Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide, Wellbeing in Later Life E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 561

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Wellbeing in Later Life uses the latest research from a variety of disciplines to address and correct common myths and misconceptions about aging.

• Covers topics ranging from biological mechanisms that affect aging to lifestyle, attitudes, and social factors
• Examines the challenges of humanity’s increasing life expectancy and includes recommendations for maintaining and enhancing wellbeing in later life
• Makes meaningful connections between research and practice to link aspects of aging which have previously been considered separate
• Part of the six-volume Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide, which brings together leading research from across the social sciences

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Title Page

Copyright

About the Editors

Contributors

Full Contents of Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Introduction to Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

The Volumes in the Series

References

1: Introduction

References

Part 1: Longevity and Wellbeing

2: The Changing Demographic Context of Aging

Introduction

Life Expectancy and Death Rates

The General Shift in Mortality

Life-Span Disparity

The Sex Ratio at Older Ages

Prospects

Acknowledgments

References

3: Biological Determinants and Malleability of Aging

Introduction

Of Aging and Disease

Malleability of Human Aging

Essentials of the Biology of Aging

Prospects for Significant Interventions in the Aging Process

The Levers of Healthy Longevity

Individuality of the Aging Experience

The Need for Further Evidence

References

4: Wellbeing as Experienced by the Very Old

Defining Wellbeing

How is Wellbeing Measured?

Wellbeing as Experienced by the Very Old

Changing Expectations and Future Wellbeing

Conclusions

References

Part 2: Factors Influencing Wellbeing

5: Psychological Wellbeing in Later Life

Introduction

What do We Mean by Psychological Wellbeing?

Intrapersonal Components of Wellbeing

Interpersonal Components of Wellbeing

Factors Influencing Good and Poor Psychological Wellbeing Outcomes

Conclusion

References

6: Nutrition and Lifelong Wellbeing

Nutrition and Aging: Basic Concepts

Impact of Early-Life Nutrition on Health and Wellbeing Throughout the Life Span

Obesity

Nutrition and Physical Capability

Strength of the Evidence Base

Nutritional Needs of the Oldest Old

Final Comments

Acknowledgments

References

7: Physical Activity, Exercise, and Aging

Introduction

Physical Activity, Exercise, and Cognitive Function

Physical Activity, Exercise, and Aging Muscle

Physical Activity, Exercise, and Bone

Summary

References

8: Capability and Independency in Later Life

Capability and Independency: The Context of Population Aging

Capability and Independency

Understanding the Experience of Capability and Independency

Celebrating and Facilitating Capability and Independence in Later Life

References

9: Combating Isolation Through Technology in Older People

Introduction

The Problem

Some Definitions

What Causes Self-Perceived Loneliness

Viewing the Whole Problem

Developing a Framework

Some of the Roles of Technology

Measuring Impact and Side Effects

Some Case Studies

The Future

Summary

Acknowledgments

References

10: Wellbeing and Vitality in Later Life

Prevention of Infection

Diet, Nutrition, and Foods

Social Relationships

Independent Living

Healthy Aging R&D in Industry

Conclusion

References

11: Education and its Role in Wellbeing

Education and Learning

Wellbeing

Who Owns the Definitions?

The Disbenefits

Conclusions

References

Further Reading

Part 3: Wellbeing at the End of Life

12: The Threat to Wellbeing from Cognitive Decline

Dementia-Friendly Communities

Which Factors Promote and Which Inhibit Wellbeing for People with Dementia?

The Importance of Social Activities and Inclusion

Cognitive Impairment and Wellbeing

Caring for the Carers: The Role of the GP

Care in Care Homes

Dying with Dementia and End-of-Life Care

Concluding Comments

References

13: When Vitality Meets Longevity

Setting the Scene

Longevity

Vitality

Self-Rated Life Satisfaction

When Longevity Meets Vitality

Putative Consequences

Acknowledgments

References

14: Maintaining Wellbeing Through the End of Life

Introduction

The Good Life

Three Theories of Wellbeing

Wellbeing in Dementia

Conclusion

References

Part 4: Comparative Perspectives on Wellbeing

15: Cultures, Aging, and Wellbeing

Introduction

Māori in Aotearoa (New Zealand): A Brief Historical Perspective

Epidemiological Perspectives

Assessing Wellbeing in People of Diverse Cultures

Views of Older Indigenous and Ethnic-Minority Peoples about Culture and Wellbeing

Culture and Potential Moderation of Disadvantage

Health and Wellbeing for Older Indigenous and Minority People

Concluding Statement

References

16: Wellbeing in the Oldest Old and Centenarians in Japan

Introduction

Successful Aging in Centenarians and the Oldest Old

Psychological Theories of Wellbeing

Conclusion and Future Perspective of Successful Aging

References

17: Wellbeing in Later Life in Eighteenth-Century England

Introduction: Why Include a Historical Perspective?

