The study of grandparents raising grandchildren, now almost two decades old, has tended to have a negative bias, emphasizing the difficulties such people face and the negative impact that grandparent caregiving has on them physically, socially, and emotionally. This edited book seeks to reverse this trend by taking a positive approach to understanding grandparent caregivers, focusing on their resilience and resourcefulness. This method reflects a strengths-based approach and the importance of benefit-finding and positive coping. Chapters feature information from both qualitative and quantitative studies and are written by a diverse range of professionals, such as counselors, psychologists, geriatric social workers, and nurse practitioners, to provide multidisciplinary persepctives for practitioners working with grandparent caregivers. Part one discusses the positive qualities that custodial grandparents possess resilience, resourcefulness, and benefit finding. The second part considers the sociocultural aspects of resilience and resourcefulness in grandparent caregivers. Finally, part three presents strengths-based interventions for working with custodial grandparents. Practitioners will find this to be a valuable resource in their work and the field as a whole, stimulating positive changes in attitudes toward and practices with grandparent caregivers.

Although many aspects of fluid cognition decline with advancing age, simple observation in the wild suggests that older adults, generally speaking, do very well in their day-to-day life. The study of the orchestration of cognitive, social, and motivational compensatory mechanisms in the service of effective and healthy aging provides a meaningful challenge to traditional ways of examining developmental changes in cognitive performance. An additional impetus comes from recent discoveries in the neuroscience of aging, all demonstrating substantial amounts of functional modifiability, compensation, and plasticity of the human brain, even in very old age. Furthermore, the discovery of string relationships between engagement in mentally enriching and socially stimulating activities and cognitive health and longevity has sparked a new generation of training studies aimed at improving or sustaining cognitive fitness in old age. This book examines the role of compensatory mechanisms in such diverse facets of cognitive processing as perceptual processes, text comprehension, dual-task processing, and episodic and prospective memory. This ensemble of studies compellingly shows that older adults' everyday cognitive life is governed not by the decline in elementary cognitive processes as measured in the lab, but by a multitude of compensatory mechanisms, most of which are of the social/motivational variety. Much of this compensatory behavior can be elicited with no or only little experimental prodding, underscoring the self-organizing or self-initiated nature of this type of behavior, even in advanced old age. This book was originally published as a special issue of Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition.

As the oldest members of the baby boomer generation head into their retirement years, this demographic shift is having a substantial influence on uses of mass media, as well as the images portrayed in these media. Mass Media, An Aging Population, and the Baby Boomers provides a comprehensive examination of the relationship between media and aging issues, addressing mass media theory and practice as it relates to older Americans. Reviewing current research on communication and gerontology, authors Michael Hilt and Jeremy Lipschultz focus on aging baby boomers and their experiences with television, radio, print media, entertainment, advertising and public relations, along with the Internet and new media. They draw from studies about health and sexuality to understand views of aging, and present a view of older people as important players in the political process. Hilt and Lipschultz conclude the volume by addressing trends and making predictions related to baby boomers and mass media. Providing a timely and insightful examination of the linkage between mass media and aging issues, this volume will prove a valuable resource for scholars and students in media and gerontology. It is intended for use in coursework addressing such topics as mass communication and society, media and aging, media and public opinion, sociology, and social gerontology.

Media representations of ageing play a role in stereotype formation and even reinforce them. Encountering these stereotypes can negatively impact the self-esteem, health status, physical wellbeing and cognitive performance of older people. This international collection examines different dimensions of ageing and ageism in a range of media. Chapters include explorations of the UK media during the COVID-19 pandemic; age, gender and mental health in Ghana; advertising in Brazil; magazines in Canada; Taiwanese newspapers; comics, graphic novels and more. Bringing together leading scholars, this book critically considers differences in media portrayals and how older adults use and interact with the media.

What 'kind' of community is demanded by a problem like dementia? As aspects of care continue to transition from institutional to community and home settings, this book considers the implications for people living with dementia and their carers. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and case studies from Canada, this book analyses the intersections of formal dementia strategies and the experiences of families and others on the frontlines of care. Considering the strains placed on care systems by the COVID-19 pandemic, this book looks afresh at what makes home-based care possible or impossible and how these considerations can help establish a deeper understanding necessary for good policy and practice.

This volume addresses key issues such as the cultural and discursive context in which physical activity is discussed; the process of becoming physically active; the role of care settings in enabling physical activity; pleasure; gender; and place and space.

