Aging and Work in the 21st Century, 2nd edition, reviews, summarizes, and integrates existing literature from various disciplines with regard to aging and work, but with a focus on recent advances in the field. Chapter authors, all leading experts within their respective areas, provide recommendations for future research, practice, and/or public policy. Fully revised and updated, the second edition takes up many of the same critical topics addressed in the first edition, and incorporates twelve new authors across the volume and three brand new chapters on recruitment and retention, legal issues, and global issues in work and aging. The intended audience is advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers in the disciplines of industrial and organizational psychology; developmental psychology; gerontology; sociology; economics; and social work. Older worker advocate organizations, such as AARP, will also take interest in this edited book.

Until recently, older men were not a social phenomenon commanding great attention. Older men are a distinct minority among men, accounting for 15 percent of the adult male population. Among elders, older men are still outnumbered by older women three to two, and there are only two men for every five women over age 85. However, the importance of gender to age, and age to gender, is being acknowledged by gerontologists as well as gender scholars. This work is the first thorough study of the research examining older men as men.

Thompson was able to locate more than 750 articles, which are organized by subject (Gendered Aging, Health and Well-Being, Sexuality, Suicide and Alcohol, Religiosity and Spirituality, Stereotypes and Social Constructions, Relationships and Social Life, Family Relations, Caregiving, Economics and Retirement, Living Arrangements, and Resources and Needs) and selectively annotated. Access is also aided by extensive subject and author indexes. This groundbreaking volume will be of great interest to gerontologists, sociologists, and all researchers concerned with gender issues.

Much previous research on elderly people had focused on their problems, and had created an impression of a group of isolated individuals suffering from almost insurmountable social difficulties. Originally published in 1984, this study of the everyday lives of elderly people, and the sources of help and care available to them in the community at the time, made a special contribution by showing how they can and do make creative adaptations to the challenge of age, and by increasing our understanding of their informal networks of support. The author looks not only at the role and availability of family, but also of friends, neighbours, voluntary associations and statutory services and the composite networks of support which these contacts form, noting differences related to gender, class and household composition. The detailed picture that she presents would be invaluable to those teachers, students and practitioners of social work concerned with the development of more community-based patterns of social work, as recommended by the Barclay Report, and to policy makers who needed to understand how sometimes strained natural support systems may be reinforced and maintained. The book also extends our knowledge of the normal lives of elderly people and will be of general interest to social gerontologists and network theorists in sociology and anthropology.

Population ageing and globalisation represent two of the most radical social transformations that have occurred. This book provides, for the first time, an accessible overview of how they interact. Ageing has been conventionally framed within the boundaries of nation states, yet demographic changes, transmigration, financial globalization and the global media have rendered this perspective problematic. This much-needed book is the first to apply theories of globalisation to gerontology, including Appadurai's theory, allowing readers to understand the implications of growing older in a global age. This comprehensive introduction to globalisation for gerontologists is part of the Ageing in a Global Context series, published in association with the British Society of Gerontology. It will be of particular interest to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics in this area.

Today, concerns about the financial stability of Social Security, trends in disability, health care costs, and the supply of caregivers are all driven by the coming explosion inthe number of people over the age of 65. Aging in America focuses on the economic and demographic portrait of the senior population and can provide a context for analysis of broader population issues. It provides a wide range of characteristics of the older population including: age composition, race and Hispanic origin, educational attainment, living arrangements, veteran status, employment and income, health insurance, disability and housing characteristics. Extracting comparative information from the Census Bureau's FactFinder dissemination system can be difficult and time-consuming. Aging in America provides comparative data on a variety of topics in a single, easy-to-use volume. Some of the benefits of Aging in America include: *It provides a cross-section of socio-economic characteristics focused on the aging population for commonly researched geographic areas: states, counties, cities, metropolitan and micropolitan areas, and congressional districts *The tables are structured to allow easy comparisons across geographic areas and easy profiling of characteristics for any area of reader interest

Rapid population aging, once associated with only a select group of modern industrialized nations, has now become a topic of increasing global concern. This volume reframes aging on a global scale by illustrating the multiple ways it is embedded within individual, social, and cultural life courses. The volume presents a broad range of ethnographic work, introducing a variety of conceptual and methodological approaches to studying life-course transitions in conjunction with broader sociocultural transformations. Through detailed accounts, in such diverse settings as nursing homes in Sri Lanka, a factory in Massachusetts, cemeteries in Japan and clinics in Mexico, the authors explore not simply our understandings of growing older, but the interweaving of individual maturity and intergenerational relationships, social and economic institutions, and intimate experiences of gender, identity, and the body.

