Handbook of Families and Aging

Nearly every family is affected by aging issues, whether of parents, grandparents, partners, siblings, in-laws, or other family members. The ravaged economy, issues with Medicare and Social Security, longer life spans, and complications related to failing health and dementia are creating more families living together with elders. Understanding and addressing the multifaceted challenges of aging and family dynamics is more important than ever before.

This comprehensive reference in family gerontology reviews and critiques the recent theoretical, empirical, and methodological literature; identifies future research directions; and makes recommendations for gerontology professionals.

This book is both an updated version of and a complement to the original Handbook of Families and Aging . The many additions include the most recent demographic changes on aging families, new theoretical formulations, innovative research methods, recent legal issues, and death and bereavement, as well as new material on the relationships themselves-sibling, partnered, and intergenerational relationships, for example. Among the brand-new topics in this edition are step-family relationships, aging families and immigration, aging families and 21st-century technology, and peripheral family ties.

Table of Contents, Features and Benefits, What's new

Front Cover.
Half Title Page.
Title Page.
Copyright Page.
Contents.
Acknowledgments.
1: Background.
2: The Family Context of Aging.
3: Demographic Trends and Later Life Families in the 21st Century.
4: Theoretical Directions for Studying Family Ties and Aging.
5: Innovative Research Methods for Family Gerontology.
6: Family Relationships.
7: Marriage and Other Partnered Relationships in Middle and Late Adulthood.
8: Sibling Relationships from Midlife to Old Age.
9: Aging Parents and Adult Children: Determinants of Relationship Quality.
10: Grandparenthood: Grandchild and Great-Grandchild Relationships.
11: Relationships in Older Stepfamilies.
12: The Importance of Discretionary and Fictive Kin Relationships for Older Adults.
13: Contexts of Family Life.
14: Intersectionality and Aging Families.
15: Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Aging Families: Implications for Resource Allocation and Well-Being Across Generations.
16: Older Rural Adults and Their Families.
17: Aging Families and Immigration.
18: U.S. Old Age Policy and Families.
19: Legal Issues in Aging Families.
20: Elder Abuse in Aging Families.
21: Family Gerontechnology: An Emergent Agenda for Research, Policy, and Practice.
22: Turning Points in Family Life.
23: Families and Retirement.
24: Divorce and Widowhood in Later Life.
25: Family Caregiving in Later Life: Shifting Paradigms.
26: Turning Points in Later Life: Grief and Bereavement.
27: Future Research.
28: New Directions for Family Gerontology: Where Do We Go from Here?.
About the Editors and Contributors.
Index.