Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The biology of ageing
- 3 Fostering resilience, promoting health and preventing disease in older adults
- 4 Ageing and health
- 5 Social care and older people
- 6 Cognitive processes and ageing
- 7 The psychology of atypical ageing
- 8 Sociological perspectives on ageing
- 9 Retirement
- 10 Sexuality and ageing
- 11 Policies on ageing
- 12 Cross-cultural differences in ageing
- 13 Technology and ageing
- 14 Literary portrayals of ageing
- 15 Palliative care for older adults
- 16 Conclusions
- Index
- References
3 - Fostering resilience, promoting health and preventing disease in older adults
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The biology of ageing
- 3 Fostering resilience, promoting health and preventing disease in older adults
- 4 Ageing and health
- 5 Social care and older people
- 6 Cognitive processes and ageing
- 7 The psychology of atypical ageing
- 8 Sociological perspectives on ageing
- 9 Retirement
- 10 Sexuality and ageing
- 11 Policies on ageing
- 12 Cross-cultural differences in ageing
- 13 Technology and ageing
- 14 Literary portrayals of ageing
- 15 Palliative care for older adults
- 16 Conclusions
- Index
- References
Summary
OVERVIEW
This chapter examines how the health status (and with it life expectancy) of older adults can be improved through primary prevention (the use of health promotion and protection against diseases). Chapter 4 examines the same issue through secondary and tertiary prevention. Successful ageing is seen primarily in terms of resilience, and factors affecting health (e.g. environmental, cultural, gender-related and genetic) are explored.
Introduction
Living is not the good, but living well. The wise man therefore lives as long as he should, not as long as he can. He will observe where he is to live, with whom, how, and what he is to do. He will always think of life in terms of quality, not quantity.
SenecaBy 2020, the world population of people age 60 and older is expected to reach 1 billion, with over 700 million in the developing world (World Health Organization (WHO), 1999). As the world's population ages, there is increasing interest in the concept of successful ageing. However, no consensus exists on what this constitutes: although criteria usually include concepts such as low probability of disease and disease-related disability, high cognitive and physical functional capacity, and active engagement with life (Rowe and Kahn, 1987), surveys of older adults suggest they might judge success differently.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- An Introduction to Gerontology , pp. 48 - 86Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
References
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