Here is detailed, practical advice for the administrator or practitioner of long-term and senior care services. Experts offer effective techniques for increasing the visibility and scope of those services through modern marketing practices.

To a backdrop of ageing societies, pension crises and labour market reforms, this book investigates how the policy shift from early retirement to active ageing has affected individual retirement behaviour. Focusing on eleven European countries, the United States and Japan, it brings together leading international experts to analyze recent changes in pension systems. Their findings demonstrate that there has been a fundamental transition in pension policies and a steep increase in older workers' retirement ages and employment rates. Yet changes in retirement behavior are not evenly distributed across all societal strata. This raises the serious concern that an overall rise in the retirement age will be accompanied by the re-emergence of social inequality in the transition from work to retirement. This innovative edited collection will appeal to students and scholars of sociology, economics, political science, human resources management, gerontology and social policy, and also to policy-makers and professionals dealing with older workers.

This pioneering text is the only book to comprehensively explore both research and practice in the psychology of aging and to bring home the actual aging experience through the use of innovative narrative accounts. Because she limits coverage to the older years, Janet Belsky's text is able to offer an in-depth portrait of all aspects of the field--from traditional research, to concrete applications, to the crucial issues we as a society face as our population ages. With chapters constructed to unfold like a novel, this third edition of THE PSYCHOLOGY OF AGING genuinely integrates the field, highlighting the interconnections between concepts, research, and applications. These interconnections offer students a sense of an evolving, coherent discipline. The book is carefully planned to bring home how research applies to real lives. Belsky skillfully uses personal examples to highlight how concepts apply to people, and goes beyond the research to conduct her own interviews with aging professionals and older adults. Scholarly, research-oriented, and intellectually stimulating, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF AGING, offers a rare, inside glimpse into the field of aging and the aging experience as it is actually lived.

This important book brings together some of the best known international scholars working within a critical gerontology perspective. Together, they review and update our understanding of how the field has developed over the last twenty-five years and, through the lens of 'passionate scholarship', provide a challenging assessment of the complex practical and ethical issues facing older people, and those who conduct research on ageing, in the 21st century. The contributions extend the critical gerontological approach conceptually, methodologically and practically. They offer close and scholarly analysis of policies affecting the lives of older people and provide insights into why research is done in particular ways. Special attention is paid to feminist contributions and new approaches to working in partnership with older people; age discrimination and ageism; the impact of neo-liberal policies and the passage of various human rights instruments; the re-medicalisation of later life; the participation of older people in research; and justice between generations. The editors and contributors offer suggestions for promoting change, and an exciting set of visions and perspectives for the renewal and development of critical gerontology in the years ahead. "Critical Perspectives on Ageing Societies" will be a valuable resource for all students, academics and practitioners interested in ageing and the life course.

This exciting collection presents an in-depth, up-to-date analysis of the unprecedented phenomenon of increasing numbers of grandparents worldwide, co-existing and interacting for longer periods of time with their grandchildren. The book contains analyses of topics that have so far received relatively little attention, such as transnational grandparenting and gender differences in grandparenting practices. It is the only collection that brings together theory-driven research on grandparenting from a wide variety of cultural and welfare state contexts - including chapters on Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia - drawing broad lines of debate rather than focusing at a country level. Building on the success of 'Contemporary grandparenting', edited by Virpi Timonen and Sarah Arber, this book further deepens our understanding of how social structures continue to shape grandparenting across a wide range of cultural and economic contexts. The book is essential reading and reference for researchers, students and policy-makers who want to understand the growing influence of grandparents in ageing families and societies across the world.

The social life of older rural Americans is made up of relationships formed through kinship, their neighborhoods, and the organizations to which they belong. These social institutions are shaped by the ways people use them, and therefore change through time. In this precedent-setting study, John van Willigen uses the concept of social network to investigate life-course changes in the relationships of older people within the context of community history.

Gettin' Some Age on Me grew out of a study of more than 130 older people in a rural Kentucky county. They were interviewed concerning their relationships with others, and data were collected on the give and take of support that is part of their social life. An understanding of community life and history, developed through interviews and period documentation, provided a context for understanding the changes these people have experienced over time. Finally, related studies by other researchers provided a framework for interpreting rural and urban differences.

Van Willigen skillfully interweaves these various accounts to reveal fundamentally important patterns. It is clear that these other people should be viewed not as dependent and isolated but as important sources for social support; that even though their social relationships decline in number late in life, early in the post retirement period there is an apparent increase in social involvement; and that older people are much less isolated in the rural community studied than in many urban areas.

