Positive Aging: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals and Consumers

Robert D. Hill

Praise for Positive Aging:

"A valuable resource for mental health clinicians and researchers . . . [and] a wonderful addition to the literature on how practitioners can assist those who are aging."
—PsycCRITIQUES

"Any involved in the mental health industry will find [this book] useful and inspiring. . . .Even lay readers will find this holds much hope for an aging population."
—California Bookwatch

"[A] welcome addition to the growing literature in the "positive" tradition. . . . The book presents different aspects of positive aging and has suggested tools that practitioners as well as geriatric counselors can use to help older adults maintain a positive aging outlook even in the presence of age-related decline. . . . [T]he book has presented a refreshing approach to aging, and has given concrete suggestions to help people concerned to make old age a meaningful experience." —Indian Journal of Gerontology

Advance Acclaim for Positive Aging:

"Here is a scholarly but readable exposition of how mental health professionals can be of positive assistance to clients in their advancing years. The book blends theory and findings from research studies with case studies of many different kinds of elderly clients to generate some positive actions that counselors can take. I liked the way Hill has integrated psychological procedures (assessment and therapy) with specific problems faced by an aging population (physical decline, disability, caregiving, grief, and dying). The emphasis throughout is on how to make the later years a positive experience."

–John D. Krumboltz, Ph.D., Professor of Education and Psychology, Stanford University

"Positive Aging is a unique offering spanning both the clinical and counseling psychology literatures. This text goes beyond the perhaps overused concept of "successful aging" to offer a very human perspective on aging positively. The book paints an intimate portrait, through numerous vignettes, of the varieties of potential interactions older adults can have with themselves and with their social environment, illustrating how older persons can lead meaningful lives and find a sense of purpose if they have lost their way."

–Nancy Pachana, Ph.D., School of Psychology, University of Queensland

"This comprehensive work provides a practical introduction to 'positive aging' as a new dimension in the psychology of old age, and is written for both laymen and professional care providers. From a scientific perspective, Positive Aging outlines how individuals can (re)model their attitudes, beliefs, and personal environments in order to age successfully. Hill takes a new and stimulating approach by stressing the human potential to adapt to the changes in physical and mental reserve that inevitably come with age, and which have been amply documented in the gerontological literature of the past decades. Positive Aging is about a revaluation of wisdom, and a psychology of possibilities, not of age-related restrictions. After reading this book I thought, ’Growing older isn't all that bad.’"

–Martin van Boxtel, Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, University of Maastricht, Netherlands

Overview –

 

Human aging has been transformed in the 21st century. Retirement, senility, disability, and death were all notions previously associated with growing old. Today, with the average life span of men and women in the United States exceeding 76 years, the words successful, optimal, and positive dominate the lexicon of scientists and, increasingly, the general public. We not only plan to live longer, but expect to enjoy a superior standard of physical and emotional health for longer than any previous generation. Leading an active and purposeful life no longer stops at the outdated 65-year mark of retirement, but continues well into what was once termed "old age." With these changing attitudes comes the need for new conceptualizations of what it means to grow old.

In a groundbreaking book, Robert Hill, a psychologist, professor, and leading researcher in geriatric care, rethinks the traditional ideas we have of aging by offering us a new framework from which to understand the nature of growing old. Positive Aging offers a more innovative model of old age that focuses on achieving and fostering a positive mindset. In doing so, Hill not only explores the social and psychological trends of aging in the 21st century, but offers an illuminating examination of how advances in the science of gerontology influence the phenomenology of growing old.

Written for all those concerned about their own course of aging as well as the practitioner who provides mental health services to older adults, Positive Aging begins with a review of the term "aging" itself, its history and its changing meaning. Hill then delves into the many lifestyle choices we can make to improve our happiness as we grow older. Traditional theories of adult development and how Positive Aging plays into them are examined; successful, normal, impaired, and diseased trajectories of age-related decline are defined and explored; and useful strategies are provided for coping with common old-age issues—including cognitive deficits, depression, anxiety, and psychological barriers to happiness. Hill also covers important late-life concerns such as the role Positive Aging plays in physical disability, caregiving, grief, bereavement, death, and spirituality and meaning-based counseling. Along the way, poignant case studies help elucidate and contextualize the arguments, and keep the discussion rooted in very tangible, human terms.

Ushering in an era of new understanding of what it means to grow older, Positive Aging is an enlightening guidebook for consumers navigating such uncertain, and often worrisome terrain, as well as an invaluable resource for clinicians working with this growing population. By combining a novel approach to human aging in the contemporary world with specific suggestions and ideas to optimize that process, this book promises to help all of us cope with the vicissitudes of growing older to continue to get the most out of living.

About the Author –

Dr. Robert Hill has studied issues of normal and pathological aging internationally at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and in the Netherlands through a Fulbright Fellowship at Maastricht University where he developed and wrote Positive Aging. A licensed psychologist in the State of Utah and the Chair of the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah, he holds a diplomate in Counseling Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology.

ISBN: 0-393-70453-X
2006 / 272 pages / cloth