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.

Are we in control of our own development in adulthood, or are we shaped by circumstances beyond our control? By adopting the concept of intentional self-development (ISD), this text outlines an action-theoretical approach to human development that emphasizes both an individual's ability to shape their own development throughout the lifespan, and the extent to which this potential is limited. By examining general age-related changes and critical life events, Intentional Self-Development and Positive Ageing explores the adaptive cognitive-motivational processes that generate positive development in adulthood, including developmental tasks, cognitive changes, life-stage transitions, and biological and neural processes. Leipold goes on to discuss the concept of positive ageing, highlighting the flexibility of the term and evaluating it from multiple perspectives to demonstrate its subjectivity, as well as its importance. This text also discusses the importance of resilience in positive development, contributing to the search for conditions conducive to positive life conduct across the lifespan. This book will be essential reading for undergraduates and postgraduates studying lifespan development and gerontology, positive psychology, or health psychology, as well as researchers in those fields. It will also be of interest to developmental counsellors, clinicians, and other applied occupational groups who are seeking to understand the psychological basis of actions.

How does aging affect the interaction between people and their social environment? This intriguing book examines that question from various perspectives, exploring in detail the social and psychological dimensions of the aging process. Drawing on the insights of many disciplines, articles investigate such issues as subjectively evaluated age, facts influencing adjustment, and attitudes, projections, and perceptions of competence.

The debate over national health insurance has renewed attention on the health and health care utilization of the elderly. Few questions have been more poignant than the health of the United States' elderly. As a broad-ranging critical look, "Health and Health Care Utilization in Later Life" brings the central questions facing the elderly into bold relief. It spans the range of health concerns the elderly face daily. The debates over health care rage, often without having the relevant facts. "Health and Health Care Utilization in Later Life" brings the facts to the fore but just as importantly, it brings a sensitive feeling for the realities of health as a driving force in the daily lives of old people.

Robert Butler's call for life reviews has exerted a key influence on the way gerontologists have looked at reminiscence and remembering. Widely thought to be a helpful mechanism for integrating past and future, the process of life review needs better specification and evaluation based on sound research. ""The Meaning of Reminiscence and Life Review"" brings together both research and application pieces covering the range of possibilities. It examines important controversies and asks: ""Does it work?"" and ""What is the evidence?"" Given their own voice, what do old people say about looking back?

"Aging in place" is among the newer terms to be included along with "senior citizen," "golden agers," and others in the lexicon of gerontology. Since aging is a lifelong process and each of us occupies three-dimensional space, we are, of course, always aging in place, but two factors have caused aging in place to emerge as a salient concern for gerontological policy makers. The first is the explosive growth of homeownership after World War II, the other is the perception that thousands of older people have been flowing into nursing homes unnecessarily when they can and should remain in their own home or apartment.

Containing ideas and perspectives, this monograph examines the evolutionary and future considerations for diversity in aging.

Includes 16 essays which address many issues from a different perspective suggested by the experience of aging in America. This study explores the political, social, and economic realities which have an impact on Americans as they grow older.

Aging is a universal experience, and an individual one. But it is also a cultural phenomenon. Our ethnic and social background has a strong influence on how we deal with growing old. This collection draws on research from around the world to explore how cultural context shapes and defines the aging process. Studies examine differing patterns in the lives of the aged in Portugal, Polynesia, Sweden, and Israel, and among ethnic groups in the United States.

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.

The book is a much-needed revised and updated edition of Elders and the law (PEPAR Publications, 1993). It describes the legal framework for working with older people following the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 and the modernising agenda in health and social care. Covering broadly the same ground as the first edition, the length has been considerably expanded to enable topics to be dealt with more comprehensively. It covers the range of legal issues affecting the welfare and financial security of older people in the community and residential settings, and emphasises the empowering nature of legal knowledge. It also describes and explains the application of law and policy relating to older people in the context of social work practice. Written by a social worker and a lawyer, the book highlights the opportunities for interprofessional working and combines professional perspectives on: * providing health and social care services in the community; * housing needs and entering residential care; * dealing with financial matters; * end of life issues. Older people and the law is aimed at all professionals working with older people, but particularly social workers. Its clarity of style means that older people themselves and carers will find it accessible. BASW/Policy Press series The BASW/Policy Press partnership provides the very best in accessible and practical high-quality resources for social work professionals and students. For other titles in this series, please follow the series link from the main catalogue page.

