This book examines the emergent and expanding role of technologies that hold both promise and possible peril for transforming the ageing process in this century. It discusses the points and counterpoints of technological advances that would influence a reconstruction of what it means to age when embedded in a post-human vision for a post-biological future. The book presents a provocative interdisciplinary meta-analysis that contrasts paradigms with inflection points, making the case that society has entered a new inflection point, provisionally labeled as Post Ageing. It goes on to discuss the moderate and radical versions of this inflection point and the philosophical issues that need to be addressed with the advent of post ageing activities: postponing and possibly ending ageing, primarily through technological advances. This book will be a valuable resource for professionals who wish to review the continuum of varied constructs and intersects of technologies ranging from those purporting to enhance the activities of daily living in older adults, to those that would enable the older worker to stay competitive in the labor market, to those that propose to extend longevity and ultimately, claim to transcend ageing itself-moving toward a transhumanistic domain and more specifically, a post-ageing inflection point.

Our health, our income and our social networks at older ages are the consequence of what has happened to us over the course of our lives. The situation at age 50+ reflects our own decisions as well as many environmental factors, especially interventions by the welfare state. This book explores the richness of 28,000 life histories in thirteen European countries, collected as part of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Combining these data with a comprehensive account of European welfare state interventions provides a unique opportunity to answer the important public policy questions of our time - how the welfare state affects people's incomes, housing, families, retirement, volunteering and health. The overarching theme of the welfare state creates a book of genuinely interdisciplinary analyses, a valuable resource for economists, gerontologists, historians, political scientists, public health analysts, and sociologists alike.

In this book, leading authors in the field discuss developments of Ambient Assisted Living. The contributions have been chosen and invited at the 7th AAL congress, Berlin. It presents new technological developments which support the autonomy and independence of individuals with special needs. As the technological innovation raises also social issues, the book addresses micro and macro economical aspects of assistive systems and puts an additional emphasis on the ethical and legal discussion. The presentation is supported by real world examples and applications.

This book discusses theoretical issues, standards, and professional considerations arising when legal and health practitioners undertake legal capacity assessments in the context of wills, enduring powers of attorney and advance health directives. The potential loss of cognition can erode autonomy as individuals lose the ability to make their own legally recognised decisions. This is an inescapable problem with significant legal, social, health and policy repercussions. This work synthesises and critically analyses the existing literature, including some of the best assessment models and guiding principles internationally, to generate a new methodology and understanding of what capacity assessment best practice means. This includes the impact of assessments on individual autonomy - the ideal method building upon respect for both autonomy as well as fundamental human rights. The triggers to assess capacity, who to involve in the assessment process, as well as how to conduct that assessment process are discussed. The crucial relationship between the legal and health professionals involved in assessments, including growing concerns around practitioner liability, is also explored. This analysis is undertaken through the innovative use of a therapeutic jurisprudence lens, the effect of which is to contribute new knowledge to this complex field.

End-of-life issues in cardiology are becoming increasingly important in the management of patients in the cardiac unit, but there is frequently a lack of understanding regarding their impact on cardiology practice. The cardiac unit is increasingly becoming the location whereby a number of key clinical decisions relating to end-of-life care are being made, such as the decision to remove medications, the appropriate removal of cardiac devices, the management of do not resuscitate orders and the requirement for other cardiac procedures in light of the management of the terminally ill cardiac patients. Those working in palliative care need input from the cardiovascular team as the cardiologist is frequently still managing these patients until they are moved to the hospice. That this move into a hospice is often delayed until the very last moment, there is considerable onus on the cardiovascular management of these patients to be much broader in scope and take account of some of the more palliative medical decisions needed in this group of patients. This concise reference will detail the practical issues open to cardiovascular physicians and those medical professionals who manage patients reaching the end of their life from a cardiology perspective. It will detail the full management options open to them to ensure that their practice is in line with the requirements of the patient nearing the end of their life whether the cause be cardiovascular in origin or who need appropriate management of secondary cardiovascular symptoms. It will also include the various ethical, cultural and geographical issues that need to be considered when managing these patients.

