling Women, these older women share their views on: childhood and young adulthoodfamily, social factors, religion, schooling marriagehusbands, children, divorce lesbian relationshipscoming out/closet relationships, role playing, butch and fem practices conventional politicsparty affiliation, activities, concerns, degree of feminism work and moneyfinancial arrangements, home ownership, investment properties life after 60retirement, health, activities, communities and much more! I dated. I went along. I did it because basically it was the thing to do. But I had crushes on girls. Whistling Women offers you unprecedented statistics on these women and comparisons with statistics gathered in other analyses on lesbian and heterosexual women. This research includes studies of: socioeconomic class in childhood, mid-life, and at retirement level of education of participants number and duration of long-term relationshipsboth heterosexual marriages and lesbian lover relationships age of first lesbian relationship retirement statisticsyear retired, age at retirement economic resources after retirement (compared to general US population) If we had these things in the 1950s [gay bookstores and publications], how different life would be for a lot of people. But we had to pave the way. This book is significant for sociologists, gay and lesbian researchers, and gerontologists, as well as anyone interested in women's history. It also presents recollections of lesbian/mixed barssome famousstarting in the 1930s, memories of the notorious Greenwich Village, the early development of lesbian social groups, and lesbian friendships with gay men. Whistling Girls identifies many of the organizations that cater specifically to older lesbians, such as OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change) and SOL (Slightly Older Lesbians).

Gain first-hand knowledge of how today's lesbians aged 60 and over survived the 20th century! I didn't know we were lesbians. We lived together 13 years! Whistling Women is a unique, candid collection of the life experiences of 44 lesbians between 62 and 82 years of age. This book explores new ground with interviews about their memories, feelings, and thoughts on a diversity of perspectivesfrom growing up during the Depression and World War II, to retirement and old age at the height of the gay liberation movement. This unprecedented resource captures a first-person view of lesbian history and documents the struggles and achievements of the women who lived it. All my schooling was women-orientedso I was able to see what women and girls could give to each other. In Whistling Women, these older women share their views on: childhood and young adulthoodfamily, social factors, religion, schooling marriagehusbands, children, divorce lesbian relationshipscoming out/closet relationships, role playing, butch and fem practices conventional politicsparty affiliation, activities, concerns, degree of feminism work and moneyfinancial arrangements, home ownership, investment properties life after 60retirement, health, activities, communities and much more! I dated. I went along. I did it because basically it was the thing to do. But I had crushes on girls. Whistling Women offers you unprecedented statistics on these women and comparisons with statistics gathered in other analyses on lesbian and heterosexual women. This research includes studies of: socioeconomic class in childhood, mid-life, and at retirement level of education of participants number and duration of long-term relationshipsboth heterosexual marriages and lesbian lover relationships age of first lesbian relationship retirement statisticsyear retired, age at retirement economic resources after retirement (compared to general US population) If we had these things in the 1950s [gay bookstores and publications], how different life would be for a lot of people. But we had to pave the way. This book is significant for sociologists, gay and lesbian researchers, and gerontologists, as well as anyone interested in women's history. It also presents recollections of lesbian/mixed barssome famousstarting in the 1930s, memories of the notorious Greenwich Village, the early development of lesbian social groups, and lesbian friendships with gay men. Whistling Girls identifies many of the organizations that cater specifically to older lesbians, such as OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change) and SOL (Slightly Older Lesbians).

The United Nations Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) offers a bold new agenda for handling the issue of ageing in the 21st-century. It focuses on three priority areas: older persons and development; advancing health and well-being into old age; and ensuring enabling and supportive environments. This book brings together global perspectives on the MIPAA and focusses on and assesses the success and failures of governments to implement its recommendations. Despite its pivotal importance in international ageing policy, the MIPAA has been relatively neglected by academics in their writings and studies. This book mitigates this analytical and empirical cavity. Each chapter focuses on one specific geographical region and addresses five key themes: National ageing situation; Twenty years of MIPAA; Ensuring ageing with dignity; Healthy and active ageing in a sustainable world; and Priorities for the future. It presents an overall summary of the findings, future challenges and opportunities related to ageing, recommendations for future actions to be taken, and policy adjustments needed. The authors also present lessons that were learnt from managing the impact of COVID-19 on older people, together with an outlook on the most immediate priorities for the future so that the recommendations in the MIPAA are achieved in post-COVID-19 and sustainable ethical scenarios. An important contribution towards the advancement of ageing policy, the book will be indispensable to students and researchers of gerontology, ageing, and health. It will also be of interest to policy makers, geriatricians, dementia care specialists, social policy makers responsible for ensuring active and healthy ageing, and all public sector departments which have specific responsibilities towards improving the quality of life of older adults.

