The Upside of Aging: How Long Life Is Changing the World of Health, Work, Innovation, Policy and Purpose explores a titanic shift that will alter every aspect of human existence, from the jobs we hold to the products we buy to the medical care we receive - an aging revolution underway across America and the world. Moving beyond the stereotypes of dependency and decline that have defined older age, The Upside of Aging reveals the vast opportunity and potential of this aging phenomenon, despite significant policy and societal challenges that must be addressed. The book s chapter authors, all prominent thought-leaders, point to a reinvention and reimagination of our older years that have critical implications for people of all ages. With a positive call to action, the book illuminates the upside for health and wellness, work and volunteerism, economic growth, innovation and education. The authors, like the baby boom generation itself, posit new ways of thinking about aging, as longevity and declining birthrates put the world on track for a mature population of unprecedented size and significance. Among topics they examine are: * The emotional intelligence and qualities of the aging brain that science is uncovering, senior moments notwithstanding. * The new worlds of genomics, medicine and technology that are revolutionizing health care and wellness. * The aging population s massive impact on global markets, with enormous profit potential from an explosion in products and services geared toward mature consumers. * New education paradigms to meet the needs and aspirations of older people, and to capitalize on their talents. * The benefits that aging workers and entrepreneurs bring to companies, and the crucial role of older people in philanthropy and society. * Tools and policies to facilitate financial security for longer and more purposeful lives. * Infrastructure and housing changes to create livable cities for all ages, enabling aging in place and continuing civic contribution from millions of older adults. * The opportunities and potential for intergenerational engagement and collaboration. The Upside of Aging defines a future that differs profoundly from the retirement dreams of our parents and grandparents, one that holds promise and power and bears the stamp of a generation that has changed every stage of life through which it has moved.

This collection on researching later life and ageing critically reflects upon the qualitative methods used in gaining knowledge of under-researched groups of older people and sets out future research agendas.

Does human mortality after age 110 continue to rise, level off, or start to decline? This book describes a concerted, international research effort undertaken with the goal of establishing a database that allows the best possible description of the mortality trajectory beyond the age of 110. The International Database on Longevity (IDL) is the result of this ongoing effort. The IDL contains exhaustive information on validated cases of supercentenarians (people 110 years and older) and allows unbiased estimates of mortality after age 110. The main finding is remarkable: human mortality after age 110 is flat at a probability of death of 50% per year. The sixteen chapters of this book discuss age validation of exceptional longevity, data on supercentenarians in a series of countries, structure and contents of the IDL, and statistical analysis of human mortality after age 110. Several chapters include short accounts of specific supercentenarians that add life to demographic research.

The "Handbook of Sociology of Aging" is the most comprehensive, engaging, and up-to-date treatment of developments within the field over the past 30 years. The volume represents an indispensable source of the freshest and highest standard scholarship for scholars, policy makers, and aging professionals alike.

The "Handbook of Sociology of Aging "contains 45 far-reaching chapters, authored by nearly 80 of the most renowned experts, on the most pressing topics related to aging today. With its recurring attention to the social forces that shape human aging, and the social consequences and policy implications of it, the contents will be of interest to everyone who cares about what aging means for individuals, families, and societies.

The chapters of the "Handbook of Sociology of Aging" illustrate the field's extraordinary breadth and depth, which has never before been represented in a single volume. Its contributions address topics that range from foundational matters, such as classic and contemporary theories and methods, to topics of longstanding and emergent interest, such as social diversity and inequalities, social relationships, social institutions, economies and governments, social vulnerabilities, public health, and care arrangements. The volume closes with a set of personal essays by senior scholars who share their experiences and hopes for the field, and an essay by the editors that provides a roadmap for the decade ahead.

The "Handbook of Sociology of Aging" showcases the very best that sociology has to offer the study of human aging.

This collection critically examines twenty-first century representations of ageing, focusing on various media images and discourses as well as individuals' own experiences and self-presentations of ageing, drawing on innovative new empirical data.

