New Directions in Religion and Aging PDF Download

Author: David B. Oliver
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780866565530
Category : Church work with older people
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
In this stimulating and timely book, experts examine the critical issues that will face professionals in the religious community as they work with the elderly in the coming decades. They look at the directions religious communities must be prepared to take and the problems to which they must respond if they are to be effective in the years ahead. Topics include responding to poverty and aging, suicide among the elderly, connecting gerontological training and religious professionals, and much more.

Author: Susan H. Mcfadden
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134731175
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Examine the questions of “how,” “what,” and “why” associated with religiousness and spirituality in the lives of older adults! New Directions in the Study of Late Life Religiousness and Spirituality explores new ways of thinking about a topic that was once taboo but that has now attracted considerable attention from the gerontological community. It examines various approaches to methodology and definition that are used in the study of religion, spirituality, and aging. In addition, it explores the ways that gerontological research can highlight the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of older adults. The first section will introduce you to new ways of thinking about research methodology and data analysis that can be applied to studying the complexity of older adults' religious/spiritual practice and beliefs. You'll learn several approaches to the study of phenomena that are both personal and also deeply embedded in community. The second section addresses issues of definition, exploring important questions that call for critical reflection, such as: “What are we studying?” “What social and psychological influences shape our thinking about definition?” and “Do the definitions used by gerontologists match those held by older people?” The final section moves the study of religion, spirituality, and aging beyond a focus on health and mortality to examine well-being more broadly in the context of the life experiences of older adults. Here is a small sample of what you'll learn about in New Directions in the Study of Late Life Religiousness and Spirituality: structural equation modeling—a statistical method designed to capture the dynamics inherent in the passage of time feminist qualitative methods for studying spiritual resiliency in older women spirituality as a public health issue the differences between groups of older people in the way they define religion and spirituality the psychosocial implications of two types of religious orientation—“dwelling” and “seeking” older women's responses to the experience of widowhood and to the question of whether their religious beliefs were affected by the experience how social context influences our decisions and our interpretations of people's religious beliefs, behaviors, and experiences the ways that people caring for a spouse with dementia rely on religious coping a model that delineates three different ways people relate to God in coping—and a study that asks whether these types of coping produce different outcomes for caregivers how people adjust to bereavement as a function of their beliefs about an afterlife

Author: Holly Nelson-Becker
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 148331524X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 651

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Book Description
Spirituality, Religion, and Aging: Illuminations for Therapeutic Practice by Holly Nelson-Becker is a highly integrative book written for students, professionals in aging, ministers, and older adults themselves. Readers will gain the knowledge and skills they need to assess, engage, and address the spiritual and religious needs of older persons. Taking a fresh approach that breaks new ground in the field, the author discusses eight major world religions and covers values and ethics, theories, interventions, health and caregiving, depression and anxiety, dementia, and the end of life. Meditations and exercises throughout the book allow readers to expand and explore their personal understanding of spirituality. Referencing the latest research, the book includes assessments and skill-based tools designed to help practitioners enhance the mental health of older people.

Author: James W Ellor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136433112
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
Gain an understanding of the increased role religious congregations now play in providing social support to the elderly Religious congregations and faith-based organizations (FBO) from the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions have worked on behalf of older adults for centuries. But the initiation of President Bush’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives has raised many questions from both the traditional secular and sectarian services as well as many nontraditional services found in each community. Faith-Based Initiatives and Aging Services addresses the issues of the separation of church and state, the concerns involved in developing social services in religious congregations, and the larger public policy implications of this office. This unique book offers perspectives from traditional and nontraditional faith-based groups, as well as experts in volunteerism. The enactment by Congress of the Charitable Choice section of the federal welfare reform law combined with the creation of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the United States Department of Health and Human Services to signal a high-level of interest in supporting faith-based organizations. Faith-Based Initiatives and Aging Services focuses on the specific applications of services provided by religious congregations. Editors F. Ellen Netting and James W. Ellor conducted an in-depth interview with Elizabeth Seal-Scott, then Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (an edited transcript of the interview is included in the book) to help promote understanding of the development and implementation of faith-based, grass roots programs. Faith-Based Initiatives and Aging Services examines: the separation of church and state Baptist perspectives on faith-based initiatives and religious liberty managing older volunteers faith organizations and ethnically diverse elders the heritage of religion and spirituality in the field of gerontology faith-related agencies and their implications for aging services the role of religious congregations in the social service system Faith-Based Initiatives and Aging Services is an essential resource for anyone interested in developing programs for older adults in religious congregations, for human services staffs seeking to work with faith-based initiatives, and for government workers in need of a better understanding of faith-based services in their community.

