Applied Health Humanities for the Aging

This book provides a collection of interventions from researchers' and clinicians' health humanities experiences, and makes their methods available to home and institutional caregivers to aid interactions with the elderly, particularly persons diagnosed with dementia.

Trini Stickle, PhD, is an applied linguist at Western Kentucky University. She primarily focuses on factors that negatively affect persons' access to meaningful interaction, including individuals diagnosed with dementia or autism and English language learners. Her work identifies barriers unique to each group and the strategies needed to overcome these difficulties. Stickle is also investigating the aging experiences of immigrant and refugee populations living in southern regions of the US. Lorna E. Segall, PhD, MT-BC, is associate professor and director of music therapy at the University of Louisville. Her research and project development explores intergenerational programming and music in prisons. Additionally, she engages her students in this work in an effort to promote understanding, compassion and humanizing with respect to often misunderstood and underserved populations.

Part I. 1.History and Applications of Health Humanities. 2.Only the Lonely: The Tragic Last Years of our Older Generation. 3.Providing an Activities Menu: Goals and Chapter Preview. Part II. 4.Not So Commonplace: Aging, Memory, and Shakespeare. 5.On an Equal Footing: Intergenerational Haiku-Making Activity. 6.Artist in Residence: An Intergenerational Living and Learning Program. 7.The Power of Music Through Intergenerational Dementia Choirs. 8.Bingocize®: Innervating Exercise through the Socialization Effects of Game. 9.Learning Together: Intergenerational Activities for Residential Centers. 10.Who Can I Talk To When Nobody's Here With Me? 11.Conclusion.