Boomers And Beyond Prescription For The Golden Years

Boomers and Beyond, Prescription for the Golden Years provides helpful nuts and bolts-information for 77 million Baby Boomers and 36 million American Seniors. Fear of declining physical and mental health, losses of loved-ones, financial losses, loneliness and feelings of helplessness when faced with one's own mortalilty are among those giants waiting to attack. Is there hope and purpose, or is senior life an expected downhill spiral? Seasoned with humor, quotes, lists, personal stories, the author shows how faith, love, and a positive mindset are vital for living the "Golden Years."

This book informs the reader of the major preventive health recommendations now practiced by the medical community. Prior to the middle of the last century medical care was primarily episodic. Patients did not see their doctor until they were acutely ill. Now, the advances in medical knowledge of disease processes and the availability of improved diagnostic techniques and treatments have focused medical practice on the prevention of disease. In other words, before the occurrence of a heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and even cancer, there are detectable underlying disorders which, when discovered and treated early, can prevent life limiting disease. Four underlying disorders, namely, high blood pressure, abnormal blood lipids, elevated blood sugar and overweight are major risk factors for the chronic diseases. Five chronic diseases, namely, coronary artery disease, cancer, lung disease, stroke and diabetes are responsible for 80% of deaths in the American population. This book presents a preventive care plan in seven steps designed to counter these risk factors and diseases, and extend both the length and quality of life. The seven steps are discussed as separate chapters: Exercise, Weight, Health Evaluation, Non-prescription Agents, A Medical Approach, A Surgical Approach and Preventive-Preventive Care. Doctors have learned that the chronic diseases associated with aging usually do not start in older age, but often are present by middle age and younger. Then, changes in lifestyle and early treatment to control the known risk factors and underlying disorders are most effective in extending both the length and quality of life. This book will provide pertinent medical information for the reader to embrace a golden challenge of preventive care to know and to fully enjoy the rewarding golden years ahead.

Primary care medicine, as we know and remember it, is in crisis. While policymakers, government administrators, and the health insurance industry pay lip service to the personal relationship between physician and patient, dissatisfaction and disaffection run rampant among primary care doctors, and medical students steer clear in order to pursue more lucrative specialties. Patients feel helpless, well aware that they are losing a valued close connection as health care steadily becomes more transactional than relational. The thin-margin efficiency, rapid pace, and high volume demanded by the new health care economics do not work for primary care, an inherently slower, more personal, and uniquely tailored service. In Out of Practice, Dr. Frederick Barken juxtaposes his personal experience with the latest research on the transformations in the medical field. He offers a cool critique of the "market model of medicine" while vividly illustrating how the seemingly inexorable trend toward specialization in the last few decades has shifted emphasis away from what was once the foundation of medical practice. Dr. Barken addresses the complexities of modern practice—overuse of diagnostic studies, fragmentation of care, increasing reliance on an array of prescription drugs, and the practice of defensive medicine. He shows how changes in medicine, the family, and society have left physicians to deal with a wide range of geriatric issues, from limited mobility to dementia, that are not addressed by health care policy and are not entirely amenable to a physician’s prescription. Indeed, Dr. Barken contends, the very survival of primary care is in jeopardy at a time when its practitioners are needed more than ever. Illustrated with case studies gleaned from more than twenty years in private practice and data from a wide range of sources, Out of Practice is more than a jeremiad about a broken system. Throughout, Dr. Barken offers cogent suggestions for policymakers and practitioners alike, making clear that as valuable as the latest drug or medical device may be, a successful health care system depends just as much on the doctor-patient relationship embodied by primary care medicine.

The sixth edition of this student friendy textbook provides both a thorough explanation of the issues, as well as current research and controversies, exploring health care, socioeconomic trends, and the life course. This thoroughly revised new edition contains nine new readings, over 35 new photographs and an instructor′sresource CD.

American health care has made great strides in the past hundred years. Life expectancy has increased dramatically and advances in medicine and treatments have eradicated many life-threatening diseases. However, in today's health care arena there is divergence between our health needs, the structure of our health care system, and how health care is delivered and funded. In Forces of Change, David A. Shore has collected the leading thinking from experts in the field on how our health care system can benefit from important lessons from other industries and effect transformational change that truly serves all stakeholders well. Contributors include Max Caldwell of Towers Watson; Michael J. Dowling of North Shore Long Island Jewish Medical Health System; John P. Glaser of Siemens Healthcare; Ashish K. Jha of the Harvard School of Public Health; Eric D. Kupferberg of Northeastern University; Lucian Leape of the Harvard School of Public Health; Jeff Margolis of the TriZetto Group, Inc.; and David Shoultz of Philips Electronics.

"Our Parents, Ourselves is the best presentation of our aging, and of general healthcare issues that I have ever seen. Tremendously important."—Henrik Blum, M.D., MPH, Professor Emeritus, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley "This book could well transform how we as a country address aging and caregiving for generations to come."—Lynn Friss Feinberg, MSW, Deputy Director, National Center on Caregiving at Family Caregiver Alliance "Turiel's book can help elders and their families find humane care in our often inhumane and uncaring health care system."— Steffi Woolhandler, co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program

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.