"This is a most impressive work on a much needed and neglected area of older men who lost their spouses. Moore and Stratton listened to what these men had to say and presented us with such a rich mosaic of feelings, experiences, and hypotheses for future research."
- Leonard Poon, PhD, Dr Phil hc
Professor of Psychology
Chair, Faculty of Gerontology
Director, University of Georgia Gerontology Center

Based on the authors' intensive qualitative study of a diverse group of 51 widowers, this unique book sets widowhood within the context of life experience. It identifies characteristics and patterns of behavior that contribute to widower's success, as well as lack of success, in adjusting satisfactorily to their circumstances.

Health care and human service professionals often experience anxiety about potential adverse legal repercussions for actions taken or not taken in the course of caring for patients or clients.

In this volume, professionally distinguished and diverse authors discuss both the real and perceived legal liability context within which health and human service delivery to older persons takes place. The benefits and costs of litigious, legislative, and regulatory interventions on the quality of care and the quality of life for recipients of geriatric services is evaluated. Most important, chapters present suggestions for ways to effectively reduce or manage legal risks and anxieties while improving patient care. This volume fills a gap in the literature by providing careful and accurate analysis of legal issues rarely translated into practical and useful advice for health care and human service professionals.

Recognition that aging is not the accumulation of disease, but rather comprises fundamental biological processes that are amenable to experimental study, is the basis for the recent growth of experimental biogerontology. As increasingly sophisticated studies provide greater understanding of what occurs in the aging brain and how these changes occur, new possibilities emerge for limiting the effects of aging on neural function. A single source reference is necessary to keep abreast of the recent advances and future directions of gerontology research. Brain Aging: Models, Methods, and Mechanisms offers a selective overview of the research in this rapidly expanding field. A valuable resource for new and established investigators of the aging brain, this volume reviews critical studies of brain aging in new animal models, as well as advances in brain imaging techniques that permit investigations in aging humans with increasingly higher resolution. Detailed discussions link the information from human and animal studies to illustrate a comprehensive picture of the mechanism of aging. Emphasizing normal brain aging rather than pathological degeneration, the text provides an understanding of fundamental age-related changes in the nervous system and hypothesis-driven research into their basis. The book includes critical analyses of the distinct methodological challenges inherent in investigating the aging nervous system. Contributions from distinguished leaders and pioneers in their respective fields address data and mechanisms, as well as models and methods that are key to the study of aging. Each chapter is extensively referenced and highlights experimental concerns that are magnified or unique to the aging brain. Outlining relevant methods and techniques, this book provides scientists, researchers, and clinicians with a broad understanding of the important progress and implications for the future of this significant field.

Get the vital clinical information you need with this comprehensive handbook In the decade since the first edition of this book, dramatic changes have taken place in the field of geriatric psychiatry. Psychiatry in the Nursing Home, Second Edition, presents timely information on the newest trends in law, culture, and medications, while still offering essential advice on the fundamental concerns of caring for elderly patients with mental illnesses. The new edition of this essential handbook presents up-to-date information on psychiatric issues involving nursing home patients. Featuring helpful case histories and diagnostic criteria, Psychiatry in the Nursing Home, Second Edition, helps you effectively treat such difficult problems as noisy patients, sexual acting out, and incontinence. In addition, it offers help with such administrative concerns as financial issues, absent or warring families, and staffing problems. Psychiatry in the Nursing Home, Second Edition, presents incisive discussions of the changes in the field since the publication of the first edition, including: the effects of the new Prospective Payment System the use of newly released psychotropic medications the altered nomenclature of the DSM-IV the rise in assisted-living facilities the rapid development of the specialty of geriatric psychiatry With its comprehensive scope and practical advice, Psychiatry in the Nursing Home, Second Edition, is a must-have for nursing-home administrators and staff. Policymakers, mental health professionals, and geriatricians will be fascinated by the book's wider considerations of the problems of housing and caring for the mentally ill and its provocative suggestions for future policy.