This controversial book argues that concepts such as `successful' and `active' ageing are potentially dangerous paradigms that reflect and exacerbate inequalities in older populations. The author presents a new theory to make sense of the popularity of these concepts, providing essential reading for anyone seeking to make sense of social constructions of ageing in contemporary societies.

Later Life views older age as a valuable stage of life and argues for the centrality of self-making to the quality of later life. Aiming to enrich an understanding of ageing as the unfolding process in which people try to negotiate vulnerabilities of their bodies and manage mortality, it explores the conditions for pursuing the search for knowledge of oneself in later life. This new book, with the help of literary examples, presents factors both supporting and hindering the quality of the experience of later life. It demonstrates how wondering, courage and habit sustain the self-making in older age. After illustrating that the process of ageing also imposes ordeals, the book depicts remedies needed to overcome boredom, bitterness and sadness, three torments caused by the age-specific sense of time. It is essential reading not only for academics and professionals in age studies, sociology of ageing, gerontology and health care, but also for a general audience. The book's focus on the experiences of later life will appeal to the reader interested in understanding the complexities of ageing and in enhancing the quality of later life, while its reliance on literary illustrations will be appreciated by lovers of literature.

As the 21st Century unfolds, the traditional welfare state that evolved during the 20th Century faces serious threats to the solidarity that social programs were meant to strengthen. The rise of populist and nationalist parties reflects the decline of a sense of belonging and inclusiveness that mass education and economic progress were meant to foster, as traditional politics and parties are rejected by working- and middle-class individuals who were previously their staunchest supporters. Increasingly, these groups reject the growing gaps in income, power, and privilege that they perceive between themselves and highly educated and cosmopolitan business, academic, and political elites. When Strangers Become Family examines the potential role of civil society organizations in guaranteeing the rights and addressing the needs of vulnerable groups, paying particular attention to their role in advocacy for and service delivery to older people. The book includes a discussion of the origins and functions of this sector that focuses on the relationship between the state and non-governmental organizations, as well as a close examination of Mexico - a middle-income nation with a rapidly aging population and limited state welfare for older people. The data reveals important aspects of the relationship among government actors, civil society organizations, and political parties. Ronald Angel and Veronica Montes-de-Oca Zavala ask the fundamental question about the extent to which civil society organizations represent a potential mechanism whereby vulnerable individuals can join together to further their own interests and exercise their individual and group autonomy.

As the 21st Century unfolds, the traditional welfare state that evolved during the 20th Century faces serious threats to the solidarity that social programs were meant to strengthen. The rise of populist and nationalist parties reflects the decline of a sense of belonging and inclusiveness that mass education and economic progress were meant to foster, as traditional politics and parties are rejected by working- and middle-class individuals who were previously their staunchest supporters. Increasingly, these groups reject the growing gaps in income, power, and privilege that they perceive between themselves and highly educated and cosmopolitan business, academic, and political elites. When Strangers Become Family examines the potential role of civil society organizations in guaranteeing the rights and addressing the needs of vulnerable groups, paying particular attention to their role in advocacy for and service delivery to older people. The book includes a discussion of the origins and functions of this sector that focuses on the relationship between the state and non-governmental organizations, as well as a close examination of Mexico - a middle-income nation with a rapidly aging population and limited state welfare for older people. The data reveals important aspects of the relationship among government actors, civil society organizations, and political parties. Ronald Angel and Veronica Montes-de-Oca Zavala ask the fundamental question about the extent to which civil society organizations represent a potential mechanism whereby vulnerable individuals can join together to further their own interests and exercise their individual and group autonomy.

Positive Ageing and Learning from Centenarians evaluates the mechanisms of positive ageing in a uniquely interdisciplinary way to explore the question of how we age and how some people age successfully. Drawing together the findings of recognised longevity researchers from around the world, the book applies an integrated vision to educational and social aspects of human ageing. It examines research into centenarians, and considers most of the disciplines related to longevity and healthy aging and aspects such as education, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, demography, sociology, economics as well as those related to nutrition and biological factors of longevity. The book examines how the results of these scientific investigations could improve the well-being of the oldest olds in the future, especially in the context of ageing societies. It provides an answer to the question of what we can learn from centenarians and what lessons we can from their lifestyle, which can contribute to live longer, better and happier. Based on cutting-edge research, the book will be highly relevant reading for researchers, academics and students in the field of ageing and longevity, mental health research, health science, gerontology and psychology.

