Overview

In 1998, Hallmark unveiled their new ""One-Hundredth-Birthday"" cards, and by 2007 annual sales were at 85,000. America is rapidly graying: between now and 2030, the number of people in the U.S. over the age of 80 is expected to almost triple. But how long people live raises the question of how well they live. Aging Our Way follows the everyday lives of 30 elders (ages 85-102) living at home and mostly alone to understand how they create and maintain meaningful lives for themselves. Drawing on the latest interdisciplinary scholarship on aging and three years of interviews with the elders, Meika Loe explores how elders navigate the practical challenges of living as independently as possible while staying healthy, connected, and comfortable. While most books on the subject treat old age as a social problem and elders as simply diminished versions of their former selves, Aging Our Way views them as they really are: lively, complicated, engaging people finding creative ways to make their aging as meaningful and manageable as possible. In their own voices, elders describe how they manage everything from grocery shopping, doctor appointments, and disability, to creating networks of friends and maintaining their autonomy. In many ways, these elders can serve as role models. The lessons they have learned about living in moderation, taking time for themselves, asking for help, keeping a sense of humor, caring for others, and preparing for death provide an invaluable source of wisdom for anyone hoping to live a long and fulfilling life. Through their stories, Loe helps us to think about aging, well-being, and the value of human relationships in new ways. Written with remarkable warmth and depth of understanding, Aging Our Way offers a vivid look at a group of people who too often remain invisible--those who have lived the longest--and all they have to teach us.

Full Product Details

Author:   Meika Loe (Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies, Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, United States)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.490kg
ISBN:  

9780199975723

ISBN 10:   0199975728
Pages:   344
Publication Date:   01 March 2013
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Prologue: 30-60-90: A Short Meditation on Age and Perspective Introduction: Living at Home and Making it Work Lesson 1: Continue to Do What You Did Lesson 2: (Re) Design Your Living Space Lesson 3: Live in Moderation Lesson 4: Take Time for Self Lesson 5: Ask for Help; Mobilize Resources Lesson 6: Connect with Peers Lesson 7: Resort to Tomfoolery Lesson 8: Care for Others Lesson 9: Reach out to Family Lesson 10: Get Intergenerational; Redefine Family Lesson 11: Insist on Hugs Lesson 12: Be Adaptable Lesson 13: Accept and Prepare for Death Conclusion: New Perspectives on the Oldest Old Postscript: On Doing Ninety (by Ann, research participant) Epilogue: Updates on Study Participants Appendix: Best Practices in Supporting Aging in Place

Reviews

Americans are living longer lives today than ever before. But are these quality years? How are we experiencing 'these additional years' in our 80s, 90s, and even 100s? In Meika Loe's Aging Our Way, men and women tell how they are making the best of their time, even with personal limitations. These 'ways of aging' are summed up as lessons for reflection and action. I urge you to read and share this inspiring book with others for it enriches understanding of life paths that many will follow. --Glen H. Elder, Jr., Howard W. Odum Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Loe's writing is clear, jargon-free, and warm-she clearly likes and often admires her subjects. She has done an excellent job in organizing her book topically and lets her subjects speak for themselves, then distills their most important points. While there are few startling revelations, there is a great deal of wisdom. --Publisher's Weekly Useful for its thoroughness, examples of resiliency, and attention to this growing phenomenon. --CHOICE A lively, engaging, and moving read. Loe shows how the personal resources needed to cope with aging are closely tied to structural factors like race, class, gender, birth cohort, and socioeconomic status. Nearly any reader will find Aging Our Way relevant to their own life or the lives of their aging parents or relatives. --Deborah Carr, Professor of Sociology, Rutgers University In this delightfully written book, Meika Loe illustrates how we continue to develop and become more diverse as we age. Aging Our Way is an engagingly written introduction to this new understanding of aging and will serve its readers well. --Peter V. Rabins, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, co-author of The 36-Hour Day What a timely and useful handbook for all ages-full of insights and often poignant. L'chayim! --Dr. Sally H. Lunt, Advisory Board, and Judy Norsigian

<br> Often, students express reservations about the aging process or read demographic trends but have never actually met anyone who is 85 years of age or older. Aging Our Way is a great introduction to real experiences of some of today's oldest old... Loe's writing and photographs humanize abstract ideas of 'aging' and 'oldest old' for younger generations and everyone alike. - Social Forces<p><br> Aging Our Way is Loe's well-crafted answer to the question many ask as they approach the end of their days, 'How can one maintain comfort and health, stay at home, and continue to lead a meaningful life?' --ForeWord<p><br> Useful for its thoroughness, examples of resiliency, and attention to this growing phenomenon. --Choice<br><p><br> Loe's writing is clear, jargon-free, and warm-she clearly likes and often admires her subjects. She has done an excellent job in organizing her book topically and lets her subjects speak for themselves, then distills their most important points. While there are few startling revelations, there is a great deal of wisdom. --Publisher's Weekly<p><br> Written in an engaging style, Loe sheds light on the realities about the well-being of those who are 85+ and illustrates resilience, creativity, adaptation and strength among a group of people often thought of as otherwise.... [T]his book is written in a passionate way that is easily accessible and appropriate for a wide range of readers, including students, practitioners, older adults, and their family members. It teaches how older adults have adapted to changes in living, and it reinforces that getting older is not the end of life, but rather, another stage of life that can be embraced. --Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare<p><br> Loe's work will prove beneficial for qualitative sociologists, gerontologists, and ethnographers. The prose is accessible, the stories are rich, and the suggestive findings are pragmatic. Aging Our Way is a must-read for all sociologists of aging... --Qualitative Soc

Author Information

Meika Loe is Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at Colgate University and the author of The Rise of Viagra: How the Little Blue Pill Changed Sex in America.

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