ABSTRACT
In an era of changing demographics and values, this volume provides a cross-national and interdisciplinary perspective on the question of who cares for and about the elderly. The contributors reflect on research studies, experimental programmes and personal experience in Japan and the United States to explicitly compare how policies, practices and interpretations of elder care are evolving at the turn of the century.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|102 pages
Assuring Care
chapter 3|30 pages
From the New Deal to the new millennium
Bridging the gap in US aging and health policy
part II|69 pages
Providing Care
chapter 6|25 pages
We live too short, and die too long
On Japanese and US physicians' caregiving practices and appraoches to withholding life-sustaining treatments
chapter 8|16 pages
Policies and practices near the end of life in the US
The ambivalent pursuit of a good death
part III|40 pages
Assisting in Care
chapter 10|23 pages
The accountability dilemma
Providing voluntary care for the elderly in the US and Japan
part IV|43 pages
Coordinating and caring
chapter 12|24 pages
Recognizing the need for gender-responsive family caregiving policy
Lessons from male caregivers
part V|71 pages
Facilitating care of self
chapter 13|14 pages
The creativity of the demented elderly
The use of psychological approaches in a Japanese outpatient clinic
chapter 16|16 pages
Concepts of personhood in Alzheimer's disease
Considering Japanese notions of a relational self
chapter 17|10 pages
Epilogue: downsizing the material self
Late life and long involvements with things