The lives of urban Chinese daughters have changed. Education and employment have propelled them from dependency to self-sufficiency, resulting in new attitudes and lifestyles. However, traditional filial obligation has remained. This book asks why it continues and how it is currently discharged, focusing on the emotion work daughters do to sustain the parent relationship, deal with conflict and maintain their self-esteem. Based on interviews with women living in Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China, the book further explores whether the structural or relational motivations underpinning support and care may be less important than the standards daughters impose on themselves; why care may be discontinued or not undertaken in the first place; why care provided to parents may be different from in-laws, and the importance of domestic helpers to the modern caregiving paradigm. To undertake this exploration, a typology of support and care was created, allowing for the first time to distinguish between what daughters do for healthy parents and in-laws versus parents who require temporary or full time care, specifically addressing how providing support and care affects the daughters' well-being.

Contents:
Preface. Aging and Trauma: Good Enough Understanding of Age, "Good Enough" Understanding of Trauma, Moderating Variables of Trauma in the Aging Person, Older People in Need of Help, Conclusion. PTSD in the Context of Aging: Prevalence of PTSD, PTSD's Historical Roots: Military Combat, What is PTSD? Oh, Well, What's in a Diagnosis? Theories of PTSD, Other Influences of Trauma, Special Problems, Conclusion. Life Story of the Aging Person: Two Faces of Aging, Life Story, Conclusion. Person and Memory: Memory Overall, Autobiographical Memory and Decline, Facts of the Aging Memory, Core Memory, Internal Organization, Schemas Personality Memories, Conclusion. Treatment: PTSD Personality Memories, Conclusion. Chapter 5: Treatment: and Beyond: Overall Treatment, PTSD Treatment, Information Processing, Old Folks and Rx, Conclusion. Key Ingredients to Psychotherapy: Dosed Exposure, Goals, Relationships, Relaxation, Assimilation, Emotion: Keeping in the Zone, Presentness Power, The Marker/Reflexiceness, Integrating, Little and Big Stuff, Conclusion. Treatment Model: Early Stages: Integration. Stage 1: Stabilize the Client. Stage 2: Relationship. Stage 3: Balance. Conclusion. Personality: Stage 4: Personality: PTSD and Personality. Aging and Personality. Theoretical Directions. Conclusion. Chapter 9: Core Memory: The "Good" Memory: Narrative Perspective. Assessment of Memory. The Good Memory: PCM. Principles for PCM. Last Resort. Special Case: Constructivism. Conclusion. Chapter 10: The Trauma Memory: The "Bad" Memory: Extant Models. Aging and the "Bad" Memory. The Trauma Memory. Aftercare and Relapse Prevention. Necessary Treatment: Family. Conclusion. Chapter 11: Grief Work and Forgiveness in the Context of PTSD: The Self. Grief Constructs. Growth in Grief. Treatment Model. Forgiveness: The Special Ingredient of Grief Therapy. A Caution. Conclusion. Using Assessment Data to Inform the Treatment Plan: Overall Considerations. Idiographic Formulation. The Players. Measures of Comorbid Issues. Conclusion. References. Appendix A: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Application. Appendix B: Treatment Rules for Axis II. Appendix C: EMDR Relaxation Procedure. Index

This volume provides the non-biologist an overview of what is known about the physiological bases of aging. The author examines the many basic theories and emerging hypotheses underlying the molecular, cellular, and systemic processes involved in senescence. He addresses the normal physiological changes that characterize the aging phenotype, and also considers the role of many age-associated diseases in growing older. Masoro synthesizes a much-needed "unified theory" of biological aging to which explains how and why the body grows into the condition we call "old." This text is intended for gerontology students in training, as well as for human physiologists interested in gerontology.

This collection provides a comprehensive analysis of intervention approaches to dementia caregiving. It reviews the existing knowledge and provides a conceptual framework for organizing caregiver interventions of all types. Of special interest is the design of an intervention study for a culturally diverse community. The volume concludes with a discussion of how to translate intervention research into public policy, with an assessment of the future of caregiving and caregiving intervention research.

