Download or read book Aging in Sub Saharan Africa written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2006-11-10 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2020-05-14 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an individual's circumstances and perceptions. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that social isolation presents a major risk for premature mortality, comparable to other risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. As older adults are particularly high-volume and high-frequency users of the health care system, there is an opportunity for health care professionals to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults summarizes the evidence base and explores how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, particularly among low income, underserved, and vulnerable populations. This report makes recommendations specifically for clinical settings of health care to identify those who suffer the resultant negative health impacts of social isolation and loneliness and target interventions to improve their social conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults considers clinical tools and methodologies, better education and training for the health care workforce, and dissemination and implementation that will be important for translating research into practice, especially as the evidence base for effective interventions continues to flourish.

Download or read book Attitudes of Older African American Women about Alcohol Abuse written by Bonnie F. Hatchett and published by Edwin Mellen Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study explores how drinking status, religiosity, and religious affiliation are associated with beliefs about alcohol usage among African American women 55 years of age and older. The relation between religion and attitudes and behaviours related to alcohol suggest that the church could be sued as a vehicle for the dissemination of educational information about alcohol use and possible treatment options.

Download or read book The Black Elderly written by Marguerite M. Coke and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Black Elderly: Satisfaction and Quality of Later Life, authors Marguerite Coke and James Twaite present the results of an empirical study of factors that influence the well-being of older black Americans. Like all older individuals in industrial nations, elderly blacks are confronted with negative attitudes toward old people. But in spite of their minority status in society, with its economic and social disadvantages, elderly blacks have effective coping strategies for dealing with growing old. It is the success of these coping strategies that the authors reveal to readers and upon which they build recommendations to encourage healthy aging in the black community.Through comprehensive research into the subject, the authors provide readers with a theoretical framework which identifies the variables that are most closely associated with subjective well-being among older Blacks. An empirical test of the model is described and the questionnaire is included.Professionals and scholars in social work, gerontology, African-American studies, and anthropology will find The Black Elderly a positive approach to supporting the elderly black community. Readers with interests in cross-cultural aspects of counseling and gerontology will find much enlightenment in this book with its research and insight on: history: overviews West African culture and the role of history in the development of the black American family church: analyzes the function and importance of this institution on the black community family: explores the importance of family and how it affects life satisfaction health: determines how perceived health status affects individuals'feelings of life satisfactionThe authors'findings on the strong and diverse support systems of this group assist professionals, students, and policymakers in better understanding how to continue to effect healthy aging for black Americans. The Black Elderly is of particular interest to social workers, students in social work programs, and professionals who deal with aging persons or the black community and can benefit from historical background knowledge of blacks in this country and how societal institutions affect the well-being of this group.

Download or read book Handbook of Minority Aging written by Keith E. Whitfield, PhD and published by Springer Publishing Company. This book was released on 2013-07-28 with total page 589 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The array of topics covered is amazing, making this book a valuable, significant resource for many disciplines...This multidisciplinary review of the literature on minority aging presents the scholarship related to public health and 'social, behavioral, and biological concerns' of aged minorities like no other publication. Graduate students will certainly be well-served by this book, as would faculty teaching aging at both undergraduate and graduate levels...Highly recommended."--Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries "...while practitioners of gerontology, family medicine, and any professional involved in the care of the elderly will find some practical guidance in the second part of the book, it will really earn a place on the bookshelf of anyone and everyone with an interest in US sociology and the development of public policy for the elderly. With the general aging of the population and the book’s accentuation of current issues, this outstanding review will become an indispensable tool."Healthy Aging Research This text provides up-to-date, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive information about aging among diverse racial and ethnic populations in the United States. It is the only book to focus on paramount public health issues as they relate to older minority Americans, and addresses social, behavioral, and biological concerns for this population. The text distills the most important advances in the science of minority aging and incorporates the evidence of scholars in gerontology, anthropology, psychology, public health, sociology, social work, biology, medicine, and nursing. Additionally, the book incorporates the work of both established and emerging scholars to provide the broadest possible knowledge base on the needs of and concerns for this rapidly growing population. Chapters focus on subject areas that are recognized as being critical in understanding the well being of minority elders. These include sociology (Medicare, SES, work and retirement, social networks, context/neighborhood, ethnography, gender, demographics), psychology (cognition, stress, mental health, personality, sexuality, religion, neuroscience, discrimination), medicine/nursing/public health (mortality and morbidity, disability, health disparities, long-term care, genetics, dietary issues, health interventions, physical functioning), social work (caregiving, housing, social services, end-of-life care), and many other topics. The book focuses on the needs of four major ethnic groups: Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, African American, and Native American. Key Features: Provides current, comprehensive information about minority aging through a multidisciplinary lens Integrates information from scholars in gerontology, anthropology, psychology, public health, sociology, social work, biology, medicine, and nursing Emphasizes the principal public health issues concerning minority elders Offers “one-stop shopping” regarding the development of a substantial knowledge base about minority aging Includes recent progressive research pertaining to the social, cultural, psychological and health needs of elderly minority adults in the US

Download or read book Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2004-10-16 with total page 753 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.

Download or read book The Georgia Centenarian Study written by Leonard W. Poon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 1992 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Devoted to the description of The Georgia Centenarian Study, an interdisciplinary study of the ""oldest-old,"" conducted by the University of Georgia and the Medical College of Georgia. This issue consists of eight papers, that covers most of the domains of the study. It also includes a review of the book ""Centenarians: The New Generation"".