Reflects the most important theoretical foundations and research directions concerning aging and older adulthood This authoritative volume provides the latest insights into, and theoretical interpretation of, our understanding of the human aging process. Newly updated and revised, this edition of the well-established student textbook offers relatable scenarios that touch upon real-world issues faced by older adults and their families. The book explains how research studies attempt to answer questions of both theoretical and practical importance as they relate to aging and older adulthood, and it explains the hypotheses and findings of the studies in a manner that is comprehensible to readers of all levels of research experience. Aging and Older Adulthood begins by describing the demographic characteristics of the older population, and follows with a chapter on theoretical models that apply to the study of adult development and aging, as well as approaches commonly taken to conduct research and ethical concerns involved in the study of this group. It then offers a series of chapters exploring biological aging, sensation perception and attention, memory, intellectual functioning, cognition and real-world problem-solving, personality and coping, social interaction and social ties, lifestyles and retirement, mental health and psychotherapy, and death and bereavement. The final chapter looks at aging in the future. Each chapter includes fully updated research findings, as well as new and expanded coverage of concepts and ideas in areas such as neuroscience, and diabetes. New edition of a highly respected text exploring our contemporary understanding of a broad range of topics related to older adulthood and the psychology of aging Offers thematic treatment of core issues including health, sensory perception, memory, intellect, social interactions, employment and retirement, and mental health Uses a dual lens of two models - the selective optimization with compensation model and the ecological model - to provide cohesiveness to the presentation of both theoretical and applied material Introduces each chapter with a relevant real-world scenario and refers back to it throughout the chapter Includes pedagogical feature boxes that reflect current understanding of contemporary issues in the field as well as key points and issues for further discussion Aging and Older Adulthood, 4th Edition is an excellent text for upper division undergraduate and graduate courses focusing on the older adulthood and aging, the psychology of aging, gerontological studies, and lifespan development.

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.

Routledge Library Editions: The City reprints some of the most important works in urban studies published in the last century. For further information on this collection please email [email protected].

Despite evidence of a more sexually active 'third age', ageing and later life (50+) are still commonly represented as a process of desexualisation. Challenging this assumption and ageist stereotypes, this interdisciplinary volume investigates the experiential and theoretical landscapes of older people's sexual intimacies, practices and pleasures. Contributors explore the impact of desexualisation in various contexts and across different identities, orientations, relationships and practices. This enlightening text, reflecting international scholarship, considers how we can distinguish the real challenges faced by older people from the prejudices imposed on them.

With a foreword by Judy Woodruff, The Unexpected Journey of Caring is a practical guide to finding personal meaning in the 21st century care experience. Personal transformation is usually an experience we actively seek out-not one that hunts us down. Becoming a caregiver is one transformation that comes at us, requiring us to rethink everything we once knew. Everything changes-responsibilities, beliefs, hopes, expectations, and relationships. Caregiving is not just a role reserved for "saints"-eventually, everyone is drafted into the caregiver role. It's not a role people medically train for; it's a new type of relationship initiated by a loved one's need for care. And it's a role that cannot be quarantined to home because it infuses all aspects of our lives. Caregivers today find themselves in need of a crash course in new and unfamiliar skills. They must not only care for a loved one, but also access hidden community resources, collaborate with medical professionals, craft new narratives consistent with the changing nature of their care role, coordinate care with family, seek information and peer support using a variety of digital platforms, and negotiate social support-all while attempting to manage conflicts between work, life, and relationship roles. The moments that mark us in the transition from loved one to caregiver matter because if we don't make sense of how we are being transformed, we risk undervaluing our care experiences, denying our evolving beliefs, becoming trapped by other's misunderstandings, and feeling underappreciated, burned out, and overwhelmed. Informed by original caregiver research and proven advocacy strategies, this book speaks to caregiving as it unfolds, in all of its confusion, chaos, and messiness. Readers won't find well-intentioned cliches or care stereotypes in this book. There are no promises to help caregivers return to a life they knew before caregiving. No, this book greets caregivers where they are in their journey-new or chronic-not where others expect (or want) them to be.

The later-adult years are commonly viewed as a period in which one struggles to maintain a vestige of the physical, mental, and emotional vitality of one's earlier years. In 'Still Growing', however, Donald Capps shows that older adulthood is actually a period of growth and development, and that a central feature of this growth and development is the remarkable creativity of older adults. This creativity is the consequence of the wisdom gained through years of experience but is also due to a newly developed capacity to adapt to unprecedented challenges integral to the aging process. In Part 1, Capps illustrates the challenges of transitioning to older adulthood from the author's own experiences, while in Part 2 he draws on material from Erik H. Erikson, Sigmund Freud, and Paul W. Pruyser to account for longevity, adaptability, and creativity in older adults. Finally, in part 3 he focusses on the work of both William James and Walt Disney to fashion a model of creative aging.