"Key Demographics in Retirement Risk Management" argues that the weakening of public and employer-sponsored social safety nets in several countries will permanently increase pre-retirees' risk-anxiety and create pressure towards readjustment of their expectations about the quality of their lives in retirement. The result will be to raise the priority of achieving effective comprehensive retirement related risk management. This achievement requires an emphasis upon the cascading of linked risks, and careful attention to the optimization of scarce resources used to manage those linked risks. Professional financial and retirement planning advisors comprise a key source of help. This book develops new knowledge concerning the factors that help to explain three important aspects of access to these professional advisors. The results of this analysis are used to illustrate the process of identifying distinctive population segments, key demographics, on the basis of multiple population attributes treated simultaneously. The illustration is further extended with an identification of distinctive population segments relative to performance on a composite indicator of the conduct of multiple retirement risk management activities. The book also discusses implications of the pattern of gender differences in preparedness to address retirement's challenges, highlighting subgroups of women in which inadequate preparedness is pronounced. "

Disaster Public Health and Older People introduces professionals, students and fieldworkers to the science and art of promoting health and well-being among older people in the context of humanitarian emergencies, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income country settings. Older people face specific vulnerabilities in physical, mental and social well-being during disasters. They are likely to experience socio-economic marginalisation, isolation, inaccessible information and a lack of relevant post-emergency support services. Meanwhile, although older people can also significantly contribute to disaster preparedness, response and recovery, their capacities are often under-utilised. Drawing on a range of global case studies, this book provides readers with a theoretical underpinning, while suggesting actions at the individual, community and national levels to reduce the health risks to older people posed by the increasing frequency and intensity of disaster, in particular those resulting from natural hazards. Topics covered range from the health impact of disasters on older people and response to their post-disaster health needs, to disaster preparedness, disease prevention, healthy ageing, global policy developments and the contributions of older people in disaster contexts. This book draws on lessons learnt from previous disasters and targets students and professionals working in disaster medicine, disaster public health, humanitarian studies, gerontology and geriatrics.

This volume is the third in the Contemporary Geriatric Medicine series. As in previous volumes, information is presented in the form of easy-to read essays to bring the reader up to date on state-of-the-art develop ments in the area of geriatric medicine. Once again, a system approach is utilized. In addition, several new topics-including alcoholism, throm boembolic disease, and decubitus ulcer management-have been intro duced to enhance this volume's usefulness to the busy clinician and student. Each chapter is not meant to be an exhaustive review of all topics in the field, but rather to focus on issues currently receiving a great deal of attention. Our goal continues to be to create an exciting approach to contemporary issues in geriatric medicine. The editors are once again appreciative for having been given the opportunity to develop this series. Appreciation is also expressed to our professional colleagues, families, and administrative assistants, who have enabled this volume to reach fruition. As in the past, we thank, most of all, our elderly patients for providing the inspiration and impetus to improve our knowledge and understanding of the health care needs of the elderly. Steven R. Gambert, M.D. V alhalla, New York ix Contents Chapter 1 Geriatric Cardiology and Blood Pressure 1 Edmund H. Duthie, Jr., and Michael H. Keelan, Jr."

In the last two years, a wealth of new information has accumulated regarding both clinical and research aspects of health care for the elderly. Although many controversial issues have been resolved, many still remain. Volume 2 of Contemporary Geriatric Medicine is once again dedicated to the clinician who cares for the elderly on a continuing basis. Although, for the most part, general topics first introduced in Volume 1 have been retained, all infor mation in this volume is new and represents the current state of the art. In addi tion, several new topics-including falls, interpretation of laboratory data, and oral health care-have been introduced to enhance this volume's usefulness to the busy clinician. Through these easy-to-read essays, we attempt once again to keep the non geriatrician abreast of the current state of the art regarding the special needs and problems of the elderly. Each chapter is not meant to be an exhaustive review of all topics in the field, but rather to focus on issues receiving a great deal of atten tion. Our goal is to create an exciting approach to contemporary issues in gerIatric medicine."

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

Clinical trials are the most definitive tool for evaluation of the applica bility of clinical investigations. The main objective of clinical investiga tions is to assess the potential value of a therapeutic entity in the treat ment or prophylaxis of a disease or a condition. It is also deemed necessary at this stage to obtain information regarding the undesirable side effects, associated risks, and their interrelationship with clinical assessments. Most of these clinical investigations conform, in some form or fashion, to the guidelines adopted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a given class of compounds. Clinical investigations in the past have not included specific studies in special or subpopulations, e.g., the elderly. Because of an ever-increasing elderly population, newer policies for clinical investigations are now being debated with the recognition of enhanced drug sensitivity in this special population. This key research activity can lead not only to improved health care in the elderly but also to control of its costs."

Memory is essential for the retention of learning. In the presence of memory deficits, new learning is impaired and performance of previously learned habits deteriorates. What is the nature of memory? Where does it reside in the brain? What biological events are associated with the formation and retrieval of memory? These questions are explored in the first chapter of this volume. The answers are not final, but we have learned a great deal about memory processes during the past few decades. Memory is influenced by most of the pathological processes that influ ence the brain such as infection, trauma, cerebrovascular disorders, and met abolic and degenerative diseases. The nature and course of memory impairment are unique for each of the disorders and are fairly distinguishable. More than fifty conditions are known to cause dementia, which now affects several million Americans. In Alzheimer's disease, memory disorder predominates for two to three years before other intellectual functions are affected. Many neurological diseases, such as Huntington's disease, Friedreich's ataxia, and multiple sclerosis, are associated with progressive memory deficits. Forgetting is a problem that becomes progressively worse with age. Most individuals in their forties begin to experience some difficulty in quick recall of past events. By age sixty definite changes are evident in the process of registration, storage, and recall of memory. At this age the material that is to be remembered is processed more slowly, stored less firmly, and poorly recalled."