This book provides deep insights into concerns related to the well-being in older women across the globe. Written by experts in the field, it explores social roles, health, quality of life/well-being, as well as concerns related to abuse and neglect, impacting the health of older women. It discusses important conditions for the holistic health of older women from different perspectives and provides practical guidelines towards improving the overall status of older women's well-being in society. The chapters analyze the wider implications of older women's experiences as family members, drivers of economies and members of a diverse population worldwide. Covering a focus which is applicable to countries across continents, whether developed or developing, the book has an overall appeal to academicians, health care, policy makers as well as researchers in areas such as aging, gerontology, social work and psychology.

This book is the first comprehensive ethnographic study of the diversity of living and ageing experiences of three groups of older migrants - return, lifestyle and ageing-in-place labour migrants - from a comparative perspective. It explores the motivations, ageing experiences and aspirations of transnational ageing migrants in the context of the Portuguese islands of the Azores and situates the research within debates of the ageing-migration nexus. The book's interdisciplinary approach to transnational embodied and emplaced experiences of ageing facilitates a dialogue between various fields concerned with ageing and mobilities, including geography, anthropology, sociology, social gerontology, social work, and studies of health and wellbeing.

Sociological Analysis of Aging: The Gay Male Perspective is an exploratory study of the life changes homosexual and bisexual men experience as they age. This unique book presents in-depth, qualitative interviews with gay men, aged 55 and older, focusing on their physical, mental, and social needs. More than one hundred men offer first-hand perceptions on the unique problems they face with regards to employment/retirement, housing, health and well-being, and relationships, and how they function within (or without) a social support system. Sociological Analysis of Aging fills in the gaps in the existing social science literature on homosexuals and aging, updating findings that were inconclusive when first published and/or based on case studies or limited samples. While standard books on aging typically deal with the impact of life events such as child rearing, the empty nest syndrome, and grandparenting, Sociological Analysis of Aging deals with the unique realities that gay men face in addition to the universal concerns of the elderly: affordable health care, affordable housing, and adequate coverage for medication costs. The study examines what can be done to assist successful aging for sexual minorities, particularly in the areas of social policy, service delivery, and public tolerance. Sociological Analysis of Aging focuses on specific research questions: Do aging gay men consider themselves to be physically healthy? Do aging gay men suffer from depression? Do aging gay men have access to social support networks? What are the housing needs of the aging gay communitypresent and future? How involved are aging gay men with family, friends, church, and community? In addition, the men interviewed were asked what, if anything, was left on a to-do list; what the best and worst aspects of aging are; and what, if anything, they would change about the course their lives had taken. Their answers make Sociological Analysis of Aging: The Gay Male Perspective an essential resource for therapists, counselors, and social workers, and for academics working in sociology, psychology, gerontology, and gay studies.

