Books on the topic 'It is expected that the well-being of the people will increase'

The United Nations World Assembly on Aging has made advancing health and well-being into old age a worldwide call for action. And this text at hand shows us what researchers worldwide are doing to answer that call. Here, three of America’s most esteemed experts on aging lead a global team of contributors - each an expert in his or her country - to show us what the top challenges of each nation are, and what top research is being done there to meet those. While we cannot predict with absolute certainty all of the issues that will arise over the next 20 years, we can anticipate some and we must start now to prepare for these challenges, an expert from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services warned at a recent UN World Assembly on Aging. Needed response to the global population shift is not just the responsibility of governments, but will be a product of wise, long-term decisions made by individuals and societies, she explained. In most nations globally, populations are graying and the number of people aged 65 and older is vastly increasing, creating a larger segment of senior citizens than the world has ever before seen. Across human history, the elderly accounted for no more than 3 percent of the world population. By the year 2030, the elderly are expected to make up about 25 percent of the world population. And while longevity is of course seen as a great success, longer lifespan for such masses also creates dilemmas. For example, the incidence of dementia has already increased significantly with an 11-fold increase in people aged 65 and older in the US since the turn of the century, and a similar increase in aged people in Scotland has researchers there scrambling to find treatments for what they expect will be a 75 percent increase in dementia over the next 25 years. Chronic diseases that come with aging are already taxing health care systems in the US and around the world to Japan, with most experts aware their current health systems would be overrun and lack enough staff and facilities to handle the needs of an elderly population multiplying largely in the coming two decades. Increases in psychological issues such as dealing with the depression often striking aged people are impending, too, as are social issues such as how families, and public policies, will deal with the changing shape of the family.

This chapter reviews recent contributions in positive and normative economics concerned with how individuals plan, over their uncertain lifetime, their consumption and health-affecting activities, and with the design of the optimal public policy in that context. The chapter first emphasizes that contemporary theories aimed at explaining how individuals plan their lives rely on unequal forms and degrees of rationality. On the normative side, it argues that there exists a tension between, on the one hand, optimal policies derived from a utilitarian social welfare function, and, on the other hand, optimal policies derived from an ex post egalitarian social welfare function. Actually, optimal policies under utilitarianism—encouraging savings, annuitization, and prevention—increase expected lifetime well-being, but at the cost of reducing the realized lifetime well-being of the unlucky short-lived, which raises inequalities in realized lifetime well-being.

Throughout the late 19th century and most of the 20th century, risks associated with wildfire were addressed by suppressing fires as quickly as possible. However, by the 1960s, it became clear that fire exclusion policies were having adverse effects on ecological health, as well as contributing to larger and more damaging wildfires over time. Although federal fire policy has changed to allow fire to be used as a management tool on the landscape, this change has been slow to take place, while the number of people living in high-risk wildland–urban interface communities continues to increase. Under a variety of climate scenarios, in particular for states in the western United States, it is expected that the frequency and severity of fires will continue to increase, posing even greater risks to local communities and regional economies.Resource managers and public safety officials are increasingly aware of the need for strategic communication to both encourage appropriate risk mitigation behavior at the household level, as well as build continued public support for the use of fire as a management tool aimed at reducing future wildfire risk. Household decision making encompasses both proactively engaging in risk mitigation activities on private property, as well as taking appropriate action during a wildfire event to protect personal safety. Very little research has directly explored the connection between climate-related beliefs, wildfire risk perception, and action; however, the limited existing research suggests that climate-related beliefs have little direct effect on wildfire-related action. Instead, action appears to depend on understanding the benefits of different mitigation actions and in engaging the public in interactive, participatory communication programs that build trust between the public and natural resource managers. A relatively new line of research focuses on resource managers as critical decision makers in the risk management process, pointing to the need to thoughtfully engage audiences other than the lay public to improve risk management.Ultimately, improving the decision making of both the public and managers charged with mitigating the risks associated with wildfire can be achieved by carefully addressing several common themes from the literature. These themes are to (1) promote increased efficacy through interactive learning, (2) build trust and capacity through social interaction, (3) account for behavioral constraints and barriers to action, and (4) facilitate thoughtful consideration of risk-benefit tradeoffs. Careful attention to these challenges will improve the likelihood of successfully managing the increasing risks that wildfire poses to the public and ecosystems alike in a changing climate.

