Two experts on aging consider how our health needs change as we age and evaluate our current system of care provision. From definitions of health and well-being to informal caregiving, from a cost-benefit analysis of continuing care to the wide range of options available to help manage our changing needs, this fascinating and informative book provides an eye-opening look at the realities of an aging population.
In sub-Saharan Africa, older people make up a relatively small fraction of the total population and are supported primarily by family and other kinship networks. They have traditionally been viewed as repositories of information and wisdom, and are critical pillars of the community but as the HIV/AIDS pandemic destroys family systems, the elderly increasingly have to deal with the loss of their own support while absorbing the additional responsibilities of caring for their orphaned grandchildren. Aging in Sub-Saharan Africa explores ways to promote U.S. research interests and to augment the sub-Saharan governments' capacity to address the many challenges posed by population aging. Five major themes are explored in the book such as the need for a basic definition of "older person," the need for national governments to invest more in basic research and the coordination of data collection across countries, and the need for improved dialogue between local researchers and policy makers. This book makes three major recommendations: 1) the development of a research agenda 2) enhancing research opportunity and implementation and 3) the translation of research findings.
This book is an important and timely look at issues of ethics in aging. It reflects the complexity of these questions, but develops them in relation to a single general theme: that of the involvement of the elderly in the design of social policy and the research which affects them. Moral problems involving the elderly are many-faceted. Accurate understanding and social response demand some integration of experience, sensibility, and knowledge provided by different perspectives. Ethics and Aging incorporates viewpoints from gerontology, philosophy, law, theology, sociology, psychology, medicine, nursing, and economics.
The essays in this book describe the situation of the elderly today, taking into account the major political, economic, and social variations of service provided in a variety of countries. Although the welfare state exists in all developed and developing countries, its content and administration varies substantially. The editors first develop a framework of concepts and perspectives that establish links between eldercare, distributive justice, and the welfare state. This is followed by analyses of the services provided to the elderly in selected countries. Finally, the editors show how and in what ways the concepts developed earlier in the introductionequity, uniformity, public accountability, individualism, collectivism, institutional or residual welfare state orientation, high or low wage economyapply to and explain the differences in care of the elderly.
In this fascinating book, leading international experts in gerontology and social work examine the conditions of older people in their respective native lands--Australia, Canada, West Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden. In response to the need for world-wide sharing of information and research on one of the most dramatic developments of the twentieth century in the United States and throughout the western world--the aging of the populations--these professionals offer an international dimension and cross-cultural knowledge to social gerontology and gerontological social work. Emphasis is placed on the social service delivery system in each country together with an analysis of social work roles and activities. The informative articles include demographic notes, the socioeconomic characteristics of older people in each country, and the author’s forecast of trends, issues, and future directions. These timely reviews of what has worked elsewhere may spark greater creativity among educators and practitioners in social work and gerontology in finding alternative solutions to the many problems professionals face as advocates and service providers for older adults. Social work practitioners and educators examine social services for seniors in eight different industrialized countries. Each chapter--focusing on a different country--features: a review of the social service delivery system, providing information about its historical evolution and current organization a look at home care programs, as well as community based and institutionally based services a review of service availability and accesibility with consideration of how social services are coordinated with health care and other human services special attention is given to social work roles within the social service system, including an examination of direct service and planning/management roles a consideration of the importance and usefulness of social work in service provision for each country a brief analysis of current trends and furture directions for gerontological social work and social services for the elderly. The cross-national perspectives will highlight global trends in the industrial world and illuminate distinctions among countries, based upon a particular historical, political, and cultural context. Gerontological Social Work provides a wider base for understanding and evaluating policies and programs in one’s own country. Each analysis suggests new and different ways of solving problems and providing services. Social work professionals worldwide will learn successful methods of enabling the elderly to maintain maximum self-sufficiency and participate actively in society, thus insuring improved quality of life.
