Marcia G. Ory - Böcker

This volume is uncontestably the most comprehensive and authoritative work on the subject of self-care available to date. It should set the stage for a new policy perspective on building a health care system that incorporates self-care at its core."--Lowell S. Levin, Yale School of Public HealthPractitioners and researchers who work with older adults are challenged to find ways to strengthen an elderly person's capacity to cope wiht age-related changes that threaten independence.This volume assesses the efficacy of self-care in maintaining autonomy. It applies a broad definition of self-care that includes a range of behaviors undertaken by individuals, families, and communities to enhance health, prevent disease, limit illness, and restore health.

In this timely and important work, expert gerontologists review what has been learned about the aged and the process of aging and link this knowledge to interventions for improving the quality of life.This volume highlights the development of preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative interventions designed to assist older people maintain their independence and quality of life. In addition to the editors, chapter authors include Robert N. Butler, Matilda White Riley, Carroll Estes, and a foreword by James O. Mason.

Of all the problems associated with a rapidly growing aging population, health care demands top priority. Research on health care for older people requires an understanding of the basic principles of aging and its related social processes, while popular assumptions on the subject are often ill-informed and are based more on misconceptions about aging than on scientific knowledge.Originally published in 1989, Aging and Health Care focuses on the most urgent health care problems of older people at the time and explores possible solutions. Drawing on up-to-date social and behavioral research, it provides a sound basis on which to build practices and policies on aging and health care. The contributors examine the complex relationships among aging persons, their health care needs, and the current health care and support systems. Individual chapters contribute in particular to our understanding of the interactions of the health care system with individual aging processes, and the interdependence between the informal and formal care systems.With its emphasis on the interrelationships of health care with the biological, psychological and social changes that people experience as they grow older, Aging and Health Care will still be of historical interest to those studying in social science, aging, and public health.