This important new book describes the origins, developments, and current status of personal response systems, a new means for persons at risk who live alone to get help in case of emergency. In Personal Response Systems, experts from ten countries report on the status, achievements, and challenges involved in setting up, distributing, and operating personal response systems (PRS). Experienced authors from a variety of backgrounds describe the technology, economics, and social effects of PRS, and its integration into existing health and housing programs. Professionals who provide home health services will find important information about the most efficient and cost effective designs of personal response systems. They will learn how to evaluate and recommend the most appropriate systems for their clients with the assistance of this valuable new book. Research on the frequency and types of emergencies and the many psychological and social benefits to users of this new technology and their families are also discussed. Personal Response Systems covers systems in a number of countries, including Japan, Israel, Sweden, New Zealand, and Germany. Authors representing universities, social agencies, and manufacturing plants provide a balanced, thorough presentation of the subject. These authors discuss: the technology of personal response systems demographic trends how to set up a PRS in a community the integration of PRS into housing for the elderly and disabled benefits to consumers and health care systems the effects of PRS on family relationships emergencies best suited for PRS analysis of how future technology will expand the medical and protective functions of PRSHealth care planners, social workers, physicians, case managers, housing developers and managers, and others involved in caring for the elderly or disabled will find a valuable store of information in this comprehensive volume. They will be able to evaluate more quickly the most appropriate PRS services for their clients and tenants.

This helpful book explores mental health issues relating to elders who do not fit into the "usual" mold for research--white, married or widowed, urban or suburban persons with adult children. The Forgotten Aged focuses on those groups of elders often overlooked in gerontological literature--elder African-Americans, rural aged, gay and lesbian aged, parents of developmentally disabled offspring, older developmentally disabled persons themselves, and "orphan" elders (those who do not have close family members who can serve as caretakers). The book offers "how to" advice on issues such as outreach, intervention, residential placement and transition, assessment, psychotherapy, and team building to help readers learn effective ways of helping elderly persons from these various groups. With an optimistic tone, it explores how more attention and resources, combined with flexible modifications of programs and practices, can yield favorable results for everyone involved. In The Forgotten Aged, authors examine a variety of pertinent topics including: assessment of dementia and depression in African-Americans multidisciplinary team outreach to elderly living in rural areas therapeutic issues with gay and lesbian aged residential transitions for developmentally disabled elderly helping aging parents of developmentally disabled offspring intervention with "orphan" elderly with Alzheimer's diseaseSocial workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, geriatricians, nurses, and counselors involved in providing support and care for elderly persons will find The Forgotten Aged a useful guide in their daily work and decisionmaking. This book can also serve as an enlightening supplementary text in courses that study aging and the elderly.

The workforce is aging as people live longer and healthier lives, and mandatory retirement has become a relic of the past. Though workforces have always contained both younger and older employees the age range today has expanded, and the generational gap has become more distinct. This book advocates the need for talented employees of all ages as a way to prevent potential skill shortages and considers both the challenges and opportunities that these changes raise for individual organizations. The expert contributors discuss benefits including greater employee diversity with regards to knowledge, skills experience and perspectives, as well as challenges involving potential generational tensions, stereotypes and age biases. They further place an emphasis on initiatives to create generation-friendly workplaces; these involve fostering lifelong learning, tackling age stereotypes and biases, employing reverse mentoring where younger employees mentor older employees, and offering older individuals career options including phased retirement, bridge employment and encore careers. This wide-reaching book will be of use to academics, PhD students, human resource specialists, managers and government policy makers interested in the aging and multigenerational workforce. Contributors: A.-S.G. Antoniou, B. Baltes, J. Benson, S. Bisom-Rapp, R.J. Burke, L. Calvano, D. Campbell, C.L. Cooper, J.B. Cunningham, M. Dalla, J. Field, L. Fiksenbaum, A. Furnham, E.R. Greenglass, B.M. Hughes, J.K.Q. Katter, J. Kroeker-Hall, L.A. Marchiondo, J. McGinnis-Johnson, T. McNamara, D.M. McPhee, E.S.W. Ng, M. Pitt-Catsouphes, S. Sandhu, M. Sargeant, S. Sastrowardoyo, F. Schlosser, C. Scott-Young, S. Sweet, G. Thrasher, K. Zabel

