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

"[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'sThis 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.

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).