Effective Health Behavior in Older Adults by K. Warner Schaie (Editor), Sherry Willis (Editor), Howard Leventhal (Editor)

Synopsis

In what ways do health behaviors and societal mechanisms help or discourage individuals in assuming responsibility for their health? Highly-esteemed and diverse contributors examine the health behaviors of older adults and the ways in which these behaviors are affected by societal trends. The volume begins with a discussion of the personal attributes affecting health behaviors and responsible health care choices in older adults. Additional topics explored include: Psychosocial factors in the prevention of cardiovascular disease; behavioral interventions such as the role of exercise in preventing chronic illness; and how societal structures such as reimbursement patterns and changes in health insurance affect initiation, change, and maintenance of health behaviors. This is a valuable resource for professionals and students interested in individual development, the study of health behavior and chronic disease, health economics, and social policy.

Biography

K. Warner Schaie, PhD, is an Evan Pugh Professor of Human Development and Psychology and director of the Gerontology Center at Pennsylvania State University. He has previously held professional appointments at the University of Nebraska, West Virginia University, and the University of Southern California. Dr. Schaie received his BA from the University of California - Berkeley and his MS and PhD degrees from the University of Washington, all in psychology. He is the author or editor of 26 books and over 200 journal articles and chapters related to the study of human aging. Dr. Schaie is the recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award of the American Psychological Association and of the Robert W. Kleemeier Award for Distinguished Research Contributions from the Gerontological Society of America. He was awarded the honorary degree of Dr. phil. h.c. by the Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, Germany.

Howard Leventhal, PhD, is the Board of Governors Professor of Health Psychology and member of the Institute for Health and Department of Psychology at Rutgers University. His prior academic positions were at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and Yale University. He is a senior member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and a past president of Division 38 of the American Psychological Association (APA). Dr. Leventhal received his PhD in psychology from the University of North Carolina in 1956. He is a fellow of the AAAS, APA, APS, and SBM and has published over 220 research articles and requested chapters. He chaired the Behavioral Medicine Study Section of the National Institute on Aging and NHLBI, and is activeas a consultant to the Department of Health Policy at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Population sciences at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA. He is also a member of advisory boards for the Mind Body Centers at the University of Pittsburgh and Ohio State University and the International Advisory Board for the Research Institute for Psychology and Health (University of Leiden, Utrecht, and Tilburg). He was associate editor of Health Psychology and is on the editorial boards of multiple journals.

Sherry L. Willis, PhD, is a professor of human development at Pennsylvania State University. She received her BS from Memphis Stale University and her PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. She is best known for her research in developing and evaluating training programs to help older adults compensate for age-related declines in cognitive competence, and for her work on measuring practical intelligence. She is a past president of the Division of Adults Development and Aging of the American Psychological Association and a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. Dr. Wills is a coauthor, with K. Warner Schaie, of the textbook Adult Development and Aging, now is in its fifth edition, coeditor with Samuel Dubin of Contemporary Approaches to Profession Updating and coeditor with James Reid of Life in the Middle: Psychological and Social and Social Development in Middle Age.