The psychology of aging is an exciting and rapidly-developing field. This volume provides a collection of classic, original and often widely-cited papers, including some older papers which may be hard to find through conventional searches. Taken together, they help to address some key questions: what are the cognitive changes related to aging? Is mental exercise useful? To what extent might intelligence, education or stimulating mental activities delay or even reduce cognitive symptoms of dementia? However, the book goes well beyond cognition and addresses social and emotional changes in aging, as well as looking at how lifestyle factors may be influential in psychological functioning. The section on the psychology of dementia covers the evolving psychological models, plus innovative types of psychological interventions. As more people live to an age where they are dependent on others, the book also considers the stresses on carers and how carers can be supported. Lastly, other aspects of mental health problems in old-age are addressed, including depression, PTSD and personality disorder. This collection of intriguing and inspiring papers will liven up the shelves of students, researchers and academics in the field as well as being a very useful resource for research, teaching and study.

This book focuses on the emerging global old age care industry developing as a response to tackle the "old age care crisis" in richer countries. In this global industry, multiple actors are involved in recruiting, skilling and placing migrant care workers in different spheres of the receiving country's old age care system. This book delves into the analysis of these actors and the multiple levels influencing their activities. Accordingly, it examines the significance of old age care regimes and policies as well as intermediaries and promoters for initiating, shaping and perpetuating old age care arrangements based on migrant labor and the relationships within them. Particular emphasis is placed on the risks and implications of these arrangements for the well-being and the social protection of the different actors involved. The book analyzes these processes and structures from a global perspective including different countries and regions of the world.

LGBT older adults experience issues and challenges that are unique, including institutional heteronormativity, heterosexism in organizations, and homophobia among caregivers and social service providers. This book presents a diverse group of scholars, activists, social service providers, and researchers from around the globe examining current research, practices, and policies on aging among LGBT individuals. This revealing source lays out the significant challenges faced not only by this aging sexual minority population, but also for their social service providers-and those who train them. The chapters explore the Greater London area Polari Project, the adjustments made in the long-running HIV support group at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, and the Liberation Psychology workshops in Ireland for lesbian and transgendered persons. This volume can serve as an excellent teacher resource for engaging undergraduate and graduate students in various professions who will be working with older LGBT adults. This text is extensively referenced and includes tables to clearly present research. This book is a valuable source for program administrators and supervisors, human behavior researchers, psychologists and psychotherapists, social planners and policy specialists, community developers and organizers, case managers, direct service practitioners involved with LGBT communities, educators, and students. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services.

Despite increased awareness of sexual diversity, older people's accounts of sex and intimacy remain marginalised. This edited volume addresses diversity in sexual and intimate experience later in life (50+) and captures international research and analysis relating to intersectional identities. Contributors explore how being older intersects with differences of ethnicity, gender, sexuality and class. Offering a critical focus and original contribution to an emerging, although still relatively neglected field, this collection extends knowledge concerning intimacies, practices and pleasures for those thought to represent normative, non-normative and 'new normative' forms of sexual identification and expression.

"Aging and Everyday Life" presents a balanced and penetrating view of the aging experience. The research in this book reveals that many, if not most, of the triumphs and trials experienced in later years are not unlike those confronted at other points in life. Just like younger people, the elderly experience both change and stability, shedding old roles and entering new ones. The process takes place in varied spheres of life: the worlds of home and family, work, and friendship.

This thoughtful, engaging text brings together twenty-eight essays by leading researchers in social gerontology to explore the everyday aspects of aging. Readers will come away viewing the elderly as people whose lives are as complex and diverse, and therefore as nuanced, as any.

In the past decade, evidence based practice (EBP) has emerged as one of the most important movements to improve the effectiveness of clinical care. As the number of older adults continues to grow, it is essential that practitioners have knowledge of effective strategies to improve both the medical and the psychosocial aspects of older persons' lives. The purpose of this work is to present systematic reviews of research-based psychosocial interventions for older adults and their caregivers.

The interventions presented focus on a variety of critical issues facing older adults today including medical illnesses (cardiac disease, diabetes, arthritis/pain, cancer, and HIV/AIDS), mental health/cognitive disorders (depression/anxiety, dementia, substance abuse), and social functioning (developmental disabilities, end-of-life, dementia caregivers, grandparent caregivers). For each of these areas the prevalence of the problem, the demographics of those affected, and the nature and consequences of the problem are discussed. The empirical literature is then reviewed. A treatment summary highlights the type and nature of research supporting the interventions reviewed and is followed by a conclusion section that summarizes the status of intervention research for the specified issue. A Treatment Resource Appendix for each area is included. These appendices highlight manuals, books, articles and web resources that detail the treatment approaches and methodologies discussed.

This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.