Caregiving has emerged as a critical issue in the second half of the life cycle. With the growth of the older population, there have been dramatic increases in the number of people needing care and assistance. The responsibility for care typically falls on families at a time when they have limited resources to meet these needs. At a societal level, the need for care for growing numbers of disabled elders poses a major challenge for how to organize supportive services in an efficient and responsive system. Bringing together multiple perspectives on caregiving, the authors' explore informal and formal family caregiving and the pivotal issue of how these systems interface and interact. An overview of this variation is provided by examining family caregiving from three perspectives: * the effects of culture on helping patterns and family responsibility, * how different disabilities affect patterns of family care, and * longitudinal perspectives on the impact that caregiving has on family members.

As the 'grey market' perpetuates the quest for eternal youth, the biological realities of deep old age are increasingly denied. Ageing and Popular Culture traces the historical emergence of stereotypes of retirement and documents their recent demise, arguing that although modernisation, marginalisation, and medicalisation created rigid age classifications, the rise of consumer culture has coincided with a postmodern broadening of options for those in the Third Age. With an adroit use of photographs and other visual sources, Andrew Blaikie demonstrates that an expanded leisure phase is breaking down barriers between mid and later life. At the same time, 'positive ageing' also creates new imperatives and new norms with attendant forms of deviance. While babyboomers may anticipate a fulfilling retirement, none relish decline. Has deep old age replaced death as the taboo subject of the late twentieth century? If so, what might be the consequences?

In the last century, changes to the nature and patterns of women's working lives have been vast. Notably, the huge increase in women's participation in the paid workforce means that today women are retiring in unprecedented numbers. How do they cope with this lifestyle transition? What major difficulties do they face? How do they process the problems associated with managing this transition in fulfilling ways while juggling family, financial, friendship, ageing and health issues? To date, most retirement studies have focused on men, and therefore gender-specific issues relating to post-work life, such as the pay gap, the double shift, women's longer lifespans and their traditional roles as carers and social nurturers, have been afforded far less attention. Women and Retirement: Challenges of a New Life Stage is the first book of its kind to examine women's retirement using a lifespan perspective. Based on the authors' extensive study of over 1,000 retired Australian women as well as current research, the book presents models of various retirement trajectories and compares women's experiences with the more widely researched retirement experiences of men. Moore and Rosenthal consider the nature of the transition from full-time work to retirement and the many different pathways and factors influencing this journey: women's financial status in the retirement years; their health changes; and the varied activity patterns they adopt. Women and Retirement is a comprehensive, up-to-date and evidence-based review of the female retirement experience. It will be invaluable for courses on ageing and health within psychology, women's studies, social work and sociology, and for use by practitioners in these fields.

Retirement is a comma in our lives, not a full stop. Life After Work looks at the psychological, emotional and wellbeing issues that surround this complex and important transition in life. This book suggests that retirement is a life stage over which we may have greater control than previously thought; it no longer has to be the case that retirement is a terminal point, a time where you became sedentary and inactive. Retirement is on one level a private, individual matter that affects one's sense of self and purpose, physical and mental processes, as well as financial security or provision. On another level, retirement has an impact on relationships with loved ones, family and friends, as well as colleagues. It can strengthen or disrupt bonds, leading to new bonds being formed or to withdrawal. This book is written by successful authors and psychologists Robert Bor, Carina Eriksen and Lizzie Quarterman, each with many years' experience of helping people cope with life stage changes and prepare for retirement. It contains illustrative case studies throughout, from which valuable lessons can be learned, and draws on the very latest psychological research and techniques to provide a blueprint for planning and living a wonderful retirement or life post-work. Planning for your future is crucial in enabling you to maximise the opportunities available. Following the book's blueprint will help you prepare for this phase in your life, and the sooner you start the better. Life After Work will be of great interest to readers of all ages seeking guidance on retirement and will also appeal to psychologists of life stage changes.