Understanding socially disruptive behavior in dementia is never easy. Most explanations offer neither solace nor solutions for families and carers, and treatment is often characterized by policies of control and containment. The result of Graham Stokes' 15 years of clinical work with people who are challenging, this book: disputes the traditional medical model of dementia and asserts that if we reach behind the barrier of cognitive devastation and decipher the cryptic messages, it can be shown that much behavior is not meaningless but meaningful. It contrasts the medical interpretation that sees anti-social behavior as mere symptoms of disease with a person-centered interpretation that resonates change and resolution. It offers a radical and innovative interpretation of challenging behavior consistent with the new culture of dementia care, focusing on needs to be met rather than problems to be managed.

As the average age of the population rises, mental health professionals have become increasingly aware of the critical importance of personality in mediating successful adaptation in later life. Personality disorders were once thought to "age out," and accordingly to have an inconsequential impact on the lives of the elderly. But recent clinical experience and studies underscore not only the prevalence of personality disorders in older people, but the pivotal roles they play in the onset, course, and treatment outcomes of other emotional and cognitive problems and physical problems as well. Clearly, mental health professionals must further develop research methods, assessment techniques, and intervention strategies targeting these disorders; and they must more effectively integrate what is being learned from advances in research and theory into clinical practice.
Inspired by these needs, the editors have brought together a distinguished group of behavioral scientists and clinicians dedicated to understanding the interaction of personality and aging. Offering a rich array of theoretical perspectives (intrapsychic, interpersonal, neuropsychological, and systems), they summarize the empirical literature, present phenomenological case reports, and review psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and pharmacological treatment approaches. This comprehensive state-of-the-art guide will be welcomed by all those who must confront the complexity and the challenge of working with this population.

This text assembles together advances in knowledge about dementia, Alzheimers disease and related disorders as they affect persons with intellectual disabilities. Diagnosis, assessment, treatment, management and care practices are detailed in a practical manner for both students and professionals.

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Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings emphasizes the major research and clinical findings realized in five years of research on mental health issues in older urban medical patients, many of whom represent minority groups. Chapters cover the high comorbidity of health and mental health problems in geriatric patients, neuropsychological (or cognitive) assessment, depression, alcohol abuse in health care settings, emerging behavioral medicine issues, and family relations and their tie to medical settings. As a practitioner, you'll find this book helps your practice by representing the first assessment and treatment techniques normed and validated on minority elderly. If you're a professional working in the mental health system, you'll see how to expand your services to health care markets.Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings devotes three chapters to neuropsychological assessment--first, a review of major principles; second, a new test battery for minorities; and third, extensive review on how to use test results in clinical decision making. Other chapters provide valuable information on: the analysis of outcomes for one thousand 60--103-year-olds a new validated behavioral treatment method for depression methods of detection and treatment of alcohol abuse emerging issues in behavioral medicine, including competency assessments; anxiety and pain disorders; and shaping the referral process family relations and health care, including caregiving and nursing home placement nursing home consultation and survival strategies in health care systemsAs Author Peter A. Lichtenberg describes in the Introduction, each chapter in Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings is multidisciplinary, empirically and statistically investigated, and focused upon urban elderly. "In addition, the major objectives are to provide clinicians with new understandings and new assessment and treatment knowledge to utilize in their practices. Finally, this book is hoped to provide clinicians [with] information about emerging trends in the field, and effective strategies for practice in healthcare settings."

Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings emphasizes the major research and clinical findings realized in five years of research on mental health issues in older urban medical patients, many of whom represent minority groups. Chapters cover the high comorbidity of health and mental health problems in geriatric patients, neuropsychological (or cognitive) assessment, depression, alcohol abuse in health care settings, emerging behavioral medicine issues, and family relations and their tie to medical settings. As a practitioner, you ll find this book helps your practice by representing the first assessment and treatment techniques normed and validated on minority elderly. If you re a professional working in the mental health system, you ll see how to expand your services to health care markets.Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings devotes three chapters to neuropsychological assessment--first, a review of major principles; second, a new test battery for minorities; and third, extensive review on how to use test results in clinical decision making. Other chapters provide valuable information on: the analysis of outcomes for one thousand 60--103-year-olds a new validated behavioral treatment method for depression methods of detection and treatment of alcohol abuse emerging issues in behavioral medicine, including competency assessments; anxiety and pain disorders; and shaping the referral process family relations and health care, including caregiving and nursing home placement nursing home consultation and survival strategies in health care systemsAs Author Peter A. Lichtenberg describes in the Introduction, each chapter in Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings is multidisciplinary, empirically and statistically investigated, and focused upon urban elderly. "In addition, the major objectives are to provide clinicians with new understandings and new assessment and treatment knowledge to utilize in their practices. Finally, this book is hoped to provide clinicians with] information about emerging trends in the field, and effective strategies for practice in healthcare settings.""

This comprehensive book gives an up-to-date profile of all aspects of the care of older people in the community, with particular emphasis on the importance of maintaining function and independence as well as health. In a uniquely broad approach, the book is edited by two family doctors with a particular interest in the elderly and a consultant geriatrician, and the varied subjects are each presented by experts in their field. This accessible book enables primary care teams to produce optimal standards of care in old age, and is helpful in the organization of preventive care programmes. Emphasizing the need for joint working, the book draws together practical knowledge and skills to produce an essential source of reference and advice for all those involved in delivering a co-ordinated service. It is essential reading for all doctors in general practice and in public health, medical students and all other professionals whose work brings them into contact with elderly people. It is particularly useful for general practice teams, allied professionals such as nurses and physiotherapists, as well as patients and carers seeking an understanding of good practice. It also contains much practical information vital to the work of voluntary agencies, social service departments and specialists in geriatric medicine.

Although very little can be done to alter the course of dementia, much can be done to maximize the quality of life of people with the condition. Research as well as practical experience suggest that behavior management, especially through programs that provide meaningful and constructive activity, is currently the most effective treatment.

In "Keeping Busy," James Dowling describes a variety of activities designed to bring meaning and enjoyment to the lives of persons with dementia. The activities are organized by general categories such as music, exercise, horticulture, pets, humor, and social events. The largest section deals with communication and includes word games that help people strengthen their remaining verbal skills. The description of each activity includes step-by-step instructions, as well as tips on how to adapt it for small or large groups, for individuals at home or in an organization, or people who are bedridden.

People with mid-stage dementia are served by special care units in long-term care facilities, although as these residents deteriorate, they are transferred out of the unit and into a general nursing home unit. These nursing homes are not equipped to deal with palliative needs of end-stage dementia care. The book addresses those needs. With this in mind, Part One examines the stages of dementia (end-stage in particular). Other chapters in this section provide background on the hospice movement and hospice concepts; the idea of maintaining personhood; and administration of a late-stage care unit. Part Two focuses on treatment approaches for common needs in end-stage dementia - medical and physical care; a supportive environment; the fundamentals of care; psychopharmacology; and therapeutic activities. Part 3 contains chapters on family-centred care; legal and ethical issues; programme evaluation; and future opportunities.

Contents:
Part 1 Foundations and options for programme development: stages of dementia - an overview; palliative care for late-stage dementia; maintaining personhood - philosophy, goals, programme development and staff education; administration of a late-stage dementia programme in the nursing home setting. Part 2 Treatment approaches for common needs: medical care during late-stage dementia; treatment approaches to common physical care needs; strategies for eating, swallowing and dysphagia; a supportive environment for people with late-stage dementia; communications and fundamentals of care - bathing, grooming and dressing; behaviours associated with late-stage dementia; psychopharmacology and late-stage dementia behaviours; therapeutic activities for low- functioning older adults with dementia. Part 3 Special issues in care: working with the family; making change work - understanding concepts and strategies; legal and ethical issues; programme evaluation; future challenges and considerations.

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.

A practical approach for professionals working with people suffering from dementias, this book focuses on dementias, including Alzheimer's disease, from a multi-cultural perspective.

