Book Review: Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences

Abstract

The Handbooks of Aging series is a core resource for ger-ontologists and for any scholar interested in ageing. The series has appeared about every 5 years since 1977 and is now in its eighth edition. It was established and developed through six editions by the pioneer gerontologist James Birren (USA), who passed away January this year at the age of 97. The Handbooks comprise three separate volumes: the Handbook of the Biology of Aging, the Handbook of the Psychology of Aging and the Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences. Each volume provides knowledge and insights that reflect and promote continued advances in the understanding of ageing at all levels from cell to society. Innovation is fostered by including in each edition a set of completely new chapters usually from newly involved, well-selected authors. Thus, through reviews of core and newly emerging areas, historical syntheses and conceptual and methodological advances, the series represents a record of the continual changes in age-ing research. The eighth edition of the Social Sciences volume acknowledges recent increases in data sources, methodological tools and theoretical frameworks necessary for rigorous, sophisticated research, which have become widely available to the scientific community in many countries. More than its sister volumes, this Social Sciences volume in 23 chapters covers a large spectrum of disciplines, including (in alphabetical order): demography, economy, epidemiology, gerontology, political science, psychology, social work, sociology and statistics. Much attention is paid to the intersection of individual and macro-societal factors, for example by linking social and biological data. Further, the volume editors in their introductory chapter highlight a classical 'big question' in social science: 'What mechanisms allow societies to sur-vive?', or more specifically: 'What are the antecedents and consequences of social change, and how and under what conditions does social change alter the well-being of older adults?' The editors raise the question whether research on ageing indeed addresses 'big questions'-certainly an urgent and a highly useful question to ask. Key concepts to address the 'big question' formulated are population dynamics, co-hort succession, life course and policy changes. These concepts are picked up in most of the individual chapters of this volume. How can epidemiologists benefit from this volume? Certainly the challenges presented by the continual increase of life expectancy and the emergence of large subpo-pulations of 'frail elderly' are food for epidemiologists. As Crimmins and Vasunilashorn state, 'longer life is not necessarily accompanied by better health' (Chapter 3). These authors review biomarkers and genetic markers that importantly enhance our understanding of population-level health, of roads to improvement of health and of differences in health and ageing across societies as well as over time. The epidemiology of ageing meanwhile has expanded its scope from an orientation on chronic diseases to one on disability. As Wolf argues in Chapter 4, disability or, in positive wording, functional ability, is considered a key indicator of population health which has multidimensional underpinnings including physiological, cognitive and health conditions. A greater research focus on functional ability allows the design of timely interventions and services that enable older people to participate in daily life. Much research of the past decades has focused on monitoring population trends in disability, yet much work needs to done on explaining these trends. Although Wolf discusses predominantly US-based research, this is a research area that would eminently benefit from cross-national comparison. Thanks to the increased development of statistical tools (see Lynch and Taylor's Chapter 2), there is a recent surge in the modelling of individual trajectories. These are particularly insightful for health aspects that show non-linear