'Charming, touching and very very funny' Jenny Colgan 'Simply too good' Daily Mail From the author of the Times bestselling A Chip Shop in Poznan ONE HOUSE. TWO HOUSEMATES. THREE REASONS TO WORRY: WINNIE AND BEN ARE SEPARATED BY 50 YEARS, A GULF IN CLASS, AND MAJOR DIFFERENCES OF OPINION. When hunting for a room in London, Ben Aitken came across one for a great price in a lovely part of town. There had to be a catch. And there was. The catch was Winnie: an 85-year-old widow who doesn't suffer fools. Full of warmth, wit and candour, The Marmalade Diaries tells the story of an unlikely friendship during an unlikely time. Imagine an intergenerational version of Big Brother, but with only two contestants. One of the pair a grieving and inflexible former aristocrat in her mid-eighties. The other a working-class millennial snowflake. What could possibly go wrong? What could possibly go right? Out of the most inauspicious of soils - and from the author of The Gran Tour - comes a book about grief, family, friendship, loneliness, life, love, lockdown and marmalade.

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

Ageing population and rapid urbanisation are the two major demographic shifts in today's world. Architectural designs and urban policies have to deal with issues of an ever larger elderly population living in the cities, especially in old urban neighbourhoods, while also taking into consideration the evolving lifestyles and wellbeing of the diverse elderly demographic. Being able to continue living in these existing urban neighbourhoods would thus require necessary interventions, both to adapt the changing needs of the ageing population and to improve the deteriorating environment for better liveability. Creative Ageing Cities discusses the participation and contribution of the ageing population as a positive and creative force towards urban design and place-making, particularly in high-density urban contexts, as observed in a collection of empirical cases found in rapidly ageing Asian cities. This book is the first to bring together multidisciplinary scholastic research on ageing and urban issues from across top six ageing cities in Asia: Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Through these case studies, this book gives a good overview of diverse challenges and opportunities in the various Asian urban contexts and offers a new perspective of an ageing and urban design framework that emphasises multi-stakeholder collaboration, inter-generational relations and the collective wisdom of older people as a source of creativity.

Death may be inevitable, but fearing the end-of-life is avoidable. Learn how to put your fear of your final days to rest. We all know we are going to die, but live as though we don't believe it. Rather than explore our options and consider the possibilities that can impact our final days, we ignore the idea altogether out of fear. By avoiding the topic of death, we increase the pain and grief we experience at the end of life, and the suffering of those left behind. After three decades of caring for the dying, Dr. Jeff Spiess argues that if we honestly face our mortality, we will make wiser decisions, die with less distress, and live the remainder of our lives, whether days or decades, more fully and with less anxiety. Using cultural and religious references alongside poignant narratives, this optimistic work informs, inspires, and challenges our cognitive and emotional understandings of our own lives and deaths. Dying with Ease contains the practical nuts and bolts information about advance care planning, hospice, palliative care, and ethical and legal issues surrounding dying in America. Dr. Spiess answers such questions as: -How can I plan for the last part of my life? -What options do I have if my suffering is unbearable? -What do religion and spiritual philosophy have to say about dying? -What does it feel like to die? While dying can be difficult, it can also be beautiful. By learning to relax in the face of death at our current stage of life, we can make wiser and more authentic decisions throughout the rest of our lives-- however long they may be.

Over the past few decades, there has been a sharp increase in the number of elderly prisoners, and hence a rise in the number of prisoners dying in custody. In this book, Khechumyan questions whether respect for human dignity would justify releasing older and seriously ill prisoners. He also examines the normative justifications which could limit the administration of the imprisonment of the elderly and seriously ill. Khechumyan argues that factors such as a prisoner's age and health could alter the balance between the legitimate goals of punishment, rendering the continued imprisonment 'grossly disproportionate'. To address these issues, Articles 3 and 5 of the European Convention of Human Rights are extensively examined. This book is a valuable resource for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the fields of Criminal Justice, Human Rights Law, and Gerontology.

