“social and cultural capital that is most valued” Gilleard, C., & Higgs, P. (2010). Aging without agency: theorizing the fourth age. Aging & Mental Health. 14(2), 123.
“developments in health and social policy” Gilleard, C., & Higgs, P. (2010). Aging without agency: theorizing the fourth age. Aging & Mental Health. 14(2), 125.
“denied them their status” Laslett, P. (1991). A fresh map of life: the emergence of the third age. (viii). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Pathology
medicalization of American aging Estes, C. L., & Binney, E. A. (1989). The biomedicalization of aging: dangers and dilemmas. Gerontologist. 29(5), 587–596.
advanced old age as an accomplishment Hareven, T. R. (1976). The last stage: historical adulthood and old age. Daedalus. 105(4), 13–27.
“paradigmatic polarity of normality and pathology” Cole, T. (1992). The journey of life: a cultural history of aging in America. (202). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Old age itself is a disease H. T. Riley (Ed.). (1874). Act III, scene 1 in The comedies of Terence: Phormio. (George Colman, Trans.). New York, NY: Harper & Bros.
Freedom
“I don’t worry about dying” Delany, S. L., Delany, E., & Hearth, A. H. (1994). Having our say: the Delany sisters’ first 100 years. New York, NY: Dell Publishing.
“the room it provides for rotten news” Angell, R. (February 17 and 24, 2014). This old man. New Yorker.
“not only one’s own life, but others’, too” Sacks, O. (July 6, 2013). The joy of old age. (No kidding.) New York Times.
“microaggressions” Sue, D. W. (2010). Microaggressions and marginality: manifestation, dynamics, and impact. (229–233). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
lowest life satisfaction Stone, A. A., Schwartz, J. E., Broderick, J. E., & Deaton, A. (2010). A snapshot of the age distribution of psychological well-being in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 107(22), 9985–9990.
a U-shape across life Steptoe, A., Deaton, A., & Stone, A. A. (2018). Psychological wellbeing, health, and ageing. Lancet. 385(9968), 640–648; Rock, L. Life gets better after 50: why age tends to work in favour of happiness. (May 5, 2018). Guardian.
well-being comparable to those of twenty-year-olds Blanchflower, D. G., & Oswald, A. J. (2008). Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle? Social Science & Medicine. 66(8), 1733–1749.
anxiety marched steadily upward Stone, A. A., Schwartz, J. E., Broderick, J. E., & Deaton, A. (2010). A snapshot of the age distribution of psychological well-being in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (22) 9985–9990.
“wonderfully freeing” Naimon, D., & Ruefle, M. (June 3, 2015). Between the Covers podcast. (00:29).
“many whose feelings are quite different” Plato. (1943). Plato’s The Republic. New York: Books, Inc.
Longevity
mostly better, with less poverty Engelhardt, G. V., & Gruber, J. (2006). Social security and the evolution of elderly poverty. In Public Policy and the Income Distribution, A. J. Auerbach, D. Card, & J. M. Quigley (Eds.) (259–287). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation; DeNavas-Walt, C., Proctor, B. D., & Smith, J. C. (2014). Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013. Current Population Report P60-249. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
fewer years of disability Chen, Y., & Sloan, F. A. (2015). Explaining Disability Trends in the U.S. Elderly and Near-Elderly Population. Health Services Research. 50(5), 1528–1549.
as the numbers of older people grew Fischer, D. H. (1978). Growing old in America. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
“a person’s stage in the life cycle” Shoven, J. B. (2007). New age thinking: alternative ways of measuring age, their relationship to labor force participation, government policies and GDP. National Bureau of Economic Research.
“compression of morbidity” Fries, J. F. (1980). Aging, natural death, and the compression of morbidity. New England Journal of Medicine. 303(3), 130–135.
very old or elderly Vernon, S. (June 29, 2017). What age is considered “old” nowadays? Money Watch.
lives that are both longer and healthier Fried, L. P. (2016). Investing in health to create a third demographic dividend. Gerontologist. 56(2), S167–S177.
around one in ten Thane, P. (2005). A history of old age. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
our species’ life span hasn’t changed Gaylord, S. A., & Williams, M. E. (1994). A brief history of the development of geriatric medicine. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 42(3), 335–340.
blue zones Buettner, D. (2005). The secrets of long life. National Geographic.
they live longer than people who aren’t religious Ducharme, J. (February 15, 2018). You asked: do religious people live longer? Time.
human surviving past the age of 122 Deiana, L., Pes, G. M., Carru, C., Ferrucci, L., Francheschi, C., & Baggio, G. (2008). The “oldest man on the planet.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 50(12), 2098–2099; Robine, J. M., & Allard, M. (1998). The oldest human. Science. 279(5358), 1834–1835.
