Health, Illness, and Optimal Aging

Carolyn M. Aldwin, PhD, is Director of the Gerontology Program and Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon. She received her doctorate from the University of California, San Francisco, was a postdoctoral fellow in the Program of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine, and spent five years at the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study in Boston. Dr. Aldwin is a fellow and president-elect of Division 20 (adulthood and aging) and a fellow of Division 38 (health psychology) of the APA; and a fellow of the Gerontological Association of America. She is editor of Research in Human Development; was on the editorial boards of Journals of Gerontology and Psychology of Aging; co-editor of Psychology and Health, and is a consulting reviewer for multiple professional journals including Psychology and Aging, Journal of Stress & Anxiety, Developmental Psychology, and others. Dr. Aldwin is the author of Stress, Coping, and Development: An Integrative Approach, 2nd edition (2007); co-editor of Handbook of Health Psychology and Aging (2007), co-author of Health, Illness, and Optimal Aging, 1st edition (2004), and numerous professional journal articles. ||Diane F. Gilmer, PhD, most recently was Lecturer and Postgraduate Researcher in the Department of Human and Community Development at the University of California, Davis, and is now retired. She received a master of science in nursing from the University of Portland, Oregon, and a master of science in education and doctorate in human development from the University of California. She is certified as an adult family nurse practitioner and is has worked extensively with the elderly. In addition to authoring many professional journal articles, she is the coauthor with Dr. Aldwin of Health, Illness, and Optimal Aging, 1st edition (2004).

Foreword-James Birren from the prior edition; TBD



Introduction and Basic Concepts of Aging

Section I. Demographic, Theoretical, and methodological Issues



Demography of Aging
Theories of Aging
Understanding Change in Aging research

Section II. Aging of Biological Systems



Aging of the Skin and Musculoskeletal System
Aging of the Internal Organ Systems
Aging and the regulatory Systems
Functional Health, Health Promotion, and Quality of Life

Section III. Psychosocial factors Affecting Physical health



The Interface Between Physical and Mental Health; Michael R. Levenson
Stress, Coping, and health
Social Support, Health, And Aging

COMPLETELY NEW TO SECOND EDITION:

Section IV. Practical and Clinical Issues in Aging.



Retirement, Housing, and Adaptation to Health Changes will discuss adaptation to retirement, as well as the range of housing types that are available in later life. We will focus on exciting new trends such as gerotechnology which allows elders to age in place as well as Green Houses, which embody a new, client-centered philosophy of elder care.
Economics and Aging, which will provide information on Social Security and other types of income sources in retirement, including a basic description of types of pension plans. We would also provide basic information on health care systems such as Medicare and Medicaid and their future.

Optimal Aging, revising and updating the current chapter.