This book makes a substantial contribution to the very limited literature on aging in rural America. It is important reading for social gerontologists and for all social scientists with an interest in American communities.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of a growing phenomenon in migration: retired Americans moving to Latin America. Through in-depth profiles of two of the most popular destinations - Cuenca, Ecuador and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, the book provides a unique commentary on the social forces shaping this new diaspora and its impact on the settings to which retirees relocate. Sections of the book address the lives and activities of retirees themselves; their impact on real estate, business development, and gentrification within historic cities; the availability and access to medical and long-term care services; and the role of governmental policies in attracting immigrant retirees and shaping their societal impact. Concluding sections provide guidance for potential retirees and for cities and countries interested in attracting these new immigrants while minimizing adverse impact on local culture and quality of life. Carefully researched and extensively illustrated with photographs, maps, figures, and tables, the book serves as an important new resource for scientists and policy makers, as well as for baby boomers who have retired abroad or are considering doing so.

Given the range of possibilities open to women today, what futures do adolescent girls dream of and pursue? And how do social class and race play into their trajectories? In asking young women about their aspirations in three areas-school, work, and family-Best Laid Plans demonstrates how future plans are framed by notions of gendered responsibilities and abilities. Through her examination of the lives of poor, working-class, and middle-class Black and White young women as they navigate the transition to adulthood, sociologist Jessica Halliday Hardie defines anew what it means for young women to come of age. In particular, Hardie shows how social capital, either possessed or lacked, is not simply a resource for planning for the future but a structure whose form and function varies by social class and race. As these inequalities persist into adulthood, high aspirations, social capital, and careful planning bolster some young women while hindering others. Drawing on qualitative data from a five-year period, Best Laid Plans makes the case for why we need to move beyond the individual appeal to "dream bigger" and "plan better" and toward systematic changes that will put young people's aspirations within reach.

This volume and its companion, The new dynamics of ageing volume 1, provide comprehensive multi-disciplinary overviews of the very latest research on ageing. Together they report the outcomes of the most concerted investigation ever undertaken into both the influence shaping the changing nature of ageing and its consequences for individuals and society. This book concentrates on four major themes: autonomy and independence in later life, biology and ageing, food and nutrition and representation of old age. Each chapter provides a state of the art topic summary as well as reporting the essential research findings from New Dynamics of Ageing research projects. There is a strong emphasis on the practical implications of ageing and how evidence-based policies, practices and new products can produce individual and societal benefits.

An ever-more diverse America is getting older, but American policies are not growing with the needs of our ethnic and aging society. Age Through Ethnic Lenses explores the distinct characteristics and unique social, political, economic, and cultural situations of America's aged, while highlighting the common needs and objectives among all aging Americans. With portraits of Asians, Latinos, individuals of European and African origins, Native Americans, Socio-religious groups, women, gay men and women, and the rural aged, this book broadens our perspective on the issues of long-term care, and provides a valuable guide for future public policy as we enter the twenty-first century.

Describes a wealth of diverse employment opportunities in gerontology and how to land them. How do you know if a career in gerontology is right for you? What opportunities exist in the field? Completely updated to reflect significant changes to policy and management of resources, the second edition of 101 Careers in Gerontology provides a wealth of helpful and timely guidance in this rapidly growing field. Written for all levels of job seekers ranging from community college students to credential-seeking professionals, the book outlines a multitude of opportunities that dovetail with careers ranging from Sociologist and Home Care Agency Administrator to Architect and Documentary Filmmaker. Interviews with practitioners provide insight into job particulars and the experience of starting out with a degree versus on-the-job-learning. The book describes five emerging gerontology-related fields, updates already existing job profiles including salary scales, and includes many new careers and their education requirements. New interviews are replete with advice and job search tips. The section "Thoughts and Advice from Leaders in the Field of Aging", adds additional grist to the mill. Surprising additions to the list of career profiles include Retirement System Wealth Manager, Custom Clothier, Health Coach, Social or Cultural Historian, Travel/Tourism Specialist, Senior Theater Director, and many others. This second edition encompasses career changes and opportunities resulting from the newly created Administration from Community Living (ACL), and those influenced by policy changes in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the Affordable Health Act. Also new to the second edition are lists of gerontology professional organizations that can be helpful career search resources and links to professional organizations specific to each career profile. Changes to the Second Edition Include: Many new careers and their education requirements Updated job profiles including salary scales A description of three types of commonly required credentials and how to prepare for them Coverage of such emerging fields as Entrepreneurial Gerontology, Global Aging, Journalism and Aging, and Urban Gerontology Career changes resulting from policy changes in relevant government agencies Lists of professional organizations specific to each career profile 13 new interviews and 12 interviews updated from first edition Information about national, international, and local gerontology organizations including student and new professional member sections Updated and expanded glossary of acronyms

In this thought-provoking memoir, Nancy Gerber maps the wrenching terrain of caring for an elderly parent. In the fall of 1995, at the age of 73, the author's father suffered a massive stroke on the right side of the brain, rendering him permanently disabled. This catastrophic event plunged the author and her family into a crisis for which they were completely unprepared, one that included financial worries; the need to hire full-time, live-in help; and the specter of putting her father into a nursing home. Even more wrenching was the demise of the parent she had always known. From an active, gregarious man with hobbies and friends - a man who had been working at the time of the stroke - her father became withdrawn, hostile, and silent. This profound loss was aggravated by the stress and anxiety that characterize family caregiving. In honest, evocative prose, the author describes her struggle to negotiate the competing demands of love, filial responsibility, familial conflict, and personal autonomy that arise when a parent becomes ill.

