What makes for a meaningful life? In the Japanese context, the concept of ikigai provides a clue. Translated as "that which makes one's life worth living," ikigai has also come to mean that which gives a person happiness. In Japan, where the demographic cohort of elderly citizens is growing, and new modes of living and relationships are revising traditional multigenerational family structures, the elderly experience of ikigai is considered a public health concern. Without a relevant model for meaningful and joyful older age, the increasing older population of Japan must create new cultural forms that center the ikigai that comes from old age. In Making Meaningful Lives, Iza Kavedzija provides a rich anthropological account of the lives and concerns of older Japanese women and men. Grounded in years of ethnographic fieldwork at two community centers in Osaka, Kavedzija offers an intimate narrative analysis of the existential concerns of her active, independent subjects. Alone and in groups, the elderly residents of these communities make sense of their lives and shifting ikigai with humor, conversation, and storytelling. They are as much providers as recipients of care, challenging common images of the elderly as frail and dependent, while illustrating a more complex argument: maintaining independence nevertheless requires cultivating multiple dependences on others. Making Meaningful Lives argues that an anthropology of the elderly is uniquely suited to examine the competing values of dependence and independence, sociality and isolation, intimacy and freedom, that people must balance throughout all of life's stages.

Open up Dignity and Old Age, and you'll find a wealth of thoughtful suggestions for how you and others can gain more respect and admiration for your relatives, neighbors, and patients who are in the latter stages of life. You'll examine the word "dignity" as it relates to the world's elderly population to the fullest and most challenging extent, taking into account cross-cultural, religious, and even literary influences. Throughout this provoking and thorough examination, you'll tackle some tough questions, all of which will equip you with the theoretical and practical know-how needed to evoke change and preserve honorable relations with the elderly persons in your professional and personal relationships.The manner in which Dignity and Old Age will help you grow in your relationships with elderly people is twofold--ideally and practically. You'll begin with a revitalizing discussion of concepts that revolve around dignity and the elderly, and from there you'll move into the sphere of active practice, gleaning a wide variety of ways you can enhance your affairs with the elderly in health care, social services, government, and retirement entitlements and benefits. Specifically, you'll find positive approaches in these and other areas: the dignity in old age the true meaning of "Quality of Life" in old age achieving respect for ethnic elders as a health care provider bringing spirituality and community together in the last stage of life forming a philanthropic, caring partnership between government and the elderlyIn this insightful volume, you'll take an important step forward in creating a more dignified quality of life for the world's elderly--today's and tomorrow's. Overall, you'll gain the variety of perspectives necessary to ensure that everyone you come in contact with in casual, legal, leisure, and professional spheres will see you care enough to be concerned with the ideas and practices contained in Dignity and Old Age.

There are more people over 50 than ever before, with numbers likely to continue to rise. They are wealthier, healthier and happier than our old stereotypical images lead us to believe, yet this segment of the market is under-researched. In Understanding the Older Consumer, Barrie Gunter provides a detailed examination of the demographic, behavioural and psychological profiles of this group. He shows that without the responsibilities of loans and child raising and with better financial provision than in previous years, the over-50s represent a powerful spending force. In order to reach this group, marketers need to know how best to target advertising and respond to the changes that have occurred. Understanding the Older Consumer provides a wealth of information on older people's lifestyles and leisure, their interest in the mass media, their perceptions of advertising and their shopping preferences that will be invaluable to students of marketing, media and social psychology.

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

Originally published in 1987, a well-known Jungian analyst, the late Bani Shorter writes here about how women are initiated into becoming themselves. Her book was an important contribution to the field of analytical psychology at the time, as well as to the increasingly popular study of women's spirituality. In former times transitions from one stage of life to another were prepared for and marked by ritual initiation; in modern times this necessity is overlooked and women's natural development is made more difficult as a consequence. Through working in close therapeutic relationships with women, Bani Shorter found that when challenged by crises and transitions in their lives, today's women instinctively create rituals nevertheless to mark their journey towards maturation, wholeness and meaning. In this process they discover something of who they are and recognise dimensions of themselves which have been previously repressed and undreamed of. The stories unfolded here can be a guide for all women through their own rites of passage.

