2012 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Magazine

Public Health and Aging was published to critical acclaim almost fifteen years ago. Much has changed in public health since then. Thomas R. Prohaska, Lynda A. Anderson, and Robert H. Binstock now offer a completely new and updated overview of the field in Public Health for an Aging Society.

This comprehensive survey discusses research, policy, and practice; managing and preventing diseases; promoting mental and physical health; and maintaining quality of life for an aging society. The fields of public health and aging have grown increasingly complex. Given the interdependency of issues posed by an aging society, the editors of this volume expand the traditional scope and treatments of public health and aging by adopting a social-ecological perspective that incorporates individual, family, community, societal, and environmental concerns. Chapters address the most critical public health issues facing an aging society, including Medicare and family caregiving, and introduce many new and emerging concepts, such as emergency preparedness, technology in aging, translational research, genomics, and environmental influences on health and health practices.

The emergence of an aging society in the United States has far-reaching consequences for every generation. This book provides the latest information and future directions for the public health of this growing population. Students and practitioners will find Public Health for an Aging Society an invaluable resource both in the workplace and the classroom.

Thomas R. Prohaska is a professor in the School of Public Health and codirector of the Center for Research on Health and Aging at the Institute for Health Research & Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Lynda A. Anderson is director of the Healthy Aging Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an adjunct associate professor at Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. Robert H. Binstock (1935–2011) was, at the time of his death, a professor of aging, health, and society at Case Western Reserve University, where he taught in the public health program and also in the departments of medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics, bioethics, and in the School of Nursing and the College of Arts and Sciences.