Aging and Health Care: Social Science and Policy Perspectives

Of all the problems associated with a rapidly growing aging population, health care demands top priority. Research on health care for older people requires an understanding of the basic principles of aging and its related social processes, while popular assumptions on the subject are often ill-informed and are based more on misconceptions about aging than on scientific knowledge.

Originally published in 1989, Aging and Health Care focuses on the most urgent health care problems of older people at the time and explores possible solutions. Drawing on up-to-date social and behavioral research, it provides a sound basis on which to build practices and policies on aging and health care. The contributors examine the complex relationships among aging persons, their health care needs, and the current health care and support systems. Individual chapters contribute in particular to our understanding of the interactions of the health care system with individual aging processes, and the interdependence between the informal and formal care systems.

With its emphasis on the interrelationships of health care with the biological, psychological and social changes that people experience as they grow older, Aging and Health Care will still be of historical interest to those studying in social science, aging, and public health.

Marcia G. Ory and Kathleen Bond