"The Gerontological Prism" promotes disciplinary cooperation in aging research and practice. To some extent, each chapter explores a unified objective, that of generating a disciplinary-blind gerontology. The fundamental assumption throughout this book is that the aging individual and society can be enhanced by an understanding of the correlates of basic social, behavioral, demographic, economic, political, ethical, and biomedical processes involving aging. Each author touches on issues that have both social psychological, and practical policy significance. They aim toward sensitizing the reader to the possibilities of a properly informed interdisciplinary approach to gerontology.
"The Gerontological Prism" promotes disciplinary cooperation in aging research and practice. To some extent, each chapter explores a unified objective, that of generating a disciplinary-blind gerontology. The fundamental assumption throughout this book is that the aging individual and society can be enhanced by an understanding of the correlates of basic social, behavioral, demographic, economic, political, ethical, and biomedical processes involving aging. Each author touches on issues that have both social psychological, and practical policy significance. They aim toward sensitizing the reader to the possibilities of a properly informed interdisciplinary approach to gerontology.
K. Warner Schaie I am pleased to write a foreword for this interesting volume, particularly as over many years, I have had the privilege of interacting with the editors and a majority of the con tributors in various professional roles as a colleague, mentor, or research collaborator. The editors begin their introduction by asking why one would want to read yet another book on human development. They immediately answer their question by pointing out that many developmentally oriented texts and other treatises neglect the theoretical foundations of human development and fail to embed psychological constructs within the multidisciplinary context so essential to understanding development. This volume provides a positive remedy to past deficiencies in volumes on hu man development with a well-organized structure that leads the reader from a general introduction through the basic processes to methodological issues and the relation of developmental constructs to social context and biological infrastructure. This approach does not surprise. After all, the editors and most of the contributors at one time or an other had a connection to the Max Planck Institute of Human Development in Berlin, whether as students, junior scientists, or senior visitors. That institute, under the leader ship of Paul Baltes, has been instrumental in pursuing a systematic lifespan approach to the study of cognition and personality. Over the past two decades, it has influenced the careers of a generation of scientists who have advocated long-term studies of human development in an interdisciplinary context.
The "Need for Theory" speaks to the burgeoning need for critical thinking in social gerontology. The editors have brought together some of the foremost contributors to theoretical advances in the field. This volume incorporates state-of-the-art theorizing with a focus on selected topical areas facing gerontologists around the world. Using their keen insights into substantive issues, the contributors examine personal and structural changes affecting individuals over the life course. Extolling the need for theory is not enough; the contributors focus their insights on a panoply of substantive issues, linking the personal with the political and with the structural parameters that shape the process of aging, no matter where it occurs.
The case studies in this book focus on the emergence, extent and nature of national policies on ageing and associated strategies to address long-term care needs. Key opportunities for and constraints on policy are identified in this first round of regional studies.
The recent explosion in population ageing across the globe represents one of the most remarkable demographic changes in human history. Population ageing will profoundly affect families. Who will care for the growing numbers of tomorrows very old members of societies? Will it be state governments? The aged themselves? Their families? The purpose of this book is to examine consequences of global aging for families and intergenerational support, and for nations as they plan for the future.
This book includes key insights that reflect ‘Advances in Computer and Computational Sciences’ from upcoming researchers and leading academics around the globe. It gathers high-quality, peer-reviewed papers presented at the International Conference on Computer, Communication and Computational Sciences (IC4S 2018), which was held on 20-21 October, 2018 in Bangkok. The book covers a broad range of topics, including intelligent hardware and software design, advanced communications, intelligent computing techniques, intelligent image processing, and web and informatics. Its goal is to familiarize readers from the computer industry and academia with the latest advances in next-generation computer and communication technology, which they can subsequently integrate into real-world applications.
The first authoritative reference on clinical psychology and aging, the Handbook of the Clinical Psychology of Ageing was universally regarded as a landmark publication when it was first published in 1996. Fully revised and updated, the Second Edition retains the breadth of coverage of the original, providing a complete and balanced picture of all areas of clinical research and practice with older people. Contributions from the UK, North America, Scandinavia and Australia provide a broad overview of the psychology of aging, psychological problems (including depression, anxiety, psychosis, and dementia), the current social service context, and assessment and intervention techniques.
This unique book represents the first multi-disciplinary examination of ageing, covering everything from basic cell biology, to social participation in later life, to the representations of old age in the arts and literature. A comprehensive introductory text about the latest scientific evidence on ageing, the book draws on the pioneering New Dynamics of Ageing Programme, the UK’s largest research programme in ageing. This programme brought together leading academics from across the arts and humanities, social and biological sciences and fields of engineering and medical research, to study how ageing is changing and the ways in which this process can be made more beneficial to both individuals and society. Comprising individual, local, national and global perspectives, this book will appeal to everyone with an interest in one of the greatest challenges facing the world – our own ageing.
The recent explosion in population aging across the globe represents one of the most remarkable demographic changes in human history. There is much concern about population aging and its consequences for nations, for governments, and for individuals. It has often been noted that population aging will inevitably affect the economic stability of most countries and the policies of most state governments. What is less obvious, but equally important, is that population aging will profoundly affect families. Who will care for the growing numbers of tomorrow's very old members of societies? Will it be state governments? The aged themselves? Their families? The purpose of this volume is to examine consequences of global aging for families and intergenerational support, and for nations as they plan for the future. Four remarkable social changes during the past fifty years are highlighted: (1) Extension of the life course: A generation has been added to the average span of life over the past century; (2) Changes in the age structures of nations: Most nations today have many more elders, and many fewer children, than fifty years ago; (3) Changes in family structures and relationships: Some of these differences are the result of trends in family structure, notably higher divorce rates and the higher incidence of childbearing to single parents; (4) Changes in governmental responsibilities: In the last decade, governmental responsibility appears to have slowed or reversed as states reduce welfare expenditures. How will families respond to twenty-first-century problems associated with population aging? Will families indeed be important in the twenty-first century, or will kinship and the obligations across generations become increasingly irrelevant, replaced by "personal communities"? This volume goes a considerable distance to answer these critical issues for the twenty-first century. Vern L. Bengtson is an AARP/University Chair in Gerontology and Professor of Sociology, University of Southern California. Ariela Lowenstein is associate professor and head, Department of Aging Studies, University of Haifa, Israel.
