Throughout life, our everyday interactions with material, social, and psychological environments influence our self identity: and ‘who we think we are’ influences how we behave in particular places. In later life, people bring to this relationship a lifetime’s experience that makes certain associations more or less important. This book explores the relationship between environment and identity for older people. In this detailed ethnographic study, older people talk in depth about their situations and experiences of space and place. The book examines the experience of men and women of different ages and cultures living in a range of different kinds of places, including ‘ordinary’ and ‘special’ housing - from a high-rise flat to a residential care home - in semi-rural, urban and metropolitan locations within the Midlands and south-east England. This research enables us to appreciate how older people manage their needs within the context of their whole lives. Many are able to achieve a ‘life of quality’ as they constantly engage and re-engage with their environment. The discussion of how environmental complexity influences people in developing and maintaining their own identity is essential for those involved in planning, designing, caring and supporting people as they age. Environment and Identity in Later Life is key reading for students, practitioners and policy makers interested in quality of life for older people.

Leading scholars, offering international and multidisciplinary viewpoints, examine the meaning of home to elders and the ways in which this meaning may be sustained, threatened, or modified according to changes associated with growing old. Organized into four sections--The Essence of Home, Disruptions of Home, Creating and Recreating Home, and Community Perspectives on the Meaning of Home, this volume explores topics including: What makes a house a home? What role does the meaning of home play in the process of relocation to another place of residence? What is the relationship between a person's home life and cherished possessions such as symbolic jewelry or religious items in late life? How does the community/neighborhood environment influence the way that older people feel about the places in which they live? Contributors include Hans-Werner Wahl, Robert L. Rubinstein, Edmund Sherman, Carolyn Norris-Baker, and Rick Scheidt, among others. As a special feature, this volume concludes with critical commentaries from three eminent scholars, Amos Rapoport, Kim Dovey, and Marie Versperi. This volume will be of interest to practitioners, researchers, upper-level graduates/graduate-level students in gerontology, environmental psychology, social work, and nursing. It will be valuable to everyone in the helping professions who seek a deeper understanding of the ways in which "being at home" and attachment to place plays a key role in the life experience and well-being of their clients as they grow older.

Print+CourseSmart

The first UK assessment of environmental gerontology, this book contextualises personal experience of ageing, considers the value of intergenerational and age-related living and global to local population ageing concerns in light of COVID-19.

How are individuals and society ageing towards the end of the twentieth century? How can different disciplines help us to understand the ageing process? What are the key developments in postmodern thought and critical studies in relation to ageing and later life? In answer to these questions, the editors of this volume have brought together some of the leading figures in the field. Gathered together for the first time in a single volume, the authors discuss the latest theoretical developments in the international field of ageing. Drawing on research from the USA and UK, the book is strongly multi-disciplinary in content with chapters from both social sciences and humanities. The book provides a critical approach to our understanding of the experience of ageing and later life. It has been written for advanced students of gerontology and those with an interest in ageing and later life, but it is also relevant to policy makers and practitioners in the field. Key features: First time work from the USA and UK has been available in one volume Wide coverage of the latest trends and theoretical approaches in gerontology Issues addressed from a range of disciplines - unusual combination of humanities and social science in one volume Written by leading experts in the field.

In its brief but vigorous history, gerontology has spawned a broadening range of specializations. One of the newest of such specializations is narrative gerontology, so named for its emphasis on the biographical, or inside, dimensions of the experience of aging. Telling stories about our world, our relationships, and ourselves is fundamental to how we make meaning. Everything from our history to our religion and our memories to our emotions is linked to the tales we tell ourselves, and others, about where we have come from and where we are going. They are central to who we are. The biographical side of human life is every bit as critical to fathom as the biological side, if we seek a more balanced, positive, and optimistic perspective on what aging is about; if we would honor the dignity and complexity, the humanity and uniqueness of the lives of older persons, no matter what their health or economic standing. In this respect, a narrative approach is particularly suited to the exploration of such topics as meaning, spirituality, and wisdom, and the connections they share. This volume reflects a selection of new directions and insights, and constitutes a general broadening and deepening of narrative gerontology, exploring its implications for theory and research in the field of aging, and for the quality of life of older adults themselves. Such deepening indicates a greater refinement of thought, method, and intervention. The evolution of narrative gerontology is also evidenced by a significant increase in the number of faculty and graduate students engaged in research in this area, as well as by increasing collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and administrators in applying narrative insights to contexts such as long term care - indeed, healthcare in general. These initiatives have given rise to the phrase, "narrative care as core care".

This book looks at the relationships between the physical-social environment and the elderly in Europe and Latin America, from the Environmental Gerontology perspective and through geographical and psychosocial approaches. It addresses the main environmental issues of population ageing, based on an understanding of the complex relationships, adjustments and adaptations between different environments (home, residence, public spaces, landscapes, neighbourhoods, urban and rural environment) and the quality of life of the ageing population, associated with residential strategies and other aspects related to health and dependency. The different levels of socio-spatial analysis are also explored: macro (urban and rural environments, regions and landscapes), meso (neighbourhood, public space) and micro (personal, home and institution). New theoretical and methodological approaches are proposed to analyse the attributes and functions of the physical-social environment of the elderly, as well as new ways of living the ageing process. All will have to respond to the challenges of urbanisation, globalisation and climate change in the 21st century. Also, the different experiences and challenges of public planning and management professionals involved with the growing ageing population are presented, and will require greater association and collaboration with the academic and scientific fields of Environmental Gerontology.

Look no further for the book that provides the information essential for successful practice in the rapidly growing field of gerontological occupational therapy! Occupational Therapy with Aging Adults is a new, comprehensive text edited by OT and gerontological experts Karen Frank Barney and Margaret Perkinson that takes a unique interdisciplinary and collaborative approach in covering every major aspects of geriatric gerontological occupational therapy practice. With 30 chapters written by 70 eminent leaders in gerontology and OT, this book covers the entire continuum of care for the aging population along with special considerations for this rapidly growing demographic. This innovative text also covers topical issues spanning the areas of ethical approaches to treatment; nutrition and oral health concerns; pharmacological issues; low vision interventions; assistive technology supports; and more to ensure readers are well versed in every aspect of this key practice area. - UNIQUE! Intraprofessional and interprofessional approach to intervention emphasizes working holistically and collaboratively in serving older adults. - Case examples help you learn to apply new information to actual patient situations. - Questions at the end of each chapter can be used for discussion or other learning applications. - Chapter on evidence-based practice discusses how to incorporate evidence into the clinical setting. - Chapter on ethics provides a deeper understanding of how to address challenging ethical dilemmas. - UNIQUE! Chapter on the wide range of physiological changes among the aging patient population highlights related occupational performance issues. - UNIQUE! Chapter on oral health explores the challenges faced by older adults.

The authors provide a contemporary perspective on the status of qualitative research in gerontology. The second edition examines recent trends in the application of qualitative methodologies and the emergence of new qualitative techniques such as focus groups, studies of personal histories, and the use of photography. Chapters include discussions of critical and feminist perspectives, practice issues, ethical issues, and the contribution of qualitative research to the progress of science.

During recent years, an increasing amount of academic research has focused on older people with a particular emphasis on settings, places and spaces. This book provides a comprehensive review of research and the policy area of 'ageing and place'. An insightful book on an important topic, Andrews and Phillips have together edited a valuable information and reference source for those with interests in the spatial dimensions of ageing in the twenty-first century. Ranging from macro-scale perspectives on the distribution of older populations on national scales, to the meaning of specific local places and settings to older individuals, on the micro-scale, the book spans an entire range of research traditions and international perspectives.