Obesity is a serious chronic disease of epidemic and global proportions. The incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is increased in obese people. Since overweight and obesity are associated with decreased lifespan, weight loss might be expected to improve long-term survival and to have beneficial effects on CVD risk. The therapeutic approaches for obesity are lifestyle changes, drugs, and bariatric surgery. Lifestyle modifications include modest weight loss and moderate-intensity physical activity. A low-fat (low saturated fat), low-sugar diet rich in fruit and vegetables, as well as legumes and whole grains, should be advised for its beneficial impact on weight and cardiovascular risk. Bariatric surgery represents an effective treatment in cases of severe obesity. Prevention of overweight and obesity at the population level will probably play a major role in combating the present obesity epidemic. Combining different intervention strategies is probably the best choice for maximizing the effects and minimizing the costs.

A comprehensive book written by experienced practitioners, this single-volume work describes clinical competencies, specific challenges, and applications in providing services to the elderly and their caregivers. More people are living past age 65 than ever before in the United States, largely due to medical care advances and increased attention to preventive care. The number of people aged 65 and older has increased from 35 million in 2000 to 40 million in 2010, and the elderly population is expected to reach 72 million by 2030. Additionally, the American Psychological Association estimates at least 20 percent of all people aged 65 and older have a diagnosable mental disorder. There is a clear need to provide additional training support to those in the field of elder care as well as those who are friends or family members of older adults. Written by a team of experts each specializing in an aspect of elder care, The Praeger Handbook of Mental Health and the Aging Community is a single-volume text that addresses the training needs of mental health care providers serving the aging population. It offers holistic and integrated models of care after presenting an in-depth explanation of the brain, body, social, and emotional changes across aging that can trigger psychological disorders. The chapters pay attention to issues of diversity and culture in America's aging population; present an integrated care model to serve all of the needs of mentally ill elders; include numerous case studies to demonstrate how approaches can be utilized; and discuss topics such as disability, poverty, and the legal and ethical ramifications of elder care.

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic caused worldwide and sustained educational and psychosocial disruption for children and adolescents. Schools, when they were able to remain open, quickly shifted to adopt untested virtual instruction methods. Youth were exposed to increased stress at home, including adverse childhood experiences, and mental health conditions increased. Young children who needed support for developmental disabilities and learning delays missed critical interventions and/or entered school later. Older adolescents were lost entirely from the educational system. The significant developmental and psychosocial impact on this generation of young people will be felt for decades to come. The mental health system is presently unable to meet the demands of the population, prompting a declared state of emergency for youth mental health. There are significant implications of changes in academic achievement for the identification of disability using pre-pandemic methods, especially for the fields of forensic neuropsychology and special education law. Radical educational and psychosocial changes during the COVID-19 pandemic may impact neurodevelopment from birth through the transition to adulthood, with lasting impacts on psychological and social functioning, as well as academic achievement, especially for vulnerable youth. The lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic have the potential to be a catalyst for change. In a world that anticipates future sudden and calamitous disruption due to climate change or new pandemics, the information within this book is expected to be of use both in the immediate term and the future. This information has the potential to shape progress in the fields of psychology, developmental neuroscience, sociology, public policy, and the law.

Setswana, spoken by about 4.5 million people throughout Botswana, is well-known in the literature for “post-nasal devoicing,” in which /b/ and /l/ become [p]‌ and [t] after nasals, contra the expected, phonetically-grounded pattern of post-nasal voicing. Sebirwa, in contrast, has at most 15,000 speakers concentrated in the far eastern corner of the country. Sebirwa is being overwhelmed by Setswana, and in a process of “massive Tswananization,” has borrowed some aspects of post-nasal devoicing. Our analysis, based on fieldwork in the village of Molalatau, shows that the Sebirwa pattern is doubly unexpected: only /b/ devoices, not /d/ and /g/. We attribute the asymmetry to frequency effects from Setswana, where, due to a skewed voicing inventory, the majority of lexical items that exhibit the alternation have underlying /b/. We discuss the implications of this type of borrowing, both for the typology of alternations, and for patterns of language loss.