Wellbeing in Later Life in the Eighteenth Century

“Cheerfulness” as the Route to Wellbeing in Later Life

Conclusion

References

Appendix: Foresight Mental Capital and Wellbeing Project

Index

Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Volume I: Wellbeing in Children and Families

Edited by Susan H. Landry and Cary L. Cooper

Volume II: Wellbeing and the Environment

Edited by Rachel Cooper, Elizabeth Burton, and Cary L. Cooper

Volume III: Work and Wellbeing

Edited by Peter Y. Chen and Cary L. Cooper

Volume IV: Wellbeing in Later Life

Edited by Thomas B. L. Kirkwood and Cary L. Cooper

Volume V: The Economics of Wellbeing

Edited by David McDaid and Cary L. Cooper

Volume VI: Interventions and Policies to Enhance Wellbeing

Edited by Felicia A. Huppert and Cary L. Cooper

This edition first published 2014

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wellbeing in later life / volume editor, Tom Kirkwood; editor-in-chief, Cary L. Cooper.

    pages cm. – (Wellbeing : a complete reference guide; volume IV)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-60844-9 (cloth : alk. paper)

1. Older people. 2. Aging. 3. Well-being. I. Kirkwood, T. B. L.

HQ1061.W3947 2014

305.26–dc23

2013030508

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: © Ekely / Getty

Cover design by cyandesign.co.uk

About the Editors

Thomas B. L. Kirkwood, CBE, is Dean for Ageing at Newcastle University and Director of the Newcastle Initiative for Changing Age, having previously been Director of the Institute for Ageing and Health from 2004 to 2011. Educated in biology and mathematics at Cambridge and Oxford, he worked at the National Institute for Medical Research, where he formed and led a new research division, until in 1993 he became Professor of Biological Gerontology at the University of Manchester. His research is focused on the basic science of aging and on understanding how genes as well as nongenetic factors, such as nutrition, influence longevity and health in old age. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and Honorary Fellow of the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries. He was European President (Biology) of the International Association of Geriatrics and Gerontology, chaired the U.K. Foresight Task Force on “Healthcare and Older People” in 1995, led the project on “Mental Capital Through Life” within the recent Foresight program on Mental Capital and Well-Being, was Specialist Adviser to the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee inquiry into “Ageing: Scientific Aspects” and has served on the councils of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He is an editor of Mechanisms of Ageing and Development and serves on the editorial boards of eight other journals. He has published more than 300 scientific papers and won several international prizes for his research. His books include the award-winning Time of Our Lives: The Science of Human Ageing, Chance, Development and Ageing (with Caleb Finch), and The End of Age based on his BBC Reith Lectures in 2001. In 2009 he was awarded a CBE by the Queen for his services to medical science.

Cary L. Cooper, CBE, is Distinguished Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University Management School, U.K. He is the author/editor of over 150 books, has written over 400 scholarly articles for academic journals, and is a frequent contributor to national newspapers, TV, and radio. He is the Chair of the Academy of Social Sciences (comprised of 46 learned societies in the social sciences, with nearly 90,000 social scientists), President of RELATE, President of the Institute of Welfare, and immediate past President of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. He was the Founding President of the British Academy of Management, Founding Editor of the Journal of Organizational Behavior, and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the international scholarly journal Stress & Health. He has received honorary doctorates from a number of universities (e.g., University of Sheffield, Aston University, and Heriot-Watt University). He has been awarded honorary fellowships by the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, British Psychological Society, European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology, and Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. In 2010 Professor Cooper was awarded the Lord Dearing Lifetime Achievement Award at the The Times Higher Education Awards for his distinguished contribution to higher education. He was lead scientist on the U.K. Government's Foresight program on Mental Capital and Wellbeing, which had a major impact in the United Kingdom and Europe. Professor Cooper was Chair of the Global Agenda Council on Chronic Diseases in the World Economic Forum in 2009–2010. In 2012, HR magazine voted him the Fourth Most Influential HR Thinker. In 2001, he was awarded a CBE by the Queen for his contribution to occupational health.

Contributors

Yasumichi Arai, Keio University School of Medicine, Japan

Kate M. Bennett, University of Liverpool, U.K.

John Bond, Newcastle University, U.K.

Katie Brittain, Newcastle University, U.K.

Michael Catt, Newcastle University, U.K.

Cary L. Cooper, Lancaster University, U.K.

Lynne Corner, Newcastle University, U.K.

Lorna Dyall, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Yasuyuki Gondo, Osaka University, Japan

Peter Gore, ADL Smartcare Ltd. and Newcastle University, U.K.

Grainne S. Gorman, Newcastle University, U.K.

Carol Jagger, Newcastle University, U.K.

Nobuyoshi Hirose, Keio University School of Medicine, Japan

Julian C. Hughes, Newcastle University, U.K.

Mere Kēpa, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Ngaire Kerse, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Thomas B. L. Kirkwood, Newcastle University, U.K.

John C. Mathers, Newcastle University, U.K.

Bert Mulder, The Hague, The Netherlands

C. Alexandra Munro, Newcastle University, U.K.

Roland Rau, University of Rostock, Germany and Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany

Louise Robinson, Newcastle University, U.K.

Jim Soulsby, University of Leicester, U.K.

Laura K. Soulsby, University of Liverpool, U.K.

Ruth Teh, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Michael I. Trenell, Newcastle University, U.K.

A. J. Willem van der Does, Leiden University, The Netherlands

Frans J. G. van der Ouderaa, Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, The Netherlands

James W. Vaupel, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark, and Duke University, U.S.A.

Rudi G. J. Westendorp, Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing and Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands

Josh Wood, Newcastle University, U.K.

Helen Yallop, King's College London, U.K.

