This myth-busting and question-focused textbook tackles the fascinating and important social and policy issues posed by the challenges and opportunities of ageing. The unique pedagogical approach recognises the gap between the lives of students and older people, and equips students with the conceptual, analytical and critical tools to understand what it means to grow old and what it means to live in an ageing society. Features include: * Myth-busting boxes incorporated into each chapter that unpack the common assumptions and stereotypes about ageing and older people in a clear and striking way; * A multidisciplinary and issue-focused approach, interspersed with lively examples and vignettes bringing the debates to life; * Group and self-study activities; * A comprehensive glossary of key terms. Answering questions which have arisen over years of longitudinal and systematic research on the social implications of ageing, this lively and engaging textbook provides an essential foundation for students in gerontology, sociology, social policy and related fields.

Childhood disabilities, particularly cognitive disabilities, are on the rise yet social programs and services to help US families respond to disabilities are not. Many families turn to grandparents for assistance juggling work, family responsibilities, and specialized therapies. This book is based on in-depth interviews with grandparents who are providing at least some care to grandchildren with disabilities. The analyses will help to better understand (1) under what conditions grandparents provide care and support, (2) what types and intensities of care and support grandparents provide, and (3) the impact of that care and support on grandparents' social, emotional, physical, and financial wellbeing. In this fascinating and provocative book, Madonna Harrington Meyer and Ynesse Abdul-Malak take readers on a deep dive into the complex lives of grandparents who care for their disabled grandchildren. In Grandparenting Children with Disabilities, their interviews reveal the joy, meaning, and purpose grandparents find in caregiving, the challenges and frustrations they encounter, and the many ways they compromise their own health and well-being for the sake of their grandchildren. Drawing from theories of cumulative inequality and from their deep knowledge of the US policy context, the authors lay bare the systemic failures that leave families of children with disabilities without adequate support and that place the most vulnerable among them at grave physical, emotional, and financial risk... Jane McLeod, Provost Professor, Indiana University Grandparents in the U.S. already take on far more parenting responsibilities as compared to their peers in other countries. Grandparenting Children with Disabilities demonstrates that the intensity of these responsibilities is compounded for those whose grandchildren have disabilities given limited policy supports and a society still largely unaccommodating to those with disabilities. This book beautifully navigates the tension between the love these grandparents have for their grandchildren and the challenges they face caring for them. Pamela Herd, Professor, Georgetown University Grandparenting Children with Disabilities offers important insights about the lived experience of older adults who care for and care about their grandchildren...The authors skillfully integrate the stories they tell with consideration of macro social structural influences and life course perspectives... I recommend it highly! Eva Kahana, Distinguished University Professor, Case Western Reserve

This book explores the practical application of recent improvements in technology for people living with dementia and highlights the positive outcomes on care, quality of life, and services on patients through exploration of 15 research projects to redefine the future of dementia care. Using research compiled in collaboration with leading universities and organisations across Europe, this book demonstrates how INDUCT's (Interdisciplinary Network for Dementia Utilising Current Technology's) findings resulted in implications for practical cognitive and social factors to improve the usability of technology, evaluating the effectiveness of specific contemporary technology, and tracing facilitators and barriers for implementation of technology in dementia care. Featuring a unique training programme along with a wide range of patient-public involvement, this state-of-the-art volume will be essential reading for researchers, academics and scholars in the fields of dementia and mental health research, gerontology, psychology and nursing.

This book explores the unresolved paradox at the heart of population aging, namely how to account for the fact that death rates from most non-communicable diseases rise as people age, yet aggregate death rates from such diseases have decreased overall despite an increasingly aging population. It provides a long-term historical perspective on this issue, presenting evidence that the underpinnings of modern aging extend as far back as the nineteenth century, and that aging has boosted per capita healthcare spending. The book first outlines the three eras of the Epidemiologic Transition, taking readers from its first stage where the threat of infectious diseases loom large, through the transitional stage, and on to the modern era, where non-communicable diseases are the primary cause of death. Next, the book examines the age-profiles of people whose childhoods coincide with the different stages of the Epidemiologic Transition. Using data from England and Wales, one of the few places that have recorded the data necessary for such an exploration, the book resolves the aging paradox by studying hidden generational change. It traverses historical time and identifies the distinct socio-economic and epidemiologic childhood conditions that may appear in it. It then compares, for instance, aging of children brought up in an earlier epidemiologic stage with aging of ones raised in a modern one. In the process, it explores the influence of childhood development on aging. Overall, the book has a quantitative bent, engaging the reader with analytical issues that will help develop a deeper understanding of modern aging.

