Annual Editions:: Aging, 11/12

Preface

Correlation Guide

Topic Guide

Internet References

Unit 1:: The Phenomenon of Aging

Unit Overview

1. Elderly Americans, Christine L. Himes, Population Bulletin, December 2001

The author points out the ever-growing number and percentage of the American population comprising persons 65 years of age and above. Further, she observes that those over 65 are living longer than previous generations. Currently, those 85 and older are the fastest growing segment of the elderly population.

2. You Can Stop Normal Aging, Dr. Henry S. Lodge, Parade, March 18, 2007

The author argues that most aging is just dry rot we program into our cells by sedentary living, junk food, and stress. He offers a number of suggestions for what any individual could do to slow the aging process and live a much healthier life.

3. Living Longer:: Diet and Exercise, Donna Jackson Nakazawa and Susan Crandell, AARP The Magazine, September/October 2006

These articles point out the current findings in the areas of diet and exercise that, if followed, would increase the individual’s life expectancy by a number of years.

4. More Good Years, Dan Buettner, AARP The Magazine, September/October 2009

The author maintains that the blue zones are places where people have the longest lifespans. The thirteen factors that contribute to the longer lifespan of the Ikarian residents in one of the blue zones are outlined in the article.

5. Will You Live to Be 100?, Thomas Perls and Margery Hutter Silver, Living to 100, 1999

After completing a study of 150 centenarians, Harvard Medical School researchers Thomas Perls and Margery Hutter Silver developed a quiz to help calculate one’s estimated life expectancy.

6. 100-Year-Olds’ Club, Hope Yen, Terre Haute Tribune-Star, July 30, 2009

The author points out the rapidly increasing number of people living to age 100 and beyond in the world’s populations. The centenarians leave the effect of increasing life expectancy of births for many countries throughout the world. A number of factors related to longer living populations are presented and discussed in this article.

Unit 2:: The Quality of Later Life

Unit Overview

7. The Secrets of Resilient People, Beth Howard, AARP The Magazine, November/December 2009

Resilient people are seen as those who are capable of navigating through problems and hard times with the minimal amount of frustration and despair. The personal characteristics of resilient people are presented and described.

8. Overweight and Mortality among Baby Boomers—Now We’re Getting Personal, Tim Byers, MD., MPH, New England Journal of Medicine, August 24, 2006

The author discusses a number of the studies of the dangers of being overweight on a person’s health as well as the advantages of calorie restriction for improving one’s health.

9. We Can Control How We Age, Lou Ann Walker, Parade, September 16, 2001

A Harvard study followed individuals from their teens into their eighties, and as a result, gives specific recommendations for what individuals can do to improve their changes of aging well.

10. Studies:: Some Nursing Home Elderly Get Futile Care, Alicia Chang, Associated Press, Los Angeles, Terre HauteTribune-Star, October 22, 2009

Nursing home residents suffering from terminal illnesses are most often treated aggressively as if they were expected to recover and live. The author maintains that an accurate diagnosis of the patients’ state of health would indicate that palliative or hospice care would be a more appropriate and humane treatment for these residents.

Unit 3:: Societal Attitudes toward Old Age

Unit Overview

11. Society Fears the Aging Process, Mary Pipher, An Aging Population, 2002

The author contends that young and healthy adults often avoid spending time with old persons because it reminds them that someday they too are going to get old and die. Moreover, she contends that negative views of the aging process are portrayed in the media and expressed through the use of pejorative words to describe the elderly.

12. The Law, Emily Sachar, AARP Bulletin, October 2009, Vol. 50, No. 8 October 2009.

Jack Gross sued his employer, FBL Financial Services of Iowa, for age discrimination in his appointment to a different less-prestigious job to which he was assigned when he was 54 years old. The ruling of this case by the lower court and the Supreme Court are presented.

13. Research:: Oldest Americans Happiest, Lindsey Tanner, Terre Haute Tribune-Star, July 17, 2008

The author examines the belief and stereotypes that view older Americans as lonely, isolated, and unhappy. The findings of a number of different studies that raise questions about the accuracy of these beliefs are presented.