Declining fertility rates and increased life expectancies over the last few decades have conspired to make China one of the more rapidly aging societies in the world. Aging Families in Chinese Society focuses on the accelerated social and demographic changes in China and examines their implications for family care and support for older adults. Contributors to this landmark volume portray various challenges facing aging families in China as a result of reduced family size, changing gender expectations, rapid economic development and urbanization, rural-to-urban migration, and an emerging but still underdeveloped long-term care system. Divided into four thematic areas - Disability and Family Support; Family Relationships and Mental Health; Filial Piety and Gender Norms; and Long-term Care Preferences - chapters in this volume confront these burgeoning issues and offer salient policy and practice considerations not just for today's aging population, but future generations to come. Combining quantitative data from social surveys in China, comparative surveys in Taiwan and Thailand, and qualitative data from in-depth interviews, Aging Families in Chinese Societies will be of significant interest to students and researchers in aging and gerontology, China and East Asian Studies and population studies.

As we grow up and grow old, embrace new experiences, try new roles, and adopt new technologies, our senses of time, space, connection, and identity are fundamentally explored through communication. Why, how, with whom, and to what end humans communicate reflect and shape our ever-changing life span position. And while the "life span" can be conceived as a continuum, it is also one hinged by critical junctures and bound by cultural differences that can be better understood through communication. The chapters in this collection, chosen from among the invited plenary speakers, top research papers, and ideas discussed in San Juan, explore the multiple ways communication affects, reflects, and directs our life transition. Capturing the richness and diversity of scholarship presented at the conference, chapters explore communication technologies that define a generation; communication and successful aging; stereotyping and family communication; sexual communication and physiological measurement; life span communication and the digital divide; and home-based care contexts across the world, among others.

Contemporary old age is fraught with contradiction and complexity-women portrayed either as incompetent and cuddly grandmothers or as young women trapped in old bodies, images that rarely reflect how women actually see themselves. Women in Late Life explores the thorny issues related to gender and aging, including prevailing but problematic cultural expectations, body image, ageism, the experience of chronic illness, threats to Social Security and the very possibility of a secure retirement while challenging a long-term care system that disadvantages women. Author Martha Holstein writes from a critical feminist perspective, drawing on her many years of experience in gerontology, as well as interviews and personal experience as a woman now in her seventies. The book highlights how women's experience of late life is shaped by the effects of lifelong gender norms, by contemporary culture-from gender stereotypes to ageism-and by the political context. The book blends critique with proposals aimed at resisting damaging inequities resulting from being simultaneously old and a woman. She focuses on changes needed on multiple levels-societal, cultural, political, and individual. This interdisciplinary look at key questions around gender and aging is nuanced and beautifully written.

Provides a critical synthesis of current models of aging. Offers a broader perspective that accounts for the wide diversity of human aging, just as it better explains how this diversity "groups" into familiar patterns. Written by a distinguished scholar of aging whose work has been internationally influential.

As we grow up and grow old, embrace new experiences, try new roles, and adopt new technologies, our senses of time, space, connection, and identity are fundamentally explored through communication. Why, how, with whom, and to what end humans communicate reflect and shape our ever-changing life span position. And while the "life span" can be conceived as a continuum, it is also one hinged by critical junctures and bound by cultural differences that can be better understood through communication. The chapters in this collection, chosen from among the invited plenary speakers, top research papers, and ideas discussed in San Juan, explore the multiple ways communication affects, reflects, and directs our life transition. Capturing the richness and diversity of scholarship presented at the conference, chapters explore communication technologies that define a generation; communication and successful aging; stereotyping and family communication; sexual communication and physiological measurement; life span communication and the digital divide; and home-based care contexts across the world, among others.

This volume seeks to bring readers to a deeper understanding of contemporary cultural and social configurations of Alzheimer's disease by analyzing 21st-century U.S. novels in which the disease plays a key narrative role. Via analysis of selected works, Garrigos considers how the erasure of memory in a person with Alzheimer's affects our idea of the identity of that person and their sense of belonging to a group. Starting out from three different types of memory (individual, social and cultural), the study focuses on the narrative strategies that authors use to configure how the disease is perceived and represented. This study is significant not only because of what the texts reveal about those with Alzheimer's, but also for what they say about us - about the authors and readers who are producing and consuming these texts, about how we see this disease, and what our attitudes to it say about contemporary U.S. society.