Full Contents of Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Volume I Wellbeing in Children and Families

Edited by Susan H. Landry and Cary L. Cooper

About the Editors

Contributors

Full Contents of Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Introduction to Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

1 Introduction

Susan H. Landry

Part 1 The Development of Early Social and Cognitive Skills Important for Child Wellbeing

2 Children's Self-Regulation and Executive Control: Critical for Later Years

Caron A. C. Clark, Miriam M. Martinez, Jennifer Mize Nelson, Sandra A. Wiebe, and Kimberly Andrews Espy

3 Children's Emotion Regulation in Classroom Settings

C. Cybele Raver

4 Early Math and Literacy Skills: Key Predictors of Later School Success

Greg J. Duncan, Chantelle Dowsett, and Joshua F. Lawrence

5 Children's Intrinsic Motivation to Learn: Does It Decline over Time and, If So, Why?

Verena Freiberger and Birgit Spinath

Part 2 Parenting and Children's Development

6 Parents' Role in Infants' Language Development and Emergent Literacy

Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda, Rufan Luo, and Lulu Song

7 Can Parents Be Supported to Use a Responsive Interaction Style with Young Children?

Susan H. Landry

8 Parenting and Executive Function: Positive and Negative Influences

Claire Hughes, Gabriela Roman, and Rosie Ensor

9 The Nature of Effective Parenting: Some Current Perspectives

Joan E. Grusec, Dilek Sarita, and Ella Daniel

10 Parenting and Early Intervention: The Impact on Children's Social and Emotional Skill Development

Catherine C. Ayoub, Jessical Dym Bartlett, and Mallary I. Swartz

Part 3 School and Child Care: Settings that Impact Child and Family Wellbeing

11 High-Risk Home and Child-Care Environments and Children's Social-Emotional Outcomes

Lisa S. Badanes and Sarah Enos Watamura

12 Classroom Peer Relations as a Context for Social and Scholastic Development

Gary W. Ladd, Becky Kochenderfer-Ladd, and Casey M. Sechler

13 The Importance of Quality Prekindergarten Programs for Promoting School Readiness Skills

Andrew J. Mashburn

14 Consistent Environmental Stimulation from Birth to Elementary School: The Combined Contribution of Different Settings on School Achievement

Robert C. Pianta

Part 4 Stress and Family and Child Wellbeing

15 Poverty, Public Policy, and Children's Wellbeing

Aletha C. Huston

16 Early Life Stress and Neurobehavioral Development

Sarah Stellern and Megan R. Gunnar

17 Neighborhood Effects and Young Children's Outcomes

Dafna Kohen and Leanne Findlay

18 The Family Check-Up: A Tailored Approach to Intervention with High-Risk Families

Anne M. Gill, Thomas J. Dishion, and Daniel S. Shaw

Index

Volume II Wellbeing and the Environment

Edited by Rachel Cooper, Elizabeth Burton, and Cary L. Cooper

About the Editors

Contributors

Full Contents of Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Introduction to Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

1 Wellbeing and the Environment: An Overview

Rachel Cooper

Part 1 Wellbeing and the Neighborhood

2 Urban Neighborhoods and Mental Health across the Life Course

Erin Gilbert and Sandro Galea

3 The Impact of the Local Social and Physical Local Environment on Wellbeing

Anne Ellaway

4 Density and Mental Wellbeing

Christopher T. Boyko and Rachel Cooper

5 Neighborhoods and Social Interaction

Scott C. Brown and Joanna Lombard

6 Living in the City: Mixed Use and Quality of Life

Graeme Evans

7 “We Live Here Too”… What Makes a Child-Friendly Neighborhood?

Karen E. Martin and Lisa J. Wood

8 A Step Too Far? Designing Dementia-Friendly Neighborhoods

Lynne Mitchell

9 Walkable Neighborhoods: Principles, Measures, and Health Impacts

Tim G. Townshend

10 Quality of Urban Spaces and Wellbeing

Mags Adams

Part 2 Wellbeing and Buildings

11 Children and the Physical Environment

Lorraine E. Maxwell and Gary W. Evans

12 Wellbeing and the School Environment

Andy Jones and Flo Harrison

13 The Built Housing Environment, Wellbeing, and Older People

Rachael Dutton

14 Workplace and Wellbeing

Jeremy Myerson

15 Linking the Physical Design of Health-Care Environments to Wellbeing Indicators

Sarah Payne, Rachel Potter, and Rebecca Cain

Part 3 Wellbeing and Green Spaces

16 Wellbeing and Green Spaces in Cities

William Sullivan

17 Environmental Interaction and Engagement: Supporting Wellbeing

Richard Coles

Part 4 Wellbeing and the Environment: Other Factors and the Future

18 Crime and the Urban Environment: The Implications for Wellbeing

Caroline L. Davey and Andrew B. Wootton

19 Transport and Wellbeing

Nick Tyler

20 Air Quality and Wellbeing

Ben Croxford

21 Implications of Low-Carbon Design of Housing for Health and Wellbeing: A U.K. Case Study

Michael Davies, Ian Hamilton, Anna Mavrogianni, Rokia Raslan, and Paul Wilkinson

22 Cobenefits of Insulating Houses: Research Evidence and Policy Implications

Philippa Howden-Chapman and Nicholas Preval

23 The Multiple Pathways between Environment and Health

Marketta Kyttä and Anna Broberg

24 Summary: Wellbeing and the Environmental Implications for Design

Rachel Cooper and Elizabeth Burton

Index

Volume III Work and Wellbeing

Edited by Peter Y. Chen and Cary L. Cooper

About the Editors

Contributors

Full Contents of Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Introduction to Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Part 1 Introduction