14. The Under-Reported Impact of Age Discrimination and Its Threat to Business Vitality, Robert J. Grossman, Business Horizons, January/February 2005

The author points out that, in a legal system slanted toward employers, many of the biases and negative stereotypes of older workers still perpetuate. Moreover, society’s lack of concern for this type of discrimination may prove costly as the workforce ages and older workers are more in demand to fill critical work roles.

Unit 4:: Problems and Potentials of Aging

Unit Overview

15. Never Have a Heart Attack, Gina Kolata, AARP The Magazine, January/February 2010

The author points out the risk factors that are most likely to cause a person to have a heart attack. She then outlines and discusses the six steps that an individual could take to significantly reduce the chance of ever having a heart attack.

16. Good News About Cancer, Barbara Basler, AARP Bulletin, May 2008

The author describes the major cancers that attack different parts of the human body. She points out how scientists have become considerably more knowledgeable and skilled on how to deal with and cure the major types of cancer.

17. Trust and Betrayal in the Golden Years, Kyle G. Brown, The Globe and Mail, January 27, 2007

Kyle Brown points out the problems confronted by many older persons when they turn over the control of their finances and property to their children. Exploitation and abuse of elders by their children has become more widespread than ever imagined. Moreover, there are numerous and often insurmountable difficulties confronted by older persons attempting to resolve these problems.

18. Alzheimer’s—The Case for Prevention, Oliver Tickell, The Ecologist, March 10, 2007

The author reviews current scientific findings that indicate what could be done in the areas of diet, nutrition, and lifestyle to reduce the individual’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Unit 5:: Retirement:: American Dream or Dilemma?

Unit Overview

19. Retire Right, Consumer Reports, February 2008

The findings of a survey of 6,700 retirees, who answered questions about their retirement decisions and what did and didn’t work for them, are reported in this article.

20. Do-It-Yourself Financial Freedom, Jane Bryant Quinn, AARP Bulletin, April 2010

The author lists and describes 12 easy steps that a person needs to take throughout his/her life to ensure an adequate income.

21. Keep Pace with Older Workers, Robert J. Grossman, HR Magazine, May 2008

The article points out the advantages to the business community of employing older workers. The popular myths of older workers experiencing declining energy and productivity as well as being less reliable and loyal to the company are examined.

22. Color Me Confident, Paul Magnusson, AARP Bulletin, July/August 2006

The author points out that many employers are ending their traditional defined benefit pension plans that were based on the employees’ salary and replacing them with 401(k) defined contribution plans in which employees contribute a percentage of their pay and bear much of the risk of investing the principal. The problems of having an adequate retirement income with the new defined contribution retirement plans are discussed.

23. Work/Retirement Choices and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Americans, Harold Cox et al., Journal of Applied Sociology, Number 1, 2001

This article reviews six different patterns of work, retirement, and leisure from which people of retirement age may choose. Measures of life satisfaction are given to participants in each of the six groups to determine who are most satisfied with their lives.

Unit 6:: The Experience of Dying

Unit Overview

24. Development of Hospice and Palliative Care in the United States, Stephen R. Connor, Omega, Vol. 56(1), 2007–2008

The article outlines the history of palliative care in the United States. Many of the current problems of palliative care are presented, including the need for regulatory changes, workforce issues, improving access to care, and improving the quality of palliative care.

25. The Grieving Process, Michael R. Leming and George E. Dickinson, Understanding Dying, Death, and Bereavement, 2007

The authors outline and describe the stages of grief that the individual goes through after experiencing the death of a loved one.

26. End-of-Life Concerns and Care Preferences:: Congruence among Terminally Ill Elders and Their Family Caregivers, Daniel S. Gardner and Betty J. Kramer, Omega, Vol. 60(3) 273–297, 2009–2010

The authors examined end-of-life concerns and care preferences of terminally ill older persons and their family caregivers.

27. The Myriad Strategies for Seeking Control in the Dying Process, Tracy A. Schroepfer, Hyunjin Noh, and Melinda Kavanaugh, The Gerontologist, Vol. 49, No. 6, 2009

The authors examined the control strategies and means used by dying persons to maintain the control of their lives during the final stages of life. The authors highlight the importance of terminally ill older persons having opportunities to exercise control of the dying process.

