Adult Development and Aging

Detalles del producto

Hardcover: 640 páginas
Editor: Wadsworth Publishing; Edición: 6 (1 de enero de 2010)
Idioma: English
ISBN-10: 0495601748
ISBN-13: 978-0495601746
Dimensiones del producto: 19 x 2.5 x 22.9 cm
Peso del envío: 2.5 pounds

The 21st century is certainly one of major change. The issues confronting society are the reason that having a solid grounding in research and theory about adult development and aging is essential even for understanding news events. The health care debate of 2009 brought many issues to the fore, including Medicare, end-of-life issues, and longevity. Other news stories about genetic breakthroughs, stem cell research, new brain-imaging techniques for studying cognition, and the latest breakthrough in treating dementia were reported quite frequently. To understand why these issues are so critical, one must understand aging in a broader context. That is why Adult Development and Aging is now in its sixth edition.

The first few decades of this century will witness a fundamental change in the face of the population— literally. Along with many countries in the industrialized world, the United States will experience an explosive growth in the older adult population due to the aging of the baby-boom generation. Additionally, the proportion of older adults who are African American, Latino, Asian American, and Native American will increase rapidly. To deal with these changes, new approaches will need to be created through the combined efforts of people in many occupations—academics, gerontologists, social workers, health care professionals, financial experts, marketing professionals, teachers, factory workers, technologists, government workers, human service providers, and nutritionists, to mention just a few. Every reader of this book, regardless of his or her area of expertise, will need to understand older adults in order to master the art of living.

This sixth edition of Adult Development and Aging continues to provide in-depth coverage of the major issues in the psychology of adult development and aging. The sixth edition adds numerous topics and provides expanded coverage of many of the ones discussed in earlier editions.

Major New Features

The sixth edition represents a thorough revision from the fi ft h edition, with a new chapter discussing neuroscience and aging. Among the most important changes are:

New discussions on the link between brain and behavior.
New discussions of global aging and the economics of aging.
New discussions of microgenetic research and the meta-analytic technqiue.
Revised discussions of osteoporosis, arthritis, theories of aging, and new information about dietary sodium and treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
New How Do We Know? features in Chapters 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, and 13.
New or revised Current Controversies features in Chapters 2, 3, 5, 10, 11, 13, and 14.
New discussion of aging in place, home modification, congregate housing, assisted living, special care units, and the Green House concept of small home nursing homes.
New discussion on ecology of aging and community-based living options, including
discussions of assisted living.
New discussion of gender diff erences in depression and mortality, and inclusion of a life-span view of alcohol abuse.
Evelopment features on caring for aging parents and on successful aging.
A new combined chapter on attention and memory that integrates these two areas of research into a more general information processing framework. Links are also made to the earlier chapter on neuroscience and aging.
New subsection on making end-of-life intentions known.
New discussion of the four-component model of grief, and the dual process model of coping with grief.
New section on Social Security and Medicare.
New discussions on nutrition and exercise.