“didn’t stop to think if they should” Wang, J. (January 23, 2018). Jeff Bezos gains $2.8 billion after Amazon Go’s debut, reaches highest net worth ever. Forbes; Silverman, S. (January 24, 2018). Retrieved from https://twitter.com/SarahKSilverman/status/956166109585063937.
Childproof
Five Flights Up Burch, C. (Producer), & Loncraine, R. (Director). (2014). Five flights up. [Motion Picture]. United States: Lascaux; Latitude; Revelations.
child deaths from medications Rodgers, G. B. (2002). The effectiveness of child-resistant packaging for aspirin. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 156(9), 929–933.
Poison Prevention Packaging Act US Consumer Product Safety Commission. (2005). Poison prevention packaging: a guide for healthcare professionals. Washington, DC.
were nearly cut in half Rodgers, G. B. (1996). The safety effects of child-resistent packaging for oral prescription drugs. Two decades of experience. JAMA. 275(21), 1661–1665.
not only on children United States Environmental Protection Agency. (February 27, 1996). PRN 96-2: changes to child-resistant packaging (CRP) testing requirements.
some kind of arthritis Barbour, K. E., Helmick, C. G., Boring, M., Zhang, X., Lu, H., & Holt, J. B. (2016). Prevalence of doctor-diagnosed arthritis at state and county levels—United States 2014. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 65(19), 489–494.
“easy open” ones How to open a child proof pill container. (2018) wikiHow; Whitson, G. (January 1, 2013). Turn a childproof pill bottle in an easy-open one. lifehacker.
those adults most likely to take pills United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. (October 4, 2008). Poison prevention packaging act. (4). (Originally published December 30, 1970).
Elderhood
“For age is opportunity no less” Longfellow, H. W. (1866). The poetical works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. (210–314). Boston, MA: Ticknor and Fields.
11. Old
Exceptional
study of successful aging Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1997). Successful aging. Gerontologist. 37(4), 433–440.
eugeria Aristotle. (1926). Book 1, Chapter 5 in Rhetoric. J. H. Freese, Trans. Cambridge, UK: Harvard University Press.
Distress
a hospital ward geared to the unique needs of older adults Barnes, D. E., Palmer, R. M., Kresevic, D. M., Fortinsky, R. H., Kowal, J., Chren, M. M., & Landefeld, C. S. (2012). Acute care for elders units produced shorter hospital stays at lower cost while maintaining patients’ functional status. Health Affairs. 31(6), 1227–1236; Flood, K. L., & Allen, K. R. (2013). ACE units improve complex patient management. Today’s Geriatric Medicine. 6(5), 28; Landfeld, C. S., Palmer, R. M., Kresevic, D. M., Fortinsky, R. H., & Kowal, J. (1995). A randomized trial of care in a hospital medical unit especially designed to improve the functional outcomes of acutely ill older patients. New England Journal of Medicine. 332(
20), 1338–1344; Palmer, R. M., Landefeld, C. S., Kresevic, D., & Kowal, J. (1994). A medical unit for the acute care of the elderly. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 42(5), 545–552.
our hospital was starting one too Clark, C. (April 25, 2013). If ACE units are so great, why aren’t they everywhere? HealthLeaders.
jargon like “age-friendly health system” Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2018). Age-friendly health systems.
one that meets the needs of older people World Health Organization. (2018). Ageing and life-course: health systems that meet the needs of older people.
Worth
tend to oversave Eisenberg, R. (March 26, 2018). Are retirees spending too little? Next Avenue; Ghilarducci, T. (March 2, 2018). America’s unusual high rates of old-age poverty and old-age work. Forbes.
poorer by the year National Council on Aging. (2016). Economic security for seniors facts.
two years after retirement Gallegos, D. (February 11, 2018). Why so many men die at sixty-two. Wall Street Journal.