Well-Being of Older People in Ageing Societies poses answers to the question of how we can measure and conceptualize the well-being of older people. It focuses on the future research agenda and policy reforms that will be necessary to maintain a decent well-being for older people, given the context of our ageing populations. This book draws on longitudinal datasets and empirical research on the multidimensional measures of older people's welfare, providing a comparative analysis of social assistance and pensions for older people in the UK and The Netherlands. This title will be essential reading to anyone with an interest in gerontology and the effect society, public policy and governance can have on the welfare of older people.

'What channel is Netflix on?' Modern technology can be daunting, especially if you're a silver surfer. How are you supposed to remember your wifi password when you can't even remember where you left your glasses? Whether you're struggling with social media or wrestling with your word processor, you'll find plenty to laugh about in the browser blunders and phone fails of Instagran.

The nature of health in later life has conventionally been studied from two perspectives. Medical sociologists have focused on the failing body, chronic illness, infirmity and mortality, while social gerontologists on the other hand have focused on the epidemiology of old age and health and social policy. By examining these perspectives, Higgs and Jones show how both standpoints have a restricted sense of contemporary ageing which has prevented an understanding of the way in which health in later life has changed. In the book, the authors point out that the current debates on longevity and disability are being transformed by the emergence of a fitter and healthier older population. This third age - where fitness and participation are valorised - leads to the increasing salience of issues such as bodily control, age-denial and anti-ageing medicine. By discussing the key issue of old age versus ageing, the authors examine the prospect of a new sociology - a sociology of health in later life. Medical Sociology and Old Age is essential reading for all students and researchers of medical sociology and gerontology and for anyone concerned with the challenge of ageing populations in the twenty-first century. This book is essential reading for all students and researchers of medical sociology and gerontology.

Aging, Work, and Retirement presents the reasons older men and women are staying in the workforce as long as they are able to do so-information of immediate value to undergraduate and graduate students across the fields of sociology, gerontology, industrial/organizational psychology, and business management as well as to corporate leaders, human resources managers, professional organizations and policy makers. The text reflects a growing interest in and concern regarding aspects of aging, ageism, labor market challenges, workplace issues, plus gender and racial/ethnic similarities and differences in employment history and extended worklife opportunities, as they affect older workers in this country and abroad. Each chapter has cases and profiles and other strong pedagogical features allowing students to integrate the content with real world examples.

Psychological, social, and spiritual care is as important as physical care at the end of life. Yet caregivers often feel ill-equipped to give that nonphysical care. This book shows how to do it. The book addresses all caregivers who attend dying patients: doctors, nurses, chaplains, clergy in the pastorate, social workers, clinical psychologists, family caregivers, and others. It covers such topics as the functional and emotional trajectories of dying; the varied approaches of patients and caregivers to end-of-life decisions; culturally based beliefs about dying; the differences between depression and grief; and people's views about the right time to die, the death experience itself, and the afterlife. For each topic the book introduces core concepts and summarizes recent research about them. The book presents much of its material in readable tables for easy reference; applies the material to real-life cases; lists the main "take home" points for each chapter; and gives references for additional reading. The book helps caregivers anticipate the reactions of patients and survivors to end-of-life traumas and suggests how caregivers can respond insightfully and compassionately. At the same time the book challenges caregivers to think through their own views about death and dying. This book, therefore, is a must-read for all caregivers professional and nonprofessional alike who strive to give their patients comprehensive, high-quality end-of-life care.

By 2030, when most American baby boomers will have retired, all the large industrial economies will see a massive increase in the old age population. This book examines population aging and its implications for public retirement programs in the five largest industrial economies--Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States. The authors report on national demographic trends, examine the current living conditions of the aged population, explain the structure of the retirement system, and offer estimates of future budgetary costs of the public programs. They also discuss national debates over the potential reform of public retirement systems.

While all five countries share the prospect of an older population, variations in the size and timing of demographic change, as well as important differences in the structure of public programs for the elderly, suggest that population aging will have widely different implications in each country. In Germany and Japan, for example, the population will not only grow older but may actually decline because of low birth rates. The United States will experience less aging, but its debate over reform treats seriously the possibility of privatizing public retirement commitments.

Elder Abuse: Forensic, Legal and Medical Aspects focuses on the psychological, financial and physical abuse and neglect that is widespread in elder abuse across socioeconomic levels. It provides expert information on forensic and legal topics that professionals need to understand to confront these crimes. The topics included are those most important in the detection and prosecution of elder abuse. Identification and epidemiology are discussed, as are types and presentations of abuse. Written at a level for both professionals and students who wish to gain a broader understanding of specific forensic topics in elder maltreatment, this book is an ideal source.