This book makes an enquiry into policies surrounding old age and telecare. It contextualises telecare within the wider history of health and social care in England to build the case that there are grand narratives of old age embedded in policies. Divided into four sections, the book covers: * Connecting old age with telecare * A general review of old age and telecare * A critical enquiry into discourses and the identity of old age * Conclusions and future directions. The author highlights the manifestation of old age discourses in care policies, how they have been perpetuated yet also transformed in the context of telecare, and what this means about older people. The book will be of interest to students and academics in the fields of gerontology, sociology, old age studies, philosophy, social policy, health and social care policy, information systems, and critical theoreticians

This book examines a central element of social welfare, old age security, exploring the history of policies in both developed and underdeveloped countries to assess their structure, ideology and effectiveness. The authors test five theoretical perspectives on old-age security policy in four industrial nations (the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany) and three developing countries (India, Nigeria, Brazil), challenging the view that old age policy is the outcome of class conflict between capital and labour. Instead, the authors adopt a neo-pluralist perspective which emphasizes the influence of ethnic religious and regional groups, as well as "the grey lobby", over that of class-based groups. The authors attempt to test ideas derived in part from these historical case studies by analysing quantitative data from a broader sample of countries (18 industrial nationa and 32 developing nations), and they use these results to anticipate future policy developments in the U.S.

Public discussion of population aging usually focuses on the financial burden that increasingly elderly populations will impose on younger generations. Scholars give much less attention to who does the actual work of day-to-day care for those no longer able to care for themselves; and although women are the majority among the elderly, little is heard about gender differences in economic resources or the need for care. This volume is dedicated to giving gender -and a full range of social and cultural differences-their rightful place in these discussions. The authors in the following pages address, among other issues:
* the worldwide dilemmas of eldercare
* the structure of income and care provisions for older populations
* the role of family, marital status, and class in these provisions
* the impact of polices affecting retirement age
* and the role of social insurance in preventing poverty among elderly women
The essays included address these topics in a myriad of geographical contexts, including South Africa, the US, Palestine, Australia, South Korea, Spain, Germany, and Sweden. The concerns highlighted here also remind us that whether through individual families or social insurance, through family caregivers or paid help, the oldest generation will continue to depend on adults of working age for its well-being. This book was previously published as a special issue of Feminist Economics.

Public discussion of population aging usually focuses on the financial burden that increasingly elderly populations will impose on younger generations. Scholars give much less attention to who does the actual work of day-to-day care for those no longer able to care for themselves; and although women are the majority among the elderly, little is heard about gender differences in economic resources or the need for care. This volume is dedicated to giving gender - and a full range of social and cultural differences - their rightful place in these discussions. The authors address, amongst other issues: the worldwide dilemmas of eldercare the structure of income and care provisions for older populations the role of family, marital status, and class in these provisions the impact of polices affecting retirement age the role of social insurance in preventing poverty among elderly women. The essays included address these topics in a myriad of geographical contexts, including South Africa, the US, Palestine, Australia, South Korea, Spain, Germany, and Sweden. The concerns highlighted here also remind us that whether through individual families or social insurance, through family caregivers or paid help, the oldest generation will continue to depend on adults of working age for its well-being. This book was previously published as a special issue of Feminist Economics.

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 guide to Adaptive Interaction explains how to assess the communication repertoires of people with dementia who can no longer speak, and offers practical interventions for those who wish to interact with them. Outlining the challenges faced by people living with advanced dementia, this book shows how to relieve the strain on relationships between them, their families, and professional caregivers through better, person-centred communication. It includes communication assessment tools and guidance on how to build on the communication repertoire of the individual with dementia using nonverbal means including imitation, facial expressions, sounds, movement, eye gaze and touch. With accessible evidence and case studies based on the authors' research, Adaptive Interaction can be used as the basis for developing interactions without words with people living with dementia.

