Possible new breakthroughs in understanding the aging mind that can be used to benefit older people are now emerging from research. This volume identifies the key scientific advances and the opportunities they bring. For example, science has learned that among older adults who do not suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, cognitive decline may depend less on loss of brain cells than on changes in the health of neurons and neural networks. Research on the processes that maintain neural health shows promise of revealing new ways to promote cognitive functioning in older people. Research is also showing how cognitive functioning depends on the conjunction of biology and culture. The ways older people adapt to changes in their nervous systems, and perhaps the changes themselves, are shaped by past life experiences, present living situations, changing motives, cultural expectations, and emerging technology, as well as by their physical health status and sensory-motor capabilities. Improved understanding of how physical and contextual factors interact can help explain why some cognitive functions are impaired in aging while others are spared and why cognitive capability is impaired in some older adults and spared in others. On the basis of these exciting findings, the report makes specific recommends that the U.S. government support three major new initiatives as the next steps for research.

The book examines key topics such as interpersonal and family relationships in old age, media portrayals of aging, cultural variations in intergenerational communication, and health communication in old age.

This report results from a Coordinated Research Project on ""Ageing of Materials in Spent Fuel Storage Facilities"". It includes sections on the status of the understanding of the ageing of selected materials and on management of ageing.

The Biology of Senescence

This book presents a completely novel approach to the understanding of ageing, which many believe is an unsolved problem in biology. It explains why ageing exists in animals, and reviews our understanding of it at the biological level. This includes a discussion of the origins and evolution of ageing. The book is not a review of research on ageing, but instead draws on material from a wide range of disciplines, including the very extensive biomedical information about age-related diseases in humans. Understanding Ageing argues that much research needs to be done on the cellular and molecular aspects of ageing, if the origins of these diseases are to be understood, and their prevention made possible. This thought-provoking book will appeal to all students and researchers who are interested in ageing, whether they are working in the clinical or basic research sphere.

What are the possibilities for understanding older age - a question with profound implications for communication between generations and for professional practice? Simon Biggs explores these possibilities by integrating psychodynamic and social perspectives to provide new insights into how older age is imagined, defined and experienced. Old age is, more often than not, hidden from the not-yet-old by belief in a potentially negative personal future and by a commonsense world that allows little opportunity for active collaboration between age groups. This book examines the conscious and unconscious attitudes and feelings of practitioners towards their older clients and looks at the ways in which these feelings affect their ability to function as professionals should. By studying self-perception, communication and power relations, and applying his conclusions to the helping professions, institutions and community care, Simon Biggs unsettles easy assumptions, offers a new framework for constructive social gerontology and gives priorities for improved practice. "Understanding Ageing" should be of interest to a broad range of students and professionals alike.

This volume is a practical resource for all those responsible for caring for older people across health and social care. It provides a comprehensive and holistic approach helping nurses, therapists and social care professionals to better understand the impact of ageing upon the person and wider society. A unique feature of this text is the focus upon positive ageing and the attempt to dispel and challenge some of the myths, prejudices and negative attitudes that still prevail towards ageing and older people. A key objective of the book is to introduce practitioners to some of the neglected or under-addressed aspects of ageing such as spirituality, sexuality, and LGBT.Chapters are written in an engaging and interactive style and where appropriate draw upon case studies and scenarios to maximize engagement developing competence, by informing knowledge, attitudes and skills. The text introduces the practitioner to key dimensions of what it is to be a person, physically, psychologically, socially and spiritually and how these contribute to the ageing process and can enhance the quality of life of older people.Irrespective of whether one cares for older people in an acute hospital setting or domiciliary, home care, this text will be of relevance. The material and content transcend health and social care boundaries, providing valuable, contemporary evidence that can inform and shape practice. Above all this text will encourage reflection, dialogue and engagement with some fundamental aspects of ageing, challenging, attitudes, values and behaviour so that a more positive and balanced insight towards ageing is fostered. This book will ensure that self-awareness and professional practice are enriched and informed and the practitioner has a holistic understanding of ageing that will enable them to care for older people with compassion, dignity and respect.