Main description:

Older aged adults face many adversities over the later life course. This edited volume will address the ways in which seniors bounce back from different types and combinations of adversity - termed "resilience". While research has been accumulating that identifies inherent abilities and external resources needed to adapt and navigate stress-inducing experiences among aging and older adults, gaps remain in understanding the unique elements and processes of resilience. A series of chapters included in this book will address several overarching questions: why do some older individuals/families/communities adapt to adversity better than others; what are modifiable behavioral protective/risk factors related to resilience; and how can we foster resilience at the individual/community level and which approaches show the most promise?

The spectrum of aging-related challenges and responses addressed in this book include: mental health; physical/functional health problems; multimorbidity; socio-economic deprivation; social isolation and loneliness; cultural dimensions of loneliness; housing/homelessness problems; and environmental disasters. This book presents cutting-edge science at the conceptual, methodological, empirical and practice levels applied to emerging resilience sub-fields in gerontology. It will also present potential areas of future research, policy and practice linked to these areas.

During a period of the most rapid population aging in the US, Canada and many other nations, coupled with heightened global socio-political change, extending our knowledge of resilience will help society to make important adjustments to maximize health and wellness of older individuals. Supporting and enhancing resilience through technological, social and/or community-level advances in geroscience will help those facing adversity to thrive by harnessing, stretching, and leveraging a wide array of potential resources. The promotion of healthier older populations has far-reaching consequences for health care and social/community support systems, both in terms of public health including pandemic response, and the development and implementation of innovations in treatment and practice guidelines.

Contents:

Table of Contents (confirmed authors):

Section 1: Conceptual Developments in Resilience and Aging
1. Resilience in Older Adults: What it is and How to Strengthen It
2.Resilience in Later Life: Metaphor and Myth or Real and Measureable?
3. Psychological Resilience in the Face of Later-Life Stress
Section 2: Resilience Modelling and Measurement
4. Multimorbidity Resilience: A Lifecourse Model and a Multimorbidity Index
5. Physical Resilience: Motor Functioning and Aging
6. Psychological Resilience: Mental Health and Aging
7.Quantitative Approaches to Capturing Resilience
8.Qualitative Approaches to Capturing Resilience
Section 3: Resilience and Healthy Aging
9.Positive Affect as Risk and Resilience in Chronic Pain: Implications for Adaptive Aging
10. A Public Health Approach to Resilience and Aging
11.Healthy Public Policy and Fostering Resilience in Old Age
Section 4: Cultural, Environmental, and Community Dimensions of Resilience and Aging
12. What Can We Learn about Resilience from Aboriginal Communities in New Zealand?
13. Features of Community Resilience After Environmental Disasters: Applying The National Academy of Sciences Model
14. How Are Aging Families Resilient?
15.Stories of Resilience by Homeless Older Adults