For undergraduate courses in sociology and psychology which examine ageing adulthood. This book focuses on the dramatic changes to the nature of post-retirement life experienced by people at the end of the twentieth century. It examines age and ageing in terms of the key preoccupations of contemporary sociology - citizenship, the body and the self. The book provides a platform for a new social gerontology that sees ageing as central to our understanding of social change. It examines social, cultural and political changes in Europe and North America to address the need for a text that moves the study of ageing from social policy towards the mainstream of social science.

The study presented in this volume examines how older women's identities are socially constructed and, in particular, how they can be influenced by institutional intervention. The interest in identity production is not only theoretical, but also practical. Different perceptions of oneself as an older woman involve considerable differences in the definition of that person's possible sphere of action, and therefore, in her life perspectives. The data -- collected during a four-year project studying older women -- consist of video recordings of the committee meetings of the Older Women's Group of Perugia, Italy. Other video recordings of theater workshops and of the management committee meetings of the Senior Citizen Centers in Perugia are used as a source of comparison. Transcripts of the video material are analyzed through a detailed discourse analysis within an ethnomethodological framework. The data are used to explore how gender and age identities are interactionally constructed in specific institutional contexts.
The first part of the book focuses on the interactional construction of aging. It shows how "being old" is constructed conversationally, in particular, through the use of membership categories. Distancing from the category "old" and denial of aging are frequently encountered conversational moves. However, the category is perceived as acceptable, even desired and invoked, when it becomes an institutionally relevant category, giving access to interesting activities or special benefits. The second part of the book explores gender identification. Conflict among different institutional subjects is shown to fade into gender conflict. The study analyzes how institutional interventions exert a powerful influence on older women's identities, giving them new opportunities for action. It also looks at how the conversational styles, attitudes, and activities of specific women influence the features of those very institutions.
In short, this book describes the discourse and social practices that constitute older women's identities -- helping to identify and deconstruct stereotypes that tend to produce marginalization of older people. The book's existence is itself a contribution to the construction of older women as busy, lively, appealing human beings; it is the first research publication to emerge from The European Older Women's Project.
Of interest to those in any discipline studying the topics of ethnomethodology, gender, aging, and identity.

The study presented in this volume examines how older women's identities are socially constructed and, in particular, how they can be influenced by institutional intervention. The interest in identity production is not only theoretical, but also practical. Different perceptions of oneself as an older woman involve considerable differences in the definition of that person's possible sphere of action, and therefore, in her life perspectives. The data -- collected during a four-year project studying older women -- consist of video recordings of the committee meetings of the Older Women's Group of Perugia, Italy. Other video recordings of theater workshops and of the management committee meetings of the Senior Citizen Centers in Perugia are used as a source of comparison. Transcripts of the video material are analyzed through a detailed discourse analysis within an ethnomethodological framework. The data are used to explore how gender and age identities are interactionally constructed in specific institutional contexts.
The first part of the book focuses on the interactional construction of aging. It shows how "being old" is constructed conversationally, in particular, through the use of membership categories. Distancing from the category "old" and denial of aging are frequently encountered conversational moves. However, the category is perceived as acceptable, even desired and invoked, when it becomes an institutionally relevant category, giving access to interesting activities or special benefits. The second part of the book explores gender identification. Conflict among different institutional subjects is shown to fade into gender conflict. The study analyzes how institutional interventions exert a powerful influence on older women's identities, giving them new opportunities for action. It also looks at how the conversational styles, attitudes, and activities of specific women influence the features of those very institutions.
In short, this book describes the discourse and social practices that constitute older women's identities -- helping to identify and deconstruct stereotypes that tend to produce marginalization of older people. The book's existence is itself a contribution to the construction of older women as busy, lively, appealing human beings; it is the first research publication to emerge from The European Older Women's Project.
Of interest to those in any discipline studying the topics of ethnomethodology, gender, aging, and identity.

Numerous studies consider the history of childhood, adolescence and old age, yet the middle aged, consistently the most productive and powerful of age groups have been consistently ignored. In this pioneering study John Benson considers how perceptions and experience of middle age have changed, and how its power-base has diminished, affected by the steady ageing of the population the increasing independence of the yound and growing economic insecurity. This thought-provoking study also illuminates the whole economic, social and cultural history of twentieth-century Britain.