The book addresses issues towards the design and development of Wireless Sensor Network based Smart Home and fusion of Real-Time Data for Wellness Determination of an elderly person living alone in a Smart Home. The fundamentals of selection of sensor, fusion of sensor data, system design, modelling, characterizations, experimental investigations and analyses have been covered. This book will be extremely useful for the engineers and researchers especially higher undergraduate, postgraduate students as well as practitioners working on the development of Wireless Sensor Networks, Internet of Things and Data Mining.

This book presents the refereed proceedings of the Fourth Italian Forum on Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), held in Ancona, Italy, in October 2013. A wide range of issues are covered and new technological developments are described which will support the autonomy and independence of individuals with special needs through an innovative and integrated approach, designed to respond to the socio-economic challenges of an aging population. Topics addressed include: health and well-being, prevention and rehabilitation and support for care providers; active aging and its social implications; services for the frail elderly with health problems and their families; nutrition; ICT platforms/technologies for the benefit of the elderly; home automation and control technologies (autonomy, safety and energy saving); smart cities and smart communities; telemedicine, telerehabilitation, and telecare; mobility, participation and social inclusion; games and fun for the elderly; building design; social housing; interface design and interaction (accessibility, acceptance); social policies to encourage and support active aging; business models, market analysis and development of sustainable financing and business and ethics, privacy and data protection. Many experimental validations based on user trials and usability testing are presented and discussed. The knowledge and insights provided in this book will help researchers and others involved in AAL to understand relevant societal trends, novel technological developments and pressing challenges.

This is the new and fully revised third edition of the well-received text that is the benchmark book in the field of nutrition and aging. The editors (specialists in geriatric nutrition, medical sociology, and clinical nutrition, respectively) and contributors (a panel of recognized academic nutritionists, geriatricians, clinicians, and other scientists) have added a number of new chapters and have thoroughly updated the widely acclaimed second edition. This third edition provides fresh perspectives and the latest scientific and clinical developments on the interaction of nutrition with age-associated disease and provides practical, evidence-based options to enhance this at-risk population's potential for optimal health and disease prevention. Chapters on a wide range of topics, such as the role of nutrition in physical and cognitive function, and coverage of an array of clinical conditions (obesity, diabetes, heart failure, cancer, kidney disease, osteoporosis), compliment chapters on food insecurity, anti-aging and nutritional supplements, making this third edition uniquely different from previous editions. Handbook of Clinical Nutrition and Aging, Third Edition, is a practical and comprehensive resource and an invaluable guide to nutritionists, physicians, nurses, social workers and others who provide health care for the ever-increasing aging population.

Effective, meaningful caregiving requires a well-coordinated and informed effort guided by various highly skilled specialists across several interrelated professions, including psychologists, social workers, and occupational therapists. Multidisciplinary Coordinated Caregiving addresses the information needs of these interrelated professionals, contributing to the direct care of individuals and serving as an essential resource for those who ultimately create collaborative approaches to contemporary caregiving plans. In addition, the volume provides a wealth of evidence-based research findings to facilitate ongoing dialogue about multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on and interventions for the complex challenge of caregiving in America. Key areas of coverage include: The status of professional caregiving in the United States. Nursing perspectives on the state of family caregiving. Psychological aspects of caregiving. A human development, lifespan perspective on caregiving during late life. Public health contributions to caregiving. Multidisciplinary Coordinated Caregiving offers a wealth of insights for those researchers, practitioners, and graduate students who seek to optimize the care of individuals across such fields as psychology, social work, public health, geriatrics and gerontology, and medicine as well as public and educational policy making.

This book focuses on extrapyramidal signs and symptoms of all types of dementia, and addresses the issue of the artificial boundary between dementias and Parkinsonism, which represent the two most common symptoms found in degenerative central nervous system diseases. In Movement Disorders in Dementias, movement disorder specialists from around the world write on topics generally restricted to dementia experts. Important motor issues related to either medication in demented patients (drug-induced movement disorders) or manifestations common to all forms of dementia, regardless of underlying cause (gait disorders, falls, fear of falling), is followed by analysis of the relationship between motor and cognitive symptoms, from their common pathogenesis to specific medical treatments. Movement Disorders in Dementias is aimed at general neurologists, dementia specialists, movement disorders specialists, neuropsychologists and geriatricians.