To provide high quality dementia care, professionals need to be both knowledgeable about dementia and skilled in the provision of care. This book is an introductory reference guide that will help students, professionals and practitioners develop their skills and expertise to better respond to the needs of people with dementia. It sets out information and advice on essential topics, research and evidence-based practice within dementia care in a clear, sensible way. Based on the standard course structure for higher and further dementia education, this wide-ranging textbook covers topics including dementia diagnosis, person-centred care and law, ethics and safeguarding. The new go-to book for the dementia curriculum, it is an invaluable tool for anyone wishing to improve the required core skills and values needed to care for those affected by dementia.

This book is about older people, and the contribution occupational therapy can make towards the maintenance of their health and the appropriate provision of rehabilitation and care. The aim is to help occupational therapists and those involved in the commissioning of occupational therapy services for older people to target their efforts both sensitively and effectively, and to anticipate the demands which will shape service provision in the future.

The entire work is underpinned by current evidence regarding best practice and opinions voiced by older people during several research projects undertaken by the author. The first chapters examine the experience of growing older, from both societal and individual perspectives, the factors contributing towards vulnerability in older age and the provision of services to meet needs. The second part of the book concentrates upon the occupational therapy assessment and treatment processes. The final chapter considers the challenges for occupational therapy.

Written by leading thinkers in the field, this text provides an in-depth analysis of the economic and policy issues associated with the aging of individuals and populations. With a strong policy focus based on demographic and economic study, this book focuses on "who gets what" from current and proposed government programs that impact on older persons, and how these affect individual behaviour. It does so in a straightforward manner that is accessible to readers with a range of mathematical backgrounds. The discussion concentrates on:
the effects of aging populations on the United States and other nations;
the economic wellbeing of the elderly, highlighting women and minorities;
public and private programs providing income for the elderly;
Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurance;
Social Security and Medicare reform options;
employer-based retirement programs and pensions;
retirement patterns and factors influencing retirement decisions.

The authors draw from the experiences of other countries in evaluating the US experience and options. Additionally, each chapter engages the reader through practical examples and stimulates further investigation by providing practice questions with relevant website addresses.

The world is growing older and this is a historically unprecedented phenomenon. Negotiating such change, personally, socially and for governments and international organisations requires an act of cultural adaptation. Two key questions arise: What is the purpose of a long life? and How do we adapt to societies where generations are of approximately the same size? A number of pre-existing narratives can be identified; however, it is argued that contemporary policies have produced a premature answer which may eclipse the potential arising from lifecourse change. In this book Simon Biggs discusses ways of interrogating these questions and the adaptations we make to them. Four major areas, all of which have been suggested as solutions to population ageing, are critically assessed, including work as an answer, the relationship between work, ageing and health, narratives of spirit, belief and wisdom, the body and the natural, anti-ageing medicine, critical approaches to dementia, plus family and intergenerational relations. This book is particiularly useful for those trying to make sense of population ageing and negotiate solutions. It describes a number of concepts that can be used to assess what we are told about a long life and how generations can adapt together. With the cultural landscape moving away from traditional interpretations of old age, the question of adult ageing is of growing interest to a number of groups. This book is essential reading for social and health-care workers, other helping professionals, policy makers, social scientists and all who encounter the prospect of a long life.

This volume presents contributions from academics, practitioners and researchers who reflect on aging and argue that while the financial impact of aging appears to be receiving increased attention, the more personal, familial and communal consequences of aging must also be examined. This collection delves further into the topic of aging as both personal and social phenomenon. The perspectives the papers engage with range from theoretical to applied. This demonstrates how those perspectives can and must engage with each other. From the invisibility of aging persons, to the manner in which discourses of aging-well rely on normative assumptions, to the ways in which we engage with persons with dementia, to the responsibility of providing care locally and across borders, this collection endeavours to advance aging as a positive challenge that can enrich us all.