Care-giving in dementia is a new speciality with its own rapidly growing body of knowledge. This second volume of contributions from leading practitioners and researchers around the world is a handbook for all those involved in hands on caring, or in planning care, for persons with dementia. Volume 2 of Care-Giving in Dementia provides a rich source of information on most recent thinking about individualised long-term care of both dementia sufferers and their families. Key themes in Volume 2 are: the subjective experience of dementia the provision of care for family carers differing cultural perspectives of dementia the crucial importance of life-history information for understanding a person's reaction to their illness. Chapters on the search for an ethical framework and the best environment within which to provide care are particularly timely.

Recently, the communication discipline has devoted increasing energy toward the study of aging, yet most of the research has insufficiently addressed a crucial factor in communicative relationships--culture. Meanwhile, cross-cultural/intercultural communication has not adequately addressed the aging process. Combining three powerful elements--communication, aging, and culture--all of which have an increasingly profound impact on today's multicultural society, this book focuses on older Americans in various communicative contexts within the framework of their cultures. Composed of original research by experts in their respective fields, the book combines communication, aging, and culture for a unique examination of those elements in American society. Section 1 deals with perspectives in cross-cultural communication and aging. These perspectives both illustrate the issues that greatly affect the lives of our elders and suggest ways to improve their status. Section 2 showcases three American co-cultures: Hawaiian, Arab, and Mormon illustrate how language, attitudes, and mentoring can serve as the links for maintaining cross-generational continuity in multicultural society. Section 3 demonstrates that many American organizations frequently contribute to the hardships that both internal elder customers (employees) and external elder customers (residents and patients) must endure. Section 4 incorporates popular culture and aging. It presents the role of selective popular media in portraying our elders. Because Americans rely heavily on the media, their mediated perceptions can have a profound impact on their attitudes toward the older population. Designed as a reader or supplementary text for college students in communication, gerontology, anthropology, sociology, and other related fields, this text can also be used by professionals in gerontological service areas, by libraries, and as a personal reference. It offers extensive appendices, figures, and tables for additional reference.

This book presents, for the first time, a full range of perspectives on emotions and the family from the radical behaviorist to the intrapsychic. B.F. Skinner begins the volume by examining the role of feelings in applied behavior analysis, thus laying the groundwork for the reactions of many distinguished contributors. Offering both opposing and favorable comments, contributors also present their own original empirical, theoretical, and clinical perspectives. Finally, the editor integrates the contributors' positions into an expanded behavioral perspective on the study of emotions and suggest a model for effective family communication.

Recently, the communication discipline has devoted increasing energy toward the study of aging, yet most of the research has insufficiently addressed a crucial factor in communicative relationships--culture. Meanwhile, cross-cultural/intercultural communication has not adequately addressed the aging process. Combining three powerful elements--communication, aging, and culture--all of which have an increasingly profound impact on today's multicultural society, this book focuses on older Americans in various communicative contexts within the framework of their cultures. Composed of original research by experts in their respective fields, the book combines communication, aging, and culture for a unique examination of those elements in American society. Section 1 deals with perspectives in cross-cultural communication and aging. These perspectives both illustrate the issues that greatly affect the lives of our elders and suggest ways to improve their status. Section 2 showcases three American co-cultures: Hawaiian, Arab, and Mormon illustrate how language, attitudes, and mentoring can serve as the links for maintaining cross-generational continuity in multicultural society. Section 3 demonstrates that many American organizations frequently contribute to the hardships that both internal elder customers (employees) and external elder customers (residents and patients) must endure. Section 4 incorporates popular culture and aging. It presents the role of selective popular media in portraying our elders. Because Americans rely heavily on the media, their mediated perceptions can have a profound impact on their attitudes toward the older population. Designed as a reader or supplementary text for college students in communication, gerontology, anthropology, sociology, and other related fields, this text can also be used by professionals in gerontological service areas, by libraries, and as a personal reference. It offers extensive appendices, figures, and tables for additional reference.

