The Oldest Old

The Oldest Old

More than 2.3 million Americans are now age 85 and older, and the population total in this age group is steadily expanding. This book brings together leading researchers to review current knowledge about the demography, health, epidemiology and social status of the oldest old. From discussions of the impact of Alzheimer's disease to an examination of changing social and medical policies, this book provides much needed information about this often neglected but growing group.The special problems attendant to information gathering among the oldest old, such as interviews and research, are also addressed. Special intercultural perspectives inform chapters on "The Black Oldest Old", and "Institutional Long-term Care from an International Perspective". This is essential reading for gerontologists, public health professionals, epidemiologists, and policy makers. The book's broad scope enlarges our understanding of the current needs of the oldest old, and indicates areas of public concern. Praise for The Oldest Old "This is an outstanding contribution to the growing body of literature on the oldest old."-- Dorothy P. Rice, Professor, Institute for Health and Aging, University of California, San Francisco University of California "It is clearly nothing short of superb. It will be our key reference book in this area for years to come."-- Knight Steel, M.D. "A thoughtful and timely volume that addresses major policy and programmatic issues raised by the unprecedented growth in this very old population group. Highly readable with clearly understandable charts and tables, the collection is an important contribution to both demography and gerontology." -- Choice "Serves a very useful purpose in drawing together a large store of information from national and focused studies. The careful reader can find much here of interest and much to puzzle over. . . . an excellent resource for those who want to understand more about this age group and about the way researchers and analysts approach such a subject. . . . greatly expanded and updated . . . . Serious scholars . . . will find this a book worth owning. Those responsible for teaching material about the epidemiology and/or demography of the elderly will be doubly blessed." -- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Richard M. Suzman is at National Institute on Aging. David P. Willis is at Millbank Memorial Fund.