“unretiring” Maestas, N., Mullen, K. J., Powell, D. von Wachter, T., & Wenger, J. B. (2017). Working conditions in the United States: results of the 2015 American working conditions survey. Rand Corporation.
working population Toosi, M., & Torpey, E. (May 2017). Older workers: labor force trends and career options. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“burden” of old people’s unemployment Jaffe, I. (March 28, 2017). Older workers find age discrimination built right into some job websites. NPR; Palmer, K. (n.d.) Ten things you should know about age discrimination. AARP: Work Life Balance.
“even indispensable” Parker, S. (2013). Medicine and care for the elderly in Kill or cure: an illustrated history of medicine. (279). New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley Ltd.
accepted that misconception Burstein, S. R. (1950). Lillien Jane Martin—Pioneer in old age rehabilitation. Medicine Illustrated. 4(2), 82–90; Burstein, S. R. (1950). Lillien Jane Martin—Pioneer in old age rehabilitation. Medicine Illustrated. 4(3), 153–158.
Beloved
“the positive pathologies” Hayes, Bill. (2017). Insomniac city: New York, Oliver, and me. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.
Places
longest study of human happiness Waldinger, R. (November 2015). What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness. TEDxBeaconSteet.
engagement … and meaning May, D. R., Gilson, R. L., Harter, L. M. (2010). The psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety, and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 77(1), 11–37; Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction: the full life versus the empty life. Journal of Happiness Studies. 6(1), 25–41.
not just to unhappiness Perissinotto, C. M., Stikacic Cenzer, I., & Covinsky, K. E. (2012). Loneliness in older persons: a predictor of functional decline and death. Archives of Internal Medicine. 172(14), 1078–1083.
fifteen cigarettes a day Connect2affect. (n.d.). About isolation. AARP.
loneliness increases mortality by 26 percent Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., Baker, M., Harris, T., & Stephenson, D. (2015). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 10(2), 227–237.
Comfort
for millennia people died at home Davies, D. (2005). A brief history of death. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
five out of six deaths took place in hospitals Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Care at the End of Life; Field, M. J., & Cassel, C. K. (Eds.). (1997). Approaching death: improving care at the end of life. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2, A profile of death and dying in America.
one in three deaths occur at home Gleckman, H. (February 6, 2013). More people are dying at home and in hospice, but they are also getting more intense hospital care. Forbes; Teno, J. M., Gozalo, P. L., & Bynum, J. P. (2013). Change in end-of-life care for Medicare beneficiaries: site of death, place of care, and health care transitions in 2000, 2005, and 2009. JAMA. 309(5), 470–477.
Tech
jobs in need of many people Poo, A. (2015). The age of dignity: Preparing for the elder boom in a changing America. New York, NY: New Press.
the harms of that approach Walton, A. G. (April 16, 2018). How too much screen time affects kids’ bodies and brains. Forbes.
the need for instant gratification (n.d.). Health and technology. Digital Responsibility; Cook, J-R. (March 29, 2016). Technology doesn’t ruin health, people do. Zócalo Public Square; Pew Research Center (April 2018). The Future of Well-Being in a Tech-Saturated World. Pew Research.
“quantified self” movement Wolf, G. (n.d.). Quantified self. Antephase; Wolf, G. (June 2010). The quantified self. TED@Cannes.
large numbers of tech-using old people Kuchler, H. (July 30, 2017). Silicon Valley ageism: “They were, like, wow, you use Twitter?” Financial Times.
Meaning
would stop most medical care at age seventy-five Emanuel, E. J. (October 2014). Why I hope to die at 75. Atlantic.
as have so many doctors Murray, K. (March–April 2013). How doctors die. Saturday Evening Post; Byock, I. (June 30, 2016). At the end of life, what would doctors do? New York Times; Chen, P. (2007) Final exam: a surgeon’s reflections on mortality. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
everyone has dementia by age one hundred Remnick, D., & Emmanuel, E. (July 14, 2017). The man who would be king (of Mars), and Trumpcare revisited. New Yorker Radio Hour.
