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.

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.

Margret Baltes, a major researcher in gerontology, challenges the deterministic view that dependence is a natural consequence of aging. In this important volume, she presents her theory of learned dependency based upon 20 years of research, which holds that dependency plays an important role in successful aging and is a resourceful adaptation to aging losses.The Many Faces of Dependency in Old Age, first published in 1997, provides insights into the social foundation of dependency. Its theoretical foundation and its broad empirical base distinguish it from others in its field. This book attempts to correct the bias towards the virtues of independence over the vicissitudes of dependence, a predominantly North American view. It stresses that dependencies are not always dysfunctional, representing only loss. Baltes also incorporates European, Japanese and feminist ideas about juxtaposing individuality and connectedness in the mature adult.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Explains why there is a crisis in caring for elderly people and how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated it Because government policies are based on an ethic of family responsibility, repeated calls to support family members caring for the burgeoning elderly population have gone unanswered. Without publicly funded long-term care services, many family caregivers cannot find relief from obligations that threaten to overwhelm them. The crisis also stems from the plight of direct care workers (nursing home assistants and home health aides), most of whom are women from racially marginalized groups who receive little respect, remuneration, or job security. Drawing on an online support group for people caring for spouses and partners with dementia, Elder Care in Crisis examines the availability and quality of respite care (which provides temporary relief from the burdens of care), the long, tortuous process through which family members decide whether to move spouses and partners to institutions, and the likelihood that caregivers will engage in political action to demand greater public support. When the pandemic began, caregivers watched in horror as nursing homes turned into deathtraps and then locked their doors to visitors. Terrified by the possibility of loved ones in nursing homes contracting the disease or suffering from loneliness, some caregivers brought them home. Others endured the pain of leaving relatives with severe cognitive impairments at the hospital door and the difficulties of sheltering in place with people with dementia who could not understand safety regulations or describe their symptoms. Direct care workers were compelled to accept unsafe conditions or leave the labor force. At the same time, however, the disaster provided an impetus for change and helped activists and scholars develop a vision of a future in which care is central to social life. Elder Care in Crisis exposes the harrowing state of growing old in America, offering concrete solutions and illustrating why they are necessary.

Haim Hazan is a leading specialist on old age in anthropology, and has published several books on particular communities of old people. The latest book is an essay on the realities of old age, as it is experienced, as opposed to the ideas about the old current in western societies. It argues that the construction of this world by outsiders is inevitably affected by deeply ingrained social attitudes and structures, such as the spatial segregation of the aged as a population, and the fear of death with which they are associated. By approaching the subject from the social constructionist perspective, and by drawing on a variety of detailed ethnographic accounts, the author describes a unique and nuanced social world. This is a sophisticated and original book, which should have a significant impact on a field still dominated by a 'social problems' approach.

This book charts the development of mobility and welfare rights for those citizens exercising their right to move or return home on retirement under the Free Movement of Persons provisions and explores their experiences of international mobility. It is set within the context of 'Citizenship of the Union'. Senior citizenship? draws on substantial primary research material to: combine detailed analysis of the framework of EU rights shaping social with in-depth qualitative interviews involving retired migrants across six member states (Greece, Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Ireland); describe and evaluate an innovative approach to comparative enquiry that combines biographical interviews with legal and qualitative analysis; highlight the diverse nature of retirement migration encompassing the experiences of returning workers, migrating retirees and post retirement returnees. Topics are explored thematically in the context of comparative social policy, raising important and topical issues around the future of social citizenship and the implications of the exercise of agency, in an increasingly global and mobile world.

The housing problems of older people in our society are highly topical because of the growing number of retired people in the population and, especially, the yet-to-come increasing number of 'very old' people. Government policies on the care of older people have been forthcoming from Whitehall, but the issue of housing is just beginning to be seriously addressed. This book represents a first attempt at bringing together people from the worlds of architecture, social science and housing studies to look at the future of living environments for an ageing society. Projecting thinking into the future, it asks critical questions and attempts to provide some of the answers. It uniquely moves beyond the issues of accommodation and care to look at the wider picture of how housing can reflect the social inclusion of people as they age. Inclusive housing in an ageing society will appeal to a wide audience - housing, health and social care workers including: housing officers, architects, planners and designers, community regeneration workers, care managers, social workers and social care assistants, registered managers and housing providers, health improvement staff and, of course, current and future generations of older people.

The Journey of Life is both a cultural history of aging and a contribution to public dialogue about the meaning and significance of later life. The core of the book shows how central texts and images of Northern middle-class culture, first in Europe and then in America, created and sustained specifically modern images of the life course between the Reformation and World War I. During this long period, secular, scientific and individualist tendencies steadily eroded ancient and medieval understandings of aging as a mysterious part of the eternal order of things. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, however, postmodern images of life's journey offer a renewed awareness of the spiritual dimensions of later life and new opportunities for growth in an aging society.

