Health in the Later Years

Health in the Later Years is designed for college students, both undergraduate and graduate, in diverse fields of study, particularly those planning a career in health and human services. The text provides a comprehensive, scientific approach to health related topics affecting elders and those who care for them. Included are chapters that address the major influences on the health of older persons: demography, chronic and acute illnesses, mental health and disorders, medication use, physical activity and nutrition, sexuality, health promotion, medical and long term care, and death and dying, among others. The text takes a "whole person" approach to health including ample attention to cultural differences, psycho-social, economic, and cohort differences.

Rebecca Ferrini, MD, MPH is the Medical Director of Edgemoor, a 170-bed long-term care facility for the indigent run by the County of San Diego in Santee, California. Her duties include both administrative responsibilities and clinical care.. Dr. Ferrini received her M.D. from the University of California at San Diego in 1991 and her Masters in Public Health in Maternal and Child Health in 1995. She completed a General Preventive Medicine Residency at California State University, San Diego/University of California San Diego Joint Residency Program. She has Board Certifications in Hospice and Palliative Medicine and General Preventive Medicine and is a certified nursing home medical director from the American Medical Director’s Association. She has published extensively in the areas of medical practice guidelines and policy-making, as well as education, pain control and epidemiology.

Armeda Ferrini, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Health and Community Services at California State University at Chico, received her M.S. in Family and Child Development at Kansas State University and her Ph.D. in Health Science at the University of Utah. She has been teaching the course, Health in the Later Years, for more than 25 years.