Eldercare 101

An easy-to-understand guide for caregivers in a post-pandemic world who are adapting to the rapidly changing lifestyles and care needs of elders. The care and wellbeing of our seniors is paramount as we move out of the worst phase of Covid 19 and back to a more stable landscape, that is still subject to the vagaries of aging, illness, and capabilities. This Updated edition of Eldercare 101 has been expanded to include pandemic lessons, climate change impact on senior housing and relocation, new medical and technological advancements, new housing trends, multigenerational living, Zoom memorials, brain health, legal needs when you have no children or family, isolation and more. Using her Six Pillars of Aging Wellbeing™ framework, Mary Jo Saavedra and a variety of expert contributors explore the needs, desires, realistic circumstances, opportunities for healthy and safe aging, and end of life care … something we all need to think about at some time or another.

"These revealing stories from family caregivers-spouses, grown children and grandchildren-share the emotional support and practical tips that you need as you navigate the world of eldercare, especially when Alzheimer's or other dementias are part of it. You'll feel less alone and more empowered in your new role as you help your loved ones"--

Although Hendershott has spent many years teaching and writing about the sociological aspects of aging, she writes that none of this could have prepared me for the overwhelming challenge of caring for my own mother-in-law in my home. She introduces baby boomers as the unexpected caregivers of the coming decades. The process of family denial about symptoms, work-family conflict, and the unique problems of children of caregivers are explored in an effort to find solutions to the caregiving challenge. Social science research is made accessible and is coupled with anecdotal information gleaned from interactions with other caregivers and personal experience. Throughout the book, Hendershott shows family caregivers that by gaining insight into their motivations for caregiving and by drawing from family support and help from the community, they can move beyond maladaptive caregiving coping styles, to a rewarding reality-based caregiving experience.

A comprehensive guide to emotional, legal, medical, psychological and other issues relating to elderly care.

Informal work – family care, voluntary work, and undeclared or unregulated work – is a critical form of labor in today’s economy, yet remains underanalyzed and examined. This volume develops a comprehensive conceptual framework of informal work and analyses systematically the relationship of formal and informal work. Using a coherent theoretical and methodological approach, this volume explores informal and formal work in six countries and contributes to our empirical knowledge of informal work and its different interrelations with formal work in various societies. A landmark study in the analysis of work, the book demonstrates how the relationship of formal and informal work is developing, how this can be explained in the specific context of the arrangement of work and welfare, and in which ways informal work possibly contributes to social integration and social cohesion.

This book introduces cutting-edge issues and thought-provoking concepts on innovation management. It illustrates how robotic developments allow new powerful support functionalities for harnessing workplace innovations and new types of work in enterprises. In particular, low status jobs—heavy, repetitive and dangerous jobs—are disappearing and increasingly replaced by creative and meaningful work. It situates the research within theoretical developments and academic literature in business and management studies on innovation networks and partnerships. The book then introduces the notion of "friction management," which invites us to re-examine creative tensions and explore how contradictions may spur or restrain change and innovation in this landscape. Innovation and change challenge established patterns, cultures, value systems, interests and network configurations—which creates a variety of frictions. Therefore, a theory of friction management is crucial, particularly in innovation-intensive industries, and can help professionals to understand change and the dynamics of innovation so that they can orchestrate events and learn to distinguish between the creative and negative frictions that can arise and that are important for change and the innovation process. Thus, the goal of friction management is to orchestrate, mobilize and (re)combine key organizational resources to strategically increase innovation capacity and promote dynamic renewal and creativity. It will be of interest to scholars and postgraduates in the areas of innovation management, sociology and business administration.

A savvy and validating guide to what might be in store for growing numbers of childfree and childless adults worldwide, Do You Have Kids? Life When the Answer is No takes on topics from the shifting meaning of family to what we leave behind when we die. Weaving together wisdom from women ages twenty-four to ninety-one with both her own story and a growing body of research, Kate brings to light alternate routes to lives of meaning, connection, and joy. Today about one in five American women will never have children, whether by choice or by destiny. Yet few women talk much about what not having kids means to their lives and identities. Not that they don’t want to; there just aren’t obvious catalysts for such open conversations. In fact, social taboos preclude exploration of the topic—and since our family-centric culture doesn’t know quite what to do with non-parents, there’s potential for childless and childfree women to be sidelined, ignored, or drowned out. Yet there’s widespread, pent-up demand for understanding and validating this perfectly normal way of being. In this straight-shooting, exhaustively researched book, women without kids talk candidly about the ways in which their lives differ from societal norms and expectations—the good, the bad, and the unexpected.