Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this book explores the demographic profiles, policy, and care contexts, and social and clinical aspects of ageing. Material draws evenly from Australia and New Zealand. It uses a life-course approach, but does not use this term or theory, while exploring the impact of choices made throughout life on older age. It is written for people who are ageing, people who make up families and communities, and health professionals, especially registered nurses, who work with this group, focusing on how to achieve the most constructive strategies to lead to the desired quality of life. Clear links are made between a broad biopsychosocial knowledge base and skills.
The material in the book is supplemented by videos and audio recordings relating to particular situations to highlight the complexities, contradictions and range of approaches older people and those providing care can take in a wide range of situations. Chapters have clear objectives, with references to other relevant material in the book, case studies, and questions to encourage further exploration of the material. Each chapter has a glossary and reference list. The layout uses colour, space, and headings in a large font that assist in easily navigating the material. It would be a helpful resource for teaching in the area of social work and aged care, even though it does not have a clear social work focus.
The 20 chapters are written by 34 contributors from nursing and a range of allied health disciplines who have a background in different aspects of ageing and aged care. From a social work perspective, it is informative to see the similarities of the approach taken by different disciplines. For example, Chapter 2 on policies influencing aged care is written by three nurse academics with backgrounds in aged care practice. They note on page 27 that they aim to make the reader interested, informed, and empowered by having a grasp of policy development over time. This material is largely descriptive and does give a clear outline of changes over time. It does not aim to focus on why things were this way, but encourages the reader to see the implications of these events for contemporary approaches and practice.
The book is presented in three parts. The first sets the context of ageing in both countries, dealing with the profile of older people, the policy context, the experience of ageing for Indigenous peoples and the opportunities and challenges of contemporary New Zealand and Australian societies. The second focuses on the social aspects of ageing over seven chapters. There is an interesting mix of ways of conceptualising social aspects including families and intimate relationships, volunteering and being in the workforce, recreation, backgrounds of being in prison or homeless, living in rural areas, and vulnerabilities and abuse. These chapters introduce issues but do not have the space to explore the range of possible interventions, pointing instead to the dimensions that should be considered for the individual older person. A clear message in the book is that the only thing that matters is understanding and responding to the perspective of the older person and that care needs to be person-centred. These chapters alert the reader to the individuality of each person regardless of their social circumstances.
The final nine chapters of the book are concerned with clinical care and overall there is a stronger focus on nursing in this section. However, it is useful for social workers to have a basic understanding of the matters covered in terms of assisting people to obtain resources to meet needs. The areas covered include dementia, acute care, care at end of life, mobility and falls, pharmacology, the impact of health conditions and the maintenance of mental health.
The overall message in this book, as suggested by the title, is that as we age our lives should be celebrated, that older people have acquired resources as well as challenges, that everyone matters and everyone is different, and that we are a product of our societies with their cultures, policies, and resources.