The Living Well with Dementia Course: A Workbook for Facilitators will be an indispensable guide to providing support to people after they have received a dementia diagnosis. The workbook provides facilitators with a realistic but positive approach to helping people with dementia understand and adjust to their condition, helping them to live as well as possible. This workbook outlines the Living Well with Dementia course, a post-diagnostic course for people who have recently received a diagnosis of dementia. Its session-by-session structure, along with e-resources including handouts for course participants, will help facilitators provide a realistic but positive approach to support after a diagnosis. Aimed at facilitators, and drawing on the authors' many years of clinical and research experience, The Living Well with Dementia Course workbook will be of great assistance to healthcare professionals and support workers in many different settings, including specialist NHS dementia services, primary care services and the voluntary and community sector.

The Living Well with Dementia Course: A Workbook for Facilitators will be an indispensable guide to providing support to people after they have received a dementia diagnosis. The workbook provides facilitators with a realistic but positive approach to helping people with dementia understand and adjust to their condition, helping them to live as well as possible. This workbook outlines the Living Well with Dementia course, a post-diagnostic course for people who have recently received a diagnosis of dementia. Its session-by-session structure, along with e-resources including handouts for course participants, will help facilitators provide a realistic but positive approach to support after a diagnosis. Aimed at facilitators, and drawing on the authors' many years of clinical and research experience, The Living Well with Dementia Course workbook will be of great assistance to healthcare professionals and support workers in many different settings, including specialist NHS dementia services, primary care services and the voluntary and community sector.

This is a book on how home is made when care enters the lives of people as they grow old at home or in 'homely' institutions. Throughout the book, contributors show how home is a verb: it is something people do. Home is thus always in the making, temporal, contested, and open to negotiation and experimentation. By bringing together approaches from STS, anthropology, health humanities and health care studies, the book points to the importance of people's tinkerings and experiments with making home, as it is here that home is being made and unmade.

This book's main goal is to examine the concept of residential care from a psychological perspective. The chapter authors espouse a psychological approach to long-term residential care and an effort is made throughout the text to present a model of care that encompasses the whole individual. Since psychologists are being increasingly asked to provide consultation to long-term residential care facilities, the need for psychologically-based care models has become apparent. This text offers assistance in developing and maintaining residential care environments that maximize quality of life and personal well-being in the presence of declining physical and emotional resources that are associated with the vicissitudes of living into advanced aging.
"Geriatric Residential Care" is divided into four parts. Part I addresses psychological and social issues facing the frail elderly who are candidates for, or are living in residential care settings. Part II addresses issues in the assessment of individuals in residential care. Part III highlights the design and execution of intervention strategies in residential care. Part IV addresses how organizational aspects of residential care contexts can optimize the quality and meaningfulness of care.

This collection highlights the current efforts by scholars and researchers to understand the aging process as it relates to the health of older adults. With contributions from international scholars in communication, psychology, public health, medicine, nursing, and other areas, this volume emphasizes communication as a critical research, education, policy, and practice issue for the design, provision, and evaluation of health and social services for older adults. Organized into sections addressing communication developments in the healthcare arena, issues in provider-patient communication, and the relationships between family communication and health. The chapters cover critical topics related to successful aging, such as Alzheimer's disease, managed care and older adults, communication issues of severe dementia, and healthcare decision-making within families.
The editors have designed this volume to be accessible to a broad audience, including scholars and students of aging and communication, healthcare practitioners with older clients, and aging individuals and their families who are pursuing strategies for successful aging. The chapters represent the highest levels of current scholarship on communication, aging, and health, providing a strong foundation for future research. Each contribution also addresses the applied implications of this research, offering practical guidance to readers dealing with these issues in their own lives. As a whole, "Aging, Communication, and Health" represents a major advance toward understanding the importance and application of communication for successful aging.

Family life has changed rapidly over te past fifty years and the number of people living longer increases year on year Family and Community Life of Older People revisits three areas (Bethnal Green in London, Wolverhampton in the Midlands and Woodford in Essex) which were the subject of classic studies in the late 1940s and 1950s and explores changes to the family and community lives of older people. The book examines issues such as:
*changes in household composition
*changes in the geographical proximity of kin and relatives
*the extent and type of help provided by the family
*contact and relationships with neighbours
*relationships with friends
*involvement in social and leisure activities
*experiences of minority ethnic groups.
These questions are explored through a unique set of data including census material, and survey data from interviews with over 600 older people. A key finding is that over the past 50 years we have moved from an old age experienced within the context of the family group to one shaped by personal communities in which friends may feature as significantly as immediate kin and relatives.
Family and Community Life of Older People is a major contribution to the sociology of the family, of ageing, and of urban life and points up the social policy issues for an ageing society.

