Physical Change and Aging: A Guide for the Helping Professions, Fifth Edition

by Sue V. Saxon PhD, Mary Jean Etten EdD, GNP, CMP, FT, Elizabeth A. Perkins PhD, RNLD, FAAIDD, FGSA

Overview

"[This book] has been honedÖinto an elegant compendium. This outstanding work should be widely read -- it is perhaps the best example of an integrative approach to gerontology." Score: 94, 4 stars

--Doody's

This book serves as an authoritative textbook and guide to the physical changes and common pathologies associated with the aging process, with special emphasis on the psychological and social implications of these changes in the lives of older adults. This fifth edition presents the newly available research findings that differentiate "normal" aging from actual pathology.

The authors provide a thoroughly updated and expanded review of important topics in aging, including death and grieving, complementary and alternative therapies, nutrition, exercise, and much more. The book also demonstrates how the elderly population can gain greater personal control over aging through lifestyle modifications and preventive health strategies.

Key topics introduced and discussed:

• Psychosocial theories of aging
• Changes and disorders in the skeletal, nervous, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems
• Dementia, delirium, and mild cognitive impairment
• Aging in persons with lifelong disabilities

This volume serves as a comprehensive textbook for students studying to become health care professionals, and is also a fundamental resource for gerontologists, nurses, social workers, psychologists, rehabilitation specialists, clergy, and counselors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826104472
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	11/09/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	512
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Sue V. Saxon, PhD, is professor emeritus at the School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida.

Mary Jean Etten, EdD, GNP, CMP, FT has been a tenured full professor in the College of Nursing at St. Petersburg College, where she taught nursing, gerontology, and thanatology and developed an innovative curriculum teaching hospice care to nurses. She is currently an adjunct lecturer in thanatology in the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida.

Elizabeth A. Perkins, PhD, RNLD, FAAIDD, FGSA is a research associate professor and associate director of the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities--a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities--at the University of South Florida (USF).

Read an Excerpt

chapter

Table of Contents

"CONTENTS
Preface
1Perspectives on Aging
2Theories of Aging
3The Skin, Hair, and Nails
4The Musculoskeletal System
5The Nervous System
6Dementia and Delirium
7The Sensory System
8The Cardiovascular System
9The Respiratory System
10The Gastrointestinal System
11The Urinary System
12The Reproductive System
13The Endocrine System
14The Immune System
15Aging with Lifelong Disabilities
16Special Topics

Alcoholism

Falls

Foot Care

Pain
17Health Promotion and Exercise
18Complementary and Alternative Therapies
19Nutrition
20Medications and the Elderly
21Teaching Older Adults
22Caregiving
23Death and Grief in the Later Years
Appendix A Practical Hints for the Safety of Older Adults
Appendix B Resources
Additional Resources : Aging in the Various Organ Systems of the Body
Glossary
Index"

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: David O. Staats, MD (University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center)
Description: This multiauthored book discusses the changes of aging in the body, illnesses accompanying age, and how to manage and prevent these conditions. This is an update of the fourth edition, published in 2002.
Purpose: It is intended to explain aging and the diseases that accompany aging and what to do about them. The authors meet these objectives handsomely.
Audience: The audience includes a variety of helping professionals — gerontologists, nurses, psychologists, rehabilitation specialists, clergy, and counselors. An educated lay audience also can easily use this book. The authors are all experts in their fields.
Features: Introductory chapters on demography and theories of aging are followed by 12 chapters on aging and disease by organ system. Subsequent chapters cover health promotion and exercise, nutrition, complementary medicine, and medications. There are especially good chapters on aging with disabilities and teaching older adults, usually not founds in works like this. Concluding chapters discuss caregiving and end-of-life care. Two appendixes end the book: one on practical hints for improving safety of older adults and one on useful resources, followed by an excellent glossary and a most useful index.
Assessment: This is an excellent book from start to finish. It has been honed through four previous editions into an elegant compendium. Perhaps no other source can describe in the same breath normal skin changes with age, diseases of the skin, and the psychosocial meaning of the skin. This book is not so technical that it requires a medical degree to understand it, yet it is not afraid to describe in most useful terms a number of common diseases facing older persons. Rehabilitation and prevention are emphasized throughout. The appendixes, glossary, and index add to its value. This outstanding work should be widely read — it is perhaps the best example of an integrative approach to gerontology.

Doody's Review Service