Suchergebnisse

"This book includes all the topics typically covered in a social gerontology text and contains three distinctive chapters. One of these is a separate chapter on the life course Chapter 2, "Life Course Transitions"). The growing emphasis in the field of social gerontology on the relationship between the quality of life in old age and an individual's cumulative experiences, choices, constraints, and opportunities over the life course. Another distinctive chapter focuses on the long term care of the frail elderly (Chapter 12, "Caring for the Frail Elderly"). A substantial body of research on this subject examines the burdens and satisfactions family members experience in caring for their aging kin, the problems associated with nursing home care, and the advantages and disadvantages of various alternative living arrangements"--

Every industrial nation in the world guarantees their citizens access to essential health care services - every country, that is, except the United States. Indeed, one in eight Americans - a shocking 43 million people - the majority in working families, do not have any health care insurance. This title offers a history of America's failed efforts to address the health care needs of its citizens.

Three related assumptions concerning the relationship of u omen to work and retirement shown to be prevalent in the literature were examined among a sample of practicing phy sicians between the ages of 55 and 70. None of them were shown to be valid assumptions for this particular sample. It was demonstrated that older male and female physicians were equally likely to have had irregular work histories. For men these were due to historical circumstances, such as war, whereas the career interruptions of women were related to their basic social identity as wives and mothers. It was also shown that both male andfemale physicians derive their ideas about the meaning of work from the medical culture which defines intrinsic rewards as most satisfying. This, in turn, affects the ability to make realistic plans for retirement, since being active and being dedicated are both values that conflict with assumptions ph ysicians make about retirement. Becker's definition of the concept of commitment was reexamined, and an attempt was made to clarify the relationship between career continuity and commitment.

Original essays examine how various countries have responded to population aging and increases in national expenditures for the elderly.