Robert and Helen Lynd's "Middletown" set the format in sociological theory and practice for hundreds of studies in the decades following its publication in 1929. "Old People in Three Industrial Societies" may well set similar standards for studies in its field for many years to come. In addition to achieving a significant breakthrough in the progress of sociological research techniques, the book offers a monumental cross-cultural exposition of the health, family relationships, and social and economic status of the aged in three countries-the United States, Britain, and Denmark.

The accumulated data of this survey put to the acid test many of the stereotyped notions about the situation of the elderly: for example, that most old people are isolated from their families as well as from the society at large; that most old people want to continue to work and are barred from employment only because of prejudices against them in industry and because of fixed retirement and pension ages; that all old people live in poor economic conditions. Besides rectifying views held by many social scientists, this pathbreaking work provides empirically based answers to numerous questions regarding important features of aging, which can be studied irrespective of the broader national and social patterns that surround them.

A truly collaborative survey conducted in three countries by a team of sociologists and economists working from a similar point of view and with common methods, the book gives the newest information and viewpoints in this important field. This makes it mandatory reading and an invaluable aid for all involved in the study, treatment, and counseling of the aged. "Old People in Three Industrial Societies," will be a valuable guide for all social research underlying the development and implementation of social policy.

Clients nearing retirement have some significant challenges to face. And so do their advisers. They can expect to live far longer after they retire. And the problems they expect their advisers to solve are far more complex. The traditional sources of retirement income may be shriveling, but boomers don't intend to downsize their plans. Instead, they're redefining what it means to be retired--as well as what they require of financial advisers. Planners who aren't prepared will be left behind. Those who are will step up to some lucrative and challenging work.

To help get the work done, Harold Evensky and Deena Katz--both veteran problem solvers--have tapped the talents of a range of experts whose breakthrough thinking offers solutions to even the thorniest issues in retirement-income planning: Sustainable withdrawalsLongevity riskEliminating luck as a factor in planningImmediate annuities, reverse mortgages, and viatical and life settlementsStrategies for increasing retirement cash flow

In "Retirement Income Redesigned, " the most-respected names in the industry discuss these issues and a range of others.

This volume provides an important collection of recent papers on the macroeconomic effects of population ageing. The articles are focused into three categories which cover the main channels through which population ageing affects national living standards: productivity and growth; consumption and saving; and labour market and fiscal effects. The papers have been selected for their clear and valuable contributions to this field of study. The book will be an essential reference volume for academic and public sector economists, policy makers and demographers.

Incorporating qualitative and quantitative data and research methods from both demography and social anthropology, this book explores demographic trends in contemporary Japan's rapidly aging society. The contributors describe and analyze trends by addressing the ways in which demographic change is experienced in the context of family. The book considers the social effects, welfare issues, and private and public responses to demographic change and how this change has influenced the experiences of family caregivers and the elderly themselves. It offers both a specific regional contribution to the emerging field of demographic anthropology and an anthropological contribution to cross-disciplinary research on aging.

This book focuses on the design of displays and user interfaces for the older user. Aging is related to complex mental, physical, and social changes. While conventional wisdom says getting older leads to a decline, the reality is that some capabilities decline with age while others remain stable or increase. This book distills decades of aging research into practical advice on the design of displays. Technology has changed dramatically since the publication of the first edition. This new edition covers cutting-edge technology design such as ubiquitous touchscreens, smart speakers, and augmented reality interfaces, among others.

Dementia: The Basics provides the reader with a clear and compassionate introduction to dementia and an accessible guide to dealing with different parts of the dementia journey, from pre-diagnosis and diagnosis to post-diagnostic support, increasing care needs and end of life care. Co-authored by an academic, a person living with dementia and a family carer, the book endeavours to raise awareness of dementia, challenge stereotypical and negative ideas about what it means to have dementia and champion a society where people living with dementia can be active as they wish for as long as possible. The authors present an overview of current research at each step of the dementia journey as well as including knowledge from lived experience, enhancing understanding and challenging thinking about what it might be like to live with a diagnosis or to care for a loved one. As a whole, the book emphasises the importance of prioritising the person living with dementia, as well as considering the impact of what any initiative or action might mean for them, their families and their care supporters. Offering both an accessible introduction to dementia and practical tools, this book will be ideal for health and social care professionals, students of social care, health care and nursing, people with dementia, carers and anyone wanting to understand more about the condition.

