New Dynamics in Old Age: Individual, Environmental And Societal Perspectives (Society and Aging Series)

This book was nurtured by the belief that the new dynamics of today's and tomorrow's aging has not yet been treated well in the gerontology literature. Several questions drove the choice of substance for the book: What kind of new dynamics of aging deserves consideration? What kinds of theories and fields are at the core of treating such a new dynamics? And, what kind of empirical evidence should be considered? The master hypothesis on which the book is based maintains that the new dynamics of old age is best observed in a range of everyday aging contexts that have been undergoing major change since the second half of the 20th century. In particular, five areas of new and persistent dynamics are treated in depth: (1) the social environment, with a focus on cohort effects in social relations and the consideration of family relations and elders as care receivers; (2) the home environment, with emphasis on housing and quality of life, relocation, and urban aging issues; (3) the outdoor environment, with consideration of out-of-home activity patterns, car-driving behavior, and the leisure world of aging; (4) the technological environment, with treatments of the role of the Internet and the potential of technology for aging outcomes; and (5) the societal environment, with a focus on global aging, the new politics of old age, and older persons as market consumers. The book's main purpose is to provide the scholarly gerontology community with a comprehensive and critical discussion of these new trends related to old age.Ph.D. Wahl is the author of 'New Dynamics in Old Age: Individual, Environmental And Societal Perspectives (Society and Aging Series)', published 2007 under ISBN 9780895033222 and ISBN 0895033224.