About 30 percent of hospice patients report a "visitation" by someone who is not there, a phenomenon known in end-of-life care as a deathbed vision. These visions can be of dead friends or family members and occur on average three days before death. Strikingly, individuals from wildly diverse geographic regions and religions-from New York to Japan to Moldova to Papua New Guinea-report similar visions. Appearances of our dead during serious illness, crises, or bereavement are as old as the historical record. But in recent years, we have tended to explain them in either the fantastical terms of the supernatural or the reductive terms of neuroscience. This book is about how, when, and why our dead visit us. Allan Kellehear-a medical sociologist and expert on death, dying, and palliative care-has gathered data and conducted studies on these experiences across cultures. He also draws on the long-neglected work of early anthropologists who developed cultural explanations about why the dead visit. Deathbed visions conform to the rituals that underpin basic social relations and expectations-customs of greeting, support, exchange, gift-giving, and vigils-because the dead must communicate with us in a social language that we recognize. Kellehear emphasizes the personal consequences for those who encounter these visions, revealing their significance for how the dying person makes meaning of their experiences. Providing vital understanding of a widespread yet mysterious phenomenon, Visitors at the End of Life offers insights for palliative care professionals, researchers, and the bereaved.

Understanding the way in which individuals develop before birth, as babies, children and adolescents through to young and older adulthood towards death is an important part of any social work role. Being able to skilfully apply this understanding in real life practice situations is even more important, as purposeful translations of human development are at the heart of effective professional practice. Introducing students to emotional, psychological and social developmental theories of human growth before exploring in detail how these theories can be incorporated into practice, this book will ensure students have all the tools they need to not only understand but critically appraise and apply psychosocial theories early on in training and whilst on placement. With the help of real world case studies, summaries and tips for further study, it will show students how life course theories inter-relate and how they can make appropriate, purposeful translations of theory into skilled, professional practice.

When children grow up and become adults we often assume, as parents, that our job is done. In fact it's just the beginning of a whole new stage in our lifelong connection. Relationships with adult children are an aspect of parenting that is rarely discussed, yet they require thoughtfulness and empathy, and can bring many new challenges. - How can you avoid conflict when your adult child returns to live with you? - What if you don't get on with their partner? - How should you suppoer your child through a divorce, or mental health challenges later in life? - Do you have mixed feelings about looking after your grandchildren? - What if you adult children don't get along? All Grown Up draws on the personal experiences of parents, as well as advice from leading experts in the filed, to offer support and guidance on working through these common dilemmas to develop and maintain a close bond with your adult child. Discover how to create family harmony and a strong, enduring connection. Praise for Celia Dodd's Not Fade Away 'Optimistic and clever, this handbook for how to flourish in your sixties - and beyond - may be the wisest book on reaching a pensionable age' - The i newspaper 'As a child of the 60's, ambitious and career driven, I needed to read this book. I now no longer fear life's next chapter but instead I'm shouting "Bring it on!"' - Jo Good, BBC Radio London 'Retirement is not about "giving up". This book shows us how to discover the positives and relish every moment of this major life transition'. - Aggie MacKenzie, broadcaster and journalist.

An ever-more diverse America is getting older, but American policies are not growing with the needs of our ethnic and aging society. Age Through Ethnic Lenses explores the distinct characteristics and unique social, political, economic, and cultural situations of America's aged, while highlighting the common needs and objectives among all aging Americans. With portraits of Asians, Latinos, individuals of European and African origins, Native Americans, Socio-religious groups, women, gay men and women, and the rural aged, this book broadens our perspective on the issues of long-term care, and provides a valuable guide for future public policy as we enter the twenty-first century.

Older people in the countryside are vastly under-researched compared to those in urban areas. This innovative volume, the first project-based book in the New Dynamics of Ageing series, offers a unique interdisciplinary perspective on this issue, focusing on older people's role as assets in rural civic society. It demonstrates how the use of diverse methods from across disciplines aims to increase public engagement with this research. The authors examine the ways in which rural elders are connected to community and place, the contributions they make to family and neighbours, and the organisations and groups to which they belong. Highly topical issues around later life explored through these perspectives include older people's financial security, leisure, access to services, transport and mobility, civic engagement and digital inclusion - all considered within the rural context in an era of fiscal austerity. In doing so, this book challenges problem-based views of ageing rural populations through considering barriers and facilitators to older people's inclusion and opportunities for community participation in rural settings. Countryside Connections is a valuable text for students, researchers and practitioners with interests in rural ageing, civic engagement and interdisciplinary methods, theory and practice.

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.

This book examines the profound demographic transformation affecting China, India, and Indonesia, where 40% of the world's people live. It offers a systematic, comparative approach that will help readers to better understand the changing social and regional recomposition of the population in these regions. The chapters present a detailed investigation and mapping of regional trends in mortality, fertility, migration and urbanization, education, and aging. Throughout, the analysis carefully considers how these trends affect economic and social development. Coverage also raises global, theoretical questions about the singular ways in which each of these three countries have achieved their demographic transition. As the authors reveal, demographic trends seem to be somewhat linear and anticipatable, providing Asia's three demographic giants and their governments a formidable advantage in planning for the future. But the evolution of human mobility in China, India, and Indonesia, closely intertwined as it is with changing economic conditions, appears less predictable and ranks high among the major challenges to demographic knowledge in the coming decades. Offering an insightful look into the components, implications, and regional variations of a changing population, this book will appeal to social scientists, demographers, anthropologists, sociologists, epidemiologists, and specialists in Asian studies.

This cutting edge collection examines Japan's population issue, exploring how declining demographic trends are affecting Japan's social structure, specifically in the context of Greater Tokyo, life infrastructure, public finance and the economy. Considering the failures of past Japanese policies from the perspective of population, national land, and politics, it argues that the inability of past administrations to develop a long-term and comprehensive policy has exacerbated the population crisis. This text identifies key negative chain reactions that have stemmed from this policy failure, notably the effect of population decline on future economic growth and public finances and the impact of shrinking municipalities on social and community infrastructure to support quality of life. It also highlights how population decline can precipitate inter-generational conflict, and impact on the strength of the state and more widely on Japan's international status. Japan is on the forefront of the population problem, which is expected to affect many of the world's advanced industrial economies in the 21st century. Based on the study of policy failures, this book makes recommendations for effective population policy - covering both 'mitigation' measures to encourage a recovery in the depopulation process as well as 'adaptation' measures to maintain and improve living standards - and provides key insights into dealing with the debilitating effects of population decline.

This book provides multinational evidence on active and healthy ageing. It generates authoritative new knowledge for mutual learning and policymaking in addressing challenges linked with population ageing. The authors discuss how to achieve better active ageing outcomes through appropriate policies including addressing life course determinants of active and healthy ageing. The chapters are distinctive in their focus on quantitative analysis of active and healthy ageing based on a first-of-its-kind composite measure, the Active Ageing Index developed during the 2012 European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. Contributors include researchers, civil service representatives, policymakers and other stakeholders from national, regional and European organisations. This edited volume provides a multidisciplinary resource for academics and policy makers in various areas of the social sciences, especially those studying population ageing and its consequences, economists, sociologists, social policy analysts and public health experts.

This book is the first one to examine the cause and effect of elderly people's healthy life expectancy, providing models that are easy to understand. The novel point is the success achieved in constructing a single structural model of cause and effect of healthy life expectancy. In the final models of the authors' studies, it was possible to clearly point out that it is not the case that lifestyle habits including an ideal diet directly provide for healthy life expectancy.This book is made up of published studies based on scientific evidence, using a vast amount of data based on about 8,000 in-home elderly people tracked longitudinally from 3 to 6 years, three times in all including baseline research, in a specific region of Japan. Therefore, health policy makers will be able to use this book as scientific evidence for creating area programs to promote good health that are focused on healthy longevity as the central issue. Academic researchers whose special fields are mainly public health will be able to learn both theory and practice to structurally analyze cause and effect of health factors.

This book presents a unique geographical perspective on issues of transport and mobility for ageing populations. Society is ageing across the globe. As well as living longer, older people are fitter, healthier and more active than previous generations were. There is both a desire and a need to be mobile in later life and mobility is clearly linked to older people's health and wellbeing. Yet mobility can be hard for older people and we don't always design our neighbourhoods, towns, cities and villages in an age friendly way. With case studies from across the globe, authors take a geographical lens to the important topic of transport and mobility in later life. Chapters examine how the relationships between mobility, modes of transport, place and technologies affect an aging population. This collection will be of interest to scholars and students in human geography, in particular those with interests in transport geography, mobilities, geographies of health and wellbeing, urban geographies and geographical gerontology. It will also appeal to practitioners and policy makers in urban design and planning, transport planning and engineering and public health who have interests in age-friendly cities and policy.