This book provides practical evidence-based strategies that will help clinicians across a broad range of disciplines to address and discuss the main issues an aging person is likely to face and overcome if they are to maintain a sense of well-being as they age. Based on an extensive body of research, the relevant up-to-date knowledge for each topic is concisely presented, followed by practical, concrete, evidence-based suggestions as to how a healthcare provider might acknowledge and create a partnership with their clients to help the person increase their sense of well-being. Each chapter contains a list of key terms, a summary, and case examples that illustrate in realistic and humanistic ways how a person might present the concern being addressed and intervene. The specific challenges associated with aging that are addressed include: anxiety attached to an increasing awareness of mortality; retirement; the increasing number of losses of significant others; regrets; memory loss; the arrival of old-old age and feelings of loneliness, mattering insufficiently, and a loss of purpose; and finally, dealing with imminent death. This book is suitable for all health professionals who provide clinical services or advice to older adults including physicians (i.e. particularly in the specialties of internal medicine, family medicine, geriatrics, and geriatric psychiatry), nurses, social workers, psychologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and audiologists.

Growing old-what is it like? What are the main problems of the aging? Lack of fulfillment in their work and life? Loneliness? Anxiety about sickness and disability? Fear of death? This well-documented, theoretically systematic, and vivid account of the process of aging provides highly enlightening answers and dispels once and for all many of the myths surrounding the close to 20 million Americans who are over sixty-five. Building upon the results of extensive interviews conducted over a period of 5 1/2 years, the authors have developed the concept of "Life Styles," a new method of describing and analyzing the general pattern and course of an individual's life. They have established the existence of six styles and have concluded that a successful transition to old age can be achieved through any of them. They have also developed a definition of success, which has practical implications, since it deals with the extent to which an individual contributes or is a burden to the lives of those around him. The combined analysis of "style" and "success" results in a better understanding of individual differences in aging. The cases are described and analyzed so interestingly and yet methodically that the reader comes to know and understand the subjects as if he had worked with them in person. In addition, the wealth of detail the case histories contain permits scholars and students to judge for themselves the validity of the authors' findings. Derived from this unusually rich body of material, the authors' conclusions and recommendations are invaluable to all concerned with the study, the treatment, and the counseling of the aged. "Lives Through the Years" is a pioneering volume of social inquiry and interpretation, which marks a major scientific advance in its field, opens up new horizons for fruitful research, and offers a stimulating and authoritative portrayal of one of the most important problems of our society. "Richard H. Williams" is Special Assistant to the Director, National Institute of Mental Health. Formerly chief of the Professional Services Branch of the Institute, Dr. Williams is a specialist in psychiatric rehabilitation and mental health aspects of the aging process. "Claudine G. Wirths" is a Consultant at the National Institute of Mental Health. She has served state and city governments and the Department of Defense in various capacities, chiefly as a consulting psychologist. "Talcott Parsons" (1902-1979) was professor of sociology, Harvard University where he set up the Department of Social Relations. He published more than 150 books and articles.

Humans automatically categorize others in social perception. Some categorizations - race, gender, and age -- are so automatic that they are termed "primitive categories." As we categorize, we develop stereotypes about the categories. Researchers know much about racism and sexism, but comparatively little about prejudice based on age. The papers in this issue highlight the current empirical and theoretical work on understanding the origins and consequences of stereotyping and prejudice against older adults.
With the aging baby boomer demographic, it is especially timely for researchers to work to understand how society can shed its institutionalized ageism and promote respect for elders.