1 Introduction: From Stress to Happiness

Peter Y. Chen and Cary L. Cooper

2 Conceptualizing and Measuring Wellbeing at Work

Cynthia D. Fisher

Part 2 Resources, Coping, and Control

3 Job Demands–Resources Theory

Arnold B. Bakker and Evangelia Demerouti

4 Positive Psychology and Coping: Towards a Better Understanding of the Relationship

Philip Dewe

5 The Role of Workplace Control in Positive Health and Wellbeing

Erin M. Eatough and Paul E. Spector

Part 3 Happy Workers and Happy Organizations

6 The Happy Worker: Revisiting the “Happy–Productive Worker” Thesis

Peter Hosie and Nada ElRakhawy

7 Organizational Characteristics of Happy Organizations

Bret L. Simmons

Part 4 Character and Wellbeing

8 Character and Wellbeing

Thomas A. Wright and Tyler Lauer

9 Stress, Health, and Wellbeing in Practice: Workplace Leadership and Leveraging Stress for Positive Outcomes

James Campbell Quick, Joel Bennett, and M. Blake Hargrove

Part 5 Organizational Strategies to Promote Wellbeing

10 Cancer, Work, and the Quality of Working Life: A Narrative Review

Tom Cox, Sara MacLennan, and James N'Dow

11 Lead Well, Be Well: Leadership Behaviors Influence Employee Wellbeing

Jennifer Robertson and Julian Barling

12 Organizational Coping Strategies and Wellbeing

Gordon Tinline and Matthew Smeed

13 Workplace Mistreatment: Recent Developments in Theory, Research, and Interventions

Michael Hanrahan and Michael P. Leiter

14 The Sustainable Workforce: Organizational Strategies for Promoting Work–Life Balance and Wellbeing

Ellen Ernst Kossek, Monique Valcour, and Pamela Lirio

15 Development of a Theoretically Grounded Model of Sexual Harassment Awareness Training Effectiveness

Lisa M. Kath and Vicki J. Magley

16 The Working Wounded: Stigma and Return to Work

Lori Francis, James E. Cameron, E. Kevin Kelloway, Victor M. Catano, Arla L. Day, and C. Gail Hepburn

17 Job Stress in University Academics: Evidence from an Australian National Study

Anthony H. Winefield

Part 6 From Research to National Policy

18 Longitudinal Research in Occupational Stress: A Review of Methodological Issues

Robert C. Brusso, Konstantin P. Cigularov, and Rachel C. Callan

19 Measuring Wellbeing in Modern Societies

Paul Allin

Index

Volume IV Wellbeing in Later Life

Edited by Thomas B. L. Kirkwood and Cary L. Cooper

About the Editors

Contributors

Full Contents of Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Introduction to Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

1 Introduction: Wellbeing in Later Life

Cary L. Cooper and Thomas B. L. Kirkwood

Part 1 Longevity and Wellbeing

2 The Changing Demographic Context of Aging

Roland Rau and James W. Vaupel

3 Biological Determinants and Malleability of Aging

Thomas B. L. Kirkwood

4 Wellbeing as Experienced by the Very Old

Carol Jagger and Katie Brittain

Part 2 Factors Influencing Wellbeing

5 Psychological Wellbeing in Later Life

Kate M. Bennett and Laura K. Soulsby

6 Nutrition and Lifelong Wellbeing

C. Alexandra Munro and John C. Mathers

7 Physical Activity, Exercise, and Aging

Grainne S. Gorman, Josh Wood, and Michael I. Trenell

8 Capability and Independency in Later Life

John Bond

9 Combating Isolation Through Technology in Older People

Peter Gore

10 Wellbeing and Vitality in Later Life: The Role of the Consumer Industry

Michael Catt and Frans J. G. van der Ouderaa

11 Education and its Role in Wellbeing

Jim Soulsby

Part 3 Wellbeing at the End of Life

12 The Threat to Wellbeing from Cognitive Decline

Louise Robinson and Lynne Corner

13 When Vitality Meets Longevity: New Strategies for Health in Later Life

Rudi G. J. Westendorp, Bert Mulder, A. J. Willem van der Does, and Frans J. G. van der Ouderaa

14 Maintaining Wellbeing Through the End of Life

Julian C. Hughes

Part 4 Comparative Perspectives on Wellbeing

15 Cultures, Aging, and Wellbeing

Ngaire Kerse, Mere Kēpa, Ruth Teh, and Lorna Dyall

16 Wellbeing in the Oldest Old and Centenarians in Japan

Yasuyuki Gondo, Yasumichi Arai, and Nobuyoshi Hirose

17 Wellbeing in Later Life in Eighteenth-Century England

Helen Yallop

Appendix

Foresight Mental Capital and Wellbeing Project: Mental Capital Through Life: Future Challenges

Thomas B. L. Kirkwood, John Bond, Carl May, Ian McKeith, and Min-Min Teh

Index

Volume V The Economics of Wellbeing

Edited by David McDaid and Cary L. Cooper

About the Editors

Contributors

Full Contents of Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Introduction to Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

1 Introduction

David McDaid and Cary L. Cooper

Part 1 Perspectives on the Economics of Wellbeing

2 A Short History of Wellbeing Research

Laura Stoll

3 Income and Wellbeing: A Selective Review

Brendan Kennelly

4 Does Money Buy Me Love? Testing Alternative Measures of National Wellbeing

Arthur Grimes, Les Oxley, and Nicholas Tarrant

5 The Impact of the Great Recession on Economic Wellbeing: How Different Are OECD Nations and Why?

Lars Osberg and Andrew Sharpe

6 Was the Economic Crisis of 2008 Good for Icelanders? Impact on Health Behaviours

Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir, Hope Corman, Kelly Noonan, órhildur Ólafsdóttir, and Nancy E. Reichman

