Since the 1980s, neoliberalism has had a major impact on social life and, in turn, research in the social sciences. Emerging from the crisis of the Keynesian welfare state, neoliberalism describes a social transformation that has impacted relationships between citizens and the state, consumers and the market, and individuals and groups. Neoliberal Contentions offers original essays that explore neoliberalism in its various guises. It includes chapters on economic policy and restructuring, resource extraction, multiculturalism and equality, migration and citizenship, health reform, housing policy, and 2SLGBTQ communities. Drawing on the work of influential Canadian political economist Janine Brodie, the contributors use Brodie's scholarship as a springboard for their own distinct analyses of pressing political and social issues. Acknowledging neoliberalism's crises, failures, and contradictions, this collection contends with neoliberalism by "diagnosing the present," situating the phenomenon within a broader historical and political-economic context and observing instances in which neoliberal rationality is reinforced as well as resisted.

Here is a major text in psychogeriatrics for all professionals in the field of aging and mental health. Leading authorities provide valuable insights into assessment and intervention techniques for use with the mentally impaired elderly. Topics include a depression scale for use in later life, family therapy, therapy in later life, and various issues concerning mental health care for the aged.

Here is the first detailed study of the economic, social, and administrative implications for the establishment of continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). Leaders in the field of optional living arrangements for the elderly examine models of continuing care retirement communities throughout the United States. A wide range of sometimes conflicting views are vigorously discussed--by proponents of continuing care communities as well as by representatives from states that do not allow the existence of such institutions. Other intensely debated topics include existing and recommended financial and legal regulations of the industry; legal, financial, and ethical implications of continuing care communities; and a sociohistorical overview of the concept of continuing care.

This open access book addresses the important and neglected question of older workers who are excluded from the labour market. It challenges post-capitalist discourses of active ageing with a focus on restrictive end-of-career and retirement measures. The book demonstrates how a paradigm shift is generating real processes of exclusion for important sectors of the population. By providing strong empirical evidence from different contexts, the impact of different life course trajectories on the risks and the opportunities at the end of career are demonstrated. The organisation of workplace and institutional frameworks which reinforce inequalities are also presented. As such the book is an essential reading for students, academics and policy makers who seek to understand how exclusion processes operate to the disadvantage of older workers in the labour market.

The meaning and value of reminiscence in the lives of elders is beautifully explored.

* offers a fresh approach, employing new and exciting custom methodologies in psychodrama * inspires and gives helpful tools to those who work with people who suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, loss, illness, self-effacement, abuse, or any issue that causes loneliness and depression * fhe focus is on old age and dementia; however, the tools and illustrations can be used by therapists, teachers, and personnel of all fields

This book focuses on the concept of subjective views of aging. This concept refers to the way individuals conceptualize and perceive the aging process. Social and cultural perceptions regarding older adults are incorporated and internalized into views people hold regarding their own aging process. The book contains three parts which present theoretical, empirical, and translational perspectives about subjective views of aging. The theoretical section expands the framework of subjective views of aging with the inclusion of additional concepts, and further integrates these concepts by accounting for their synergistic effects. The empirical section presents recent developments in the field starting at the intra-individual level as assessed by ecological momentary assessments, going through the level of interpersonal relationships, and concluding at the social and cultural levels. Finally, the translational section presents recent endeavours to develop interventions aimed at advancing favourable views of aging. This cutting-edge edited book includes chapters written by internationally renowned scholars in the field and serves as an up-to-date resource for scholars in the field as well as a textbook for students in courses like social gerontology, lifespan psychology, and life course sociology.