This book offers a unique multi-generational approach to saving Social Security. Public programs have adapted to societal aging, but fears overwhelm hopes for Social Security's future prospects. Conservatives want to privatize operations that liberals seek to expand. Younger workers are happy that Social Security protects their elders, but most do not expect benefits when needed. Achenbaum reframes conflicting perspectives and offers new models of respectful transgenerational dialogue that can mobilize pragmatic reforms. Designed for use in gerontology, social work, and public-policy courses, Safeguarding Social Security for Future Generations offers measured hope for leaving a legacy that safeguards the common good.

This book examines the process of population aging in China and its unique features, considers the social progress implied in China becoming a society with an aging population, and assesses the tremendous risks and challenges involved. Based on the development of pension security systems around the world, the book studies the status quo and future requirements of the Chinese pension security system from the perspectives of capital, service and spirit, and puts forwards a three-pillar pension security system that is in conformity with China's current situation - and reflects the developmental trend that, in future, social security will likely transform from material security into comprehensive security. In addition, the book analyzes the Chinese pension security system. While integrating international perspectives, its main focus is on statistical analysis, combining theory with practice, and qualitative with quantitative analysis. As such, the book not only offers a "wi ndow" for the world on the status and evolution of China's pension security system, but also an opportunity for international academic dialogues.

The United Nations Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) offers a bold new agenda for handling the issue of ageing in the 21st-century. It focuses on three priority areas: older persons and development; advancing health and well-being into old age; and ensuring enabling and supportive environments. This book brings together global perspectives on the MIPAA and focusses on and assesses the success and failures of governments to implement its recommendations. Despite its pivotal importance in international ageing policy, the MIPAA has been relatively neglected by academics in their writings and studies. This book mitigates this analytical and empirical cavity. Each chapter focuses on one specific geographical region and addresses five key themes: National ageing situation; Twenty years of MIPAA; Ensuring ageing with dignity; Healthy and active ageing in a sustainable world; and Priorities for the future. It presents an overall summary of the findings, future challenges and opportunities related to ageing, recommendations for future actions to be taken, and policy adjustments needed. The authors also present lessons that were learnt from managing the impact of COVID-19 on older people, together with an outlook on the most immediate priorities for the future so that the recommendations in the MIPAA are achieved in post-COVID-19 and sustainable ethical scenarios. An important contribution towards the advancement of ageing policy, the book will be indispensable to students and researchers of gerontology, ageing, and health. It will also be of interest to policy makers, geriatricians, dementia care specialists, social policy makers responsible for ensuring active and healthy ageing, and all public sector departments which have specific responsibilities towards improving the quality of life of older adults.

This open access book offers new insights into the ageing-migration nexus and the nature of home. Documenting the hidden world of France's migrant worker hostels, it explores why older North and West African men continue to live past retirement age in this sub-standard housing. Conventional wisdom holds that at retirement labour migrants ought to instead return to their families in home countries, where their French pensions would have far greater purchasing power. This paradox is the point of departure for a book which transports readers from the banlieues of Paris to the banks of the Senegal River and the villages of the Anti-Atlas. In intimate ethnographic detail, the author brings to life the experiences of these older labour migrants by sharing in the life of the hostels as a resident, by observing at close quarters the men's family life on the other side of the Mediterranean as a guest in their homes, and even by accompanying them in their travels by bus, sea, and air. The monograph evaluates several theories of migration against rich qualitative data gathered from multiple methods: biographical narrative and semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and archival research. In the process, it offers a thoughtful contribution to broader debates on what it means for migrants to belong and achieve inclusion in society. This book has been awarded an 'honourable mention' in the Khayrallah Prize in Migration Studies, courtesy of the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies at North Carolina State University. For more information please see: https://lebanesestudies.ncsu.edu/awards/scholarly/2018.php. This book has been nominated for the 2019 BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize

At the turn of the millennium more people are living into their seventies, eighties, nineties and even beyond. Is the existence of so many old people in Britain something new? Are they creating an intolerable burden of costs of care and pensions on a shrinking younger generation? This book shows that old people have always been an important presence in English society. It describes the variety of ways in which they have lived their lives, and argues that as more people live longer, they are fit and active for longer. Older people can and do benefit society more than they burden it.

