In this Book
- Aging Together: Dementia, Friendship, and Flourishing Communities
- Book
- 2011
- Published by: Johns Hopkins University Press
summary
Never in human history have there been so many people entering old age—roughly one-third of whom will experience some form of neurodegeneration as they age. This seismic demographic shift will force us all to rethink how we live and deal with our aging population.Susan H. McFadden and John T. McFadden propose a radical reconstruction of our societal understanding of old age. Rather than categorizing elders based on their cognitive consciousness, the McFaddens contend that the only humanistic, supportive, and realistic approach is to find new ways to honor and recognize the dignity, worth, and personhood of those journeying into dementia. Doing so, they argue, counters the common view of dementia as a personal tragedy shared only by close family members and replaces it with the understanding that we are all living with dementia as the baby boomers age, particularly as early screening becomes more common and as a cure remains elusive. The McFaddens' inclusive vision calls for social institutions, especially faith communities, to build supportive, ongoing friendships that offer hospitality to all persons, regardless of cognitive status. Drawing on medicine, social science, philosophy, and religion to provide a broad perspective on aging, Aging Together offers a vision of relationships filled with love, joy, and hope in the face of a condition that all too often elicits anxiety, hopelessness, and despair.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. xiii-xiv
- Introduction
- pp. 1-15
- 1. Dilemmas of Dementia Diagnoses
- pp. 16-31
- 2. Receiving the Diagnosis
- pp. 32-43
- 3. Personhood
- pp. 44-61
- 4. What Is Friendship?
- pp. 62-76
- 6. Dementia Fear and Anxiety
- pp. 93-108
- 7. Beyond Fear and Anxiety
- pp. 109-121
- 8. The Flourishing Community
- pp. 122-131
- 9. Congregations as Schools for Friendship
- pp. 132-148
- 10. The Things That Abide
- pp. 149-162
- 12. Memory, Forgetting, and the Present Time
- pp. 183-196
- Discussion Questions
- pp. 197-200
- References
- pp. 213-225
Additional Information
ISBN
9781421401416
Related ISBN(s)
9780801899867, 9781421413754
MARC Record
OCLC
794700341
Pages
256
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No