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Social scientists use the term social integration to refer to individuals' connections with others in their environments. The concept and its consequences have been the subject of considerable study. Many researchers have asserted that meaningful and enduring ties to other persons serve as a buffer against stress, and thereby promote physical and mental health. The results are especially pronounced for older persons. Social Integration in the Second Half of Life presents integrative reviews of theory and research on this topic. The editors and contributors, all currently or previously affiliated with the Cornell Gerontology Research Institute, also present new empirical findings of research done at their center. The first section of the book discusses basic theory and principles of social integration in later life and its implications for health. The second, largest section examines specific issues: retirement, driving, family support, housing, neighbors. The third section addresses interventions to promote social integration: transportation, volunteering, and peer support for dementia caregivers. Throughout, the authors focus on the diverging influences of social integration and its converse, social isolation, in later life.
Social scientists use the term social integration to refer to individuals' connections with others in their environments. The concept and its consequences have been the subject of considerable study. Many researchers have asserted that meaningful and enduring ties to other persons serve as a buffer against stress, and thereby promote physical and mental health. The results are especially pronounced for older persons. Social Integration in the Second Half of Life presents integrative reviews of theory and research on this topic. The editors and contributors, all currently or previously affiliated with the Cornell Gerontology Research Institute, also present new empirical findings of research done at their center. The first section of the book discusses basic theory and principles of social integration in later life and its implications for health. The second, largest section examines specific issues: retirement, driving, family support, housing, neighbors. The third section addresses interventions to promote social integration: transportation, volunteering, and peer support for dementia caregivers. Throughout, the authors focus on the diverging influences of social integration and its converse, social isolation, in later life.
Work-family researchers have had much success in encouraging both organizations and individuals to recognize the importance of achieving greater balance in life. Work and Life Integration addresses the intersect between work, life, and family in new and interesting ways. It discusses current challenges in dealing with work-life integration issues and sets the stage for future research agendas. The book enlightens the research community and informs the public debates on how workplaces can be made more family sensitive by providing contributions from psychologists, sociologists, and economists who have not shied away from asserting the policy implications of their findings. This text appeals to both practitioners and academics interested in seeking ways to create meaningful lives.
During the last 25 years, life expectancy at age 50 in the United States has been rising, but at a slower pace than in many other high-income countries, such as Japan and Australia. This difference is particularly notable given that the United States spends more on health care than any other nation. Concerned about this divergence, the National Institute on Aging asked the National Research Council to examine evidence on its possible causes. According to Explaining Divergent Levels of Longevity in High-Income Countries, the nation's history of heavy smoking is a major reason why lifespans in the United States fall short of those in many other high-income nations. Evidence suggests that current obesity levels play a substantial part as well. The book reports that lack of universal access to health care in the U.S. also has increased mortality and reduced life expectancy, though this is a less significant factor for those over age 65 because of Medicare access. For the main causes of death at older ages-cancer and cardiovascular disease-available indicators do not suggest that the U.S. health care system is failing to prevent deaths that would be averted elsewhere. In fact, cancer detection and survival appear to be better in the U.S. than in most other high-income nations, and survival rates following a heart attack also are favorable. Explaining Divergent Levels of Longevity in High-Income Countries identifies many gaps in research. For instance, while lung cancer deaths are a reliable marker of the damage from smoking, no clear-cut marker exists for obesity, physical inactivity, social integration, or other risks considered in this book. Moreover, evaluation of these risk factors is based on observational studies, which-unlike randomized controlled trials-are subject to many biases.
The book provides a treatment of college students' friendships that is long overdue. Students, parents, and anyone concerned with maximizing student success will learn much about how friendship networks matter for students' lives in college and beyond
The process of aging is receiving an increasing amount of attention from behavioral scientists. Middle Age and Aging is an attempt to organize and select from the proliferation of material available in this field. The selections in this volume emphasize some of the major topics that lie closest to the problem of what social and psychological adaptations are required as individuals move through the second half of their lives. Major attention is paid to the importance of age-status and age-sex roles; psychological changes in the life-cycle; social-psychological theories of aging; attitudes toward health; changing family roles; work, retirement, and leisure; certain other dimensions of the immediate social environment such as friendships, neighboring patterns, and living arrangements; differences in cultural settings; and perspectives of time and death.
Surgery and pharmaceuticals are not the only effective procedures we have to improve our health. The natural human tendency to care for fellow humans, to support them with social networks, has proven to be a powerful treatment as well. As a result, the areas of application for social support intervention have expanded dramatically during the past 20 years. As these areas have expanded, so too has the literature on the theory and measurement of social support. Yet, the literature has focussed on very particular areas. Investigators in the social sciences have mainly focused on the protection that social support confers in the context of stressful life events and transitions, whereas studies in the health sciences have concentrated on the effects of social networks and supports on population mortality and morbidity. Although no single theoretical framework has been widely accepted, there is consensus that both the psychological sense of support and actual expressions of support play critical roles in maintaining health and well being. This book is a state-of-the-art resource for the selection and development of strategies for social support assessment and intervention. Designed for use by behavioral and medical scientists conducting studies of physical illness, psychological adjustment, and psychiatric illness in human populations, this volume presents a broad conceptual framework addressing the role of social support in mental and physical health. The book is divided into four sections. The first provides some historical context as well as a conceptual overview of how social support might influence mental and physical health. The second discusses techniques for measuring social networks and support, and the third addresses the design of different types of support interventions. The final section presents some general comments on the volume and its implications for social support research and intervention. This resource is meant to aid researchers in understanding the conceptual criteria on which measurement and intervention decisions should be made when studying the relations between social support and health. Furthermore, the information provided on both measurement and intervention will be valuable to practitioners interested in designing and evaluating prevention and treatment initiatives. Sponsored by the Fetzer Institute as a follow up to their successful 1995 publication, Measuring Stress, this book will provide the most up to date research on the effects of social support interventions on physical and mental health.