This book brings together two major trends influencing economic and social life: population ageing on the one side, and migration on the other. Both have assumed increasing importance over the course of the 20th and into the 21st century. The book offers a unique interdisciplinary perspective on the challenges posed by the globalisation of the life course to welfare states' old age and family policies. Through a variety of case studies, it covers a wide range of migration scenarios: those who migrate in later life; migrants from earlier years who age in place; and old people who hire migrant caregivers. It shows how both local and global economic inequalities intersect to frame interactions between ageing, migration, and family support. Across a wide variety of situations, it highlights that migration can both create risks for older people, but also serve as an answer to ageing-related social, economic, and health risks. The book explores tensions between national and global contexts in experiences of migration across the life course. As such this book offers a fascinating read to scholars, students, practitioners, and policy makers in the fields of aging, migration, life course, and population health.

Mistreatment of the elderly became recognized as a serious and growing problem in the late 1970s, as a result of governmental investigations and research in the public and private sectors. Although in most states elder mistreatment is handled by social service agencies, other professionals are also needed to broaden the identification team and help alleviate the risk to the older adults. This book is designed for human services professionals who are not necessarily adult protective services specialists, but who provide direct ongoing services to elder adults. Its purpose is to offer guidelines for detecting elder mistreatment, so that assistance can be given to the vulnerable older adults to preserve their particular quality of life. The book is arranged into seven chapters. The first discusses why elder-serving human services professionals should become involved in mistreatment identification, while chapter two focuses on the various starting points in the definition of elder mistreatment. Chapters three and four review research on risk factors in elder mistreatment and detail varieties of mistreatment measures and methods for distinguishing between them. A review of risk instruments used in adult protective services and non-adult protective services settings forms the basis of chapter five, and chapter six outlines a proposed risk assessment model, specially designed for elder-serving human service professionals. The final chapter offers some prospects for the future of elder mistreatment risk assessments. The work concludes with a set of four appendices, covering contact persons in lead agencies, report-receiving authorities within jurisdictions, health status risk assessment, and prevention strategies. This volume will be a useful tool for human services professionals, mental health care providers, and social health care and legal services professionals, as well as a useful addition to reference collections in public, academic, and medical libraries.

Winner of the 2019 Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Book Award presented by the Interpersonal Communication Division of the National Communication Association (NCA). Interpersonal Arguing is an accessible review of scholarship on key elements of face-to-face arguing, which is the interpersonal exchange of reasons. Topics include frames for understanding the nature of arguing, argument situations, serial arguments, argument dialogues, and international differences in how people understand interpersonal arguing. This is a thorough survey of the leading issues involved in understanding how people argue with one another.

How can we be happier, healthier and more satisfied in life? This edited collection examines various dimensions of wellbeing among older people, including its measurement; social, environmental and economic determinants; and how research can be translated into policy to improve quality of life for older people. With an increasingly ageing population across countries and an increasing population of older adults, there is growing interest in improving older people's ability to live healthily and happily. With a focus on retirement and aged care, this book is important reading for those interested in Welfare Economics, Health Economics and Development.

As you age, you may find yourself worrying about your memory. Where did I put those car keys? What time was my appointment? What was her name again? With more than 41 million Americans over the age of 65 in the United States, the question becomes how much (or, perhaps, what type) of memory loss is to be expected as one gets older and what should trigger a visit to the doctor. Seven Steps to Managing Your Memory addresses these key concerns and more, such as... * What are the signs that suggest your memory problems are more than just part of normal aging? * Is it normal to have concerns about your memory? * What are the markers of mild cognitive impairment, dementia, Alzheimer's, and other neurodegenerative diseases? * How should you convey your memory concerns to your doctor? * What can your doctor do to evaluate your memory? * Which healthcare professional(s) should you see? * What medicines, alternative therapies, diets, and exercises are available to improve your memory? * Can crossword puzzles, computer brain-training games, memory aids, and strategies help strengthen your memory? * What other resources are available when dealing with memory loss? Seven Steps to Managing Your Memory is written in an easy-to-read yet comprehensive style, featuring clinical vignettes and character-based stories that provide real-life examples of how to successfully manage age-related memory loss.

This short book provides a focused but comprehensive assessment of age-friendly initiatives in the UK based on in-depth interviews with the AF leaders in each locality to understand what being an AF community means in practice and how the schemes have developed and evolved, and the outcomes achieved. It advances knowledge on AFCC This is a timely contribution given the recent new WHO cycle on active and healthy aging Appeal to a wide range of disciplines, including: urban planning, nursing, urban studies architecture, nursing, tourism and human geography.