Examine the questions of how, what, and why associated with religiousness and spirituality in the lives of older adults! New Directions in the Study of Late Life Religiousness and Spirituality explores new ways of thinking about a topic that was once taboo but that has now attracted considerable attention from the gerontological community. It examines various approaches to methodology and definition that are used in the study of religion, spirituality, and aging. In addition, it explores the ways that gerontological research can highlight the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of older adults. The first section will introduce you to new ways of thinking about research methodology and data analysis that can be applied to studying the complexity of older adults' religious/spiritual practice and beliefs. You'll learn several approaches to the study of phenomena that are both personal and also deeply embedded in community. The second section addresses issues of definition, exploring important questions that call for critical reflection, such as: What are we studying? What social and psychological influences shape our thinking about definition? and Do the definitions used by gerontologists match those held by older people? The final section moves the study of religion, spirituality, and aging beyond a focus on health and mortality to examine well-being more broadly in the context of the life experiences of older adults. Here is a small sample of what you'll learn about in New Directions in the Study of Late Life Religiousness and Spirituality: structural equation modelinga statistical method designed to capture the dynamics inherent in the passage of time feminist qualitative methods for studying spiritual resiliency in older women spirituality as a public health issue the differences between groups of older people in the way they define religion and spirituality the psychosocial implications of two types of religious orientationdwelling and seeking older women's responses to the experience of widowhood and to the question of whether their religious beliefs were affected by the experience how social context influences our decisions and our interpretations of people's religious beliefs, behaviors, and experiences the ways that people caring for a spouse with dementia rely on religious coping a model that delineates three different ways people relate to God in copingand a study that asks whether these types of coping produce different outcomes for caregivers how people adjust to bereavement as a function of their beliefs about an afterlife

In light of demographic change and the growing problems of traditional old-age security systems, this book discusses two essential instruments in connection with privately providing for old-age security: (1) savings in private pension schemes and (2) building up equity for home-ownership. Further, it assesses the relationship between the two instruments and offers a unique overview of the latest market developments. In order to represent the profound differences between the individual member states of the EU, this book features six country-specific studies - covering Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom - that provide detailed insights into the complexity of local private pension schemes, mortgage markets, and housing markets. Lastly, the book discusses public policies and fiscal incentives intended to better integrate residential property with private pensions. It will appeal to both, private households seeking to build up old-age security, as well as policy makers interested in providing secure pension schemes.

The Last Years of Long Lives is a unique account of that period of old age which precedes death. Based on 400 complete individual histories and covering a twenty-year period, it looks at the experiences of people over eighty years old in three important areas: disability, family life and health care. Using the life-course approach to research, it reveals rich data about the contributions of formal and informal care and how life expectancy and experiences of disability interact with experiences of care.

The reader is invited to conceptualise these phenomena as processes in continuous time - processes that are sometimes long and complex, sometimes short and simple - and learns about the four types of disability career before death. At the same time, the author presents a three-stage model of informal care and examines the main patterns of formal service use.

The Last Years of Long Lives presents a new way of looking at old age for students, researchers, practitioners and policy makers and gives a comprehensive picture of what has been called 'the fourth age'.

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 provides such a challenge. It offers 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.

The Therapeutic Community: Research and Practice brings together the diverse lens of these communities, illuminating and challenging current practice models and research. The book seeks to demonstrate the working collaboration between research-based and practice-based research, as well as filling the gaps for professions in behavioral health, neurobiology, corrections and workforce development. Each chapter explores how both environment and modality work together to change the quality of an individual's life. The reader is provided with a foundation and introduction to the language of 'Democratic' and 'Concept-based' TCs. This book presents case studies, protocols, fidelity measures and emerging research to help readers incorporate applications into their own practice.

Series Information:
Key Ideas

Recent decades have seen a fundamental change in the age structure of many western societies. In these societies it is now common for a fifth to a quarter of the population to be retired, for fewer babies to be born than is required to sustain the size of the population and for life expectancy to exceed eighty years old. This book provides an overview of the key issues arising from this demographic change.

This book examines the social aspects of healthy ageing for older individuals. It features more than 15 papers that explore the relevance of the social environment for health on the micro, meso, and macro level. Overall, the book applies a comprehensive contextual approach that includes discussion of how family and friends, neighborhoods, nations, and welfare regimes influence health. The book first explores the issue on the individual level. It looks at the importance of social capital for health among older people, examines types of social networks and health among older Americans, as well as discusses dynamic social capital and mental health in late life. Next, the book looks at the issue through a neighborhood and societal context, which takes into account day-to-day interaction in the immediate environment as well as the social, health, and economic policies in place in different regions in the world, including America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. From there, the book goes on to offer implications and recommendations for research and practice, including the management of related concepts of research on well-being and health. It also offers a psychosocial approach to promoting social capital and mental health among older adults. This book provides health professionals as well as researchers and students in gerontology, sociology, social policy, psychology, and social work with vital insights into the social factors that increase healthy life years and promote well-being.