Sparking controversy in medical, social and professional circles, the nation's most respected medical ethicist strikes at the heart of America's growing health care crisis--the care of the aged. The New York Times Book Review calls Setting Limits "A pivotal work . . . the benchmark for future moral, medical and policy discussions of aging".

In this timely and important work, expert gerontologists review what has been learned about the aged and the process of aging and link this knowledge to interventions for improving the quality of life.

This volume highlights the development of preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative interventions designed to assist older people maintain their independence and quality of life. In addition to the editors, chapter authors include Robert N. Butler, Matilda White Riley, Carroll Estes, and a foreword by James O. Mason.

Approved by the Dietary Managers Association for 9 CEUs through September 1998 Here is a useful guide that helps both administrators and food service workers understand the daily functions of their dietary departments. Dietetic Service Operation Handbook enhances extended caregivers'knowledge of basic food service and clinical dietetics operations and serves as a functional tool they can use to initiate effective organization of dietetic services. It explains proper techniques and tips for everything from how to plan a menu and care for equipment to special adaptive eating devices and modifying texture for swallowing disorders. Packed with general and specific guidelines, this book also teaches food service employees how to allocate time more wisely, making them effective members of the interdisciplinary medical team--and saving their facility time and money as well. Administrators who wish to understand the functions of their dietary department so they can communicate more effectively with its staff will find this book a most useful resource, full of meaningful interpretations of routine tasks found in the daily operation of a food service.The author, registered with the American Dietetic Association, has prioritized the topics in the book to assist the systematic organization of any dietary department. Chapters cover both administrative and clinical topics, including food purchasing and production, the policy and procedure manual, quality assurance, current trends in geriatric nutrition, the effects of medicine on diet, enteral feeding, and documentation of the medical record. Dietetic Service Operation Handbook includes a wide variety of standardized recipes for the pureed diet, a resource list, handy calculations, and many useful forms for record-keeping which are compatible with OBRA laws. Beginning dietitians and dietary managers will find this book to be an extremely helpful and practical guide in their day-to-day work. Beginning or expert administrators and nursing directors will discover it improves their understanding of and communication with their food service operations.

The growing number of older adults in the United States poses a significant challenge to families, healthcare systems, mental health services, and many other caregiving groups. Using the Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative as a framework, this text evaluates critical policies and issues pertaining to older adults, identifying both the overall systemic inequalities currently working against older adults as well as specific areas that require updated policies and interventions. It calls for active attention to the implementation of science-based research, policy, and practices to promote health and well-being. Among the topics addressed: Family violence against older adults Disaster planning and preparedness Building financial capability for aging families Health needs of incarcerated older adults Closing the gap in healthcare services for older adults Social isolation and its effects on mental health and well-being A useful gerontology resource for students, social work scholars, and practitioners, Gerontological Social Work and the Grand Challenges advocates for justice and equal opportunity for older adults, and highlights important social issues that must be urgently addressed in the near future.

One of the most pressing questions facing society today is how to care for its burgeoning elderly population. By the year 2050, experts predict that one-third of the world's population will be over 60 years old. Health promotion for the elderly is therefore becoming an increasingly important topic in public policy and planning. This book examines the challenges presented by an ageing global population, our varying expectations of healthy ageing, and the importance of exercise and physical activity for the elderly. Drawing on empirical research from around the world, it considers the factors that influence health and well-being in later life and compares practices and policies designed to promote healthy ageing. It presents case studies from 15 countries spanning Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia, and sheds light on how attitudes to physical activity differ across nations, regions and cultures. Ageing, Physical Activity and Health: International Perspectives is important reading for all students, researchers and practitioners with an interest in physical activity, public health, exercise science or gerontology.

The decision making process that underlies ovarian hormone therapy (HT) is fallible. Thus, the decision for women to go on HT remains controversial. At a time when confusion still permeates the decision making with regard to HT, this book bridges diverse features that surround the decision making concerning HT. The book is written for both specialists and generalists in the field.