This informative volume examines the multidimensional nature of aging, identifies key issues involved in meeting the needs of the growing numbers of older adults, and suggests effective methods of mobilizing resources to better meet the needs of the aging population.

This collection of essays and research studies will help clergy, nursing home staff, and family members to address the spiritual questing and questioning of the elderly. Essays were first published in the Quarterly Papers on Religion and Aging, between 1984 and 1994. Watkins is professor at the Institute for Gerontological Studies, Baylor University. This work is co-published simultaneously as Journal of Religious Gerontology, v.12, no.2, 2001. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Learn new approaches for strengthening the religious bonds of our aging population! Through Scripture, studies, and the personal experiences of religious leaders and congregants, Practical Theology for Aging offers new concepts for ministering to our older population. Each chapter looks at a different concern for the elderly and addresses it with the assurance that aging is part of God’s great work. From scientific models and case studies to passages from both the Old and New Testaments, this volume illuminates the power of faith in keeping the elderly whole and well. Practical Theology for Aging reveals several barriers to the spiritual wellness of our elders. These include society’s stereotypical views of frailty and incompetence in older people, the lack of common support by communities of faith, and the dissatisfaction of the elderly with outdated, traditional answers to their concerns of aging, suffering, and death. Each barrier can be overcome by utilizing the practical theology you will find in this book. Restated throughout the volume is the message that the journey into old age does not have to be filled with dread and fear but can be seen as a path to spiritual maturity. This book has practical suggestions that address: God’s purpose for aging—why do we have to grow old? sexual health for senior citizens the suffering and physical debilitation that sometimes accompany aging afflictions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and how to minister to the unresponsive the inclusion of spirituality in rehabilitation to heal the whole person after catastrophic illness or injury preaching to senior citizens as opposed to preaching to a younger congregation so much more! Practical Theology for Aging presents tips and strategies for spiritual advisement as well as traditional quotes and references reminding us to respect and honor our aging men and women. Whether you are a religious leader, caretaker, family member, or esteemed elder, this book is vital for strengthening spirituality in the elderly and promoting their inclusion into the religious community.

Educational gerontology is the study of the changes in the learning process caused by old age. This new edition provides an update of developments in this field of research. The volume probes topics such as implications for education for the aging, reminiscence, methods of teaching, social exchange and equal opportunity.

Religious congregations and faith-based organizations (FBO) from the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions have worked on behalf of older adults for centuries. But the initiation of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives has raised many questions from both the traditional secular and sectarian services as well as many nontraditional services found in each community. Faith-Based Initiatives and Aging Services addresses the issues of the separation of church and state, the concerns involved in developing social services in religious congregations, and the larger public policy implications of this office. This unique book offers perspectives from traditional and nontraditional faith-based groups, as well as experts in volunteerism.

Use Frankl's insights and techniques to improve life for your aging clients or parishioners. Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor who experienced firsthand the horrors of Auschwitz, saw man as “a being who continuously decides what he is: a being who equally harbors the potential to descend to the level of an animal or to ascend to the life of a saint. Man is that being, who, after all, invented the gas chambers; but at the same time he is that being who entered into those same gas chambers with his head held high and with the 'Our Father’or the Jewish prayer of the dying on his lips.”Dr. Frankl's insights led him to found the therapeutic system of logotherapy, which views man as a spiritual being rather than simply as a biological construct. Logotherapy has come to be called the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy (after Freud's psychoanalysis and Adler's individual psychology). He left a rich legacy of theory and insights especially relevant to the search for meaning in later life. The tenets of logotherapy provide many clues and approaches to what an ever-increasing body of evidence suggests regarding the crisis of aging as a crisis of meaning. Frankl’s insightful work increased man’s understanding of the spiritual dimension of humanity and the dignity and worth of every person in the face of what he called “the tragic trial of human existence: pain, guilt, and death.”Viktor Frankl's Contribution to Spirituality and Aging presents an essential overview of logotherapy and explores: the search for and the will to meaning in later life the connection between logotherapy and pastoral counselingbringing psychology and theology together to effectively counsel the aging the role of logotherapy in the treatment of adult major depression aspects of meaning and personhood in dementia the search for meaning in long-term care settings Viktor Frankl's Contribution to Spirituality and Aging represents varying professional perspectives on the application of Frankl's logotherapy for ministry with older adults. The chapter authors represent diverse professional backgrounds in medicine, pastoral theology, the behavioral sciences, and pastoral ministry. They address issues such as death and dying, dementia and depression, and the spiritual meaning of aging, as well as Frankl's conception of the nature of humanity. Everyone interested in the connection between theology and psychology in the context of the aging will want to own this book.

Examine the questions of “how,” “what,” and “why” associated with religiousness and spirituality in the lives of older adults! New Directions in the Study of Late Life Religiousness and Spirituality explores new ways of thinking about a topic that was once taboo but that has now attracted considerable attention from the gerontological community. It examines various approaches to methodology and definition that are used in the study of religion, spirituality, and aging. In addition, it explores the ways that gerontological research can highlight the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of older adults. The first section will introduce you to new ways of thinking about research methodology and data analysis that can be applied to studying the complexity of older adults' religious/spiritual practice and beliefs. You'll learn several approaches to the study of phenomena that are both personal and also deeply embedded in community. The second section addresses issues of definition, exploring important questions that call for critical reflection, such as: “What are we studying?” “What social and psychological influences shape our thinking about definition?” and “Do the definitions used by gerontologists match those held by older people?” The final section moves the study of religion, spirituality, and aging beyond a focus on health and mortality to examine well-being more broadly in the context of the life experiences of older adults. Here is a small sample of what you'll learn about in New Directions in the Study of Late Life Religiousness and Spirituality: structural equation modeling—a statistical method designed to capture the dynamics inherent in the passage of time feminist qualitative methods for studying spiritual resiliency in older women spirituality as a public health issue the differences between groups of older people in the way they define religion and spirituality the psychosocial implications of two types of religious orientation—“dwelling” and “seeking” older women's responses to the experience of widowhood and to the question of whether their religious beliefs were affected by the experience how social context influences our decisions and our interpretations of people's religious beliefs, behaviors, and experiences the ways that people caring for a spouse with dementia rely on religious coping a model that delineates three different ways people relate to God in coping—and a study that asks whether these types of coping produce different outcomes for caregivers how people adjust to bereavement as a function of their beliefs about an afterlife