7 Mental Health: A New Frontier for Labor Economics

Richard Layard

Part 2 Promoting Wellbeing: The Economic Case for Action

8 Investing in the Wellbeing of Young People: Making the Economic Case

David McDaid, A-La Park, Candice Currie, and Cara Zanotti

9 Investing in Wellbeing in the Workplace: More Than Just a Business Case

David McDaid and A-La Park

10 Promoting the Health and Wellbeing of Older People: Making an Economic Case

A-La Park, David McDaid, Anna K. Forsman, and Kristian Wahlbeck

11 Promoting and Protecting Mental Wellbeing during Times of Economic Change

David McDaid and Kristian Wahlbeck

12 Making Use of Evidence from Wellbeing Research in Policy and Practice

David McDaid

Index

Volume VI Interventions and Policies to Enhance Wellbeing

Edited by Felicia A. Huppert and Cary L. Cooper

About the Editors

Contributors

Full Contents of Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Introduction to Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Introduction to this Volume

1 The State of Wellbeing Science: Concepts, Measures, Interventions, and Policies

Felicia A. Huppert

Part 1 Individual and Group Interventions across the Life Course

2 Parenting Interventions to Promote Wellbeing and Prevent Mental Disorder

Sarah Stewart-Brown

3 Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools

Katherine Weare and Melanie Nind

4 An Exploration of the Effects of Mindfulness Training and Practice in Association with Enhanced Wellbeing for Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Practice

Christine Burke

5 MindMatters: Implementing Mental Health Promotion in Secondary Schools in Australia

Louise Rowling and Trevor Hazell

6 A Systematic Review of Mental Health Promotion in the Workplace

Czesław Czabała and Katarzyna Charzyska

7 Wellbeing Begins with “We”: The Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Interventions that Increase Social Closeness

Bethany E. Kok and Barbara L. Fredrickson

8 The Experience Corps®: Intergenerational Interventions to Enhance Wellbeing Among Retired People

George W. Rebok, Michelle C. Carlson, Kevin D. Frick, Katherine D. Giuriceo, Tara L. Gruenewald, Sylvia McGill, Jeanine M. Parisi, William A. Romani, Teresa E. Seeman, Elizabeth K. Tanner, and Linda P. Fried

9 Enhancing Mental Health and Mental Wellbeing in Older People: Important Concepts and Effective Psychosocial Interventions

Anna K. Forsman, Eija Stengård, and Kristian Wahlbeck

Part 2 Interventions to Create Positive Organizations and Communities

10 Wellbeing as a Business Priority: Experience from the Corporate World

Catherine Kilfedder and Paul Litchfield

11 The Power of Philanthropy and Volunteering

Sara Konrath

12 Community Change: The Complex Nature of Interventions to Promote Positive Connections

Sue Roffey and Jacqueline Barnes

13 The Health and Wellbeing Effects of Active Labor Market Programs

Adam P. Coutts, David Stuckler, and David J. Cann

Part 3 The Policy Perspective

14 Creating Good Lives Through Computer Games

Daniel Johnson, Peta Wyeth, and Penny Sweetser

15 Retooling for Wellbeing: Media and the Public's Mental Health

Marten W. deVries

16 Policy and Wellbeing: The U.K. Government Perspective

David Halpern

17 Measuring what Matters

Juliet Michaelson, Charles Seaford, Saamah Abdallah, and Nic Marks

18 Mental Health and Wellbeing at the Top of the Global Agenda

Eva Jané-Llopis, Peter Anderson, and Helen Herrman

19 How can Subjective Wellbeing be Improved?

John F. Helliwell

Index

Introduction to Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Cary L. Cooper

Lancaster University, U.K.

This series of six volumes explores one of the most important social issues of our times, that of how to enhance the mental wellbeing of people, whether in the developed, developing, or underdeveloped world, and across the life course from birth to old age. We know that 1 in 4–6 people in most countries in the world suffer from a common mental disorder of anxiety, depression, or stress. We also know that mental ill health costs countries billions of dollars per annum. In the United Kingdom, for example, mental health-care costs have amounted to over £77 billion per annum, the bill for sickness absence and presenteeism (people turning up to work ill or not delivering due to job stress) in the workplace is another £26 billion, and the costs of dementia will rise from £20 billion to an estimated £50 billion in 25 years' time (Cooper, Field, Goswami, Jenkins, & Sahakian, 2009). In Germany, the leading cause of early retirement from work in 1989 was musculoskeletal disease but by 2004 it was stress and mental ill health, now representing 40% of all early retirements (German Federal Health Monitoring, 2007). In many European countries (e.g., Finland, Holland, Norway, and Switzerland) the cost of lost productive value due to lack of mental wellbeing is a significant proportion of gross domestic product (McDaid, Knapp, Medeiros, & MHEEN Group, 2008). Indeed, the costs of depression alone in the European Union were shown to be €41 billion, with €77 billion in terms of lost productivity to all the economies (Sobocki, Jonsson, Angst, & Rehnberg, 2006).