"An important contribution to the history and ethnography of El Barrio. Particularly valuable is the way in which she humanizes her subjects who, as elderly and Latino, are often totally ignored or reduced to a mere statistic."
"--Arlene Davila, Syracuse University"

What is daily life like for an elderly person whose income barely covers basic needs? How is life constrained if that person is living within the same marginal enclave to which she first migrated decades ago? How does the implementation of national policies and programs affect the daily life of those growing old in Spanish Harlem?

In Growing Old in El Barrio, Judith Freidenberg addresses these questions by examining the life-course and daily experiences of the elderly residents of El Barrio. She interweaves the economy of immigrant neighborhoods with the personal experiences of Latinos aging in Harlem--such as DoAa Emiliana, who lived in Spanish Harlem from her migration in 1948 to her death in 1995. Freidenberg further links policy issues to social issues critical to the daily lives of this population.

Combining extensive fieldwork interviews with historical and demographic population data, Growing Old in El Barrio paints an ethnographic picture of aging in Spanish Harlem and illustrates the emergence of New York as a city divided by ethnicity and class.

Whilst the vast majority of recent research on identity and ethnicity amongst South Asians in Britain has focused upon younger people, this book deals with Bengali elders, the ‘ first generation’ of migrants from Sylhet, in Bangladesh. The book describes how many of these elders face the processes of ageing, sickness and — finally — death, in a country where they did not expect to stay and where they do not necessarily feel they belong. The ways in which they talk about and deal with this, and in particular, their ambivalence towards Britain and Bangladesh lies at the heart of the book.
Centrally, the book is based around the men and women’ s life stories. In her analysis of these, Gardner shows how narratives play an important role in the formation of both collective and individual identity and are key domains for the articulation of gender and age. Underlying the stories that people tell, and sometimes hidden within their gaps and silences, are often other issues and concerns. Using particular idioms and narrative devices, the elders talk about the contradictions and disjunctions of transmigration, their relationship with and sometimes resistance to, the British State, and what they often present as the ‘ breakdown’ of ‘ traditional’ ways. In addition to this, the book shows that histories, stories and identity are not just narrated through words, but also through the body - an area rarely theorized in studies of migration.

"a must for any specialist and advanced practitioner's bookshelf." Journal of Interpersonal CareThis book focuses on what happens after a death has taken place. Drawing on social theory and anthropology, contributors examine responses to death as they occur within the unique set of cultural, social and historical circumstances which characterizes post-war society. The book does not just document and make sense of contemporary practices but also critically reviews the ways grief, mourning and death ritual have been approached by academics and practitioners in the field. It does this by combining substantial reviews with shorter illustrative examples of grief, mourning and death ritual as they are manifest in specific settings and with defined groups. These illustrative examples include personal and institutional responses to death at different points in the life cycle, and responses to different sorts of death - the death of children and death in disasters for example. The examples include commentaries on bereavement work and on changes in both the funeral industry and memorialization practices.Grief, Mourning and Death Ritual is aimed at advanced students in sociology, anthropology and psychology with an interest in death, dying and mortality. It is also directly relevant to those concerned with loss and how to respond to it. The book is therefore suitable for use on courses in nursing, palliative care, social work and counselling.

Loneliness in Later Life concerns the personal and social changes associated with ageing, a topic which is becoming increasingly popular as the number of those in the Third Age themselves reaches unprecedented levels. It analyses the nature of loneliness, clearly distinguishing it from the experience of solitary living, which in its turn is explored, and valued. Through an examination of material drawn from literature and moderen research, including the author's own experience, the book arrives at the happy conclusion that older people are not in general, lonelier than when younger.

"This is the first book that targets the "true older" New Yorker who may need to access a social service program one day and plan a trip the next day. A truly invaluable and timely guide."
"--Adeena Besdin

Expert on Eldercare"

"Take Charge! is a major contribution to older adults, their families, and professionals in the New York City area."
"--Helen Miller

Director of HealthOutreach"

For people over the age of sixty, New York City is a cluttered attic-a mess of valuables that cannot be ignored, but that for the most part remains buried in jargon, agencies, regulations, and eligibility forms. New York City is, after all, a place that offers seniors everything from discount tickets for Broadway shows to social service agencies for those who speak foreign languages including Spanish, Cantonese or Tagalog. It is a place of endless benefits for those who can dig through the junk in the attic, organize what is there and still have the desire to leave the house.

Take Charge! The Complete Guide to Senior Living in New York City is the first book to gather, in a single volume, information and advice for people over sixty who want to make the most of the city. Here at last is an all-inclusive guide that addresses every concern for senior New Yorkers, from entertainment and healthcare to housing and taxes. Take Charge! reaches beyond merely listing phone numbers and programs to giving advice on a number of areas, from choosing an HMO, a reverse mortgage, or an elder law attorney, to receiving travel discounts and negotiating home care.

