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.

Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo, author of the Eat Right 4 Your Type series-with more than two million copies in print-has developed a brand-new, targeted plan for fighting the effects of advancing years. With specific tools unavailable anywhere else, here is an all-new individualized blood-type-specific plan to gain control over the signs and symptoms of aging. Includes ways to fight brain decline, cognitive impairment, hormonal deficiency, and loss of vitality.

"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.

As the older population in the United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, it is important to understand the characteristics, the potential, and the needs of this population. In this new and fully revised edition of Aging and Diversity, Chandra Mehrotra and Lisa Wagner address key topics in diversity and aging, discussing how the aging experience is affected by not only race and ethnicity but also gender, religious affiliation, social class, rural-urban community location, and sexual orientation and gender identity. Taking this broad view of human diversity allows the authors to convey some of the rich complexities facing our aging population - complexities that provide both challenges to meet the needs of a diverse population of elders and opportunities to learn how to live in a pluralistic society. Mehrotra and Wagner present up-to-date knowledge and scholarship about aging and diversity in a way that engages readers in active learning, placing ongoing emphasis on developing readers' knowledge and skills, fostering higher order thinking, and encouraging exploration of personal values and attitudes.

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.

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.

Age discrimination is a highly topical issue in all industrialised societies, against a background of concerns about shortening working lives and ageing populations in the future. Based upon detailed research, and adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this unique study traces the history of the age discrimination debate in Britain and the USA since the 1930s. It critically analyses the concepts of ageism in social relations and age discrimination in employment. Case-studies on generational equity and health care rationing by age are followed by an analysis of the British government's initiatives against age discrimination in employment. The book then traces the history of the debate on health status and old age, addressing the question of whether working capacity has improved sufficiently to justify calls to delay retirement and extend working lives. It concludes with a detailed examination of the origins and subsequent working of the USA's 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

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.

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.

The Decline of Life is an ambitious and absorbing study of old age in eighteenth-century England. Drawing on a wealth of sources - literature, correspondence, poor house and workhouse documents and diaries - Susannah Ottaway considers a wide range of experiences and expectations of age in the period, and demonstrates that the central concern of ageing individuals was to continue to live as independently as possible into their last days. Ageing men and women stayed closely connected to their families and communities, in relationships characterized by mutual support and reciprocal obligations. Despite these aspects of continuity, however, older individuals' ability to maintain their autonomy, and the nature of the support available to them once they did fall into necessity declined significantly in the last decades of the century. As a result, old age was increasingly marginalized. Historical demographers, historical gerontologists, sociologists, social historians and women's historians will find this book essential reading.

The time has come to further challenge biomedical and clinical thinking about dementia, which has for so long underpinned policy and practice. Framing dementia as a disability, this book takes a rights-based approach to expand the debate. Applying a social constructionist lens, it builds on earlier critical perspectives by bringing together concepts including disability, social inclusion, personhood, equality, participation, dignity, empowerment, autonomy and solidarity. Launching the debate into new and exciting territory, the book argues that people living with dementia come within the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and therefore have full entitlement to all the rights the Convention enshrines. A human rights-based approach has not to date been fully applied to interrogate the lived experience and policy response to dementia. With the fresh analytical tools provided in this book, policy makers and practitioners will will gain new insights into how this broader perspective can be used to further promote the quality of life and quality of care for all those affected by dementia.

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.

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.