Unit 7:: Living Environment in Later Life

Unit Overview

28. The Great Escape, Peter Jaret, AARP Bulletin, June 2010

After living in a nursing home for two years, Arlene Johnson was able to move back into an apartment in Philadelphia. The problems she confronted before being able to move out of the nursing home and into her own apartment are presented as well as the critical factors others should consider before making a similar move.

29. Where to Live as We Age, Susan Fine, Parade, May 31, 2009

The article explains the advantages for seniors who live in the Green House Home rather than the traditional nursing home. Each person has his or her own room and bath located around a sunny area with a big dining room table. The aim is to make living conditions more like a home and less like an institution.

30. Seniors and the City, John Buntin, Governing, June 2009

The author discusses the reasons why elderly people are choosing housing and apartment complexes that allow them to age in place at the same time that builders and developers are failing to attract seniors to assisted-living communities designed for their needs.

31. Declaration of Independents:: Home Is Where You Want to Live Forever. Here’s How, Barbara Basler, AARP Bulletin, December 2005

Boston’s Beacon Hill was a residential neighborhood that the residents have now turned into a nonprofit association, which helps its 320 members with virtually any service they need on a 24-hour basis for a discounted fee. The goal for establishing the nonprofit association was to allow people to live in their current homes for the rest of their lives.

Unit 8:: Social Policies, Programs, and Services for Older Americans

Unit Overview

32. Dignified Retirement:: Lessons from Abroad, Sylvester J. Schieber, Current, September 2006

The author examines how the retirement age of people in different countries throughout the world affects their economic stability and growth as well as the solvency of their retirement programs. The growing older population in the United States and its impact on Social Security benefits is seen as a problem that is not currently being addressed by the government.

33. Social Security’s 70th Anniversary:: Surviving 20 Years of Reform, L. Randall Wray, The Levy Economics Institute, Policy Note 2005/2006

The author points out that Social Security is among the nation’s most long-lived and successful programs. He disputes some of the major criticisms of the program and argues that the program will remain solvent and continue to provide a measure of security for aged persons, survivors, and disabled persons well into the future.

34. Beyond Wisdom:: Business Dimensions of an Aging America, Yash Gupta (Address delivered at the Elizabeth L. Rogers, M.D. Visiting Lecture in Geriatric Medicine, Baltimore, MD, November 12, 2009), Vital Speeches of the Day, February 2010

The author maintains that from a business perspective we must face critical questions that are currently being raised by an aging workforce and population. Included in these questions are what skills do we need to replace and what skills are we in danger of losing given the fact that we no longer have a growing workforce available.

35. The New Face of Health Care, Patricia Barry, AARP Bulletin, April 2009

The author points out that the United States spends about $8000 per person on health care—more than twice as much as Western countries that have universal health coverage and better medical results. A number of different medical practices are proposed that would improve health care and lower costs.

36. Riding into the Sunset:: The Geezer Threat, William Greider, The Nation, June 27, 2005

Given the problems of the demise of many pension and retirement programs, the author proposes a universal savings system that is mandatory and could prove to be as durable as Social Security.

37. 7 Critical Maneuvers, James S. Toedtman, AARP Bulletin, December 2009

There were many areas of conflict and concern about what a national health care bill considered by the United States Congress should include. This article outlines seven areas of concern to be addressed by the U.S. House and Senate and what the best resolution of these problems would be.

38. As Good as It Gets, Mike Edwards, AARP The Magazine, November/December 2004

The author compares 16 nations from around the world for how well they provided retirement incomes, home care, health care, prescription drugs, and related services to their senior citizens. The Netherlands ranked at the top in terms of government benefits provided to its older citizens.

39. Population Aging, Entitlement Growth, and the Economy, prepared by John Gist, AARP Public Policy Institute, January 2007

The article points out what would have to be done in terms of current social service programs and federal taxation to maintain the programs and to hold the government deficit to a level that is no larger than it is today in the year 2050.

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