Aging Parents: Continuity and Change in Adult Life examines the very nature of the caring relationship between the adult child and his or her elderly parent. Its purpose is to dispel the myths about aging, give practical advice on caring for elderly parents, and provide a psychosocial view of the tasks and challenges faced in middle and later life. Aging Parents focuses on everyday living from the initial response of assisting a chronically ill parent to the grief reaction following his or her death. There are a number of significant changes that will affect all of us as we continue to grow older, first as caregivers, then later as older persons ourselves. This book will hopefully serve as a guide for what lies ahead for those who are about to embark on this journey. For those individuals who have lost one or both parents, perhaps it will give them the opportunity to examine their lives more closely and to appreciate more the relationships they had. To the adult child, a parent represents a continuity with the past whereas parent loss marks a significant psychosocial transition in the life of the middle-aged son or daughter.
Contents:
Chapter 1: Myths about Aging Chapter 2: The Older Population Chapter 3: Adult Development and Aging Chapter 4: Caring for Elderly Parents Chapter 5: Life Review and Reminiscence Chapter 6: Facing Death and Dying Chapter 7: Making Funeral Arrangements Chapter 8: Mourning the Loss Chapter 9: Personal Growth and Challenge