A comprehensive and user-friendly reference for aging One of the most daunting aspects of growing older is the torrent of advice we face about maintaining our physical health and our mental acuity. Entire books have been written on how to manage finances, how to avoid falls, how to care for aging parents. Yet, too often, the advice offered is overwhelmingly complicated or diffuse and difficult to locate precisely when it is needed most. In this comprehensive reference, authorities in their respective fields discuss topics such as the normal processes of aging, how laws affect the elderly, what forms of exercise are most beneficial at various stages of life, family issues, and more. Informative charts and graphs supplement the concise, accessible chapters, which are followed by a comprehensive listing of major national and regional organizations serving the elderly. Ideal as an upbeat, forward-looking gift or as a personal resource, The Practical Guide to Aging is a user-friendly book for young and old, a helpful guide regardless of age or circumstance.

Taking its cues from both classical and post-classical narratologies, this study explores both forms and functions of the representation of dementia in Anglophone fictions. Initially, dementia is conceptualised as a narrative-epistemological paradox: The more those affected know what it is like to have dementia, the less they can tell about it. Narrative fiction is the only discourse that provides an imaginative glimpse at the subjective experience of dementia in language. The narratological modelling of four 'narrative modes' elaborates how the paradox becomes productive in fiction: Depending on the narrative perspective taken, but also on the type of narration, the technique for representing consciousness and the epistemic strategy of narrating dementia, the respective narrative modes come with different prerequisites and possibilities for narrating dementia. The analysis of four contemporary Anglophone dementia fictions based on the developed model reveals their potential functions: Fiction allows readers to learn about the challenges of dementia, grants them perspective-taking, it trains cognitive flexibility, and explores the meaning of memory, knowledge, narrative and imagination, and thus also offers trajectories of a cultural coping with dementia.

An in-depth and wide-ranging approach to the study of older adults in society Taking a holistic approach to the study of aging, this volume uses biological, archaeological, medical, and cultural perspectives to explore how older adults have functioned in societies around the globe and throughout human history. As the world's population over 65 years of age continues to increase, this wide-ranging approach fills a growing need for both academics and service professionals in gerontology, geriatrics, and related fields. Case studies from the United States, Tibet, Turkey, China, Nigeria, and Mexico provide examples of the ways age-related changes are influenced by environmental, genetic, sociocultural, and political-economic variables. Taken together, they help explain how the experience of aging varies across time and space. These contributions from noted anthropological scholars examine evolutionary and biological understandings of human aging, the roles of elders in various societies, issues of gender and ageism, and the role of chronic illness and "successful aging" among older adults. This volume highlights how an anthropology of aging can illustrate how older adults adapt to shifting life circumstances and environments, including changes to the ways in which individuals and families care for them. The research in Anthropological Perspectives on Aging can also help researchers, students, and practitioners reach across disciplines to address age discrimination and help improve health outcomes throughout the life course.

Loneliness in Later Life concerns the personal and social changes associated with aging, a topic that is becoming increasingly popular with both professionals and those in the Third Age themselves. The nature of loneliness is analyzed and clearly distinguished from solitary living, which need not be an unpleasant state. Through an examination of material drawn from literature and modern research, including the author's own experience, the book arrives at the happy conclusion that older people are not, in general, lonelier than when they were younger.

This volume offers rare insights into the connection between young audiences and the performing arts. Based on studies of adolescent and post-adolescent audiences, ages 14 to 25, the book examines to what extent they are part of our society s cultural conversation. It studies how these young people read and understand theatrical performance. It looks at what the educational components in their theatre literacy are, and what they make of the whole social event of theatre. It studies their views on the relationship between what they themselves decide and what others decide for them. The book uses qualitative and quantitative data collected in a six-year study carried out in the three largest Australian States, thirteen major performing arts companies, including the Sydney Opera House, three state theatre companies and three funding organisations. The book s perspectives are derived from world-wide literature and company practices and its significance and ramifications are international.

The book is written to be engaging and accessible to theatre professionals and lay readers interested in theatre, as well as scholars and researchers.

