Aging And Health

Taking a unique look at health promotion and aging in Canada, this edited collection uses the action framework in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion to explore the factors and issues related to the health of older adults. The book is organized around the five action areas for health promotion: building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments, strengthening community action, developing personal skills, and reorienting health and social services. Adhering to the holistic approach that health in older age involves physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being, this comprehensive collection covers a wide range of interventions that are designed to benefit and protect the aging population’s health, quality of life, rights, and dignity, while building intergenerational solidarity and collaboration. Readers will learn about aging from a health promotion perspective; the context, environment, and issues related to older adults in Canada; as well as best practices in health promotion, public health, and the care of older adults. Promoting the Health of Older Adults is an invaluable resource for both graduate and undergraduate students in gerontology, health promotion, nursing, social work, and related fields. FEATURES - Considers the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for health promotion and aging - Provides an up-to-date profile of older adults in Canada and current/future trends in aging and health, including the use of new technologies and policies and practices in health promotion, public health, and other disciplines - Includes a wealth of pedagogical features, such as learning objectives, critical thinking questions, a glossary, and online supplementary materials

Americans are living longer, and the elder population is growing larger. To meet the ongoing need for quality information on elder health, the Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health combines multiple perspectives to offer readers a more accurate and complete picture of the aging process. The book takes a biopsychosocial approach to the complexities of its subject. In-depth introductory chapters include coverage on a historical and demographic overview of aging in America, a guide to biological changes accompanying aging, an analysis of the diversity of the U.S. elder population, legal issues commonly affecting older adults, and the ethics of using cognitively impaired elders in research. From there, over 425 entries cover the gamut of topics, trends, diseases, and phenomena: -Specific populations, including ethnic minorities, custodial grandparents, and centenarians -Core medical conditions associated with aging, from cardiac and pulmonary diseases to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s -Mental and emotional disorders -Drugs/vitamins/alternative medicine -Disorders of the eyes, feet, and skin -Insomnia and sleep disorders; malnutrition and eating disorders -Sexual and gender-related concerns -And a broad array of social and political issues, including access to care, abuse/neglect, veterans’ affairs, and assisted suicide Entries on not-quite-elders’ concerns (e.g., midlife crisis, menopause) are featured as well. And all chapters and entries include references and resource lists. The Encyclopedia has been developed for maximum utility to clinicians, social workers, researchers, and public health professionals working with older adults. Its multidisciplinary coverage and scope of topics make this volume an invaluable reference for academic and public libraries.

Aging, Health and Technology takes a problem-centered approach to examine how older adults use technology for health. It examines the many ways in which technology is being used by older adults, focusing on challenges, solutions and perspectives of the older user. Using aging-health technology as a lens, the book examines issues of technology adoption, basic human factors, cognitive aging, mental health, aging and usability, privacy, trust and automation. Each chapter takes a case study approach to summarize lessons learned from unique examples that can be applied to similar projects, while also providing general information about older adults and technology. Discusses human factors design challenges specific to older adults Covers the wide range of health-related uses for technology—from fitness to leading a more engaged life Utilizes a case study approach for practical application Envisions what the future will hold for technology and older adults Employs a roster of interdisciplinary contributors