Abstract How Stories Change Us relates the developmental science of stories across cultures, and across the lifespan, in an accessible way for professionals, practitioners, scholars, and parents. Stories from fiction and real life have more in common than most people realize; neuroscience shows that remembering and imagining involve similar processes in the brain’s default network. Stories from books, TV and movies, and video games share similar benefits for promoting social understanding and prosocial behaviors. Real-life stories also foster physical health, mental health, and well-being. Regardless of media platform, fictional stories with violent and stereotyped content increase aggression and prejudiced attitudes and behaviors, and excessive consumption of fictional stories is unhealthy. In turn, real-life stories with inaccurate or biased content (fake news) increase memory errors; real-life stories with negative or traumatic content increase mental health difficulties. Likewise, imagined stories and imagined friendships can promote learning, creativity, and well-being, but at the extremes, imaginative processes can be linked to psychopathology. The gender differences observed in women’s and men’s fiction reading may be due in part to individual differences in mental imagery from practices dating back to early childhood. Yet reading fictional books and reminiscing about the past both play a special role in children’s and adolescents’ learning and development, so they should be fostered from a young age. At the end of life, encouraging older adults to tell their real-life stories can ease the transition to death. Stories may even help future generations to cope with global issues such as future pandemics and climate change.

This chapter outlines the challenges and opportunities surrounding advance care planning (ACP) within the hospital setting. Although the hospital environment may not seem the obvious place for future care planning, the triggers to these conversations may occur during a hospital admission. Around a third of all patients in general hospitals are likely to be in the last year of life and nearly 90% of people who die are hospitalized in the last year of life. ACP can help improve end-of-life care in hospital, with the potential to improve communication, increase quality of life and well-being of patients and those important to them, reduce use of futile and often unwanted treatments and unnecessary hospitalizations, and improve patient and family satisfaction with hospital care. Recognition that someone is in the last year of life, good communication skills, and a clear process for documentation and dissemination are key to successful ACP in hospitals.

Every day people decide what to eat, how to educate their children, where to find health care, and how to connect to others. For many, freely choosing a lifestyle defines the American dream. But in the 21st century, these choices are increasingly constructed by corporations and designed not to promote well-being, happiness, and planetary health, but to increase corporate profits and power. As a result, the decisions that corporations encourage individuals to make can lead to premature death, illness, or psychological distress as well as environmental pollution and social conflict. At What Cost: Modern Capitalism and the Future of Health maps the landscape of the changing role of capitalism in shaping health in America, documenting the human costs of the dominant political and economic system. It describes how globalization, financial speculation, monopoly concentration, and business control of science and technology have enhanced the ability of corporations and their allies to overwhelm influences of government, family, and community. It analyses how 21st-century capitalism structures the choices that affect the well-being of individuals, families, communities, and the planet. The book also explores how people, governments, civil society, and social movements are challenging corporate domination and forging alternative paths to a healthier, more sustainable world. While other books have explored pieces of this story, At What Cost offers a comprehensive analysis of the health consequences of modern capitalism. It provides citizens, parents, activists, scholars, and policy makers with the evidence they need to construct a better world for current and future generations.

This book examines a seemingly simple and absolutely essential topic: learning how to enjoy every aspect of your life on a daily basis. All of us look for happiness, well-being, and positivity throughout our lives, but for most people these goals are abstract and the processes established to achieve them ambiguous. The Seven Sources of Pleasure in Life: Making Way for the Upside in the Midst of Modern Demands focuses attention upon the concrete, specific, and everyday sources of pleasure that are within the grasp of almost everyone. Prolific author Luciano L'Abate, PhD, ABEPP, examines at all kinds of pleasures, investigating where we find them, why they appeal to us, and what benefits they provide in terms of both mental and physical health. He explains how to increase our sensitivity to everyday opportunities for pleasure, and then gives tangible techniques to focus upon these moments in order to fully experience them. The author employs personal memories from his childhood in Italy, more recent stories from his travels abroad, and the findings of most recent scientific research on the benefits of pleasure-seeking to further illustrate his points.

