Aging and Quality of Life

Ronald P. Abeles, PhD, is a Special Assistant to the Director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research in the Office of the Director at the National Institutes of Health. Helen C. Gift, PhD, is the Chief of the Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Branch, Epidemiology and Oral Disease Prevention Program, of the National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health. Marcia G. Ory, PhD, MPH, is professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Health, School of Rural Public Health (SRPH) at The Texas A&M Health Science Center in College Station, Texas.

Foreword, James O. Mason, MD, DrPH
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Introduction: Aging and Quality of Life-Celebrating New Discoveries, Marcia G. Ory, PhD, MPH, Donna M. Cox, PhD, Helen C. Gift, PhD, and Ronald P. Abeles, PhD
Part I: Background Perspectives
Historical Perspective on Aging and Quality of Life, Robert N. Butler, MD
Conceptualizing and Measuring Quality of Life in Older Populations, Anita L. Stewart, PhD, and Abby C. King, PhD

Part II: Life Styles and Quality of Life
Behavioral and Social Factors in Healthy Aging, George A. Kaplan, PhD, and William J. Strawbridge, PhD
Disability in Late Life, Lois M. Verbrugge, PhD, MPH
Self-Care and Quality of Life in Old Age, Gordon H. DeFriese, PhD, Thomas R. Konrad, PhD, Alison Woomert, PhD, Jean E. Kincade Norburn, PhD, and Shulamit Bernard, RN, MS

Part III: Physical Health, Quality of Life, and Aging
Rehabilitation in Old Age, T. Franklin Williams, MD
Psychosocial Status in Cancer Patients, Barrie R. Cassileth, PhD
Biopsychosocial Risks for Cardiovascular Disease in Spouse Caregivers of Persons with Alzheimer’s Disease, Peter P. Vitaliano, PhD, Cynthia M. Dougherty, PhD, RN, and Ilene C. Siegler, PhD, MPH

Part IV: Older People and Their Environments
Social Support: Content, Causes, and Consequences, Robert L. Kahn, PhD
Aging Well and Institutional Living: A Paradox?, Margret M. Baltes, PhD
Human Factors and Aging: The Operator-Task Dynamic, Robin A. Barr, DPhil
Maintaining a Sense of Control in Later Life, Margie E. Lachman, PhD, Mauri A. Ziff, MA, and Avron Spiro III, PhD

Part V: Social Structures, Quality of Life, and Aging
The Challenging Structure of Work Opportunities: Toward an Age- Integrated Society, Matilda White Riley, DSc, and Karyn A. Loscocco, PhD
Socioeconomic Status and Health over the Life Course, Stephanie A. Robert, MSW, and James S. House, PhD
New Directions in Socioeconomic Research on Aging, James P. Smith, PhD
Minority and Socioeconomic Status: Impact on Quality of Life in Aging, H. Asuman Kiyak, PhD, and Nancy R. Hooyman, MSW, PhD

Part VI: Policy Implications
Public Policy and Long-Term Care, Carroll L. Estes, PhD, and Liz Close, MS
Changing the Social Environment to Promote Health, Lennart Levi, MD, and Donna M. Cox, PhD
Exploring the Future of Health Care for Older People, Robert H. Binstock, PhD, Dennis W. Jahnigen, MD, and Stephen G. Post, PhD

Index