Dance, Ageing and Collaborative Arts-Based Research contributes a critical and comprehensive perspective on the role of the arts -specifically dance - in enhancing the lives of older people. The book focuses on the development of an innovative arts-based program for older adults and the collaborative process of exploring and understanding its impact in relation to ageing, social inclusion, and care. It offers a wide audience of readers a richer understanding of the role of the arts in ageing and life enrichment, critical contributions to theories of ageing and care, specific approaches to arts-based collaborative research, and an exploration of the impact of Sharing Dance from the perspective of older adults, artists, researchers, and community leaders. Given the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of this book, it will be of interest across health, social science, and humanities disciplines, including gerontology, sociology, psychology, geography, nursing, social work, and performing arts. Licence line: Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book provides an interdisciplinary focus on music, memory, and ageing by examining how they intersect outside of a formal therapeutic context or framework and by offering a counter-narrative to age as decline. It contributes to the development of qualitative research methodologies by utilizing and reflecting on methods for studying music, memory, and ageing across diverse and interconnected contexts. Using the notion of inheritance to trouble its core themes of music, memory, ageing, and methodology, it examines different ways in which the concept of inheritance is understood but also how it commonly refers to the practice of passing on, and the connections this establishes across time and space. It confronts the ageist discourses that associate popular music predominantly with youth and that focus narrowly, and almost exclusively, on music's therapeutic function for older adults. By presenting research which examines various intersections of music and ageing outside of a therapeutic context or framework, the book brings a much-needed intervention.

Very timely to the region - "The ageing of the world's population is rapidly growing primarily due to an increase in life expectancy as well as to declining fertility rates. The 2016 Population Data Sheet by United Nations ESCAP disclosed that approximately 16% (1.3 billion) of the population in the Asia-Pacific Region would be 60 years or older by 2050. All countries, including those in Asia, are facing significant challenges (social, economic and political) with this rapid demographic transition characterized by reductions in infectious and acute diseases overshadowed by the rapid emergence of non-communicable and degenerative diseases."

This book highlights international efforts to better understand the role of individual differences in healthy aging by exploring new directions, methods, and questions within the field. The book considers how to measure personality and personality change during adulthood, the associations between personality and healthy aging outcomes over time, and the role of personality in building interventions to promote healthy aging. The first section considers the value of personality constructs for healthy aging outcomes beyond the broad Big Five personality dimensions. It discusses the role of attachment, purpose, and affect, and also touches on the issue of psychopathology. The second section presents innovative assessment methods, research designs beyond classical longitudinal approaches, as well as sophisticated and integrative techniques for analyzing personality change processes. The third section raises new important questions, such as how interventionists from non-personality domains can incorporate personality processes in their intervention programs. It also discusses how different domains of individual functioning may interact in concert to predict healthy aging outcomes, as well as how more integrative lifespan models of healthy aging may advance research on personality and healthy aging. Overall, this book will spark interest and chart new directions for researchers, practitioners and interventionists in healthy aging, gerontology and applied fields.

A Handbook of Geriatric Neuropsychology: Practice Essentials (Second Edition) brings together experts in the field to integrate the knowledge and skills needed to understand and treat older adults who are experiencing problems with memory and other thinking skills. With three new sections, including coverage of other conditions beyond neuropsychological disorders, special assessment contexts, and more on interventions and ethics, as well as multiple new chapters, and significant updates from the first edition, this book provides a strong foundation for clinicians, educators, and researchers invested in the wellbeing of older adults. The impact and experience of aging, like the practice of neuropsychology, evolves over time. Similarly, through advances in science and professional techniques, neuropsychological practice has continued to evolve. Neuropsychological evaluation remains the most effective method of diagnosing age-related cognitive decline, cognitive difficulties that result from psychological factors, and other related disorders, as well as determining how the various disorders impact functioning and quality of life. This book explores these areas and offers state-of-the-art assessment techniques to assess changes in cognition and behavior and to distinguish normal changes from neuropathology. This book is a go-to resource and key reference for psychologists who serve older adults with known or suspected cognitive problems, as well as those who are invested in promoting brain wellness. It provides much of the information needed to establish and improve foundational and functional competencies in geriatric neuropsychology and establish practices that are personally and professionally rewarding, all aimed at promoting the understanding and wellbeing of older adults.

Personality Development across the Lifespan examines the development of personality characteristics from childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood, adulthood, and old age. It provides a comprehensive overview of theoretical perspectives, methods, and empirical findings of personality and developmental psychology, also detailing insights on how individuals differ from each other, how they change during life, and how these changes relate to biological and environmental factors, including major life events, social relationships, and health. The book begins with chapters on personality development in different life phases before moving on to theoretical perspectives, the development of specific personality characteristics, and personality development in relation to different contexts, like close others, health, and culture. Final sections cover methods in research on the topic and the future directions of research in personality development.