“treated as socially useless and even invisible” Fried, L. P. (June 1, 2014). Making aging positive. The Atlantic.
personal goals in old age Clark, M. (1976). The anthropology of aging, a new area for studies of culture and personality. Gerontologist. 7(1), 55–64; Perkinson, M. A., & Solimeo, S. L. (2014). Aging in cultural context and as narrative process: conceptual foundations of the anthropology of aging as reflected in the works of Margaret Clark and Sharon Kaufman. Gerontologist. 54(1), 101–107.
“being themselves in old age” Kaufman, S. (1986). The ageless self: sources of meaning in later life. (6). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Imagination
second-class citizens of twenty-first-century life Douthat, R. (August 8, 2018). Oh, the humanities! New York Times.
Bodies
a majority of people who become disabled Albrecht, G. L., & Devlieger, P. J. (1999). The disability paradox: high quality of life against all odds. Social Science & Medicine. 48(8), 977–988; Viemerö, V., & Krause, C. (1998). Quality of life in individuals with physical disabilities. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. 67(6), 317–322.
life-space Brown, C. J., & Flood, K. L. (2013). Mobility limitations in the older patient: a clinical review. JAMA.
Social isolation and loneliness Perissinotto, C. M., Cenzer, I. S., & Covinsky, K. E. (2012). Loneliness in older persons: a predictor of functional decline and death. Archives of Internal Medicine. 172(14), 1078–1083.
a young man spent a week alone (September 21, 2017). The Loneliness Project. The Campaign to End Loneliness; Worland, J. (March 18, 2015). Why loneliness may be the next big public-health issue. Time.
Classification
which shots patients should get Centers for Disease Control. (2018). Recommended immunization schedule for adults aged 19 years or older, United States 2018. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
young-old and old-old Marcum, C. S. (2011). Age differences in daily social activities. RAND Center for the Study of Aging.
infections most likely to sicken and kill us in old age Aspinall, R., & Lang, P. O. (2014). Vaccine responsiveness in the elderly: best practice for the clinic. Expert Review of Vaccines. 7, 885–894.
enhancing the aging immune system Del Guidice, G., Weinberger, B., & Grubeck-Loebenstein, B. (2015). Vaccines for the elderly. Gerontology. 61, 203–210.
caused functional decline and death Suskind, A., & Cox, L. C. (May 6–10,
2016). AUA 2016: baseline functional status predicts postoperative treatment failure in nursing home residents undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate (turp)-session highlights. UroToday.
lymphoma and breast and lung cancers Balducci, L. (2006). Management of cancer in the elderly. Oncology. 20(2), 135–143.
acute myeloid leukemia American Cancer Society. (2014). Treatment response rates for acute myeloid leukemia. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.org/cancer/acute-myeloid-leukemia/treating/response-rates.html.
The older-old have more functional impairments Ansah, J. P., Malhotra, R., Lew, N., Chiu, C., Chan, A., Bayer, S., & Matchar, D. B. (2015). Projection of young-old and old-old with functional disability: Does accounting for the changing educational composition of the elderly population make a difference? PLOS One. 10(5).
greater debility and shorter life expectancies Lee, S. J., Leipzig, R. M., & Walter, L. C. (2013). “When will it help?” Incorporating lagtime to benefit into prevention decisions for older adults. JAMA. 310(23), 2609–2610.
without living to see the benefits Brownlee, S., Saini, V., & Cassel, C. (April 25, 2014). When less is more: issues of overuse in health care. Health Affairs. Retrieved from https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20140425.038647/full/.
hip, knee Skinner, D., Tadros, B. J., Bray, E., Elsherbiny, M., & Stafford, G. (2016). Clinical outcome following primary total hip or knee replacement in nonagenarians. Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. 98(4), 258–264.
aortic valve Barreto-Filho, J. A., Wang, Y., Dodson, J. A., Desai, M. M., Sugeng, L., Geirsson, A., & Krumholz, H. M. (2013). Trends in aortic valve replacement for elderly patients in the United States, 1999–2015 2011. JAMA. 310(19), 2078–2085.
poorly equipped and organized our health care system is Gawande, A. (January 23, 2017). The heroism of incremental care. New Yorker.
12. Elderly
Duality
a certain sort of appearance for women Sontag, S. (1997). Chapter 1: the double standard of aging. In The other within us: feminist explorations of women and aging, M. Pearsall (Ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
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