Research Design in Aging and Social Gerontology provides a review of methodological approaches and data-collection methods commonly used with older adults in real-life settings. It addresses the role of normative age-related sensory, cognitive, and functional changes, as well as the influence of generational cohort (age-period-cohort) upon each design. It discusses the role of older adults as true co-researchers; issues uniquely related to studies of persons residing in community-based, assisted, skilled, and memory-care settings; and ethical concerns related to cognitive status changes. The text concludes with detailed guidelines for improving existing data collection methods for older persons and selecting the best fitting methodologies for use in planning research on aging. Features of Research Design in Aging and Social Gerontology include: Descriptions and evaluations of a wide range of methodological approaches, and methods used to collect data about older persons (quantitative, qualitative, mixed, and emergent methods: photovoice, virtual environments, etc.) Ways to match research questions to selection of method without a preconceived methodological preference or dominance Real-world and applied examples along with cases from the gerontological literature "How to" sections about reading output/software reports and qualitative-analysis screenshots (from ATLAS.ti) and quantitative (SPSS) output and interpretation Pedagogical tools in every chapter such as text boxes, case studies, definitions of key terms, discussion questions, and references for further reading on chapter topics Glossary of key terms, complete sample research report, and an overview of past methodological research design work in gerontology Companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/Weil where instructors will find PowerPoint presentations, additional discussion questions, and a sample syllabus; and students will find flashcards based on glossary terms, a downloadable copy of the sample research report in the text, and links to data sets, related websites, further reading, and select gerontological journals This text is intended for upper-level undergraduates and masters students in aging and gerontology as well as students in human development, applied anthropology, psychology, public health, sociology, and social-work settings. Health care professionals, social workers, and care managers who work with older adults will also find this text a valuable resource.

This book presents the results of an extensive study of old age and aging, ranging from 70 to 100 years, that was carried out by psychologists, sociologists, physicians, and scientists from a variety of other disciplines. A random sample of more than 500 senior residents of the former West Berlin were examined in depth. Topics investigated include intellectual abilities, self and personality, social relationships, physical health, medical treatment and care, mental disorders such as depression and dementia, socioeconomic conditions, everyday competence, subjective well-being, and gender differences.

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.

"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.

"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.

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?

"Great Myths of Aging "looks at the generalizations and stereotypes associated with older people and, with a blend of humor and cutting-edge research, dispels those common myths.

Reader-friendly structure breaks myths down into categories such as Body, Mind, and Living Contexts; and looks at myths from "Older people lose interest in sex" to "Older people are stingy"Explains the origins of myths and misconceptions about agingLooks at the unfortunate consequences of anti-aging stereotypes for both the reader and older adults in society

Development of Adult Thinking is a timely synthesis and evaluation of the current knowledge and emerging issues relating to adult cognitive development and learning. Focusing on psychological and educational cutting-edge research as well as giving an overview of the key theorists such as Piaget and Kohlberg, Kallio and the team of expert contributors offer a holistic view on the development of adult thinking, representing perspectives from developmental, moral, and social psychology, as well as education and philosophy. These topics are divided into three sections: Adult cognitive and moral development, Perspectives of adult learning, and Open questions and new approaches, offering introduction, analysis, and directions for future research. This text is essential reading for students and researchers in developmental psychology and related courses as well as adult educators and teachers working in adult education.

At a time when many people around the world are living into their tenth decade, the longest longitudinal study of human development ever undertaken offers some welcome news for the new old age: our lives continue to evolve in our later years, and often become more fulfilling than before. Begun in 1938, the Grant Study of Adult Development charted the physical and emotional health of over 200 men, starting with their undergraduate days. The now-classic Adaptation to Life reported on the men's lives up to age 55 and helped us understand adult maturation. Now George Vaillant follows the men into their nineties, documenting for the first time what it is like to flourish far beyond conventional retirement. Reporting on all aspects of male life, including relationships, politics and religion, coping strategies, and alcohol use (its abuse being by far the greatest disruptor of health and happiness for the study's subjects), Triumphs of Experience shares a number of surprising findings. For example, the people who do well in old age did not necessarily do so well in midlife, and vice versa. While the study confirms that recovery from a lousy childhood is possible, memories of a happy childhood are a lifelong source of strength. Marriages bring much more contentment after age 70, and physical aging after 80 is determined less by heredity than by habits formed prior to age 50. The credit for growing old with grace and vitality, it seems, goes more to ourselves than to our stellar genetic makeup.