This book focuses on descriptions of the developments in legal frameworks and policies regarding the human rights of older persons. First, it covers the policies adopted and practices developed at the universal system, particularly within the sphere of the United Nations. Second, it includes a side-by-side comparison of the work of regional human rights mechanisms, which have picked up some momentum in the past decade. Through its inclusion of law, policy, and current processes, the widest net possible has been cast to collect a descriptive resource for advocates. Overall, we hope that this book contributes to a better understanding of the current limitations and possibilities that international institutions offer to uphold the human rights of older persons. We expect that this information will allow states and other policy makers to move forward with the international recognition of the human rights of older persons. We know this is only a first effort in compiling and reporting the standards that are being produced by different international institutions. But we have no doubt that many others will follow with their expert analysis of these emerging standards, and that the ongoing discussion will finally crystalize in international human rights binding instruments explicitly recognizing the universal rights of older persons.

This book integrates the economics of aging and insight based on political economy and explores generational conflict in the context of governmental spending. This problem is general, as the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted: lockdowns protect the elderly, but hurt the young. Policies to address global warming impose taxes on the elderly, but would bring benefits largely in the future. This book addresses intergenerational problems by placing its focus on budget allocation, taxation, and regulation. By using Japanese and US data, the authors conduct statistical analysis of whether regions with aging populations may adopt policies that generate benefits during a short period of time instead of policies that could benefit current young generations for an extended period of time. If the policy preferences of voters depend on their age, and if policy adoption by a government reflects public opinion, the change in demographic composition in a region may affect governmental policies. In an aged society, the elderly are pivotal voters. Budgets may be reallocated from policies favored by younger generations, such as education, to policies the elderly prefer, such as welfare programs. This generates an intergenerational externality problem: voters with short life expectancy do not take into consideration long-term benefits. Moreover, the current tax bases may be replaced by other tax bases that do not harm the elderly. The results reported in the book largely support these hypotheses. Evidence also shows that the gender and racial composition and institutional factors, including the extent of fiscal decentralization, are important in anticipating effects of population aging in other countries.

This stimulating, carefully-researched book on The Late Life Legacy of Very Early Life by Dr. Gabriele Doblhammer is the second volume of a new series of Demographic Research Monographs published by Springer Verlag. The topic of the book is fascinating. Is a person's lifespan influ enced by health and nutrition in-utero and shortly after birth? If so, why? The answers uncovered by the diligence, demographic and statistical ex pertise, and probing intelligence of the author are surprising but convinc ing. To pry open the mystery of the lingering impact of very early life, Dr. Doblharnmer focuses on month of birth. It turns out that people born in some months live substantially longer on average than people born in other months, not because of astrological forces but for reasons of health and nutrition. Dr. Doblhammer was educated in statistics and demography and earlier this year was the first person ever to receive the "Habilitation" de gree, the recognition given in the German-speaking world to proven scho lars who are qualified to become professors, in Demography. This book, which is evidence that she fully deserves this award, will not only provide important new fmdings about the legacy of early life but will also serve as a comprehensive foundation of knowledge on which future scholars can build. The series of Demographic Research Monographs is under the editorial supervision of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. Prof. James W. Vaupel, Founding Director of the Institute, is Editor-in-Chief."

For students and practitioners of gerontology, this indispensable text examines all aspects of administering services to older adults. Jeffrey A. Giordano and Thomas A. Rich, both professors of gerontology with extensive experience in administration, surveyed practicing administrators over a two-year period. The resulting integration of administrative theory and practice is evident throughout this book's 13 chapters, which address everything from leadership styles and management techniques to ethical issues and community relations. In addition, the authors thoroughly examine the most widely encountered facets of the typical gerontologist administrator's career, including communication, organizational structure, the role and function of human resources administration, motivation and productivity, supervisory responsibilities, staff development, financial management, strategic planning, program evaluation, and organizational change.

Both undergraduate and graduate students of gerontology will benefit from using Giordano and Rich's book as a core text for administration courses. Professors of gerontology administration will be relieved at last to have found a work that emphasizes the unique requirements of administrating older adult programs. The authors consider all three service sectors--private, public, and not-for-profit--in addressing those who are now in administration, those who aspire to be administrators, and those who will be surprised someday to be offered administrative responsibilities. Assuming a basic knowledge of gerontology, the text includes a learning experience following each chapter that allows readers to apply their knowledge of the field in a practical manner. Other special features include information on such contemporary challenges as how to use volunteers effectively, how to integrate ethics into programs for older adults, how to involve staff in administrative activities, how to make the most of public relations and fund-raising opportunities, and how to develop special projects.