Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Audience
• Individual Experience of Age
• Overview
• Chapter 1. Mapping the Journey
• Landmarks on the Road Ahead
• The Research
• The Tasks on the Road Ahead
• Conclusion
• Chapter 2. Entering Older Adulthood
• Retirement
• Time of Retirement
• Postretirement Employment
• Retirement Variations
• Other Gateways
• What About Homemakers?
• The Core
• Moving Out, Letting Go
• The Challenge of Looking Ahead
• Chapter 3. Extended Middle Age
• Length of Days
• Giving Time New Meaning
• A Season in Search of a Purpose
• A Substitute for Work
• Middle-Aged Forever
• Relationships and Solitude
• Aloneness and Independence
• Balancing Gains and Losses
• The Role of Helping Professions
• Chapter 4. The Early Transition
• Voluntary and Involuntary Approaches
• Betwixt and Between
• Naming the Realities
• Consequence of an Illness
• Death and Loss in Later Life
• Loss and Recovery
• Meaning and Relationships
• Growth in Recovery
• Differences and Similarities
• Preparing for the Early Transition
• Chapter 5. An Older Adult Lifestyle
• Who Survived?
• Reinventing the Self
• The Others in Life
• Freedom
• Purposes and Priorities
• Old Age Is Not for Sissies
• Chapter 6. The Later Transition
• The Role of Professionals and Support Persons
• Beginning the Journey
• Timing the Transition
• The Journey to Care
• Chapter 7. While the Light Lasts
• The Environment of Care
• The Challenge for the Professional
• Being Okay Amid Dependency and Frailty
• The Blessing of Care
• Engaging and Disengaging
• Is Autonomy a Contradiction?
• What’s the Point?
• Journeying On
• Chapter 8. Dying Well
• The Beginning
• The Medicalization of Dying
• The Professional and the Process of Dying
• Landmarks and Developmental Tasks of Dying
• Dying and Relationships
• Dying and Meaning
• Preparation
• The Need to Improve Care at the End of Life
• Epilogue. Prevailing: A Challenge and a Vision
• References
• Index

About the Author

James C. Fisher, Henry C. Simmons

Reviews

"An Inspiring and Solidly Researched Contribution."

"Concise and Well-Written. ... if you are Asking for Directions for the Journey Called Aging, this is the Guidebook you Must Consult."