By Louise Aronson – <\/b>Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Many of us are going to spend upward of 40 years in what this society considers \u201cold age.\u201d In <\/span>Elderhood,<\/span><\/i> Louise Aronson suggests a new way of looking at that time.<\/span> A Harvard-trained physician, acclaimed author and, importantly, daughter of an exceptional ager, Aronson uses personal anecdotes with experiences from 25 years working in the field of aging. <\/span>Elderhood<\/span><\/i> is not a \u201chow-to\u201d book; rather, it illuminates why aging must be understood and redefined, and why the medical establishment\u2019s usual goals of saving and extending lives is ill advised for many older patients.<\/span> Aronson applauds the innovators who put elders\u2019 care and needs into their designs\u2014like emergency rooms outfitted for older adults\u2014but <\/span>calls out the marginalization and mistreatment of older people by medical professionals who simply aren\u2019t trained to see them as individuals. <\/span><\/p>\n While never glossing over the decline that comes with elderhood, Aronson makes a strong case that happiness in later life comes from feeling a sense of purpose and from being connected to something outside ourselves. <\/span>She also examines the ways an ageist society\u2019s depersonalized treatment of older adults puts forth stereotypes. <\/span>The book reads like a call to action for us to heed if we want to grow older in a society that sees and values the old, older and oldest among us. All stakeholders will need to buy into Aronson\u2019s prescription for a better later life, which can only happen by educating professionals to the unique needs of elders and by accepting that aging itself is not a disease to be treated.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many of us are going to spend upward of 40 years in what this society considers \u201cold age.\u201d<\/span> Louise Aronson suggests a new way of looking at that time.<\/span><\/p>\n