Aging, Health, and Longevity in the Mexican-Origin Population creates a foundation for an interdisciplinary discussion of the trajectory of disability and long-term care for older people of Mexican-origin from a bi-national perspective. Although the literature on Latino elders in the United States is growing, few of these studies or publications offer the breadth and depth contained in this book.

This book examines the key aging processes in seven countries (United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Japan, China, Nepal, and South Africa) and the main policies that have been, and are being, developed to deal with this rapid change in the demographic profile. It addresses the problems that are identified as well as the positive aspects of aging within each of these contrasting societies. Thus it makes a significant contribution to the major debates about growing old across the globe.

Guide to Fitness After Fifty presents basic and applied research data, authoritative advice and tested techniques for professional workers who want to learn more about physical exercise, fitness and health for aging people and for all who seek to become more physically and mentally fit. The editors and contributors believe that physical activity and exercise following the pri ciples and practices utlined in this inter disciplinary volume can improve the health and quality of life by increasing en durance and cardiovascular fitness, strengthening the musculoskeletal system, im proving mobility, posture and appearance, and relaxing emotional tensions. Evidence at hand and discussed in this book demonstrates that properly prescribed physical activity or exercise can raise the level of physical fitness and health, both physical and mental, at any age, delay the ravages of aging, and prevent or reduce disability from musculoskeletal and circulatory disorders. Section I, Perspectives on Exercise and Aging, surveys the fundamental problems and relationships of exercise to aging and health and provides historical insights and philosophic perspectives on the significance and importance of physical fitness and exercise through the centuries and in contemporary society. Section II, Evaluation and Physiology of Exercise, presents objective scientific and medical evidence that reasonable improvement in fitness and other bodily func tions may be achieved by people of all ages who follow well designed exercise and relaxation routines for at least 30 minutes three or more times weekly."

This book was conceived as a project of the Association for Anthropology and Gerontology, a multidisciplinary and international organization, formed in 1978, that is dedicated to the exploration and understanding of aging within and across the diversity of human cultures. The perspective of the Association is holistic, comparative and international. Membership is drawn from both academic and applied sectors and includes the social and biological sciences, medicine, urban planning, policy studies, social work and the development, administration and provision of services for the aged. Information about membership may be obtained from Dr. Eunice Boyer, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carthage College, Kenosha, Wisconsin WI, 53141 USA. Vll ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In a collective enterprise such as this, there are many people who have helped us along the way. Many members of the Association for Anthropology and Gerontology and many other colleagues gave us advice, read and commented on drafts of papers and otherwise supported this project. The editors and individual authors would like to acknowledge the following for their support and help; Baine B. Alexander, Steve Albert, C. C. Ballew, Diana Bethel, Jacob Climo, Ann Dill, Jean De Rousseau, Nancy Foner, Doris Francis, Mel Goldstein, Ralph Garruto, Tony Glascock, Charlotte Ikels, Sharon Kaufman, Jeanie Kayser-Jones, S. Loth, Mark Luborsky, Linda Mitteness, Corinne Nydegger, J. D. Pearson, David Plath, J. P. Ritchie, Phil Stafford, Rachael Stark, Maria Vesperi, Marjorie Schweitzer, Jay Sokolovsky, Toni Tripp Reimer, Martin Whyte, and Connie Wolfsen. ix ROBERT L."

With this book, Siegel, an internationally known demographer and gerontologist, has made a unique contribution to the fledgling fields of health demography, and the demography and epidemiology of aging. The book represents a felicitous union of epidemiology, gerontology, and demography, and appears to be the first and only comprehensive text on this subject now available. Drawing on a wide range of sciences in addition to demography, gerontology, and epidemiology, including medical sociology, biostatistics, public policy, bioethics, and molecular biology, the author treats theoretical and applied issues, links methods and findings, covers the material internationally, nationally, and locally, and while focusing on the elderly, treats the entire life course. The methods, materials, and pespectives of demography and epidemiology are brought to bear on such topics as the prospects for future increases in human longevity, the relative contribution of life style, environment, genetics, and chance in human longevity, the measurement of the share of healthy years in total life expectancy, the role of population growth in the rising costs of health care, and the applications of health demography in serving the health needs of local communities. The separate chapters systematically develop the topics of the sources and quality of health data; mortality, life tables, and the measurement of health status; the interrelationships of health, on the one hand, and mortality, fertility, migration, and age structure, on the other; health conditions in the less developed countries; the concepts and theories of aging and projections of the aged population; and local health applications, public health policy, and bioethical issues in health demography. Given its comprehensiveness, clarity, interdisciplinary scope, and authencity, this book appeals to a wide range of users, from students and teachers of medical sociology, the demography of aging, and public health studies to practitioners in these areas, both as a text in health demography and the demography/epidemiology of aging, and as a reference work in these fields.