Download or read book Diversity and Aging in the Social Environment written by Sherry M. Cummings and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-06 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today, nearly one of every eight Americans is 65 or older, and by 2030, over 20% of the population will be in this age group. Are you prepared to work with this vastly diverseand rapidly growingpopulation? This single source is designed to help social service professionals provide effective services to America’s vastly diverse and rapidly growing elderly population. Diversity and Aging in the Social Environment explores the impact of race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and geographic location on elders’ strengths, challenges, needs, and resources to provide you with a more complete understanding of the issues elders face. In order to be more responsive to older adults, social workers and other human service professionals need to enhance their knowledge of the aging population and the factors that impact the way seniors interact with society, organizations, community resources, neighborhoods, support networks, kinship groups, family, and friends. Diversity and Aging in the Social Environment examines differences in race, ethnicity, geographical location, sexual orientation, religion, and health status to help current and future human service professionals provide culturally competent services to the diverse range of elderly people they serve. In addition, it addresses the wide disparity that exists for older Americans in terms of income and assets, number of chronic conditions, functional and cognitive impairment, housing arrangements, and access to health care. This book provides a context for the examination of diversity issues among older adults by describing and discussing several theoretical perspectives on aging that highlight important aspects of diversity. Next, you’ll find thoughtful examinations of: issues and challenges faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender eldersand the strengths they bring into later life the impact of gender, race, and sexual orientation on prevalence rates, risk factors, methods of disease contraction, and mortality rates among older adults with HIV/AIDSalong with a discussion of the psychosocial issues they face diverse characteristics of custodial grandparentsand the influence of the caregivers’ gender, race, age, and geographic location on methods of care and available caregiver support differences in caregiver characteristics, service utilization, caregiver strain, and coping mechanisms among several racial/ethnic groups of adults who care for elderly, disabled, and ill persons cultural/religious factors that influence interactions between health care personnel and Japanese-American elders the relationship between acculturation and depressive symptoms among Mexican-American couples life challenges facing Jewish and African-American elderswith a look at each group’s coping mechanisms differences in religious/spiritual coping skills among Native American, African-American, and white elders psychological well-being and religiosity among a diverse group of rural elders

Download or read book Handbook of Sociology of Aging written by Richard A. Settersten, Jr. and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-05-11 with total page 682 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Handbook of Sociology of Aging is the most comprehensive, engaging, and up-to-date treatment of developments within the field over the past 30 years. The volume represents an indispensable source of the freshest and highest standard scholarship for scholars, policy makers, and aging professionals alike. The Handbook of Sociology of Aging contains 45 far-reaching chapters, authored by nearly 80 of the most renowned experts, on the most pressing topics related to aging today. With its recurring attention to the social forces that shape human aging, and the social consequences and policy implications of it, the contents will be of interest to everyone who cares about what aging means for individuals, families, and societies. The chapters of the Handbook of Sociology of Aging illustrate the field’s extraordinary breadth and depth, which has never before been represented in a single volume. Its contributions address topics that range from foundational matters, such as classic and contemporary theories and methods, to topics of longstanding and emergent interest, such as social diversity and inequalities, social relationships, social institutions, economies and governments, social vulnerabilities, public health, and care arrangements. The volume closes with a set of personal essays by senior scholars who share their experiences and hopes for the field, and an essay by the editors that provides a roadmap for the decade ahead. The Handbook of Sociology of Aging showcases the very best that sociology has to offer the study of human aging.

Download or read book Successful Aging written by John Wallis Rowe and published by Random House Large Print Publishing. This book was released on 1998 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the results of the MacArthur Foundation Study of Aging in America, which show how to maintain optimum physical and mental strength throughout later life.

Download or read book Families Caring for an Aging America written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2016-11-08 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.

Download or read book Communities in Action written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Download or read book Handbook of Multicultural Perspectives on Stress and Coping written by Paul T. P. Wong and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-02-15 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only book currently available that focuses and multicultural, cross-cultural and international perspectives of stress and coping A very comprehensive resource book on the subject matter Contains many groundbreaking ideas and findings in stress and coping research Contributors are international scholars, both well-established authors as well as younger scholars with new ideas Appeals to managers, missionaries, and other professions which require working closely with people from other cultures

Download or read book The Berlin Aging Study written by Paul B. Baltes and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001-03-19 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extensive, multidisciplinary study of old age and aging, ranging from 70 to 100 years.

Download or read book Journal of Rehabilitation Research Development written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Handbook of Religion and Health written by Harold G. Koenig and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2001-01-11 with total page 725 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What effect does religion have on physical and mental health? In answering this question, this book reviews and discusses research on the relationship between religion and a variety of mental and physical health outcomes, including depression and anxiety; heart disease, stroke, and cancer; and health related behaviors such as smoking and substance abuse. The authors examine the positive and negative effects of religion on health throughout the life span, from childhood to old age. Based on their findings, they build theoretical models illustrating the behavioral, psychological, social, and physiological pathways through which religion may influence health. The authors also review research on the impact of religious affiliation, belief, and practice on the use of health services and compliance with medical treatment. In conclusion, they discuss the clinical relevance of their findings and make recommendations for future research priorities. Offering the first comprehensive examination of its topic, this volume is an indispensable resource for research scientists, health professionals, public policy makers, and anyone interested in the relationship between religion and health.

Download or read book Journal of Rehabilitation R D written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: