Ageing with Disability: A Lifecourse Perspective

Description

This is the first book to address the issue of ageing after a long life with disability. It breaks new ground through its particular life course perspective, examining what it means to age with a physical or mental disability and what the implications are of 'becoming old' for people who have had extensive disabilities for many years. These people may have had to leave the labour market early, and the book looks at available care resources, both formal and informal. Ageing with disability challenges set ideas about successful ageing, as well as some of those about disabilities. The life course approach that is used unfolds important insights about the impact of multiple disabilities over time and on the phases of life. The book highlights the meaning of care in unexplored contexts, such as where ageing parents are caregivers or regarding mutual care in disabled couples. These are areas of knowledge which have, to date, been totally neglected.

Eva Jeppsson Grassman holds a chair as professor at Linkoeping University, Sweden. Her research comprises diverse life course and ageing issues concerning chronic illness and disability, civil society, care models, and end-of-life. Anna Whitaker is a senior lecturer and associate professor at Linkoeping University and Ersta Skoendal University College. Her research includes ageing issues, with focus on end-of-life and institutional eldercare, and on informal/family care in a disability context.

"This book is a significant contribution to the study of ageing and disability from a life course perspective. It provides a fascinating, theoretically well-informed treatise of how older people make sense of disability." Professor Rafael Lindqvist, Uppsala University, Sweden "This significant and original collection will change perspectives on the interplay between ageing and disability in ways that will be wholly beneficial to older people and policy making alike." Joanna Bornat, Emeritus Professor, The Open University