Contemporary old age is fraught with contradiction and complexity-women portrayed either as incompetent and cuddly grandmothers or as young women trapped in old bodies, images that rarely reflect how women actually see themselves. Women in Late Life explores the thorny issues related to gender and aging, including prevailing but problematic cultural expectations, body image, ageism, the experience of chronic illness, threats to Social Security and the very possibility of a secure retirement while challenging a long-term care system that disadvantages women. Author Martha Holstein writes from a critical feminist perspective, drawing on her many years of experience in gerontology, as well as interviews and personal experience as a woman now in her seventies. The book highlights how women's experience of late life is shaped by the effects of lifelong gender norms, by contemporary culture-from gender stereotypes to ageism-and by the political context. The book blends critique with proposals aimed at resisting damaging inequities resulting from being simultaneously old and a woman. She focuses on changes needed on multiple levels-societal, cultural, political, and individual. This interdisciplinary look at key questions around gender and aging is nuanced and beautifully written.

This provocative book considers the changing status of older workers, the evolution of public policy on age and work and the behaviour of employers. It attempts to answer the critical question: in an ageing society, can older workers look forward to the prospect of longer working lives with choice and security and make successful transitions to retirement? Ageing Labour Forces challenges the current stance of many governments and observers concerning policies to extend working lives. It utilises perspectives and case studies from public policy, employment policy and the attitudes and behaviour of older people. Philip Taylor argues that older workers have been at the forefront of industrialized society's efforts to respond to the crisis facing social welfare systems and the economic threats associated with population ageing. Their involvement has forced the restructuring of economies, adjustments to social welfare systems as well as redefinitions to the actual concept of old age. Containing contributions from leading researchers in a number of countries, this work will appeal to academics and researchers interested in work, ageing and public policy as well as labour economics.

Understanding Young Onset Dementia provides a state-of-the-art overview of approaches to care and evaluation for people with young onset dementia. It reviews the challenges in providing care and services, outlines new innovations in treatment and explores the impact of the condition to offer guidance about best practice in care. Written by world-leading researchers and experts in the field, this book gives key evidence for best practice and focuses on lived experience of those with young onset dementia. It has a broad focus looking at aspects of care beyond diagnosis and gives a comprehensive summary of the current qualitative and quantitative research in the field of young onset dementia. This international collaboration fills a much-needed gap in the academic market and is vital to guide learning and deliver future innovations. This book will be of great interest for academics, scholars and post graduate students in the field of mental health and dementia research. It will also appeal to neurologists, psychiatrist, geriatricians and psychologists looking to update their knowledge or already working in the field.

Spousal bereavement seems to be one of the most devastating things a person can suffer through during the course of his or her life and it can result in adverse bio-psycho-social consequences for the left behind spouse. This book offers updated views from incorporating meaning making theory and social constructionist theory to examine the mediating roles of meaning making and help readers to understand grief and bereavement experiences of the widowed elderly population in China. The volume starts with elaborating on the meaning making model, followed by an overview of grief theories and traditional culture, including empirical feedback of the results of applying the model to Chinese elderly widows and widowers. Pan's book concludes with a discussion on the implications and limitations of this research as well as future directions. The volume provides valuable theoretical reflection and empirical evidence on grief and bereavement experiences of the elderly population in China. By combining meaning making theory with a social constructionist perspective, this research develops a novel approach to apply Western models and theories to the Chinese context and effectively study China's elderly population and their grief and bereavement experiences. This volume brings the readers the benefits of understanding Chinese cultural doctrines regarding death and life, getting a comprehensive view on meaning making theory, as well as learning the specific coping skills of Chinese elderly in widowhood. This volume merits the attention of those in the fields of mental health, social work, and gerontology to help further their understanding of meaning making systems in a non-western setting.

The ageing of the world's populations, particularly in Western developed countries, is a well-documented phenomenon; and despite many positive images of later life, in the media and public discourse later life is frequently depicted as a time of inevitable physical and cognitive decline. Against this background, Heinrichsmeier presents the results of her two-year sociolinguistic study examining how a group of older women of different ages negotiated their way through their own and others' expectations of ageing and constructed different kinds of older - and other - identities for themselves. Through vivid and nuanced analysis of their chat and practices in a small village hair salon, Heinrichsmeier reveals these women's subtle and skilful manipulation of stereotypes of ageing and the impact of the evolving talk on their identity constructions. Her study, which provides numerous short extracts of talk in both the hair salon and interview along with more detailed case studies, highlights the importance of such apparently 'trivial' sites - for both studying older people's identity work and as loci for positive identity constructions and well-being in later life. This book will be of particular interest to graduate students and scholars working in sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, conversation analysis, and gerontological studies, as well as those interested in approaches integrating ethnography and language.