Overview

*Why do many older people rate their health as good when 'objective' evidence suggests that old age is a time of inevitable decline and disease? *How do different perspectives on health inform our understanding of health in old age? *What are the policy implications for ensuring a healthy future for old age? This book addresses important questions which existing literature on health and old age has largely ignored. By juxtaposing detailed case histories and first person accounts from older people with 'official statistics' on the health of 'the elderly' it explores the myths and tries to unpick the mysteries which surround the subject of health in later life. It goes on to explore the implications of these myths and mysteries for the way individual older people manage their health. It looks at the resources and social support available to them as well as the implications for public policy provision. The book ends by exploring the problems and possibilities of ensuring a healthy future for old age. It will be essential reading for reflective practitioners and for anyone concerned with new developments in the fields of ageing, social policy and health.

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9780335191369

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Reviews

The book is well-written and presented and covers a wide range of issues and information in an accessible form ... It is well-referenced throughout, sign-posting the reader to further reading. It will be of interest to all health professionals who wish to expand their knowledge about the health of older people. - Health Visitor Moyra Sidell's book is probably the best integration of qualitative and quantitative research about health in old age that I have read. This is a cogent, spirited, well written book which should be on the shelves of all health psychologists and those concernedwith health in old age at all levels of the health care system. - Health Psychology Update ...well written and raises important questions concerning the care of older people in the 1990s and beyond...it should provide a useful introduction for students of medicine and psychology and those new to gerontology, as well as appealing to nurses and others wishing to specialize in the careof the elderly. - Age & Ageing This isa fine well-researched and referenced book...It deserves to be widelyread for it should help 'the blind' to see. - Ageing& Society

"The book is well-written and presented and covers a wide range of issues and information in an accessible form ... It is well-referenced throughout, sign-posting the reader to further reading. It will be of interest to all health professionals who wish to expand their knowledge about the health of older people." - Health Visitor "Moyra Sidell's book is probably the best integration of qualitative and quantitative research about health in old age that I have read. This is a cogent, spirited, well written book which should be on the shelves of all health psychologists and those concernedwith health in old age at all levels of the health care system."- Health Psychology Update "...well written and raises important questions concerning the care of older people in the 1990s and beyond...it should provide a useful introduction for students of medicine and psychology and those new to gerontology, as well as appealing to nurses and others wishing to specialize in the careof the elderly." - Age & Ageing "This isa fine well-researched and referenced book...It deserves to be widelyread for it should help 'the blind' to see." - Ageing& Society

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