Aging, Communication, and Health

Mary Lee Hummert, Jon F. Nussbaum

"With its disciplinary diversity of authors, current empirical research findings, literature reviews, practical considerations and suggestions for future research, it is a scholarly, practical and very readable book, appealing to academics, practitioners, family members, and individual older persons. A welcome and important addition to the aging, health, and communication literature."—CHOICE"This is a fascinating piece of work of direct relevance to any health professional or student in contact with older people and issues surrounding the ageing process. It also holds some excellent insights for those interested in studying communicative relationships from a social and psychological perspective. This book makes a significant contribution toward a deeper understanding of the inter-relatedness of ageing, health and communication....It is an excellent example of how research on communication, ageing and health should contribute to and change current practice. It also exposes many areas requiring further research study and makes inspirational reading."—Quality in Ageing"Practitioners yearn for research that will do more than tell us what we already know from clinical experience, and will do so in a clear and accessible manner. Hummert and Nussbaum are to be applauded for challenging these communication experts to strive for a goal that few in the academic literature have achieved. The result is a book that contains considerable material of use to practitioners as well as other researchers..."—Contemporary Psychology"This is a book that has much to offer to many health-care professionals. When the existance of age discrimination is being acknowledged and challenged in health-care settings, it serves above all to demonstrate how stereotyping attitudes reveal themselves and are shaped through communication at a micro-level. The book would be a useful reader for a course in gerontology related to health care provision."—Ageing and Society"...the authors excel in creating a readable text that would be useful in numerous contexts ranging from courses in communication and aging to a resource for family members caring for an aging parent. To this end, although the collection itself is clearly directed towards those interested in the communicative intersections of aging and health, many chapters have wide appeal."—The Southern Communication Journal

• Contents: M.L. Hummert, J.F. Nussbaum, Introduction: Successful Aging, Communication, and Health. Part I:Developments in Health Care and Successful Aging.P. Whitten, J.L. Gregg, Telemedicine: Using Telecommunication Technologies to Deliver Health Services to Older Adults. J.F. Nussbaum, L. Pecchioni, T. Crowell, The Older Patient-Health Care Provider Relationship in a Managed Care Environment. M.K. Pichora-Fuller, A.J. Carson, Hearing Health and the Listening Experiences of Older Communicators. T.A. Garstka, P. McCallion, R.W. Toseland, Using Support Groups to Improve Caregiver Health. Part II:Provider-Patient Communication and Successful Aging.M.G. Greene, R.D. Adelman, Building the Physician-Older Patient Relationship. J. Coupland, N. Coupland, Roles, Responsibilities, and Alignments: Multiparty Talk in Geriatric Care. A. Norberg, Communication in the Care of People With Severe Dementia. Part III:Family Communication and Successful Aging.M.L. Hummert, M. Morgan, Negotiating Decisions in the Aging Family. H. Edwards, Family Caregiving, Communication, and the Health of Care Receivers. J.B. Orange, Family Caregivers, Communication, and Alzheimer's Disease. K.A. Noels, H. Giles, C. Gallois, S.H. Ng, Intergenerational Communication and Psychological Adjustment: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Hong Kong and Australian Adults. E.B. Ryan, J.E. Norris, Epilogue: Communication, Aging, and Health: The Interface Between Research and Practice.