In 1970, the best-seller Our Bodies Ourselves was published. The focus of the authors, the Boston Health Collective, was on the youthful female body: on reproduction, sexuality, genitalia, intimacy and relationships in the context of North American cultural expectations. Our Bodies Not Ourselves is also about the female body-but on women aging from menopause to 100. Like its predecessor, Our Bodies Not Ourselves covers sexuality, genitalia, intimacy, gender norms and relationships. But the aging woman's body has many other issues, from head to toe, from skeleton to skin, and from sleep to motion. The book, an ethnography and Western cultural history of aging and gender, draws upon history, culture and social media, the authors' own experiences as women of 70, and conversations and correspondence with more than two hundred women aged from 60-ish to 100. They consider the cultural and structural frameworks for contemporary aging: the long sweep of history, gendered cultural norms and the vast commercial and medical marketplaces for maintaining and altering the aging body. Part I, The Private Body, focuses on the embodied experiences of aging within our private households. Part II, The Public Body, explores weight, height, and adornment as old women appear among others. Part III, The Body With Others, sets the embodied experiences of aging women within their sexual and social relationships.

Retirement is about change, not age. Retirement is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be yourself and do what you want to do. It offers new possibilities for personal growth through learning, retraining, travelling and friendship. But it is also one of the biggest transitions we face, and brings huge psychological and emotional challenges. It's not surprising that many people struggle with the adjustment to a different pace of life. Not Fade Away guides the reader through these challenges: dealing with the loss of status and routine, reinventing relationships, managing money, and above all, finding new meaning and purpose. It brings together expert advice and insights from people retiring now, who speak from the heart about the lessons they've learned and the new sources of fulfilment they've discovered. By cutting a clear path through the maze of choices on offer for people retiring today - which may or may not involve giving up work completely - Not Fade Away inspires you to make up your own mind and take control of your future. And that, experts agree, is the key to a good retirement.

Nearly all countries in the world are experiencing an aging of their populations due to declining fertility rates and rising longevity. Aging has been the subject of much discussion in the last decade, often expressed in alarmist language. On Global Aging presents a more optimistic look on the effects of aging on the economy. Nonetheless aging will pose major policy challenges on the well functioning of the economy and the society as a whole.
The book describes and analyses the effects of population aging on social and economic issues, labour and financial markets, pension and health care expenditures and public finance, and the welfare of people. It surveys also the policy measures in the face of aging to secure the resource base. They are mainly aimed at increasing labour force participation and above all at stimulating productivity growth. The book is a valuable resource for practitioners and policy makers and the wider academic community, economists, social scientists, gerontologists and others.

Individuals and families face challenges at the end of life that can vary significantly depending on social and cultural contexts, yet more than ever is now known about the needs that cut across the great diversity of experiences in the face of dying and death. A number of behavioural interventions and clinical approaches to addressing these needs have been developed and are available to help providers care for clients and assist them in achieving their goals. Perspectives on Palliative and End-of-Life Care: Disease, Social and Cultural Contexts explores how these interventions can be used to address a range of issues across social and cultural contexts for those in need of end of life care. With perspectives from experienced clinicians, providers, and caregivers from around the world, the book offers a strong foundation in contemporary evidence-based practice alongside seasoned practice insights from the field and explores interventions for people as diverse as HIV caregivers in Africa and individuals dying with dementia. In addition, readers will learn about the process of caring for individuals with chronic illnesses including severe mental illness; weigh the impact of policy regulations on the availability of and access to palliative care and interventions; and be able to compare the different issues experienced by family caregivers and formal caregivers. As the companion volume to Perspectives on Behavioural Interventions in Palliative and End-of-Life Care, this book will be of interest to a wide variety of individuals, such as academics, researchers and postgraduates in the fields of mental health, medicine, psychology and social work. It will also be essential reading for healthcare providers and trainees from psychosocial and palliative medicine, social work and nursing.

Critical Gerontology Comes of Age reflects on how baby boomers, caretakers, and health professionals are perceiving and adapting to historical, social, political, and cultural changes that call into question prior assumptions about aging and life progression. Through an exploration of earlier and later-life stages and the dynamic changes in intergenerational relations, chapter authors reexamine the research, methods, and scope of critical gerontology, a multidisciplinary field that speaks to the experiences of life in the 21st century. Topics include Medicare, privatization of home care, incarceration, outreach to LGTBQ elders, migration, and chronic illness. Grounded in innovative research and case studies, this volume reflects multiple perspectives and is accessible to lay readers, advanced undergraduates and graduate students, and professionals in many fields.

