This book provides a unique analysis of provider-, environment-, client-, and societal-based obstacles to the empowerment of frail elderly persons in a philosophical framework of social values, as well as an applied framework wherein a variety of international case studies by a distinguished board of contributors provide concrete examples of the feasibility of achieving real empowerment. Empowerment means different things to different people in the context of housing, health, and social service delivery. This book analyzes the various definitions of the concept and practice of the empowerment of frail older persons and then discusses the definitions in a philosophical framework of social values regarding aging and the older person.

Each chapter demonstrates the feasibility of achieving increased empowerment of older persons, even those with severe physical or mental disability. True empowerment of older persons in every country requires time, energy, money, and commitment to the goal. This book will be of interest to academic as well as professional audiences in areas of Gerontology, Psychology, Sociology, and Family Studies. Caregivers and policymakers will also find this analysis useful.

Heumann and Boldy define and analyze emerging programs to help the frail and low-income elderly stay out of institutions and age in place in their communities with proper support systems. The case studies presented describe the latest thinking and innovative public program solutions to aging in place in highly developed industrialized countries, including Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, Sweden, and the United States. Heumann and Boldy link these studies and describe the conditions and constraints under which existing programs function.

Chapter 1 examines the benefits and limitations to aging in place policies and programs on the broadest level, including the economic trends that have created the urgency for new government policies. Chapter 2 presents the classification system of aging in place solutions so that the case examples can be viewed in a comparative context of approach and government commitment. Chapters 3-7 discuss subsidized housing solutions in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and other developed countries. Chapters 8-12 review community support programs in Australia, Israel, Sweden, and Japan. Chapter 13 summarizes the case findings, adds data to the editors' overall classification model, and discusses how government assistance could and should evolve in the future. Aging in Place with Dignity is designed to help government and voluntary-service planners and providers at the federal and local levels deal with the complex and urgent problem of enabling the frail elderly to age in place.