The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing

The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing, first published in 2005, is a guide to the body of knowledge, theory, policy and practice relevant to age researchers and gerontologists around the world. It contains almost 80 original chapters, commissioned and written by the world's leading gerontologists from 16 countries and 5 continents. The broad focus of the book is on the behavioural and social sciences but it also includes important contributions from the biological and medical sciences. It provides comprehensive, accessible and authoritative accounts of all the key topics in the field ranging from theories of ageing, to demography, physical aspects of ageing, mental processes and ageing, nursing and health care for older people, the social context of ageing, cross cultural perspectives, relationships, quality of life, gender, and financial and policy provision. This handbook will be a must-have resource for all researchers, students and professionals with an interest in age and ageing.

Table of Contents:
List of contributors; Foreword; Preface; Part I. Introduction and Overview: 1.1 Are theories of ageing necessary?; 1.2 Ageing and changing: international historical perspectives on ageing; 1.3 Global ageing: the demographic revolution in all cultures and societies; 1.4 The psychological science of human ageing; 1.5 The biological science of human ageing; Part II. The Ageing Body: 2.1 Biodemography and epidemiology of longevity; 2.2 The epidemiology of ageing; 2.3 Patterns of illness and mortality across the adult lifespan; 2.4 Sensory impairment; 2.5 Mobility and falls; 2.6 The genetics of behavioural ageing; 2.7 Psychodynamic approaches to the life-course & ageing; 2.8 Cultural approaches to the ageing body; 2.9 Promoting health and well being in later life; Part III. The Ageing Mind: 3.1 Psychological approaches to human development; 3.2 Cognitive changes across the lifespan; 3.3 Age-related changes in memory; 3.4 Intelligence and wisdom; 3.5 Everyday competence in older adults; 3.6 The psychology of emotions and ageing; 3.7 Personality and ageing; 3.8 Depression; 3.9 Dementia; 3.10 Dementia in an Asian context; Part IV. The Ageing Self: 4.1 Self and identity; 4.2 Stress and coping; 4.3 Reminiscence: developmental, social and clinical perspectives; 4.4 The social worlds of old age; 4.5 Listening to the past: reminiscence and oral history; 4.6 Elder abuse in developing nations; 4.7 The self in dementia; 4.8 Ageism; 4.9 Profiles of the oldest-old; 4.10 Images of ageing: cultural representations of later life; 4.11 Religion, spirituality and older people; 4.12 Quality of life and ageing; 4.13 The transformation of dying in old societies; 4.14 The psychology of death ; 4.15 Death and spirituality; Part V. The Ageing of Relationships: 5.1 Global ageing and challenges to families; 5.2 Aging parents and adult children: new perspectives on intergenerational relationships; 5.3 Grandparenthood; 5.4 Sibling ties across time: the middle and later years; 5.5 Filial piety in changing Asian societies; 5.6 Generational memory and family relationships; 5.7 Family caregivers: increasing demands in the context of 21st century globalization?; 5.8 Network dynamics in later life; 5.9 Changing family relationships in developing nations; 5.10 Ethnic diversity in aging, multi-cultural societies; 5.11 Gay and lesbian elders; Part VI. The Ageing of Societies: 6.1 The lifecourse perspective on ageing: linked lives, timing and history; 6.2 The political economy of old age; 6.3 Moral economy and ageing; 6.4 Generational changes and generational equity; 6.5 Gender dimensions of the age shift; 6.6 Migration and older people; 6.7 Do longevity and health generate wealth?; 6.8 Women, ageing and inequality: a feminist perspective; Part VII. Policies and Provisions for Older People: 7.1 The social construction of old age as a problem; 7.2 Restructuring the life course: work and retirement; 7.3 Ethical dilemmas in old age care; 7.4 Wealth, health, and ageing: the multiple modern complexities of financial gerontology; 7.5 Formal and informal community care for older adults; 7.6 Health policy and old age: an international review; 7.7 Gerontological nursing: the state of the art; 7.8 Delivering effective social/long-term care to older people; 7.9 Delivering care to older people at home 7.10 Long-term care; 7.11 Managed care in the United States and United Kingdom; 7.12 Health care rationing: is age a proper criterion?; 7.13 Adaptation to new technologies; 7.14 Ageing and public policy in ethnically diverse societies