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Mental health problems of middle and late life are the focus of this article. Among topics discussed are adjustment reactions to mid-life, late-life transitions, and stressful life events. Emerging mental health problems during this period are considered as a function of increased stress that is not mediated by social supports or effective strategies in coping. Sex differences in adjustive tasks during mid-life and the later years are presented. The impact of family dynamics on mental health is considered. Age-related differences in specific types of mental disorders, including organic problems, schizophrenia, and depression, are reviewed. Sexual problems, substance abuse, and psychosomatic problems are reviewed in the context of clinical problems during middle and late life. Diversity and individual differences in responses to the stresses of life transitions are emphasized while psychosocial strengths of older persons that promote mental health are portrayed.

Among the topics discussed with regard to mental health problems of middle & late life are adjustment reactions to mid-life, late-life transitions, & stressful life events. Emerging mental health problems during this period are a function of increased stress that is not mediated by social support or effective coping strategies. Sex differences in adjustive tasks & the impact of family dynamics on mental health are considered, as are age-related differences in specific types of mental disorders, eg, organic problems, schizophrenia, & depression. Sexual problems, substance abuse, & psychosomatic problems are reviewed in the context of clinical problems during this phase of life. The psychosocial strengths of older persons that promote mental health are portrayed. Modified HA.

What is the lived experience of previously healthy older adults as they face disability in late life, and how is disability assimilated in their identity? How do prevailing practices facilitate—or limit—options for elders living with new disabilities? To address these questions, Jeffrey Kahana and Eva Kahana uniquely synthesize disability and gerontological perspectives to explore both the unfolding challenges of aging and the practices and policies that can enhance the lives of older adults

Examining caregiving issues from a multigenerational, family life cycle perspective, this volume deals with the broad spectrum of chronic illnesses that necessitate family caregiving throughout the lifespan and discusses responses to these challenges by both caregiving families and caregiving systems. Part One addresses the caregiving paradigm and the relationship of family caregiving research to family life studies. Part Two examines conceptual aspects of caregiving, ranging from the expansion of the caregiving paradigm, caregiving processes and tasks, to the positive aspects of caregi

AbstractHome environment is essential to older adults. While existing studies have investigated the positive implications of home modification strategies for older adults and proposed relevant policies and programmes, literature has remained relatively silent on how older adults perceive their needs for their home environment and its modification, especially during and after they go through home modification projects. This study investigated community-dwelling older adults' perceptions of needs for home modification in Shanghai. Informed by theories in environmental gerontology and tenets of awareness of age-related change, we conceptualised two intertwined, evolving processes of person–environment (P-E) interactions: older adults' interactions with their home environment, and the interactions between their perceptions of needs for home modification and the ageing process. Taking a qualitative approach, we interviewed community-dwelling older adults who were among the first to have received a pilot government-sponsored home modification project in Shanghai (N = 15). Our findings suggest that older adults' P-E dynamics evolved in response to their perception of their home environment and ageing process. Most participants initially were unaware of their underlying needs for home modification even when they had encountered challenges in their apartments. As the home modification project took place, participants gradually gained knowledge of their home environment and the following modification, which enabled them to better identify and articulate their needs to improve their daily living. After the project, participants' understandings of their home environments continued to evolve, expanding to their neighbourhood. This study informs policy and practice to focus on recognising the evolving aspects of older adults' needs in their home environment and better engaging older adults in the process of home modification.

This article extends previous conceptualizations of person-environment fit from institutional to community settings, focusing on neighborhoods. The authors consider applicability of the congruence construct for understanding the impact of neighborhoods, including dwelling units, on older persons' residential satisfaction. They argue that characteristics of person, environment, and person-environment fit are important for determining residential satisfaction. Understanding each of these distinct but interdependent influences should result in better prediction of outcomes. To provide taxonomies of environmental features, the authors consider the following four physical and two social domains of neighborhood environments, which also form counterparts of personal characteristics for community-dwelling older people: physical amenities or aesthetics, resource amenities, safety, stimulation or peacefulness, homogeneity or heterogeneity, and interaction or solitude. In addition, they attempt to specify salient environmental dimensions, which may be best understood in terms of congruence with personal preferences, distinguishing them from personal or environmental influences that individually affect outcomes.

Despite potential health care needs, many older adults do not make concrete plans about future care in late life. Prior community programs have not addressed this need via Cooperative Extension systems. To address these gaps, we developed and evaluated the pilot study program, Future Care Planning, designed to help older adults plan for their own personal, health, and environmental care. The Plan Ahead program (Plan Ahead) consists of two sessions implemented over two weeks to teach older adults to plan for their future care across multiple domains, including health communication, aging in place, and end-of-life discussion. Iowa State University Human Science Extension and Outreach specialists delivered the program to a sample of 161 community-residing older adults. We evaluated 1) the feasibility of the Plan Ahead program, 2) the acceptability of the program, and 3) participants' intention to change their future care planning. Participants reported that the program was useful and relatively easy to implement. They also reported being satisfied with the content and willing to attend other relevant programs in the future. Overall, the findings suggest that Plan Ahead is feasible as an educational program to help older adults prepare for future care planning.