This volume of original chapters is designed to bring attention to a neglected area of feminist scholarship - aging. After several decades of feminist studies we are now well informed of the complex ways that gender shapes the lives of women and men. Similarly, we know more about how gendered power relations interface with race and ethnicity, class and sexual orientation. Serious theorizing of old age and age relations to gender represents the next frontier of feminist scholarship. In this volume, leading national and international feminist scholars of aging take first steps in this direction, illuminating how age relations interact with other social inequalities, particularly gender. In doing so, the authors challenge and transform feminist scholarship and many taken for granted concepts in gender studies.

This volume of original chapters is designed to bring attention to a neglected area of feminist scholarship - aging. After several decades of feminist studies we are now well informed of the complex ways that gender shapes the lives of women and men. Similarly, we know more about how gendered power relations interface with race and ethnicity, class and sexual orientation. Serious theorizing of old age and age relations to gender represents the next frontier of feminist scholarship. In this volume, leading national and international feminist scholars of aging take first steps in this direction, illuminating how age relations interact with other social inequalities, particularly gender. In doing so, the authors challenge and transform feminist scholarship and many taken for granted concepts in gender studies.

This book was nurtured by the belief that the new dynamics of today's and tomorrow's aging has not yet been treated well in the gerontology literature. Several questions drove the choice of substance for the book: What kind of new dynamics of aging deserves consideration? What kinds of theories and fields are at the core of treating such a new dynamics? And what kind of empirical evidence should be considered? The master hypothesis on which the book is based maintains that the new dynamics of old age is best observed in a range of everyday aging contexts that have been undergoing major change since the second half of the 20th century. In particular, five areas of new and persistent dynamics are treated in depth: the social environment, with a focus on cohort effects in social relations and the consideration of family relations and elders as care redelivers; the home environment, with emphasis on housing and quality of life, relocation and urban aging issues; the outdoor environment, with consideration of out-of-home activity patterns, car-driving behaviour and the leisure world of aging; the technological environment, with treatments of the role of the Internet and the potential of technology for aging outcomes and; and the societal environment with a focus on global aging, the new politics of old age and older persons as market consumers. The book's main purpose is to provide the scholarly gerontology community with a comprehensive and critical discussion of these new trends related to old age. The book will be of interest for the scholarly community of gerontology in a variety of disciplines; sociology, psychology, demography, epidemiology, humanities, social policy and geriatrics; students in gerontology education and in the disciplines named above who have an interest in aging issues (graduate level); professionals in practical and applied fields related to aging such as community and urban planners, health and care providers and policymakers; people involved in senior citizens' organizations and those in industry who wish to serve older people with new products.

Many books address the issue of caring for one's aging parents, but this will be the first book to consider the topic from the parents' perspective. Cheryl A. Kuba proposes an entirely unique approach to this aspect of gerontology: expressing the voices of care-receivers themselves. The dependent elderly are a wealth of information, Kuba discovers, and if we listen to them, we will be better able to help them. The 22.4 million elderly people being cared for in the United States comprise the fastest growing segment of the population, making the discovery of new approaches to care-giving more important than ever. This book draws on numerous interviews with aging people, and will discuss common care-giver mistakes and misinterpretations, what a care-giver should expect when an aging parent moves in, and how to care for an aging parent from afar. The book includes helpful resources for those caring for an aging parent in a variety of situations. Kuba explains such phenomena as guilt, role reversal, changing family dynamics, financial stress, and caring for oneself while caring for another. She also addresses the gendering of care-giving and the myth that Americans abandon the elderly.

This enlightening book on the collective identities of Japanese American elderly in a former sugar plantation community in the rural town of Puna, Hawai'i, investigates the stories in which they remember, evaluate, and represent their past lives on the plantation from the 1920s to the 1980s. Author Kinoshita deftly explores the process by which they collectively delineate their identities in terms of ethnicity, class, generation, and gender. Presenting an ethnography of remembering that captures the so-called 'cultural testimony', the Japanese American elderly, in this book, narrate their plantation experience as both an internally-oriented emotional manifestation and an externally-based common understanding of their community. Kinoshita demonstrates how they employ their memories to reconstruct plantation experience and define their peoplehood as the collective identities of plantation-raised Japanese Americans.