Geriatric Trauma and Critical Care provides a multidisciplinary overview of the assessment and management of the elderly patient presenting with surgical pathology. By utilizing current literature and evidence-based resources, the textbook elucidates the unique nature of caring for the elderly population. The structure of the volume provides the reader with an overview of the physiologic and psychological changes, as well as the impact on the healthcare system, associated with the aging process. Emphasis is placed on the impact of aging, pre-existing medical problems, effects of polypharmacy, advanced directives and end-of-life wishes on acute surgical problems, including trauma and surgical critical care. Special attention is given to the ethical implications of management of the aged. The multidisciplinary contributors provide a unique point of view not common to surgical texts. The textbook is the definitive resource for practicing surgeons, emergency medicine physicians, intensivists, anesthesiologists, hospitalists, geriatricians, as well as surgical residents, nurses and therapists, all who care for elderly patients with surgical emergencies.

This book will contain the proceedings of the XIV International Symposium on Retinal Degeneration (RD2010), held July 13-17, 2010, in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. The volume will present representative state-of-the-art research in almost all areas of retinal degenerations, ranging from cytopathologic, physiologic, diagnostic and clinical aspects; animal models; mechanisms of cell death; candidate genes, cloning, mapping and other aspects of molecular genetics; and developing potential therapeutic measures such as gene therapy and neuroprotective agents for potential pharmaceutical therapy.

This book looks at the relationships between the physical-social environment and the elderly in Europe and Latin America, from the Environmental Gerontology perspective and through geographical and psychosocial approaches. It addresses the main environmental issues of population ageing, based on an understanding of the complex relationships, adjustments and adaptations between different environments (home, residence, public spaces, landscapes, neighbourhoods, urban and rural environment) and the quality of life of the ageing population, associated with residential strategies and other aspects related to health and dependency. The different levels of socio-spatial analysis are also explored: macro (urban and rural environments, regions and landscapes), meso (neighbourhood, public space) and micro (personal, home and institution). New theoretical and methodological approaches are proposed to analyse the attributes and functions of the physical-social environment of the elderly, as well as new ways of living the ageing process. All will have to respond to the challenges of urbanisation, globalisation and climate change in the 21st century. Also, the different experiences and challenges of public planning and management professionals involved with the growing ageing population are presented, and will require greater association and collaboration with the academic and scientific fields of Environmental Gerontology.

This book documents the state of the art in the field of ambient assisted living (AAL), highlighting the impressive potential of novel methodologies and technologies to enhance well-being and promote active ageing. The coverage is wide ranging, with sections on assistive devices, elderly people monitoring, home rehabilitation, ICT solutions for AAL, living with chronic conditions, robotic assistance for the elderly, sensing technologies for AAL, and smart housing. The book comprises a selection of the best papers presented at the 7th Italian Forum on Ambient Assisted Living (ForitAAL 2016), which was held in Pisa, Italy, in June 2016 and brought together end users, technology teams, and policy makers to develop a consensus on how to improve provision for elderly and impaired people. Readers will find that the expert contributions offer clear insights into the ways in which the most recent exciti ng advances may be expected to assist in addressing the needs of the elderly and those with chronic conditions.

In recent years, the literature on the topic of ethnic and racial issues in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias has increased dramatically. At the same time, the need for cultural competence in all of geriatric care, including dementia care, is increasingly being acknowledged. Dementia is a large societal problem affecting all communities, regardless of race or ethnicity, and understanding dementia for specific groups is tremendously important for both clinical knowledge and for health planning as a nation. This third edition of Ethnicity and the Dementias offers invaluable background information in this area, while also examining how those suffering from dementia and their family members respond or adapt to the challenges that follow. Thoroughly updated and revised throughout, the book features contributions from leading clinicians and researchers in the field, with particular attention given to genetic and cultural factors related to dementia, effective prevention and treatment strategies, and issues in caregiving and family support. Chapters offer specific recommendations for dementia care in eleven ethnic/racial groups, as well as suggestions for working effectively with LGBTQ families. Providing a truly comprehensive resource on ethnicity and dementia, and including reflections on emerging trends and the future of caregiving, this new edition is ideal reading for clinicians, educators, researchers, policy makers, and families, in search of the most current ethnogeriatric findings.