The issue of wellbeing has been around for sometime but has been brought to the fore more recently because of the global recession and economic downturn, which have made the situation worse (Antoniou & Cooper, 2013). But it was as early as 1968 that politicians began to talk about the inadequacy of gross national product as a measure of a society's success. In a powerful speech by Bobby Kennedy at the University of Kansas, when he was on the campaign trail for the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. President, he reflected:

But even if we act to erase material poverty, there is another greater task, it is to confront the poverty of satisfaction—purpose and dignity—that afflicts us all. Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product, now, is over $800 billion a year, but that gross national product—if we judge the United States of America by that—that gross national product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in the chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armoured cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. …Yet the GNP does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.

University of Kansas, March 18, 1968,http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/robert-f-kennedy

Since that time there have been numerous studies to show that the wealth of a country is not related to its happiness (Cooper & Robertson, 2013); indeed, as you earn far beyond your means you may become less happy or content. More recently, we have had politicians like former President Sarkozy of France, Prime Minister Cameron of the United Kingdom, and the King of Bhutan extoll the virtue of gross national wellbeing; that is, that the goal of a nation's politicians should be to enhance wellbeing among its citizens, with gross national product being only one indicator of a country's success. Indeed, Prime Minister Cameron has instituted an annual assessment of this through the U.K. Office of National Statistics which measures wellbeing among a large sample of the U.K. population, publishing the results, highlighting concerns, and ultimately considering policies to deal with them. The World Economic Forum of leading global companies, nongovernmental organizations, international bodies, and global charities now has one of its Global Agenda Councils on “mental health and wellbeing.” Happiness and wellbeing indices abound (e.g., The Happy Planet), and many countries are being compared and assessed on a range of quality-of-life metrics. Indeed, in April 2012, 79 countries in the General Assembly of the United Nations signed the Bhutan Agreement, supporting the view that an overarching goal of a country should be to enhance the wellbeing and happiness of its people.

The biggest study of its kind undertaken by any government was the 2 year U.K. Government's Foresight project on mental capital and wellbeing, the aim of which was “to produce a challenging and long-term vision for optimising mental capital and wellbeing in the United Kingdom in the 21st century—both for the benefit of society and for the individual” (Cooper et al., 2009). Mental capital was defined as the metaphorical “bank account of the mind,” which gets enhanced or depleted throughout the life course (see figure). Mental wellbeing was defined as “a dynamic state that refers to individuals' ability to develop their potential, work productively and creatively, build strong and positive relationships with others and contribute to their community” (Beddington et al., 2008).

Figure. Synthetic View of the Mental Capital Trajectory.

Over 85 international science reviews were commissioned to assess the factors that influence an individual's mental capital and wellbeing throughout life, from early childhood to school years to working life to old age. There were numerous findings in this report, which were costed and developed as potential government policy and/or interventions. An example of some of the findings were: (a) if society does not catch learning difficulties in children early enough, there will be increased personal and economic costs downstream, leading to depleted mental wellbeing in terms of increased antisocial behavior as well as significant health costs; (b) if society does not identify the common mental disorders (CMDs) of anxiety, depression, and stress early enough, and provide appropriate treatment and support, society won't be able to tackle the 1 in 4–6 people suffering from depression and other CMDs; (c) with the workplace being more insecure, people working longer hours, and being more overloaded, occupational stress in many countries is now the leading cause of sickness absence and presenteeism, which has implications for the viability of businesses and their productivity; and, finally, (d) with the doubling of over-65-year-olds and the tripling of over-80-year-olds over the next 30 years, society needs to deal with the consequences of dementia now with preventative strategies, better early diagnosis, and more successful and evidence-based treatment regimes. The Foresight project developed many recommendations to enhance mental capital and wellbeing not only in the United Kingdom but also for other countries (Cooper et al., 2009), and its legacy has provided a roadmap for how other countries should think about this in the future, in terms of both policies and interventions for wellbeing.

The Volumes in the Series

Each volume in the series has a senior editor who is a leading international scholar in a particular field, following the life-course model described by the Foresight program. We start with Wellbeing in children and families and progress to Wellbeing and the environment, Work and wellbeing, Wellbeing in later life, The economics of wellbeing, and, finally, Interventions and policies to enhance wellbeing. The contributors to each of these volumes are distinguished international academics who work in the domain covered, reviewing the evidence that can help to develop policies and interventions to enhance wellbeing in that particular context.

In the first volume on children and families we explore four different themes, with a number of chapters under each of these: the development of the early social and cognitive skills that are important in child wellbeing, parenting and children's development, school and child care-settings that impact child and family wellbeing, and stress and family and child wellbeing.

The second volume is on wellbeing and the environment. This comprises sections, with chapters in each, on wellbeing and the neighborhood, wellbeing and buildings, wellbeing and green spaces, crime and the urban environment (and the implications for wellbeing), and wellbeing and the environmental implications for design.

The third volume highlights the issues of work and wellbeing. A range of topics is covered here: the impact of job demands, the role of workplace control, the organizational characteristics of “happy organizations,” leadership behaviors that influence employee wellbeing, the sustainable workforce, the “working wounded” (including stigma and return to work), organizational coping strategies and wellbeing, and many more.

The fourth volume highlights wellbeing in later life. Topics covered include the changing demographic context of aging, biological determinants and malleability of aging, psychological aspects of wellbeing in later life, nutrition and lifelong wellbeing, physical exercise and aging, combating isolation through technology in older people, the threat to wellbeing from cognitive decline, and maintaining wellbeing through the end of life, among others.

