SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gerontology

By bringing attention to the way that ethnicity and race have been addressed in research on ageing and old age, with a focus on health inequalities, health and social care, intergenerational relationships and caregiving, this book proposes how research can be developed in an ethnicity astute and diversity informed manner.

A comprehensive multi-disciplinary overview of the very latest research on ageing, concentrating on four major themes: autonomy and independence in later life, biology and ageing, food and nutrition and representation of old age.

To understand contemporary ageing it is necessary to recognise its diversity. Drawing on an extraordinary range of theory, original research and empirical sources, this book assesses the stereotyped conceptions of ageing, and offers a critical and updated perspective.

This book offers a unique perspective on ideas about late life as expressed in social policy and socio-cultural constructs of age with lived experience.

The turn to biographical methods in social science is invigorating the relationship between policy and practice. This book shows how biographical methods can improve theoretical understanding of professional practice, as well as enrich the development of professionals, and promote more meaningful practitioner - service user relationships.

A multidisciplinary collection examining how cultural engagement can enhance resilience, reduce social isolation and help older people to thrive and overcome challenging life events and everyday problems associated with ageing.

Drawing together material from a number of different fields the book analyses the meaning and determinants of mental health amongst older populations and offers a critical review of the lifecourse, ageing and mental health debate.

This book addresses the shortfall in knowledge regarding older people's attachment to deprived neighbourhoods, offering a re-conceptualisation of environmental gerontology. The author examines new research, challenging the common view that ageing 'in place' is optimal, particularly within areas that present multiple risks to the individual.

How can we understand older people as real human beings, value their wisdom, and appreciate that their norms and purposes both matter in themselves and are affected by those of others? Using a life-course approach this book argues that the complexity and potential creativity of later life demand a humanistic vision of older people and ageing.

A wide range of contributors focus on major issues in ageing such as autonomy, agency, frailty, lifestyle, social isolation, dementia and professional challenges in social work and participatory research.

Launching the dementia debate into new and exciting territory, this book applies a human rights lens to interrogate the lived experience and policy response to dementia.

This book focuses on older people as makers of meaning and insight, highlighting the ways older people form part of social and symbolic landscapes and the types of wisdom they can offer.