The verification of control system software is critical to a host of technologies and industries, from aeronautics and medical technology to the cars we drive. The failure of controller software can cost people their lives. This book provides control engineers and computer scientists with an introduction to the formal techniques for analyzing and verifying this important class of software. Too often, control engineers are unaware of the issues surrounding the verification of software, while computer scientists tend to be unfamiliar with the specificities of controller software. The book provides a unified approach that is geared to graduate students in both fields, covering formal verification methods as well as the design and verification of controllers. It presents a wealth of new verification techniques for performing exhaustive analysis of controller software. These include new means to compute nonlinear invariants, the use of convex optimization tools, and methods for dealing with numerical imprecisions such as floating point computations occurring in the analyzed software. As the autonomy of critical systems continues to increase—as evidenced by autonomous cars, drones, and satellites and landers—the numerical functions in these systems are growing ever more advanced. The techniques presented here are essential to support the formal analysis of the controller software being used in these new and emerging technologies.

Leadership impacts the lives of billions of people around the world. In healthy organizations, leadership is a productive force that inspires cooperation and builds cultures that give people meaning and purpose in their lives. In dysfunctional organizations, in contrast, leadership can perpetuate the misery of thousands of people by being the primary source of low morale, disengagement, enduring stress, stress-associated health problems, and poor organizational results. The history of the world is the history of tyrannical leadership, usually in the form of dictatorships, and the future of organizational life depends on a deep understanding of the causes and consequences of dysfunction and strategies for mitigating its deleterious effects. Overcoming Bad Leadership in Organizations brings together the foremost experts on the dark side of leadership to offer groundbreaking insights to leaders, talent management professionals, and psychologists who work in organizations. The goal is to confront reality head on, to shed the idea that leadership is always good, and to increase our understanding of the perils of dysfunctional leadership. With this knowledge, readers are well positioned to improve their own leadership style, consult with organizations to ameliorate abusive and dysfunctional leadership, hold bad actors accountable, and unleash good leadership around the world. This comprehensive book represents an ideal one-stop shop for talent management professionals, psychologists in the workplace, and students of leadership.

Fact: Wellness programs benefit the bottom line. Motorola, for example, found that each dollar invested in wellness benefits returned $3.93 in health and disability cost savings. Next-Generation Wellness at Work tells how to get in on the action. A nuts-and-bolts, how-to guide for managers, it delivers the latest thinking on how to take full advantage of the benefits that wellness programs can offer both employees and companies. And the effort couldn’t be more important. With the soaring cost of medical care and the increase in obesity and lifestyle-related illnesses, there is growing recognition that companies must build a culture of health and enable employees to become better guardians of their own well being. This book illustrates, in detail, exactly how to accomplish those goals. Good health saves in ways that go beyond smaller insurance premiums. It also has a direct relationship with employee productivity, making wellness a matter of high-level strategy. However, many workplace wellness programs are not as effective as they could be. They are not comprehensive, not long-term, and not marketed to the people who could benefit most. Wellness expert Stephenie Overman helps managers take practical steps to overcome these deficiencies and build successful workplace wellness programs that result in tangible, bottom-line benefits for organizations. And the book starts from the ground up, first by explaining how to take a company’s temperature, get management buy-in, and design a program that fits a company’s unique needs and situation. Building a program is one thing, but will they come? That’s where Overman’s expertise is essential: She shows how to motivate workers to take advantage of the program and reap its many benefits. And she explains how to partner with local health providers and integrate methods to promote psychological well being, two key ingredients for success. Not many corporate programs benefit both employees and the company equally, but a well-planned wellness initiative will boost the health and productivity of employees, leading to a happier—and more competitive—workplace.