Critical Gerontology Comes of Age reflects on how baby boomers, caretakers, and health professionals are perceiving and adapting to historical, social, political, and cultural changes that call into question prior assumptions about aging and life progression. Through an exploration of earlier and later-life stages and the dynamic changes in intergenerational relations, chapter authors reexamine the research, methods, and scope of critical gerontology, a multidisciplinary field that speaks to the experiences of life in the 21st century. Topics include Medicare, privatization of home care, incarceration, outreach to LGTBQ elders, migration, and chronic illness. Grounded in innovative research and case studies, this volume reflects multiple perspectives and is accessible to lay readers, advanced undergraduates and graduate students, and professionals in many fields.

The only graduate text to encompass the full range of issues regarding the psychology of aging This is the first graduate-level text that offers a comprehensive, in-depth chronicle of issues surrounding the psychology of aging emphasizing psychology, with a foundation in the biology, and an expansion into the sociological aspects of aging. The text is divided into three sections: biological underpinnings of aging, psychological components of aging, and social aspects of aging. Among the multitude of topics addressed are biological theories of aging, neuroimaging methods in aging research, neuroplasticity, cognitive reserve and cognitive interventions, a detailed overview of neurocognitive disorders in aging such as Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body disease, relationships in aging, work vs. retirement, cultural issues in aging, and aging and the legal system, to name just a few critical topics. With an emphasis on promoting critical thinking, the text is enriched with discussion questions in each chapter along with suggestions for more in-depth readings. In addition it includes chapter PowerPoints and an Instructor's Manual with sample syllabi for a 10-week course and a 15-week course. Written for graduate students in multiple gerontology-related disciplines, the text is also of value to individuals studying nursing, medicine, social work, biology, and occupational, physical, and speech therapies. Key Features: Addresses the biological underpinnings of aging, psychological components, and social aspects Written by a variety of experts on each area Emphasizes critical thinking throughout the text Presents discussion questions in each chapter Includes PowerPoints and an Instructor's Manual with sample syllabi Tailored to graduate students from multiple disciplines embarking on clinical or research careers involving older adults.

This thorough book provides valuable information on guardianship and alternative methods for serving judgment-impaired adults. To date, much of contemporary guardianship policy has been developed by muddling through. This book explores developments in case law concerning the scope of the guardian's authority, the proposed national guardianship act, and proposed changes in federal legislation regarding representative payees, and provides guidance in these important areas of concern. This collection conveys the range of viewpoints and geographic diversity that have characterized this subject. Protecting Judgment-Impaired Adults presents an array of topics, showing a sense of the direction guardianship law and practice will be moving in, aiding the work and understanding of policymakers, social workers, health care administrators, and families.

Although philosophers, physicians, and others have long pondered the meanings and experiences of growing older, gerontology did not emerge as a scientific field of inquiry in the United States until the twentieth century. The study of aging borrows from a variety of other disciplines, including medicine, psychology, sociology and anthropology, but its own scientific basis is still developing. Despite dozens of aging-related journals, and a notable increase in state, regional, national and international networks, there are no widely shared techniques or distinctive methods. Theories of aging remain partial and tentative. By tracing intellectual networks and analyzing institutional patterns, Crossing Frontiers shows how old age became a 'problem' worth investigating and how a multidisciplinary orientation took shape. Gerontology is a marginal intellectual enterprise but its very strengths and weaknesses illuminate the politics of specialization and academic turf-fighting in U.S. higher education.

Gerontology did not emerge as a scientific field of inquiry in the United States until the twentieth century. By tracing intellectual networks and analyzing institutional patterns, Crossing Frontiers shows how old age became a "problem" worth investigating and how a multidisciplinary orientation took shape. Gerontology remains a marginal intellectual enterprise, but its very strengths and weaknesses illuminate the politics of specialization and academic turf-fighting in U.S. higher education.