1st Edition
New Dynamics in Old Age Individual, Environmental and Societal Perspectives
This book was nurtured by the belief that the new dynamics of today's and tomorrow's aging has not yet been treated well in the gerontology literature. Several questions drove the choice of substance for the book: What kind of new dynamics of aging deserves consideration? What kinds of theories and fields are at the core of treating such a new dynamics? And what kind of empirical evidence should be considered? The master hypothesis on which the book is based maintains that the new dynamics of old age is best observed in a range of everyday aging contexts that have been undergoing major change since the second half of the 20th century. In particular, five areas of new and persistent dynamics are treated in depth: the social environment, with a focus on cohort effects in social relations and the consideration of family relations and elders as care redelivers; the home environment, with emphasis on housing and quality of life, relocation and urban aging issues; the outdoor environment, with consideration of out-of-home activity patterns, car-driving behaviour and the leisure world of aging; the technological environment, with treatments of the role of the Internet and the potential of technology for aging outcomes and; and the societal environment with a focus on global aging, the new politics of old age and older persons as market consumers. The book's main purpose is to provide the scholarly gerontology community with a comprehensive and critical discussion of these new trends related to old age. The book will be of interest for the scholarly community of gerontology in a variety of disciplines; sociology, psychology, demography, epidemiology, humanities, social policy and geriatrics; students in gerontology education and in the disciplines named above who have an interest in aging issues (graduate level); professionals in practical and applied fields related to aging such as community and urban planners, health and care providers and policymakers; people involved in senior citizens' organizations and those in industry who wish to serve older people with new products.
Preface
On New Person-Environment Dynamics in Old Age: Opportunities and Constraints Jon Hendricks
PART I: Introduction
Searching for the New Dynamics in Old Age—A Book Opener Hans-Werner Wahl, Clemens Tesch-Römer, and Andreas Hoff
The Social Construction of Age and the Experience of Aging in the Late Twentieth Century Christine L. Fry
Changes in the Physical and Mental Function of Older People: Looking Back and Looking Ahead Kenneth G. Manton and XiLiang Gu
PART II: New and Persistent Dynamics Regarding the Social Environment
Cohort Differences in Social Relations Among the Elderly Krisitine J. Ajrouch, Hiroko Akiyama, and Toni C. Antonucci
Family Relations and Aging—Substantial Changes Since the Middle of the Last Century? Andreas Hoff and Clemens Tesch-Römer
Elders as Care Receivers: Autonomy in the Context of Frailty Steven H. Zarit and Elizabeth R. Braungart
PART III: New and Persistent Dynamics Regarding the Home Environment
The Impact of Housing on Quality of Life: Does the Environment Matter Now and Into the Future? Laura N. Gitlin
Beyond the Relation Trauma in Old Age: New Trends in Elders' Residential Decisions Frank Oswald and Graham D. Rowles
Aging in a Difficult Place: Assessing the Impact of Urban Deprivation on Older People Thomas Scharf, Chris Philippson, and Allison Smith
PART IV: New and Persistent Dynamics Regarding the Outdoor Environment
Always on the Go? Older People's Outdoor Mobility Today and Tomorrow: Findings from Three European Countries Heidrun Mollenkopf, Isto Ruoppila, and Fiorella Marcellini
Does Driving Benefit Quality of Life Among Older Drivers? Karlene Ball, Virginia G. Wadley, David E. Vance, and Jerri D. Edwards
The New Leisure World of Modern Old Age: New Aging on the Bright Side of the Street? Franz Kolland
PART V: Persistent Dynamics Regarding the Technology Environment
The Potential Influence of the Internet on the Transition to Older Adult Sara Czaja and Chin Chin Lee
When Will Technology in the Home Improve the Quality of Life for Older Adults? Anne-Sophie Melenhorst, Wendy A. Rogers, and Arthur D. Fisk
Technology and Chronic Conditions in Later Years: Reasons for New Hope William C. Mann and Sumi Helal
PART VI: New and Persistent Dynamics Regarding the Societal Environment
New Aging and New Policy Responses: Reconstructing Gerontology in a Global Age Chris Phillipson
The New Politics of Old Age Alan Walker
Productivity in Old Age in Labor and Consumption Markets—The German Case Gerhard Naegele, Vera Gerling, and Karin Scharfenorth
PART VII: New Challenges
Separating the Local and the General in Cross-Cultural Aging Research Svein Olav Daatland and Andreas Motel-Klingebiel
Plasticity in Old Age: Micro- and Macroperspectives on Social Contexts Eva-Marie Kessler and Ursula M. Staudinger
Index
Biography
Hans-Werner Wahl, Clemens Tesch-Romer, Dr. Andreas Hoff, Jon Hendricks