In the two decades since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect, Mexico has seen an epidemic of diet-related illness. While globalization has been associated with an increase in chronic disease around the world, in Mexico, the speed and scope of the rise has been called a public health emergency. The shift in Mexican foodways is happening at a moment when the country’s ancestral cuisine is now more popular and appreciated around the world than ever. What does it mean for their health and well-being when many Mexicans eat fewer tortillas and more instant noodles, while global elites demand tacos made with handmade corn tortillas? This book examines the transformation of the Mexican food system since NAFTA and how it has made it harder for people to eat as they once did. The book contextualizes NAFTA within Mexico’s approach to economic development since the Revolution, noticing the role envisioned for rural and low-income people in the path to modernization. Examination of anti-poverty and public health policies in Mexico reveal how it has become easier for people to consume processed foods and beverages, even when to do so can be harmful to health. The book critiques Mexico’s strategy for addressing the public health crisis generated by rising rates of chronic disease for blaming the dietary habits of those whose lives have been upended by the economic and political shifts of NAFTA.

As more people live longer, the number of persons with the diagnosis of dementia will increase; many will live a long time in their homes, and spend time at a care unit only during the final stage of the disease. It is essential to know more about how persons with dementia adapt to and learn to live with the disease in their everyday life so that they can sustain both relations and identities. One of the most important everyday venues for sharing experiences and negotiating identity is storytelling. When one family member or spouse gradually loses the ability to tell stories and cherish their common history due to Alzheimer’s disease, this may threaten both the experiences of belonging together and the participants’ individual identities. Learning about how persons with dementia can participate in storytelling is important in helping persons with dementia sustain their personhood. This book reviews previous research and introduces basic theoretical concepts as well as empirical findings that help in understanding how people with dementia can tell stories together with others. The book stresses the possibilities that are inherent in collaborative storytelling for sustaining both relations and identities. It also discusses how professionals and healthy relatives can learn to listen and make meaning in stories that otherwise might appear to be meaningless. Listening to and telling stories together with people living with a dementia diagnosis will help to re-imagine dementia—moving away from a notion of persons with dementia being “empty vessels” toward seeing them as collaborative meaning-makers.

Abstract Can women bring a fresh perspective to the provision of global sanitation services? The co-authors of this book, through their strong socio-political and scientific experiences, believe this to be the case. The book offers a critical look at the challenges and solutions needed to achieve Sanitation for All, including for vulnerable people, refugees, asylum seekers, stateless, or internally displaced persons, and especially women. We present sanitation policy and decision making from the perspective of women, providing conclusions to the prevailing debates. In 2022, 43% of the world's population lacked access to safely managed sanitation. Poor sanitation is linked to the transmission of diarrhoeal diseases, exacerbates stunting, and contributes to the spread of antimicrobial resistance. In low-income countries, 5% of deaths are associated with unsafe sanitation. Poor sanitation affects mental well-being and safety, especially for women and children. Lack of sanitation costs around 2% of GDP (a figure that increases rapidly with epidemic outbreaks) because of income losses from trade and tourism and the impact on water quality. Besides being part of our human right to water, sanitation is essential to reach the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals on poverty, health, education, gender, water, equity, cities and the sustainable environment. Nevertheless, convincing politicians to invest in sanitation is a daunting challenge since, in contrast to drinking water, it is not an immediate vote-winner and is perceived as an unpleasant topic for public discussion. Despite this, to achieve the SDG target by 2030, a five-fold increase on current rates of progress will be required. The role of women in sanitation planning and implementation is key, due to their leadership in communities and their ability to organise and guarantee the sustainability of systems. Furthermore, women's care-giving nature at home and in their communities has led them to understand the importance of sanitation and being open to discussing it publicly; women stand ready to raise the profile of this subject, putting it on a higher level on the political agenda. This book is vital reading not just for women but all stakeholders and partners in the water industry, especially those working in the sanitation and hygiene sectors. ISBN: 9781789064032 (paperback) ISBN: 9781789064049 (eBook) ISBN: 9781789064056 (ePub)