Health, Illness, and Optimal Aging

Dr. Carolyn Aldwin is Chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Prior to that, she was Professor of Human and Community Development at the University of California, Davis. She received her doctorate from the University of California at San Francisco, was a post-doctoral fellow in the Program in Social Ecology at the University of California at Irvine, and spent five years at the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study in Boston. She still collaborates with investigators on this study, and directs the Davis Longitudinal Study. She is currently co-editor for Psychology and Health, and was associate editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Her research on health and aging has been funded by the National Institute of Aging. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, as well as the American Psychological Association in Divisions 20 (Adult Development and Aging) and 38 (Health Psychology). She is an avid cyclist and hiker. Dr. Gilmer is a Lecturer and Post-Graduate Researcher in the Department of Human and Community Development at the University of California, Davis. She received a Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Portland, Portland, Oregon, and a Master of Science in Education and a doctorate in Human Development at the University of California, Davis. She is certified as an adult/family nurse practitioner and has worked extensively with the elderly. Currently she teaches a course on Health and Aging at the University. She enjoys gardening, walking with her two springer spaniels, and sailing on San Francisco Bay with her husband and adult children.

1. Introduction & Basic Concepts Basic Definitions Organization of the Book 2. Demography of Aging Aging in the World Population in the United States Demographic Factors and Rate of Aging 3. Theories of Aging Biological Theories of Aging Psychosocial Theories and Aging Psychosocial Factors and Aging 4. Understanding Change in Aging Research Basic Definitions Age-Related Designs Statistics for Assessing Change Statistics That Predict Change 5. Aging of the Skin and Musculoskeletal System The Skin Musculoskeletal System 6. Aging of the Internal Organ Systems Cardiovascular System Respiratory System Gastrointestinal System Renal/Urinary System 7. Aging and the Regulatory Systems Sensory Systems Nervous System Endocrine System Immune System 8. Functional Health, Health Promotion, and Quality of Life Functional Health Health Promotion in Older Adults Quality of Life 9. Interface Between Physical and Mental Health Personality Processes and Disease Alcohol and Aging Differentiating Mental and Physical Health Problems 10. Stress, Coping, and Health Stress Coping with Stress 11. Social Support, Health, and Aging Characteristics of the Social Support Network Social Support, Morbidity, and Mortality Caregiving 12. What is Optimal Aging Models of Optimal Aging Wisdom and Optimal Aging Religiosity, Spirituality, and Optimal Aging Ars Moriendi - The Art of Dying References Author Index Subject Index

"Gaining understanding of aging is one of the most complex issues facing twenty-first century science. This book addresses the complexity of the factors that interact and influence the course of our longer life expectancy....How we humans grow old is a product of our genetic background as members of a species and our families. But the genome expresses itself in physical and social environments that modulate the appearance of heredity traits. In a sense aging is an ecological problem in which the dynamics are often difficult to explain....This book brings information from the sciences together in a way that is rarely done.....It provides an integration of knowledge about the dynamics of aging and can promote wisdom about how we can modify the life course to our advantage." -- James Birren