Purpose: This essay examines the human experience of aging in the distant past by investigating a group of aging men during the 14th century in an Italian city, Bergamo, using notarial "documents of practice" from that community. Studying the aging process and its effects on the lives of people in the medieval era has three-fold…

Employing the political construct of "target" populations, we suggest that the Boomers in old age will constitute a conceptually distinct population from that represented by either their parents or grandparents. A fourfold typology organized along the dimensions posited by Schneider and Ingram (1993) yields categorizations of target populations as…

This essay applies a narrative perspective to the topic of "resilience." On various fronts (physical, social, biographical), aging itself, it argues, pushes us past a perception of aging as intrinsically tragic and toward a more ironic stance instead, one marked by increased acceptance of uncertainty and ambiguity. Moreover, intentional engagement…

Canada shares many similarities with other industrialized countries around the world, including a rapidly aging population. What sets Canada uniquely apart is the collaborative approach that has been enacted in the health care system and the aging research initiatives. Canada has tremendous pride in its publicly funded health care system that…

Chile is a developing country with a rapidly expanding economy and concomitant social and cultural changes. It is expected to become a developed country within 10 years. Chile is also characterized as being in an advanced demographic transition. Unique challenges are posed by the intersection of rapid economic development and an aging population,…

Like in other advanced industrial countries, in France, demographic aging has become a widely debated research and policy topic. This article offers a brief overview of major aging-related trends in France. The article describes France's demographics of aging, explores key policy matters, maps the institutional field of French social gerontology…

As the world's most populous country with the largest aging population and a rapidly growing economy, China is receiving increased attention from both the Chinese government and the governments of other countries that face low fertility and aging problems. This unprecedented shift of demographic structure has repercussions for many aspects of…

Purpose of the Study: The effects of the physical-spatial-technical environment on aging well have been overlooked both conceptually and empirically. In the spirit of M. Powell Lawton's seminal work on aging and environment, this article attempts to rectify this situation by suggesting a new model of how older people interact with their…

Population aging in Korea is projected to be the most rapid among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries between 2000 and 2050. However, social spending in Korea remains low, reflecting Korea's relatively young population, limited health and long-term care insurance coverage, and immaturity of its pension system.…

Ageism has been described as different from other forms of discrimination and paradoxical in the sense that "nonold" people discriminate against their "future selves." The argument of this article is that nonold people may uphold ideas about older people as "the other" by constructing their own future selves as "essentially different" from that of…

Purpose of the study: To examine the characteristics associated with city government adoption of community design, housing, and transportation innovations that could benefit older adults. Design and methods: A mixed-methods study with quantitative data collected via online surveys from 62 city planners combined with qualitative data collected via…

Purpose of the Study: Our study provides a national portrait of the Baby Boom generation, paying particular attention to the heterogeneity among unmarried Boomers and whether it operates similarly among women versus men. Design and Methods: We used the 1980, 1990, and 2000 Census 5% samples and the 2009 American Community Survey (ACS) to document…

Much has been written about theories of aging in premodern times, but much less is known about theories of residential care. This article describes a handbook prescribing the building, staffing, and running of residences for seniors: "The Gerontocomos," published in Italy in 1489 by Gabrielle Zerbi. The handbook describes in detail the…

Purpose of the Study: Studies show that loneliness is a major risk factor for health issues in later life. Although research suggests that religious involvement can protect against loneliness, explanations for this general pattern are underdeveloped and undertested. In this paper, we propose and test a theoretical model, which suggests that social…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to gain insight into public awareness of intimate partner violence (IPV) in late life by how individuals respond to incidents of IPV reported in the newspaper. Design and Methods: Using grounded theory techniques, online news items covering 24 incidents of IPV in late life, and the reader comments posted to…