In this book, leading authors in the field discuss the habitats of tomorrow. These habitats will be connected through autonomous and assistive systems, turning habitats into health resorts. This book discusses how assistance technologies enable a smooth transition from comfortable health support to medical or nursing care. The contributions have been chosen and invited at the 9th AAL congress, Frankfurt.

This book provides a current perspective on alcohol and aging to better understand the trends, costs, benefits, and clinical and community evidenced-based strategies. This book embraces not only the physical, cognitive, psychological, and social health benefits of moderate drinking in the elderly, it also delves into the risks of excessive drinking, including physical and psychiatric morbidity, neurodegeneration, medication complications, and accidents and injuries, and loss of independence. Written by experts in the field, this book is the only current text that includes the most current scientific, research, empirical, and practice information alongside a comprehensive review of the status of the field that will help guide alcohol use management and stimulate future research. Alcohol and Aging is the ultimate resource for all researchers, educators, clinicians, and professionals working with older adults who drink.

This book examines the social aspects of healthy ageing for older individuals. It features more than 15 papers that explore the relevance of the social environment for health on the micro, meso, and macro level. Overall, the book applies a comprehensive contextual approach that includes discussion of how family and friends, neighborhoods, nations, and welfare regimes influence health. The book first explores the issue on the individual level. It looks at the importance of social capital for health among older people, examines types of social networks and health among older Americans, as well as discusses dynamic social capital and mental health in late life. Next, the book looks at the issue through a neighborhood and societal context, which takes into account day-to-day interaction in the immediate environment as well as the social, health, and economic policies in place in different regions in the world, including America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. From there, the book goes on to offer implications and recommendations for research and practice, including the management of related concepts of research on well-being and health. It also offers a psychosocial approach to promoting social capital and mental health among older adults. This book provides health professionals as well as researchers and students in gerontology, sociology, social policy, psychology, and social work with vital insights into the social factors that increase healthy life years and promote well-being.

The book describes the major degenerative processes and pathologies exacerbated by senescence and how they can be alleviated through retardation of cellular aging. Topics discussed include neurodegenerative disease, protein oxidation, cerebrovascular disease, particle-induced inflammation and cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, ovarian aging, dietary and endogenous anti-oxidants in management of Parkinson's disease, and effects of exercise on oxidation and inflammation. The nineteen expertly authored chapters are organized into three sections in order to present a complete picture to the reader: Age Related Cellular Events, Role of Inflammatory and Oxidative Processes in Age-Related Diseases, and Retardation of Cellular Aging. Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Age-Related Disease draws from a variety of international perspectives and provides a comprehensive overview of the relationship between disease, cell aging, and oxidative stress, as well as potential for preventing or slowing these processes. This installment of Springer's Oxidative Stress in Applied Basic Research and Clinical Practice is ideal for researchers, clinicians, and advanced graduate students in the fields of cardiology, neuroscience, biogerontolgy, and cell biology.

This book brings together in one volume the current state of ageing research in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The authors are leading researchers in the field, placing this topic in the context of human ageing, describing how and why basic discoveries in this simple organism have impacted our prospects for intervention in the ageing process. The authors cover a broad range of topics with regards to organismal and reproductive ageing including anatomical, physiological and biochemical changes, as well as genetic and environmental interventions that promote longevity and ameliorate age-related disease. Ageing is the single most important factor determining the onset of human disease in developed countries. With current worldwide demographic trends indicating that the number of individuals over the age of 65 will continue to rise, it is clear that an understanding of the processes that underpin ageing and age-related disease represents a key challenge in the biomedical sciences. In recent years there have been huge advances in our understanding of the ageing process and many of these have stemmed from genetic analysis of C. elegans. With no analogous book in this subject area this work will be of interest to a wide audience, ranging from academic researchers to the general public.

This volume will bring together a review of research being carried out by international experts in this field, detailing treatment and research approaches in several forms of malignant brain tumors. These include glioblastoma (GBM), a highly aggressive and fatal form of astrocytoma which accounts for 80% of newly diagnosed brain tumor patients per year, and meningioma, of which 10% are malignant and extremely resistant to targeted therapies. The volume will also include a discussion of methods to overcome blood-brain barrier exclusion for more efficient targeted drug delivery in all forms of brain cancer treatment. The volume will include information on the repurposing of drugs in an attempt to circumvent drug resistance, use of small molecule inhibitors in GBM treatment, mechanisms of secondary brain metastasis, drug resistance, and state-of-the-art imaging of targeted therapies.