The fifth volume explores the economics of wellbeing, with chapters on income and wellbeing, alternative measures of national wellbeing, the impact of the great recession on economic wellbeing, whether recessions are good for one's health, investing in the wellbeing of children, investing in wellbeing in the workplace, promoting health and wellbeing of older people and protecting population mental health, wellbeing during an economic crisis, and many others.

Finally, the sixth volume highlights interventions and policies that can enhance wellbeing throughout the life course. There are three sections, with chapters on the state of wellbeing science, individual/group interventions on childhood and adolescence, promoting mental health and wellbeing in schools, mindfulness training for children and adolescents, interventions in working years and post retirement, mental health promotion in the workplace, intergenerational interventions to enhance wellbeing among retired people, interventions to create positive organizations and communities with wellbeing as a business priority, the power of philanthropy and volunteering, and creating community connections. Finally, policies are discussed, such as mental health and wellbeing at the top of the global agenda, how subjective wellbeing can influence policy, media and the public's mental health, and promoting wellbeing through new technology.

These volumes contain the leading-edge research, practice, and policies to help government, businesses, local authorities, and global institutions consider how we can action some of what Bobby Kennedy suggested were an important set of outcomes for a successful society. Our institutions need to change, and we as individuals need to do so as well, if we are to achieve personal wellbeing, or as Abraham Lincoln wrote during the American Civil War, “it is not the years in your life which are important, but the life in your years.” Winston Churchill reflected on this as well, when he wrote in an essay on how he dealt with the excessive pressures of life and found solace: “many remedies are suggested for the avoidance of worry and mental overstrain by persons who, over prolonged periods, have to bear exceptional responsibilities and discharge duties upon a very large scale. Some advise exercise, and others, repose. Some counsel travel, and others, retreat…no doubt all of these may play their part according to individual temperament. But the element which is constant and common in all of them is Change…a man can wear out a particular part of his mind by continually using it and tiring it, just in the same way as he can wear out the elbows of his coats…but the tired parts of the mind can be rested and strengthened, not merely by rest, but by using other parts…it is only when new cells are called into activity, when new stars become the lords of the ascendant, that relief, repose, refreshment are afforded.”

I hope that these volumes will provide you with the science, practice, and tools to enhance the mental wellbeing of people in your own work.

References

Antoniou, A., & Cooper, C. L. (Eds.) (2013). The psychology of the recession on the workplace. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Beddington, J., Cooper, C. L., Field, J., Goswami, U., Huppert, F., Jenkins, R., …Thomas, S. (2008). The mental wealth of nations. Nature, 455(23), 1057–1060.

Cooper, C. L., Field, J., Goswami, U., Jenkins, R., & Sahakian, B. (Eds.) (2009). Mental capital and wellbeing. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.

Cooper, C. L., & Robertson, I. (Eds.) (2013). Management and happiness. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

German Federal Health Monitoring (2007). Trends in causes of early retirement. http://www.gber.bund.de.

McDaid, D., Knapp, M., Medeiros, H., & MHEEN Group (2008). Employment and mental health. Brussels: European Commission.

Sobocki, P., Jonsson, B., Angst, J., & Rehnberg, C. (2006). Cost of depression in Europe. Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics, 9(2), 87–98.

1

Introduction

Wellbeing in Later Life

Cary L. Cooper

Lancaster University, U.K.

Thomas B. L. Kirkwood

Newcastle University, U.K.

As long ago as 1968, Bobby Kennedy, who was running for the Democratic Party nomination for the Presidency of the United States, gave a speech at the University of Kansas on the limitations of gross national product, emphasizing the greater value of quality of life, which has since been configured to reflect our gross national wellbeing:

Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that gross national product—if we judge the United States of America by that—that gross national product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armoured cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities.... Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.

University of Kansas, March 18, 1968, http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/robert-f-kennedy

This series of volumes on wellbeing takes the life-course approach, starting with families and children, through adult life, work, and old age; see the Foresight report on Mental capital though life (Kirkwood, Bond, May, McKeith, & Teh, 2008), which we have included as an Appendix to this volume. The series as a whole explores the many facets of wellbeing and the interventions and policies that might help to enhance the quality of our lives. The present volume looks in particular at wellbeing in later life, exploring the issues of what inhibits and promotes wellbeing among older people. It was during the 1990s that concerns began to be expressed about the potential “demographic time bomb” of a fast-growing global aging population. In the U.K. government's Foresight programme on Mental capital and wellbeing (Cooper, Field, Goswami, Jenkins, & Sahakian, 2009) it was estimated that by 2070 the number of people aged 65 years or more in the UK would double to over 21 million, and those aged 80 or over would treble to 9.5 million. They also predicted that within 25 years, and this seems to be coming true, that the number of people with dementia, as a consequence of an aging population, will double to 1.4 million, with the costs to the U.K. economy of dealing with people with this condition trebling from £17 billion to over £50 billion per annum.