This extraordinary book thoroughly explains why young people (ages 14-25+) do and do not attend theatre into adulthood by delineating how three inter-linked factors (literacy, confidence, and etiquette) influence their decisions. Given that theatre happens inside spectators minds, the authors balance the theatre equation by focusing upon young spectators and thereby dispel numerous beliefs held by theatre artists and educators. Each clearly written chapter engages readers with astute insights and compelling examples of pertinent responses from young people, teachers, and theatre professionals. To stem the tide of decreasing theatre attendance, this highly useful book offers pragmatic strategies for artistic, educational, and marketing directors, as well as national theatre organizations and arts councils around the world. I have no doubt that its brilliantly conceived research, conducted across multiple contexts in Australia, will make a significant and original contribution to the profession of theatre on an international scale. Jeanne Klein, "University of Kansas, USA"

" Young Audiences, Theatre and the Cultural Conversation" is" "a compelling and comprehensive study on attitudes and habits of youth theatre audiences by leading international scholars in the field. This benchmark study offers unique insights by and for theatre makers and administrators, theatre educators and researchers, schools, parents, teachers, students, audience members of all ages.

A key strength within the book centers on the emphasis of the participant voices, particularly the voices of the youth. Youth voices, along with those of teachers and theatre artists, position the extensive field research front and center. George Belliveau, "The University of British Columbia, Canada""

Citizens of all societies age both as biological beings and as members of households in the open community. Through joining a series of essays and survey analyses, John Mogey has constructed a book that examines the way aging affects those who are growing older as well as the institutions of their society. To study the relationships between aiding the elderly and the aging process, two very different societies--the United States and Hungary--were chosen for comparison. In both societies, support for the elderly comes from formal institutional programs as well as informal family arrangements, and it seems equally true in both cases that the elderly get most of their support through kinship assistance. Throughout the book, the focus remains on the need to encourage the persistence of the kinship system, and the necessity of public programs to actively support the maintenance of households. The volume is structured in three distinct sections: Households, Amity, and Lifestyle; Individuals, Kinship, and Networks; and Kinship, Lifestyle, and Policy. In each section, essays concentrate on the usual operations within communities that have elderly people in them, drawing data from the United States, Hungary (including information from a unique empirical study in Budapest), and six other countries. The essays also address the variety of demands that the kinship system places on public programs. Aiding and aging are common structural problems in all modern societies, and although each society will develop different policy solutions, all will use elements from the structures described in this collection. The book will be an important resource for courses in social work, social gerontology, andsociology, as well as an important addition to university and public libraries.

This book is a seminal guide to loneliness and social isolation in old age, providing a comprehensive overview of the important correlates of socioeconomic, health and lifestyle factors upon loneliness and social isolation in old age. Bringing together contributions from leading authorities, the book showcases expertise from medicine, psychology, epidemiology, sociology, economics and gerontology. It shows the importance of identifying factors associated with loneliness and social isolation among older adults from a broader perspective, and includes discussion of a range of topics including income poverty, physical activity, family care and frailty. The chapters are evidence-based and offer a mix of empirical studies as well as reviews of international research. The book also discusses policy implications and provides an overview of nationally representative cohort studies around the world available to researchers quantifying loneliness or social isolation. This book is unique in examining loneliness and social isolation from such wide-ranging perspectives and will be essential reading for researchers and postgraduate students in the areas of mental health research, social work, and psychiatry. Health professionals involved with gerontology and geriatrics will also find this book of benefit.

Providers serving older adults face a growing problem. Older adults are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with service quality citing deficits in provider communication and relationship skills. The author argues this dissatisfaction is largely related to three widespread issues: ageism, use of professional jargon, and age-related changes in the older adult. To address these concerns, Dr. Storlie advocates adoption of an evidence-based, person-centered approach to communication. The benefits of person-centered communication are many. They can increase older adult satisfaction with provider services, enhance mutual respect and understanding, improve accuracy of information exchanged, positively impact service outcomes, increase compliance with provider recommendations, and reduce the frustration and stress often experienced by both provider and older adult. Rare to this genre, readers are introduced to several under-explored topics within the field of communication, along with methods for applying concepts from research findings into these topics to enhance the quality of interpersonal communication. Topics include the role of mental imagery in the communication process, the influence of neurocardiology on relationships, and controversial findings from research into quantum physics. The book concludes by highlighting progress made in narrowing the interpersonal communication gap and forecasts how communications-oriented technological advances might improve quality of life for 21st century older adults and the providers who serve them. Utilizing interdisciplinary case studies to illustrate common problematic situations, this book provides detailed exercises that explain how providers can integrate person-centered communication into their practices to improve provider-older adult interactions. Written in a style designed to maximize learning, it helps providers find the information they need, understand what they read, and apply what they've learned to improve professional communication. Person-Centered Communication with Older Adults is an essential guide for today's healthcare professionals and other aging-services providers, and also for the educators who help to prepare the providers of tomorrow.

Veteran clinicians offer a unique framework for understanding the psychological origins of behaviors typical of Alzheimer's and other dementias, and for providing appropriate care for patients as they decline. Guidelines are rooted in the theory of retrogenesis in dementia--that those with the condition regress in stages toward infancy--as well as knowledge of associated brain damage. The objective is to meet patients where they are developmentally to best be able to address the tasks of their daily lives, from eating and toileting to preventing falls and wandering. This accessible information gives readers a platform for creating strategies that are respectful, sensitive, and tailored to individual needs, thus avoiding problems that result when care is ineffective or counterproductive. Featured in the coverage: Abilities and disabilities during the different stages of Alzheimer's disease. Strategies for keeping the patient's finances safe. Pain in those with dementia, and why it is frequently ignored. "Help! I've lost my mother and can't find her!" Sexuality and intimacy in persons with dementia. Instructive vignettes of successful caring interventions. Given the projected numbers of individuals expected to develop dementing conditions, Care Giving for Alzheimer's Disease will find immediate interest among clinical psychologists, health psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and primary care physicians.

This book provides an underexplored view of ageing, one that conceives older people as valuable resources in their communities, as active citizens with both voice, and an agency that includes the capacity for resistance. It acknowledges that becoming old with dignity means also paying attention to caring, good health services and the possibility of good death. The book defines age and ageing as multiple, culturally and historically constructed phenomena that are only loosely connected to the years of one's life. In focusing on the peripheral North located in the Nordic, Canadian and Russian north, it highlights important questions and viewpoints that can be found and adapted to other rural areas. The book answers the following questions: What is the relevance of legislation and international legal agreements in ensuring the rights of elderly people under political and economic changes? What challenges do geographic isolation, changing age structure, and cultural and ecological transformations pose to possibilities for meeting older people's needs for engagement in society as well as for their care? As such this book will be of interest to all those working in population aging.

Offers encouragement and hope to older adults who are ready to date again, with advice and tips from relationship experts and the author's own experiences. Romance Redux looks at finding love as an older adult who seeks connection, love, and fulfillment in a romantic relationship. Including the author's own experiences as well as those of other gray love seekers and finders, she uncovers both the obstacles and rewards of repartnering at this stage of live. As divorce rates remain high and as more widows and widowers have many productive and healthy years ahead of them, finding love again can feel daunting, but now more than ever can be easier to find, to establish, and to keep. Using personal stories and expert research, Laura Stassi takes readers on a tour through the many ways older adults can find companionship, romance, and a fulfilling sex life through a variety of methods, outlets, and resources. Learning how to love again, how to form and deepen a relationship with a new person can be challenging, but it can also be rewarding, exciting, and successful, if you just know how to do it. And, finally, here's hope for how!

This work is a compilation of diverse information on depression in the elderly, covering the time period from 1970 to 1996. The information comes from many forms, including articles, audio- and videocassettes, books, conference papers, theses and dissertations, and television programs. The work is organized into 12 chapters, with a list of acronyms, three appendixes, and separate author and subject indexes. This book is intended for students as well as health care and related professionals.