Resulting from a major ESRC funded project as part of their programme of research on population and household change Family and Community Life of Older People reflects the interest in how older people are affected by social change which is currently a key theme in social science. It focuses on three areas: Bethnal Green in London; Wolverhampton in the Midlands; and Woodford in Essex. These areas were the subject of studies in the late 1940s and 1950s. Using these examples, it explores changes to the family and community lives of older people. It should prove of interest to students in social policy, urban sociology, gerontology, social work and community studies and will also be relevant to policy makers.

'The best piece of nature writing since H is for Hawk, and the most powerful work of biography I have read in years' Neil Gaiman 'Wonderful - I can't recommend it too highly' Helen Macdonald 'One of those rare, enchanted books' Isabella Tree 'Beautiful - it made me cry' Simon Amstell 'I was entranced' Cathy Rentzenbrink This is a story about birds and fathers. About the young magpie that fell from its nest in a Bermondsey junkyard into Charlie Gilmour's life - and swiftly changed it. Demanding worms around the clock, riffling through his wallet, sharing his baths and roosting in his hair... About the jackdaw kept at a Cornish stately home by Heathcote Williams, anarchist, poet, magician, stealer of Christmas, and Charlie's biological father who vanished from his life in the dead of night. It is a story about repetition across generations and birds that run in the blood; about a terror of repeating the sins of the father and a desire to build a nest of one's own. It is a story about change - from wild to tame; from sanity to madness; from life to death to birth; from freedom to captivity and back again, via an insane asylum, a prison and a magpie's nest. And ultimately, it is the story of a love affair between a man and a magpie.