EDITORS Hans V AN DEN BREKEL * and Fred DEVEN** * NIDI, P. O. Box 11650, 2502 AR The Hague, The Netherlands ** CBGS, Markiesstraat 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium The series "Population and Family in the Low Countries" (POPFAM), established in 1976, aims to introduce selected issues of demographic research in Flanders/Belgium and the Netherlands to an international audience. The publication series results from cooperation between the Nether lands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI, The Hague) and the Flemish Population and Family Study Centre (CBGS, Brussels). This 1995 edition is the 111h in the series. In 1995, the NIDI celebrates its 25th anniversary as the Dutch national demographic institute, making it a special year for Dutch demography. The contents of this publication obviously highlights this event as most articles selected for this edition are written by Dutch or NIDI related scholars. The article "Ageing and the demand for care: scenario studies for Europe" by Hanna van Solinge and Jenny de Jong Gierveld concerns a comparative study with respect to the consequences of ageing populations for the infrastructure of care for the elderly. It presents results of a scenario study on future developments in demand and supply of elderly care services for a selected number of European countries, summarizing an extensive study on the impact of ageing populations on the socio-medical system conducted by the authors on behalf of the European Population Committee of the Council of Europe.

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.

As people live longer and health care costs continue to rise and fewer doctors choose to specialize in geriatrics, how prepared is the United States to care for its sick and elderly? According to veteran psychologist Seymour Sarason's eloquent and compelling new book, the answer is: inadequately at best. And rarely discussed among the grim statistics is the psychosocial price paid by nursing home patients, from loneliness and isolation to depression and dependency.

In "Centers for Ending," Dr. Sarason uses his firsthand experience as both practitioner and patient in senior facilities to reveal wide-ranging professional and moral issues affecting this seemingly familiar terrain. Insensitive medical personnel, poorly trained nurses and aides, indifferent administrators, and a prevailing culture content with treating "bodies" instead of human beings are identified as contributing factors. Drawing on America's rich history of large-scale solutions to social problems, Dr. Sarason offers penetrating insights and bold suggestions in such areas as:

The widening care gap between haves and have-nots.Why professional caregivers fail to understand patients.The nursing home resident as immigrant.Why previous reform efforts have not worked.The need for a Presidential commission for the elderly.The scenario if conditions are allowed to remain as they are or worsen.

This concise volume is essential reading for researchers, graduate students, professionals, practitioners, and policy makers across such fields as geriatric medicine, health psychology, social work, public health, and public policy. "Centers for Ending "is a clarion call to be ignored at great cost to our elders and ourselves. "

This book provides insights into the theoretical framework of 'tensions' related to care for children and the elderly. It analyzes if, and under what conditions, welfare state reforms have contributed to strengthening existing tensions, creating new tensions, or relaxing such tensions.

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.

The "Handbook of Sociology of Aging" is the most comprehensive, engaging, and up-to-date treatment of developments within the field over the past 30 years. The volume represents an indispensable source of the freshest and highest standard scholarship for scholars, policy makers, and aging professionals alike.

The "Handbook of Sociology of Aging "contains 45 far-reaching chapters, authored by nearly 80 of the most renowned experts, on the most pressing topics related to aging today. With its recurring attention to the social forces that shape human aging, and the social consequences and policy implications of it, the contents will be of interest to everyone who cares about what aging means for individuals, families, and societies.

The chapters of the "Handbook of Sociology of Aging" illustrate the field's extraordinary breadth and depth, which has never before been represented in a single volume. Its contributions address topics that range from foundational matters, such as classic and contemporary theories and methods, to topics of longstanding and emergent interest, such as social diversity and inequalities, social relationships, social institutions, economies and governments, social vulnerabilities, public health, and care arrangements. The volume closes with a set of personal essays by senior scholars who share their experiences and hopes for the field, and an essay by the editors that provides a roadmap for the decade ahead.

The "Handbook of Sociology of Aging" showcases the very best that sociology has to offer the study of human aging.

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

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