The Future of Aging book presents answers and opportunities to rich and provocative questions related to aging. Each of the books 5 chapters highlights a key aspect of the experience of aging, then explores the challenges and opportunities that an individual or organization might encounter when working with older adults to build a better future. Though each chapter can be read on its own, the book itself represents the richness and complexity of what it means to get older. Together, these chapters reflect a holistic understanding of aging--one in which community, healthcare, technology, identity, and financial well-being are not siloed, but are viewed instead as entangled threads that hold equal importance for building a better future of aging. Chapter 1: Aging and Community The future of health is home. Let's design new communities centered around the home where older adults are empowered to share their skills and participate in activities. This keeps older adults engaged and energized and helps them live happier, healthier lives. Chapter 2: Health Interventions Help older adults embrace the benefits of health care interventions by making them appealing and beneficial - win/win. Let's combat unwelcome physical and psychological changes and negative stereotypes that come with aging by empowering older adults with the vision of what's possible. Chapter 3: Gerontechnology It's not 'What's the matter with you?' it's 'What matters to you?'. Devices, tools and other technological interventions need to be the ultimate in accessibility, customization and simplicity. Insisting older adults be full participants in the design process will exponentially improve uptake and adoption. Older adults see technology in the same way that many young people do -- as a portal to wider worlds, social and otherwise, that are not available in their immediate surroundings. Chapter 4: Economic Contexts Design financial products to be flexible enough to be applied in a variety of circumstances. All people value being recognized for what they have built, supported, or contributed to. Older people benefit from the enhanced social status or more practical outcomes that could come with this recognition. Chapter 5: Identity Challenge the cultural norms and stereotypes that underpin ageism and other forms of discrimination and urge media and other cultural institutions to showcase a realistically diverse range of older adults. Facilitate the participation of older people in workplaces, recreational spaces, schools, and/or other private and public institutions.

As the first of the nation's 78 million baby boomers begin reaching age 65 in 2011, they will face a health care workforce that is too small and woefully unprepared to meet their specific health needs. Retooling for an Aging America calls for bold initiatives starting immediately to train all health care providers in the basics of geriatric care and to prepare family members and other informal caregivers, who currently receive little or no training in how to tend to their aging loved ones. The book also recommends that Medicare, Medicaid, and other health plans pay higher rates to boost recruitment and retention of geriatric specialists and care aides. Educators and health professional groups can use Retooling for an Aging America to institute or increase formal education and training in geriatrics. Consumer groups can use the book to advocate for improving the care for older adults. Health care professional and occupational groups can use it to improve the quality of health care jobs.

The WHO World report on ageing and health is not for the book shelf it is a living breathing testament to all older people who have fought for their voice to be heard at all levels of government across disciplines and sectors. - Mr Bjarne Hastrup President International Federation on Ageing and CEO DaneAge This report outlines a framework for action to foster Healthy Ageing built around the new concept of functional ability. This will require a transformation of health systems away from disease based curative models and towards the provision of older-person-centred and integrated care. It will require the development sometimes from nothing of comprehensive systems of long term care. It will require a coordinated response from many other sectors and multiple levels of government. And it will need to draw on better ways of measuring and monitoring the health and functioning of older populations. These actions are likely to be a sound investment in society's future. A future that gives older people the freedom to live lives that previous generations might never have imagined. The World report on ageing and health responds to these challenges by recommending equally profound changes in the way health policies for ageing populations are formulated and services are provided. As the foundation for its recommendations the report looks at what the latest evidence has to say about the ageing process noting that many common perceptions and assumptions about older people are based on outdated stereotypes. The report's recommendations are anchored in the evidence comprehensive and forward-looking yet eminently practical. Throughout examples of experiences from different countries are used to illustrate how specific problems can be addressed through innovation solutions. Topics explored range from strategies to deliver comprehensive and person-centred services to older populations to policies that enable older people to live in comfort and safety to ways to correct the problems and injustices inherent in current systems for long-term care.

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This book weaves all of these factors together to engage in and promote medical, biomedical and psychosocial interventions, including lifestyle changes, for healthier aging outcomes. The text begins with an introduction to age-related changes that increase in disease and disability commonly associated with old age. Written by experts in healthy aging, the text approaches the principles of disease and disability prevention via specific health issues. Each chapter highlights the challenge of not just increasing life expectancy but also deceasing disease burden and disability in old age. The text then shifts into the whole-person implications for clinicians working with older patients, including the social and cultural considerations that are necessary for improved outcomes as Baby Boomers age and healthcare systems worldwide adjust. Healthy Aging is an important resource for those working with older patients, including geriatricians, family medicine physicians, nurses, gerontologists, students, public health administrators, and all other medical professionals.