Author: James W Ellor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136402527
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
How can you foster spiritual growth in older people? This multidisciplinary work re-examines issues of aging with dignity and spiritual meaning. Aging, Spirituality, and Pastoral Care: A Multi-National Perspective brings together chaplains, pastors, counselors, and health care practitioners in all walks of gerontology from around the world to present a fully rounded picture of the spiritual needs and potentialities of this fast-growing population. It also includes a study of the spiritual awareness of nurses working in six different nursing homes, as well as a model for a parish nursing practice that focuses on the aged. Aging, Spirituality, and Pastoral Care addresses urgent issues for older people, including: social and spiritual isolation the wisdom of the aging the need for intimacy sexuality among older people living with dementia the spiritual dimensions of caregiving

Author: Donald Koepke
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131799440X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
Learn how to focus your ministry’s programs and services on the elderly By 2030, 20% of the people living in the United States will be age 65 or older, with unique spiritual needs that can affect their physical and mental well-being. Ministering to Older Adults answers the critical need for a ministry that doesn’t center primarily on youth and families in its outreach, instead presenting a step-by-step guide to developing a ministry for the aged that is focused on the needs and resources of each congregation. This program has been used effectively with nearly 50 congregations, both large and small, to create a focused older adult ministry. No two congregations are alike. The resources, perspectives, and skills of each congregation are different, as are the needs of its members. Ministering to Older Adults provides a framework for use by planning groups within communities of any religious tradition. The book presents a process that includes essential questions that allow planning groups to develop answers that fit the needs, cultural, history, and structure of their individual congregations. Ministering to Older Adults is divided into three sections: “The Fundamentals”—defining your audience, your mission, and the skills and existing programs that can be brought to the planning process “Programming Possibilities”—spiritual needs based on the aging process, continued learning for older adults, opportunities to serve and be served, providing quality pastoral care, and community building “Putting it All Together”—deciding on a direction, using desired outcomes for evaluation, establishing target dates, and ongoing evaluation Ministering to Older Adults also includes forms and charts to help in the planning process. The book is an invaluable resource for clergy, ministry committees and planning groups, and staff persons responsible for older adult ministries.

Author: Rev Elizabeth Mackinley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136803181
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Gain greater depth of understanding of end-of-life spiritual issues for older adults The period of time when a person approaches death is always difficult both for the patient and the caregiver. Aging, Spirituality, and Palliative Care discusses best practices in aged and palliative care while addressing patients’ diverse spiritual

Author: Mark Brennan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136433953
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Stay up-to-date with the latest innovative methods of meeting the spiritual needs of the elderly Spiritual Assessment and Intervention: Current Directions and Applications examines current state-of-the-art efforts in the development and implementation of spiritual interventions for older adults. Academics and practitioners working in social work, social welfare, medicine, and mental health and aging present innovative approaches to meeting major challenges in the field of gerontology, including elder abuse, dementia, care giving, palliative care, and intergenerational relationships. The book provides practical methods for dealing with the problems and pitfalls of starting and evaluating interventions of a spiritual nature in a variety of community-based and institutional settings. Spiritual Assessment and Intervention: Current Directions and Applications provides you with an overview of current and future methods and means of providing spiritual support to the elderly as they struggle with the problems and possibilities of aging in today’s complex world. Growing interest in the positive effects that religiousness and spirituality can have on life stress has created a growing need for research and practice models that strengthen, reinforce, or promote the spiritual well-being of older adults. This collection—first presented in 2003 at the 56th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America—addresses the important care giving and practice issues involving the physical and psychological health of older adults. Spiritual Assessment and Intervention: Current Directions and Applications examines: how older adults use narrative therapy to manage adversity and maintain self-efficacy how faith-based communities can be enlisted as important social resources a pilot government-funded project to raise awareness of elder abuse in faith communities an intergenerational project involving a preschool and a retirement community spiritual activities for adults with Alzheimer’s disease the Creating Alternative Relaxing Environment (CARE) Cabinet intervention Spiritual Assessment and Intervention: Current Directions and Applications is an essential resource for gerontological practitioners from the biological, clinical (including physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and dentists), behavioral and social sciences (including anthropologists, psychologists, social workers, sociologists, and researchers), and for health care administrators.

Author: Jeffrey S. Levin
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 0803954395
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
This book brings together key scholars and practitioners from a range of fields in order to advance epidemiological and gerontological research into the role of religion in physical, psychosocial and mental health. Part One addresses such issues as hope, forgiveness, the psychodynamics of faith and belief, and coping in a theoretical context. Part Two seeks to advance the methodological sophistication of research in this area, with an emphasis on measurement and design issues.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309293006
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
The aging of the population of the United States is occurring at a time of major economic and social changes. These economic changes include consideration of increases in the age of eligibility for Social Security and Medicare and possible changes in benefit levels. Furthermore, changes in the social context in which older individuals and families function may well affect the nature of key social relationships and institutions that define the environment for older persons. Sociology offers a knowledge base, a number of useful analytic approaches and tools, and unique theoretical perspectives that can facilitate understanding of these demographic, economic, and social changes and, to the extent possible, their causes, consequences and implications. New Directions in the Sociology of Aging evaluates the recent contributions of social demography, social epidemiology and sociology to the study of aging and identifies promising new research directions in these sub-fields. Included in this study are nine papers prepared by experts in sociology, demography, social genomics, public health, and other fields, that highlight the broad array of tools and perspectives that can provide the basis for further advancing the understanding of aging processes in ways that can inform policy. This report discusses the role of sociology in what is a wide-ranging and diverse field of study; a proposed three-dimensional conceptual model for studying social processes in aging over the life cycle; a review of existing databases, data needs and opportunities, primarily in the area of measurement of interhousehold and intergenerational transmission of resources, biomarkers and biosocial interactions; and a summary of roadblocks and bridges to transdisciplinary research that will affect the future directions of the field of sociology of aging.