Self Care in Later Life: Research, Program, and Policy Issues

by Marcia G. Ory PhD, MPH (Editor), Gordon H. DeFriese (Editor)

Overview

This volume is uncontestably the most comprehensive and authoritative work on the subject of self-care available to date. It should set the stage for a new policy perspective on building a health care system that incorporates self-care at its core."—Lowell S. Levin, Yale School of Public Health

Practitioners and researchers who work with older adults are challenged to find ways to strengthen an elderly person's capacity to cope wiht age-related changes that threaten independence.

This volume assesses the efficacy of self-care in maintaining autonomy. It applies a broad definition of self-care that includes a range of behaviors undertaken by individuals, families, and communities to enhance health, prevent disease, limit illness, and restore health.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826111869
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/01/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	267
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

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.

Gordon H. DeFriese, PhD, is professor in the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Dentistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Table of Contents

Contributors

Foreword by Richard S. Schweiker

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Nature, Extent, and Modifiability of Self-Care Behaviors in Later Life, Marcia G. Ory, Gordon H. DeFriese, and Alfred P. Duncker


1. The Patterns of Self-Care Among Older Adults in Western Industrialized Societies, Thomas R. Konrad


2. Dynamics and Processes of Self-Care in Old Age, Eleanor Palo Stoller


3. The Research Basis for the Design and Implementation of Self-Care Programs, Thomas Prohaska


4. Evaluating Psychosocial Interventions for Promoting Self-Care Behaviors Among Older Adults, William Rakowski


5. Enhancing Self-Care Research: Exploring the Theoretical Underpinnings of Self-Care, Elaine A. Leventhal, Howard Leventhal, and Chantal Robitaille


6. The Role of Social Science Research in Understanding Technology Use Among Older Adults, Laura N. Gitlin


7. Self-Care in Minority and Ethnic Populations: The Experience of Older Black Americans, Lucille Davis and May L. Wykle


8. International Perspectives on Self-Care Research, Kathryn Dean


Afterword: Toward a Research Agenda for Addressing the Potential of Self-Care in Later Life, Gordon H. DeFriese, Marcia G. Ory, and Donald M. Vickery

Appendix: Self-Care in Later Life--An Annotated Bibliography of Research Findings and Policy Issues, Alison Woomert

Index

What People are Saying About This

Lowell S. Levin

This volume in uncontestably the most comprehensive and authoritative work on the subject of self-care available to date. It should set the stage for a new policy perspective on building a health care system that incorporates self-care at its core.
—Yale School of Public Health

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Marquis D. Foreman, PhD, RN, FAAN (University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing)
Description: This is a compilation of papers presented at a 1994 invitational conference on Self-Care and Aging sponsored by the Administration on Aging, the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute on Aging, the Office of Research on Women's Health, the Office of Alternative Medicine, and Partnership for Prevention, Inc.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide a contemporary review of the status of research issues related to self-care and aging by national experts on the topic.
Audience: The audience would include health professional faculty, students, and practitioners, as well as health administrators and health policy makers.
Features: This book consists of an introduction, eight chapters about various aspects of self-care and aging, an afterward outlining a research agenda, and a 57-page annotated bibliography. Each chapter concludes with a listing of references that include both classic and contemporary literature.
Assessment: For those individuals involved in various healthcare activities with older people, this is an outstanding resource for cutting-edge information about self-care and aging. The topics in this book span conceptual and theoretical issues about self-care and aging to very pragmatic issues of designing, implementing, and evaluating self-care programs. As stated in the foreword, the information provided enables older adults to develop skills for the everyday management of threats to their independence — important and critical survival skills.

Doody's Review Service

This is a compilation of papers presented at a 1994 invitational conference on Self-Care and Aging sponsored by the Administration on Aging, the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute on Aging, the Office of Research on Women's Health, the Office of Alternative Medicine, and Partnership for Prevention, Inc. The purpose is to provide a contemporary review of the status of research issues related to self-care and aging by national experts on the topic. The audience would include health professional faculty, students, and practitioners, as well as health administrators and health policy makers. This book consists of an introduction, eight chapters about various aspects of self-care and aging, an afterward outlining a research agenda, and a 57-page annotated bibliography. Each chapter concludes with a listing of references that include both classic and contemporary literature. For those individuals involved in various healthcare activities with older people, this is an outstanding resource for cutting-edge information about self-care and aging. The topics in this book span conceptual and theoretical issues about self-care and aging to very pragmatic issues of designing, implementing, and evaluating self-care programs. As stated in the foreword, the information provided enables older adults to develop skills for the everyday management of threats to their independence -- important and critical survival skills.

Marquis D. Foreman