Thirty-five million Americans are living beyond the age of sixty-five, a twenty-five year increase in life expectancy since 1900. This longevity, once the gift of a few, has become the destiny of many. This time of life is not just about retiring; in fact many who retire return happily to some type of employment. It is a new stage of life filled with its own unique challenges and opportunities. Co-authors Jane Thayer and Peggy Thayer, a mother-daughter team of psychologists, have named this stage of life, 'elderescence.'

"Methodological Issues in Aging Research" is the first volume in the "Notre Dame Series on Quantitative Methodology." This new series provides practical training on the latest quantitative methods used in social and behavioral research. Each volume features contributions from leading experts in state-of-the-art techniques applicable to a selected substantive topic.
The first series volume provides researchers with innovative techniques for the collection and analyses of data focusing on aging and lifespan development. The book addresses such techniques as structural equation modeling, latent class analysis, hierarchical linear growth curve modeling, dynamical systems analysis, multivariate Rasch models, survival analysis, multilevel modeling, and quantitative genetic methods. These new techniques provide:
*better estimates of the direct effect of environmental or treatment effects and the dynamic pattern of genetic and environmental influences on adult development;
*more precise predictions of outcomes which in turn increase the diagnostic power of test instruments; and
*the potential for developing new treatments that take advantage of the intrinsic dynamics of the course of a disease or age-related change to enhance treatment.
"Methodological Issues in Aging Research" appeals to advanced students and researchers in lifespan development, gerontology, health psychology, and other fields related to human development. It can be used as a main or supplemental text for advanced courses related to developmental research methods.

Learn how to incorporate adult play therapy into your practice with this easy-to-use guide

In the Western world there has been a widening belief that play is not a trivial or childish pursuit but rather a prime pillar of mental health, along with love and work. Play Therapy with Adults presents original chapters written by a collection of international experts who examine the diverse approaches and clinical strategies available for successfully incorporating play therapy into adult-client sessions.

This timely guide covers healing through the use of a variety of play therapy techniques and methods. Various client groups and treatment settings are given special attention, including working with adolescents, the elderly, couples, individuals with dementia, and clients in group therapy.

Material is organized into four sections for easy reference:

• Dramatic role play
• Therapeutic humor
• Sand play and doll play
• Play groups, hypnoplay, and client-centered play

Play Therapy with Adults is a valuable book for psychologists, therapists, social workers, and counselors interested in helping clients explore themselves through playful activities.

"Ways of Aging" is an engaging collection of ten original essays on the experience of aging. Written and edited by social gerontologists, and focusing on everyday life, these essays draw from original case studies to feature diverse ways of growing and being older. Through in-depth interviews and first-person accounts, each essay gives a voice to the elderly, stressing the distinct and assorted identities that people develop as they grow older under different circumstances.

In straightforward and compelling prose, the authors feature the varied experiences of widows, African Americans, Native Americans, nursing home residents, gay and lesbian elders, and others. The essays provide vivid illustrations of both the complex differences of the aging experience and the surprising commonalities. The theme of a diverse, multifaceted aging experience links the various presentations.

Countering familiar stereotypes, "Ways of Aging" offers a unique perspective on the different pathways that may be taken through the later years.

Written by leading international experts, this book helps students and practitioners to better understand and cater for the needs of our ageing population. It examines:

• how services can be provided to meet the expectations and needs of a growing population of ageing citizens within a cost-effective, social justice and positive ageing framework
• how resources allocated to aged care can be distributed equitably to better meet the demands associated with housing, retirement, service provision and care
• how health promotion principles can contribute to a healthy older population.

Investigating current critical debates in health and social science, the book explores innovative new approaches to aged care and ageing. By using international examples and a multidisciplinary approach, this comprehensive textbook provides a broad understanding of ageing from a social perspective and analyzes concepts of ageism, healthy ageing and positive ageing.