Issues in Aging

Comprehensive content. The text covers major theoretical and empirical issues in the field. It is written for an undergraduate audience, and provides clear explanations of issues and technical topics. The text contains detailed documentation of all sources used. It also contains an extensive bibliography, suggested extra sources to consult, and websites of interest for each chapter. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Common-sense chapter topics. The text is organized around common sense topic headings — housing, health, income, retirement, etc., rather than social scientific categories. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Focus on successful aging. The text presents the issues, but also shows the positive responses to the challenges of aging. A more upbeat look at older people gets younger students more engaged in the topic. Students enjoy the subjects and learn about human potential throughout life. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Focus on the reality of aging today. Today mostly the very old person aged 80 or 85+ shows the stereotypical signs of aging — dementia, frailty, poverty. Issues in Aging presents this information. But it also shows that most older people today have good health, remain physically and socially active, and have relatively good incomes. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Focus on the baby boom generation. The entry of the baby boom generation into later life will reshape everyone’s assumptions about aging. Issues in Aging uses the concept of the “third age” — the age after retirement before frailty sets in (the “fourth age”) — to describe the landscape of aging today. People in their 60s and 70s no longer fit the stereotype of aging. But they don’t fit the model of the middle aged worker either. Issues in Aging draws students’ attention to this new stage of life, sometimes called the “longevity bonus.” http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Enriched content. The text provides a number of boxes, side bars, charts, graphs, cartoons, photos, case studies and examples, making the book easier for students to read, and for instructors to use. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Supplements package. Features PowerPoint slides based on charts in the book. This allows the Instructor to refer in class to the same material that students have. There is also in extensive IM that offers suggestions for in-class activities, projects, and discussion, as well as many essay questions. The TB offers an extensive bank of multiple choice questions. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1 Aging Today

• - Why Study Aging?
• - Ageism
• - Culture as a Source of Ageism
• - Some Facts on Aging Today
• - Responses to Ageism
• - Aging Today
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

2 Theories and Methods

• - The Study of Aging: Past and Present
• - Gerontology Research Today
• - Is Gerontology a Discipline?
• - Theories of Aging
• - Two Levels of Theories
• - Three Theoretical Perspectives
• - Research Issues and Methods
• - The Humanities
• - Ethical Issues in Research
• - The Future of Gerontological Theory and Methods
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

3 Aging at Other Times, in Other Places

• - Four Types of Societies
• - The Challenge of Population Aging
• - The Developed Nations
• - The Developing Nations
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

4 Demography

• - The Demographics of Population Aging
• - Increased Proportion of Older People
• - The Causes of Population Change
• - The Challenges of an Aging Population
• - The Impact of Population Aging
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

5 Personal Health and Well-Being

• - Biological Aging
• - Theories of Biological Aging
• - The Effects of Aging on Body Systems
• - Personal Health and Illness
• - Compression of Morbidity Hypothesis
• - Successful Aging
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

6 Life Span Development

• - Memory and Intelligence
• - New Models of Mental Ability in Later Life
• - Personality Development and the Self
• - Social Psychological Change
• - Psychological Disorders: Abnormal Aging
• - Social Breakdown and Reconstruction
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

7 Race and Ethnicity

• - Who Are the Minority Elderly?
• - Why Study Minority Aging?
• - Demographic Characteristics of Dominant and Minority Group Elders
• - Three Theories on Minority Group Aging
• - The Impact of Minority Group Membership on Aging
• - A Look at Four Minority Groups
• - Responses to Minority Group Aging
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

8 The Health Care System

• - Three Models of Health Care
• - The U.S. Health Care System Today
• - Long-term Care: A Response to Older People’s Needs
• - Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
• - Future Issues in Health Care
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

9 Finances and Economics

• - Historical Development of the U.S. Pension System
• - The U.S. Retirement Income System Today
• - The Impact of the Retirement Income System on Older People’s Incomes
• - Inequality in Later Life
• - Pension Reform
• - The Future
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

10 Retirement and Work

• - The Social Origins of Retirement
• - Retirement in the United States Today
• - Alternatives to Retirement
• - Personal Responses to Retirement
• - Preretirement Education
• - Social Structures and Retirement
• - The Future of Retirement
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

11 Housing and Transportation

• - Living Arrangements
• - An Ecological Model of Housing
• - Housing Options
• - The Future of Housing
• - Transportation
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

12 Leisure, Recreation, and Education

• - Leisure
• - New Activities in Old Age
• - Senior Centers
• - Education
• - Community Service and Volunteer Work
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

13 Family Life and Social Support

• - Part I: Family Life, Marriage, and Widowhood
• - Part II: Social Support
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

14 Death and Dying

• - Death and Society
• - Death in Old Age
• - Institutional Death
• - Changes in the Treatment of the Dying
• - Ethical Issues
• - Mourning and Grief
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

15 Politics and Policies

• - Voting
• - Holding Political Office
• - Advocacy
• - Activism
• - Government and Aging Policy
• - Generational Equity
• - The Future of Aging, Politics, and Policy
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Appendix Gerontology Careers

• - Gerontology Education
• - Work and Careers in Gerontology
• - Gerontology and You
• - Suggested Reading
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/