Containing everything a person over sixty needs to know to make the most of life in New York City, Take Charge! is the onlycomprehensive guide available for New York seniors and their families.

This book analyzes the development of medical big data projects in Japan.Japan is experiencing unprecedented population aging, and labor productivity has decreased accordingly. Big data analysis of the Japanese medical real-world database (RWD) has the potential to tackle this issue.To allow readers to gain an understanding of Japanese medical big data analysis, the book discusses the original Japanese system that generates medical RWDs in the hospital medical records system, the nationwide standardized health checkup system, and the public medical insurance system in Japan.After introducing four major big data projects in the healthcare-medical field in Japan, the book explains the importance of creating information standards to maintain data quality and to analyze medical big data. It enables readers to analyze which standards are installed in which RWDs, how the standards are maintained, and which issues are prevalent in Japan.This book also describes the ethical processes involved in big data projects involving medical RWDs in Japan.

Comprehensive overview of literary works that illuminate the experiences of aging. Bibliographical essays analyze the ideas or themes relating to over 70 topics. Lengthy critical annotations accompany the more than 350 literary works, across various genres, on the different topics. An introduction, how to use the work section, careful cross-referencing, and author and subject indexes make this a useful research tool for gerontologists, health-care professionals, and general readers concerned with aging.

Selective, annotated bibliography aimed at providing gerontologists, health care professionals, and general readers interested in the aging process, a useful tool for identifying and utilizing literary works that provide insight into various topics in gerontology.

Part One contains bibliographical essays on more than 70 topics in gerontology. Each essay analyzes the ideas or themes that a number of literary works provide on a specific topic. The essays illustrate the relevance of literary works to gerontology study, introducing readers to a variety of works whose characters, plots, themes, or images bear on current topics in gerontology. Part Two includes detailed critical annotations of more than 350 literary works, including anthologies, autobiographies, novels, plays, poems, and stories. Annotations are detailed and draw out specific issues related to characterization, plot, conflicts, themes, imagery, and metaphors. This comprehensive overview includes an introduction, a chapter about how to use the guide, and author and subject indexes.

This original collection explores how critical gerontology can make sense of old age inequalities to inform and improve social work research, policy and practice and empower older people. With examples of practice-facing research, this book engages with key debates on age-related human rights and social justice issues. The critical and conceptual focus will expand the horizons of those who work with older people, addressing the current challenges, issues and opportunities that they face.

" . . . fun and provocative to read . . ."
--"Contemporary Gerontology"

"Essential Papers on the Psychology of Aging" contains the classic papers on the period of human development that begins with young adulthood and ends with old age and death. Including material on theory and methodology; basic psychological processes; personality and social psychology; and clinical, applied, and health psychology, the volume presents the best work published in the field, from classic papers to cutting-edge research.

Contributors to the volume include P. B. Baltes, J. E. Birren, W. E. Henry, K. F. Riegel, K. W. Schaie, D. Arenberg, H. P. Bahrick, L. K. Hall, D. B. Bromley, D. M. Burke, L. L. Light, N. Charness, F. I. M. Craik, J. McDowd, J. C. Foster, G. A. Taylor, J. G. Gilbert, J. L. Horn, R. B. Cattrell, H. E. Jones, H. S. Conrad, H. C. Lehman, C. C. Miles, W. R. Miles, A. E. D. Schonfield, E. A. Robertson, K. Sward, A. T. Welford, P. T. Costa, R. R. McCrae, B. L. Frederickson, L. L. Carstensen, D. Gutmann, J. S. Jackson, L. M. Chattters, R. J. Taylor, R. Kastenbaum, N. Kogan, M. E. Lachman, G. Bavouvie-Vief, M. De Voe, D. Bulka, M. F. Lowenthal, C. Haven, R. Schulz, M. M. Baltes, S. Honn, E. M. Barton, M. Orzech, D. Lago, F. M. Carp, M. F. Elias, N. R. Schultz, M. A. Robbins, P. K. Elias, R. L. Kahn, S. H. Zarit, N. M. Hilbert, G. Niederehe, J. K. Kiecolt- Glaser, R. Glaser, E. C. Shuttleworth, C. S. Cyer, P. Ogrocki, C. E. Speicher, B. Simon, M. A. Lieberman, S. S. Tobin, V. N. Prock, G. M. McEvoy, W. F. Cascio, S. A. Murrell, S. Himmelbarb, B. L. Neugarten, R. J. Havighurst, C. D. Ryff, K. W. Schaie, S. L. Willis, F. Scogin, L. McElreth, and L. W. Thompson.