Does a longer life mean a healthier life? The number of adults over 65 in the United States is growing, but many may not be aware that they are at greater risk from foodborne diseases and their nutritional needs change as they age. The IOM's Food Forum held a workshop October 29-30, 2009, to discuss food safety and nutrition concerns for older adults.

Originally published in 1981, in Old Age Homes Roger Clough presents a vivid description of the lives and work of residents and staff in an old people’s home. His powerful analysis of the realities of residential work would make a major contribution to improved practice, to social work training, and to social policy formation. Many people, including some social work professionals, still felt that the very existence of residential homes illustrated a failure of society, and that living with their own family or on their own was invariably a more satisfactory experience for old people. Roger Clough questions this assumption. He argues that homes are needed and if they are to be good places in which to live and die there must be a clearer understanding of the interactions that take place within them. The descriptive parts of the study, based on detailed observation and lengthy interviews, strongly reflect the author’s genuine compassion and warmth for old people. His most illuminating perceptions are presented from the perspective of the old people themselves, many of whom were conscious of the double-bind in which residents and staff are caught: there is a prevailing belief that it is best to keep active in old age, yet many of the elderly had little they though worth doing, while the staff saw their role as doing whatever they could for the residents. Roger Clough uses his material to test two central hypotheses: first that there is a linkage between the attitudes to aging held by staff and the degree of control over their own lives exercised by residents; and secondly that this degree of control is strongly correlated with resident satisfaction. Through an acute analysis of these key variables, he demonstrates the circumstances in which living in a home can be, for certain old people at certain times, the way of life they themselves would choose. His conclusions are of the greatest importance for social work practice and for the changing of staff attitudes in training. Old Age Homes would challenge anybody who knows or works with a resident in an old people’s home. But it would be of outstanding value for the managers, practitioners, trainers and students to whom it was primarily addressed at the time.

Since the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, the American health care system has steadily grown in size and complexity. Muriel R. Gillick takes readers on a narrative tour of American health care, incorporating the stories of older patients as they travel from the doctor's office to the hospital to the skilled nursing facility, and examining the influence of forces as diverse as pharmaceutical corporations, device manufacturers, and health insurance companies on their experience. A scholar who has practiced medicine for over thirty years, Gillick offers readers an informed and straightforward view of health care from the ground up, revealing that many crucial medical decisions are based not on what is best for the patient but rather on outside forces, sometimes to the detriment of patient health and quality of life. Gillick suggests a broadly imagined patient-centered reform of the health care system with Medicare as the engine of change, a transformation that would be mediated through accountability, cost-effectiveness, and culture change.

Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.

This compilation of more than 20 outstanding projects in the areas of assisted living, continuing care retirement communities and nursing homes represents the best current work designed by architects for the ever-increasing population of the ageing and elderly. Produced by IMAGES Publishing in association with the IAHSA, Architecture for an Ageing Population complements the successful Design for Aging series. Each project is presented with photographs, detailed plans and statistics, illuminating the high level of research, planning and community involvement that goes into these advancements in living environments for seniors. This comprehensive review of architectural design trends in aged-care facilities will appeal to aged-care providers, developers, users, and advocates, as well as architects, interior designers, landscapers and other design professionals.