Ronald P. Abeles, PhD, is a Special Assistant to the Director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research in the Office of the Director at the National Institutes of Health.Helen C. Gift, PhD, is the Chief of the Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Branch, Epidemiology and Oral Disease Prevention Program, of the National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health.Marcia G. Ory, PhD, MPH, is professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Health, School of Rural Public Health (SRPH) at The Texas A&M Health Science Center in College Station, Texas.

• Foreword, James O. Mason, MD, DrPH Acknowledgments Contributors Introduction: Aging and Quality of Life-Celebrating New Discoveries, Marcia G. Ory, PhD, MPH, Donna M. Cox, PhD, Helen C. Gift, PhD, and Ronald P. Abeles, PhD Part I: Background PerspectivesHistorical Perspective on Aging and Quality of Life, Robert N. Butler, MDConceptualizing and Measuring Quality of Life in Older Populations, Anita L. Stewart, PhD, and Abby C. King, PhD Part II: Life Styles and Quality of LifeBehavioral and Social Factors in Healthy Aging, George A. Kaplan, PhD, and William J. Strawbridge, PhDDisability in Late Life, Lois M. Verbrugge, PhD, MPHSelf-Care and Quality of Life in Old Age, Gordon H. DeFriese, PhD, Thomas R. Konrad, PhD, Alison Woomert, PhD, Jean E. Kincade Norburn, PhD, and Shulamit Bernard, RN, MS Part III: Physical Health, Quality of Life, and AgingRehabilitation in Old Age, T. Franklin Williams, MDPsychosocial Status in Cancer Patients, Barrie R. Cassileth, PhDBiopsychosocial Risks for Cardiovascular Disease in Spouse Caregivers of Persons with Alzheimer’s Disease, Peter P. Vitaliano, PhD, Cynthia M. Dougherty, PhD, RN, and Ilene C. Siegler, PhD, MPH Part IV: Older People and Their EnvironmentsSocial Support: Content, Causes, and Consequences, Robert L. Kahn, PhDAging Well and Institutional Living: A Paradox?, Margret M. Baltes, PhDHuman Factors and Aging: The Operator-Task Dynamic, Robin A. Barr, DPhilMaintaining a Sense of Control in Later Life, Margie E. Lachman, PhD, Mauri A. Ziff, MA, and Avron Spiro III, PhD Part V: Social Structures, Quality of Life, and AgingThe Challenging Structure of Work Opportunities: Toward an Age- Integrated Society, Matilda White Riley, DSc, and Karyn A. Loscocco, PhDSocioeconomic Status and Health over the Life Course, Stephanie A. Robert, MSW, and James S. House, PhDNew Directions in Socioeconomic Research on Aging, James P. Smith, PhDMinority and Socioeconomic Status: Impact on Quality of Life in Aging, H. Asuman Kiyak, PhD, and Nancy R. Hooyman, MSW, PhD Part VI: Policy ImplicationsPublic Policy and Long-Term Care, Carroll L. Estes, PhD, and Liz Close, MSChanging the Social Environment to Promote Health, Lennart Levi, MD, and Donna M. Cox, PhDExploring the Future of Health Care for Older People, Robert H. Binstock, PhD, Dennis W. Jahnigen, MD, and Stephen G. Post, PhD Index