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.

eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415915236

Memory, Attention, and Aging is a collection of some of the most influential journal articles previously published by Fergus Craik and his collaborators, with new introductory material unifying the research of this noted cognitive psychologist. The reprinted articles are grouped into six sections reflecting Craik's various research interests across his career. The first section on short-term memory focuses on research concerns Craik uncovered in the 1970s, but are still valid today. They comprise theoretical suggestions and data on the nature of STM, including the notion that working memory may be defined as attention paid to features of items held in conscious awareness. The second section on levels of processing contains the very influential articles by Craik & Lockhart and by Craik & Tulving on memory research, in addition to a later article in which Craik gives a critical account of the LOP work. Craik's third interest is in cognitive aging. The section contains two articles from the 1980s in which Craik lays out his ideas on age-related changes in memory, plus a more recent article addressing lifespan changes in cognition. The fourth section on attention and memory has two articles that report on the effects of divided attention on subsequent memory, and differences between implicit and explicit memory processes. The fifth section on cognitive neuroscience includes an early PET study probing neural correlates of LOP, and a study searching for the neural correlates of the "self" concept. Finally, the sixth section contains an article on bilingualism that explores age-related differences in executive functions as a consequence of bilingualism, and a study showing that bilingualism postpones the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Grouping the most highly cited and groundbreaking articles of Fergus Craik in one volume, this book will be of interest to a wide spectrum of students and professional researchers.

In Life After Ninety Micheal Bury and Anthea Holme have surveyed and interviewed 200 individuals, living at home and in institutions, to examine old age stereotypes and present a unique picture of the health, quality of life, and social circumstances of the very old. Longevity and the factors which promote it are also discussed, and throughout the book the concept of the 'life course' is employed, which brings together the biographical experiences of individuals, and the changing historical circumstances of the twentieth century, through which they have lived.

Volunteerism in Geriatric Settings is an instructional tool for activity directors and others interested in successful volunteer program management. It examines three dimensions of volunteerism: the distinctive dynamics of the volunteer program within the geriatric setting; the behaviors and attitudes managers and volunteers bring to the program; and the responsibility managers have for the nature and scope of programs offered.The innovative programs and approaches that are described in Volunteerism in Geriatric Settings lend themselves to replication. Readers will benefit from the wealth of information on understanding volunteers, program management guidance, models and activities on program enhancement, and recommendations for corrective action.Volunteerism in Geriatric Settings explores the internal arrangements and organizational procedures of typical programs, as well as forces and trends that influence volunteers and volunteer programs. The contributors cover: Understanding volunteerism: describes the concept of caring and the motivation that drives the volunteer experience Planning: describes the mechanics of the volunteer program; explores the recruitment, training, recognition, and retention of volunteers Administration: describes those management styles most often observed in geriatric settings and offers strategies for successful management practices Creative Programming: offers innovative programs and activities that can be adopted with relative ease Keys to Success: outlines recommendations for successful managementFor those who desire to begin or enhance programs which use volunteers--activity directors, recreation and rehabilitation staff, gerontologists, college and university instructors, geriatric care managers--Volunteerism in Geriatric Settings provides many insights and ideas for volunteer managers at federal, local, and private levels.

Focusing on under-researched aspects of social, economic and political change, this volume offers fresh insights into aging, older people and their families. It combines an international and interdisciplinary approach. Chapters explore the contexts in which family roles, institutional practices, public policies and social and cultural discourses evolve, connecting analyses of aging issues and policy development with sound research practices, as well as previously-ignored gaps in professional practice. Topics covered include politics and policy, health and social care, culture and migration, urban and rural sociology, gender studies, technology and economics. The book will be of particular interest to students and researchers in gerontology, community development, geography and population studies, along with researchers and professionals in physiotherapy, nursing and social work.

Those providing services to older persons must develop intervention strategies that are relevant to their clients'life experiences. Aging Families and Use of Proverbs for Values Enrichment presents administrators, practitioners, educators, researchers, and students with intervention models that acknowledge and build upon the proverbs orientation of the older client. This insightful book offers information from contributing authors who have professional and personal experience with the use of proverbs. Proverbs, pithy sayings that underline basic life truths, are shown in this book to work as transmitters of values and as assessment tools.To improve the ability of service programs addressing the needs of older persons, Aging Families and Use of Proverbs for Values Enrichment delineates existing approaches that are low-cost or no cost to the service provider and beneficial to older persons. Moreover, these practices are considered within the context of a conceptual model of proverbs intervention programs for older persons that takes into consideration principles of care, cultural diversity, and family traditions. Contributors examine human competencies, coping mechanisms, and limitations, as well as other more general topics: Rehabilitation: Dispels the myth that older persons can not break long-term habits and learn new things that will improve their lives. Intergenerational Transmission: Discusses family-oriented and cultural values that are passed down from generation to generation via oral tradition. Coping with Life Events: Addresses proverbs as coping mechanisms for surviving the social transitions of life. Health and Health Care: Dispels the myth that some health care practices are taboo among older persons. Cultural and Family Ties: Discusses proverbs as the cornerstone of family sharing regarding life's lessons. Spirituality: Contrasts African American religiosity with spirituality. Discusses proverbs as messages of faith and hope.Any person who provides services to older persons--social workers, counselors, physicians, nurses, ministers and other members of the clergy, speech and physical therapists, rehabilitation counselors, and family therapists--can benefit from using proverbs, as shown in this book, in their care approach.

Based on the First Biannual Lifespan Development Conference, this volume offers a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach to the study of lifespan development in the areas of neuropsychology, cognition, behavior genetics, and perception. The objective of the conference was to provide a lively forum for the discussion of issues related to lifespan development and to reflect on important topics challenging the field during the 1990s. The chapters in this book, motivated by the conference presentations, cover: * the assessment and evaluation of developmental changes in visual perception; * the contribution of behavioral genetic factors to development; * the predictability of perinatal risk factors as they relate to cognitive and linguistic outcomes; * the neuropsychological changes during aging; and * innovative approaches to the study of cognitive development using neuropsychological testing methods.

This serial publication continues to review life-span research and theory in the behavioral and social sciences, particularly work done by psychologists and sociologists conducting programmatic research on current problems and refining theoretical positions. Each volume introduces excellent peer-reviewed empirical research into the field of life-span development while presenting interdisciplinary viewpoints on the topic. Often challenging accepted theories, this series is of great interest to developmental, personality, and social psychologists.

Grandparenting: Contemporary Perspectives is one of the first books of its kind to offer a dedicated account of the social and psychological research on this important life stage. Reflecting the contemporary positive approach to ageing, it covers many of the issues that impact the grandparent experience today, such as care-giving and changing family structures, to reveal the health and wellbeing benefits of the grandparent role. It examines biological, psychological, social/ familial, gender, cultural and economic dimensions to map out the current landscape in this emerging field. Moore and Rosenthal draw on quantitative and qualitative, experimental, survey, observation and case study research, including unique data on grandfathers. They examine how people respond to the challenges and possibilities of grandparenting, and how this influences intergenerational relationships and adapting to growing older. The book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date evidence base for students in health, sociology and psychology and those interested in gerontology and the lifespan.

Media representations of ageing play a role in stereotype formation and even reinforce them. Encountering these stereotypes can negatively impact the self-esteem, health status, physical wellbeing and cognitive performance of older people. This international collection examines different dimensions of ageing and ageism in a range of media. Chapters include explorations of the UK media during the COVID-19 pandemic; age, gender and mental health in Ghana; advertising in Brazil; magazines in Canada; Taiwanese newspapers; comics, graphic novels and more. Bringing together leading scholars, this book critically considers differences in media portrayals and how older adults use and interact with the media.

Within the context of long-range planning, this book examines the changing responsibilities of the state and family toward elders in different societies around the world. International Perspectives on State and Family Support for the Elderly presents a fresh range of lucid analyses of family caregiving policy from Canada, the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Austria, Denmark, Israel, and the People's Republic of China. Different institutional structures, levels of economic development, and cultural values, among other factors, impact policy development in various countries. With the information examined in this book, readers can gain an understanding of elder care in other societies, which can help them in developing policies for their own countries.Authors of International Perspectives on State and Family Support for the Elderly address questions such as: Who is responsible for caring for the aged? What are the policy issues that determine how such care is handled in various countries? Are the underlying principles upon which policy is based changing? Who pays for the care of the aged? What is the balance of the roles of government, family, and community? Along with these questions, authors discuss: the importance of family care the well-being, payment, and rights of informal caregivers providing services for informal caregivers shifting the burden of care from formal organizations to families the effects of governmental frameworks on caregiving the impact of the political agenda on caregiving caregiving and the welfare stateInternational Perspectives on State and Family Support for the Elderly contains information for all professionals interested or involved in developing policy for the elderly. Demographers, sociologists, social workers, health care and public health professionals, gerontologists, and advanced students in these fields will find this book a helpful guide in their studies.