Aging and Health Care

Of all the problems associated with a rapidly growing aging population, health care demands top priority. Research on health care for older people requires an understanding of the basic principles of aging and its related social processes, while popular assumptions on the subject are often ill-informed and are based more on misconceptions about aging than on scientific knowledge. Originally published in 1989, Aging and Health Care focuses on the most urgent health care problems of older people at the time and explores possible solutions. Drawing on up-to-date social and behavioral research, it provides a sound basis on which to build practices and policies on aging and health care. The contributors examine the complex relationships among aging persons, their health care needs, and the current health care and support systems. Individual chapters contribute in particular to our understanding of the interactions of the health care system with individual aging processes, and the interdependence between the informal and formal care systems. With its emphasis on the interrelationships of health care with the biological, psychological and social changes that people experience as they grow older, Aging and Health Care will still be of historical interest to those studying in social science, aging, and public health.

Marcia G. Ory and Kathleen Bond

Foreword. List of Contributors. Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction: Health Care for an Aging Society Marcia G. Ory and Kathleen Bond Part One: Epidemiology and Health Care: Background Perspectives 2. Is There a Role for Prevention Among the Elderly? Epidemiological Evidence from the Alameda County Study George A. Kaplan and Mary N. Haan 3. The Behavioral Model of Health Care Utilization by Older People Thomas T. H. Wan Part Two: Older People and Formal Health Care Systems 4. The Consistency of Formal Health Care Utilization: Physician and Hospital Utilization Jana M. Mossey, Betty Havens and Frederic D. Wolinsky 5. The Role of the Hospital in the Care of Older Persons Carl Eisdorfer, Ross Mullner and Donna Cohen 6. Social and Behavioral Aspects of Institutional Care Linda K. George and George L. Maddox Part Three: Older People and Informal Health Care Systems 7. Informal Care for Frail Older Persons Sharon L. Tennstedt and John B. McKinlay 8. Interventions with Caregivers of Frail Elderly Persons Dolores Gallagher, Steven Lovett and Antonette Zeiss Part Four: Linkages Between Formal and Informal Care 9. The Balance Between Formal and Informal Care Beth J. Soldo, Emily M. Agree and Douglas A. Wolf 10. Transitions in Long-Term Care Robert L. Kane and Rosalie A. Kane 11. Epilogue: Future Challenges in Health Care for an Aging Population David Mechanic. Index.