When working with older clients--or clients who have become "instantly old" due to disability--can a professional's personal feelings affect the helping process? Countertransference and Older Clients explores this issue and focuses on the use of countertransference--the powerful linkage between a helper's personal feelings and his/her professional work. This practical volume shows helping professionals how to confront and examine their own denial, fear of growing old, being helpless, and dying, anger related to death and loss, and their need for control. Contributors address such issues as how practitioners "overhelp" and "underhelp" some clients because of their feelings and experiences; how personal and family biases contribute to inappropriate diagnosis, referral, and treatment; why service is prolonged with some clients and terminated too soon with others; and how fear of AIDS, death, and suicide hinder effective support and treatment. In addition, actual case studies are woven throughout to illustrate how practitioners can effectively put their feelings and behaviors to use during the helping process. Written for practitioners in the field of aging, mental health, social work, nursing, psychology, and psychiatry, Countertransference and Older Clients is an important therapeutic tool for all helping professionals. "Throughout this clear, concise, interesting little book, the authors communicate a warmth and sensitivity to the needs and feelings of both helpers and older clients. One interesting feature is the inclusion of a chapter written by an older worker, an often neglected perspective in gerontological literature." --Journal of Psychology and Theology "Bonnie Genevay and Renee Katz have made an enormous contribution to gerontological practice by focusing on the conscious and unconscious attitudes and feelings of practitioners toward their older clients, which enhance or diminish their helpfulness to older people. In this very useful volume they and other experts cover a wide range of problematic situations including disability, dementia, and dying with empathy. Teachers and supervisors as well as those working in direct practice will find this book highly instructive." --Barbara Silverstone, Executive Director, The Lighthouse (The New York Association for the Blind) "This unique text approaches many aspects of aging and countertransference of caregivers, not elsewhere seen in the vast array of gerontological publications. It provides a sensitive and compassionate presentation of the various issues and problems of countertransference experienced by individuals providing care to elders in a variety of difficult situations. I highly recommend this text for its unique content, warmth of presentation and insights into relationships with the old. I have come away enriched and enlightened." --Priscilla Ebersoll, Ph.D., San Francisco State University "This book is a must for anyone who works with older clients. It contains dozens of case examples of how our own desires and fears about aging and conditions associated with it interfere with our capacity to function as professionals should. It is full of suggestions for dealing constructively with our emotional reactions that occur in the conduct of our professional lives. It deals with important topics such as terminal illness and death, suicidal elders, disability, and AIDS. It is clear, concise, and very useful." --Robert C. Atchley, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio "A profound respect and caring for both older clients and service providers permeate each chapter. . . . The book is exceptionally strong in its comprehensive and sensitive review of issues that many of us do not like to face--how our own fears and attitudes about aging may interfere with our professional effectiveness. Included are topics that have not been adequately dealt with elsewhere. . . . By clearly and sensitively highlighting the importance of self-awareness to professional effectiveness, the authors have made a significant contribution to the practice literature, and ultimately to practice with older adults." --Generations "This book makes a major contribution to the field by supplying numerous sensitive and revealing examples of personal emotional reactions to working with older adults. It should be read by everyone who counsels older adults and by students aspiring to careers in serving the elderly." --Bob G. Knight, Merle H. Bensinger Associate Professor, Gerontology and Psychology University of Southern California "The book's strength--an important one--lies in its conciseness of writing and clarity. It is an easy read! Yet it offers valuable insights and practical suggestions. The topics too, while diverse, are pulled into a homogeneous frame so as to make the book extremely cohesive, not easy in an edited work. The offering of case histories makes the book come alive as the reader becomes enmeshed in the dialogue/scenario going on between client and worker. . . . The book should make a genuine impact on the field of aging, promoting growth in workers and clients alike." --Clinical Gerontologist "Countertransference and Older Clients offers a well-written collection of articles by several authors dealing with aging, loss, disability, and death. It explores feelings that emerge between professional caregivers and their elderly clients in various settings. Other topics include suicidal elders, AIDS and HIV illness, dementia, substance abuse, sexuality, and nursing home placement. Good case examples are provided. . . . . A valuable addition to the body of knowledge for professionals working with older adults." --NASW California News

Elder Abuse and Neglect in Residential Settings: Different National Backgrounds and Similar Responses contains insights and examples from other countries where elder abuse and neglect have been recognized as an issue requiring social policy attention. Nursing home employees as well as professionals and policymakers will explore the physical as well as the psychological aspects of neglect in nursing homes. Elder Abuse and Neglect in Residential Settings discusses deliberate physical abuse and more common forms of neglect and abuse, such as bedsores, poor nutrition, improper medication, and vermin infestation. Let this informative guide help you recognize the causes of elder abuse and neglect in order to prevent the same problems in your nursing home.Examining nursing home settings in America, Canada, England, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and South Africa to bring you firsthand accounts of the problems of elder abuse on a multicultural level. It also examines reasons for abuse and neglect, such as poor wages, long hours, low job prestige of nurses aides, and high exhaustion levels that have led to abuse and neglect by even the most caring individual. Through Elder Abuse and Neglect in Residential Settings, you will discover what factors directly correlate to the abuse and neglect of patients by: examining the high turnover rates of the lower-paid nurses aides understanding that well-qualified staff do not choose to work in nursing homes and that often abuse and neglect are committed by nurses aides gaining insight into the risks of physical assault and verbal abuse by patients that nurses aides may endure everyday exploring the psychological aspects of neglect in nursing homes such as, uncleanliness, the lack of attractiveness in the physical environment, inadequate diet, infantilization, and passive neglect, and what can be done to prevent these behaviorsElder Abuse and Neglect in Residential Settings discusses the elements that are significant to the future and quality of residential care. From this book, you will understand the importance of considering the characteristics of the patients and staff as well as the importance of developing gender-integrated and multicultural services. Elder Abuse and Neglect in Residential Settings will prove to be essential in your understanding of the worldwide problem of elder abuse and neglect in residential care and help you alleviate it.