This book aims to address the major aspects of future drug product development and therapy for older adults, giving practical guidance for the rational product and clinical development and prescribing of drug products to this ever growing segment of the population. With authors coming from key "aging" markets such as Europe, the USA, China and Japan, the book will provide valuable information for students, scientists, regulators, practitioners, and other healthcare professionals from academia, industry and regulatory bodies.

This text focuses on the under-recognized and undertreated problem of addiction in later life. The widespread lack of clinical knowledge about this patient population can be traced to several sources: the systematic exclusion of older individuals from clinical trials; their reluctance to seek medical help owing to stigma and shame; the fact that additive disorders may be disguised by concurrent medical conditions; a lack of screening instruments tailored to an older population; and the low sensitivity of standard diagnostic criteria for detecting addiction in middle-aged and elderly adults who do not display the occupational and legal "red flags" seen in younger individuals. This volume provides the reader with a clear sense of the surprisingly high prevalence of alcohol and substance use disorders in older adults. For each of the major classes of addictive substances, both prescribed and illicit, this book highlights the key clinical issues that can complicate successful diagnosis. The authors describe strategies for initial engagement with the patient, including screening instruments, brief interventions which can be adapted to a primary care setting, emerging web-based and mobile technologies, and treatment strategies which are tailored to the age-appropriate needs of older adults, including older women - who have been found to be especially vulnerable to prescription drug misuse. With the aging of the baby boomers, a generation arriving in middle-age with greater exposure to alcohol and drugs than any previous cohort, the need for successful identification and effective treatment of alcohol and substance use disorders in later life has become a clinical imperative. Addiction in the Older Patient, whose editors bring more than 40 years of combined research and clinical experience in the field of addiction treatment, offers a comprehensive introduction to this underexplored and timely topic. This text synthesizes current clinical evidence to support the most effective strategies for discovering and treating addictive disorders in our older patients.

This book provides a comprehensive view of rational suicide in the elderly, a group that has nearly twice the rate of suicide when chronically ill than any other demographic. Its frame of reference does not endorse a single point-of-view about the legitimacy of rational suicide, which is evolving across societies with little guidance for geriatric mental health professionals. Instead, it serves as a resource for both those clinicians who agree that older people may rationally commit suicide and those who believe that this wish may require further assessment and treatment. The first chapters of the book provides an overview of rational suicide in the elderly, examining it through history and across cultures also addressing the special case of baby boomers. This book takes an ethical and philosophical look at whether suicide can truly be rational and whether the nearness of death in late-life adults means that suicide should be considered differently than in younger adults. Clinical criteria for rational suicide in the elderly are proposed in this book for the first time, as well as a guidelines for the psychosocial profile of an older adult who wants to commit rational suicide. Unlike any other book, this text examines the existential, psychological, and psychodynamic perspectives. A chapter on terminal mental illness and a consideration of suicide in that context and proposed interventions even without a diagnosable mental illness also plays a vital role in this book as these are key issues in within the question of suicide among the elderly. This book is the first to consider all preventative measures, including the spiritual as well as the psychotherapeutic, and pharmacologic. A commentary on modern society, aging, and rational suicide that ties all of these elements together, making this the ultimate guide for addressing suicide among the elderly. Rational Suicide in the Elderly is an excellent resource for all medical professionals with potentially suicidal patients, including geriatricians, geriatric and general psychiatrists, geriatric nurses, social workers, and public health officials.

The growing incidence of depression in old age has stimulated considerable research activity in recent years. Underdetected and undertreated, it is a profoundly disabling condition associated with a high rate of suicide. However, an enthusiastic approach to its detection and management can considerably improve an otherwise poor prognosis. Depression in Old Age is a distillate of the research information currently available, describing the causes, epidemiology and presentation of depression in the elderly. The book also provides guidance on the detection and management of depression as well as reviewing the psychosocial and biological contributors to its aetiology and prognosis. It will be required reading for those researching, or involved in, the areas of psychiatry, psychology, medicine, social work and primary care.