Older aged adults face many adversities over the later life course. This edited volume will address the ways in which seniors bounce back from different types and combinations of adversity - termed "resilience". While research has been accumulating that identifies inherent abilities and external resources needed to adapt and navigate stress-inducing experiences among aging and older adults, gaps remain in understanding the unique elements and processes of resilience. A series of chapters included in this book will address several overarching questions: why do some older individuals/families/communities adapt to adversity better than others; what are modifiable behavioral protective/risk factors related to resilience; and how can we foster resilience at the individual/community level and which approaches show the most promise? The spectrum of aging-related challenges and responses addressed in this book include: mental health; physical/functional health problems; multimorbidity; socio-economic deprivation; social isolation and loneliness; cultural dimensions of loneliness; housing/homelessness problems; and environmental disasters. This book presents cutting-edge science at the conceptual, methodological, empirical and practice levels applied to emerging resilience sub-fields in gerontology. It will also present potential areas of future research, policy and practice linked to these areas. During a period of the most rapid population aging in the US, Canada and many other nations, coupled with heightened global socio-political change, extending our knowledge of resilience will help society to make important adjustments to maximize health and wellness of older individuals. Supporting and enhancing resilience through technological, social and/or community-level advances in geroscience will help those facing adversity to thrive by harnessing, stretching, and leveraging a wide array of potential resources. The promotion of healthier older populations has far-reaching consequences for health care and social/community support systems, both in terms of public health including pandemic response, and the development and implementation of innovations in treatment and practice guidelines.

Aging and Work in the 21st Century, 2nd edition, reviews, summarizes, and integrates existing literature from various disciplines with regard to aging and work, but with a focus on recent advances in the field. Chapter authors, all leading experts within their respective areas, provide recommendations for future research, practice, and/or public policy. Fully revised and updated, the second edition takes up many of the same critical topics addressed in the first edition, and incorporates twelve new authors across the volume and three brand new chapters on recruitment and retention, legal issues, and global issues in work and aging. The intended audience is advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers in the disciplines of industrial and organizational psychology; developmental psychology; gerontology; sociology; economics; and social work. Older worker advocate organizations, such as AARP, will also take interest in this edited book.

With the transformation of the elderly into the major political force in American politics, older Americans have used their increasing numbers and political power to capture a growing and disproportionate share of public resources. This book explores their emergence from obscurity to political preeminence and considers the effect of their power on other members of society. It traces the shift in public attitude from the 18th century to the early 20th century, when the elderly population increased and needed an economic safety net. It then focuses on the elderly's growing power in the late 20th century and examines how they are receiving an expanding share of the budget for such programs as Social Security and Medicare at the expense of such groups as children in poverty.

Asking the provocative question of what one generation owes another, the author shows that as the number of elderly living in poverty has decreased dramatically, the number of children in poverty has skyrocketed. The book concludes by analyzing the demographic projections of what lies ahead--a static working-age population supporting an exploding population of retirees and a baby boom generation that is ill-prepared for its own retirement. For the next few years, the challenge of an aging population will be a national problem; if unaddressed, it will become a national crisis.

Recent studies show that more people than ever before are reaching old age in better health and enjoying that health for a longer time. This Handbook outlines the latest discoveries in the study of aging from bio-medicine, psychology, and socio-demography. It treats the study of aging as a multidisciplinary scientific subject, since it requires the interplay of broad disciplines, while offering high motivation, positive attitudes, and behaviors for aging well, and lifestyle changes that will help people to stay healthier across life span and in old age. Written by leading scholars from various academic disciplines, the chapters delve into the most topical aspects of aging today - including biological mechanisms of aging, aging with health, active and productive aging, aging with satisfaction, aging with respect, and aging with dignity. Aimed at health professionals as well as general readers, this Cambridge Handbook offers a new, positive approach to later life.