This volume was inspired by collaboration of the editors on the Foresight project and by the growing appreciation of the importance of looking positively at the lengthening of human life expectancy. Too often the extraordinary success of humanity in doubling the average length of human life—as has occurred already in the developed world and is fast occurring globally—is seen as a “problem.” This highly blinkered perception needs to be challenged by looking at the opportunities and potential for wellbeing, in all its aspects, to be preserved across the great majority of the life course. Of course, wellbeing cannot be the blessing of all: ill health and misfortune can strike any of us, and for too many later life is experienced as a time far removed from any rational concept of wellbeing. Nevertheless, much of the impairment of wellbeing in later life is preventable, at least to some degree. The aim of this volume is therefore to look as openly as possible at the issue of wellbeing in later life from an essentially positive standpoint. The disciplinary range of the volume is wide and the authors have been selected for their capacity to bring different perspectives. Several of the authors work at Newcastle University in the north of England, which is possibly the first academic institution to recognize the societal challenge of aging as being an issue that commands the attention of researchers of all backgrounds (see http://www.ncl.ac.uk/changingage). Others come from industry and from centers that have also made world-leading contributions to the agenda of making the most of our longer lives. There is arguably nothing destined to transform human society more during the twenty-first century and beyond than the challenges and opportunities of a world in which we are all living longer.

We start the volume with a chapter by Roland Rau and James Vaupel of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, highlighting the dramatic and continuing increase in life expectancy in the world. This is followed by an examination of the biological determinants and malleability of aging by Thomas Kirkwood; the message here is that great opportunity exists to improve the quality of our health in later life. In Chapter 4 Carol Jagger and Katie Brittain introduce the challenges of measuring wellbeing, especially as it may be experienced by the very old. They look at the issues prevalent in those aged 85 and older, such as the impact of deteriorating physical and mental health, transition to sheltered housing or care home, and death of spouse, friends, and perhaps family. They explore these issues in the context of a number of broad domains—health, physical environment, social environment, and personal autonomy—drawing on a variety of major global population studies in the field and concluding on the future issues of concern. In Chapter 5 Kate Bennett and Laura Soulsby bring the perspective from psychology to bear again on the definition of wellbeing looked at from both the intrapersonal angle and the social context. From this develops an important analysis of the concept of resilience, within the “ecological” context in which our lives are lived.

From psychology the book progresses to physiology, with Chapter 6 by Alexandra Munro and John Mathers highlighting the critical role of nutrition in the health and wellbeing of older people. They show how nutrition can affect individuals at all stages of the life course, emphasizing how nutrition can moderate the aging process in a positive way by preventing various processes that cause macromolecular damage (which causes aging) and how it can support the body's natural defense mechanisms such as DNA repair. The physiological theme is then extended in Chapter 7 by Grainne Gorman, Josh Wood, and Michael Trenell who demonstrate the extensive and fast-growing evidence that physical activity and exercise exert powerful positive influences on a wide spectrum of health measures and wellbeing in later life.

A key threat to wellbeing in later life is perceived by many to be the loss of independence. In Chapter 8 John Bond examines the complex of interacting biopsychosocial factors that together influence perceptions and the experience of capability/disability and independency/dependency among older people. The author uses data from various European countries to explore how policies on these two constructs have developed, and how, given the science, policies can be facilitated to enhance capability and independency among the elderly. Another way to enable older people to combat social isolation is through technology. It is interesting that many countries provide their young with computers and train them to be IT and social-media literate, but do little with their older citizens. Peter Gore in Chapter 9 explores the potential of technology for reducing social isolation among older people, but also highlights the potential downsides. He notes: “It seems fair to observe that the rapid development of technology means we can potentially remain more mobile, more active, and much more in touch with our personal support networks, and even readily extend them. Technology is, however, only an enabler....” He also emphasizes the importance of social connectedness, which can be facilitated by technology but also importantly by enabling physical access to more face-to-face social situations.

Technologies involve the consumer industries, which also have a much wider role to play in contributing to wellbeing in later life. Michael Catt and Frans van der Ouderaa draw on their extensive experience and pioneering efforts in this sphere in Chapter 10 to explore how the consumer industries can deliver everyday products ranging from self-care, hygiene, nutrition, and financial services to communications and utilities, which are important elements contributing to maintained independent living. Successful consumer products, they conclude, reflect human needs and desires, which need to be appropriately assessed in order that products and services can be targeted accurately.

In today's society the domains of work and learning are strongly focused on the young. In similar vein, in Chapter 11 Jim Soulsby convincingly demonstrates how involvement in education and learning can enhance wellbeing across the entire age range. Although most older people remain cognitively active, scientific research on the benefits for wellbeing of continuing to learn has been slow to develop. Soulsby highlights the potential of such research, but also examines the changing economic landscape and the impact of scarcer public resources. One of his conclusions is that “education and learning are usually seen as activities to be engaged in retirement as opposed to processes to assist in the decision-making processes required in determining levels and areas of postretirement engagement.”

Although many of the earlier chapters have explored how we can enhance wellbeing in later life, the issue of quality of life and declining cognitive abilities is fundamental to wellbeing. In Chapter 12 Louise Robinson and Lynne Corner examine the place of dementia as one of the biggest risk factors to health and wellbeing among older people. Whereas the number of those suffering and predicted to suffer over the next couple of decades is high and growing, the cost to the individuals and their families is incalculable. They highlight dementia, from the U.K. Department of Health definition, as “a progressive decline in multiple areas of function, including memory, reasoning, communications skills, and the skills needed to carry out daily activities.” They explore what factors promote and inhibit wellbeing in people with dementia, diagnosis of cognitive impairment and early intervention, caring for the carers, care in care homes, and end-of-life care for those suffering from dementia.

Chapter 13 from Rudi Westendorp, Bert Mulder, Willem van der Does, and Frans van der Ouderaa emphasizes new strategies for health in later life. They present a conceptual framework that focuses on the role of vitality in contributing to longevity, defining vitality as “the ability of a person to set ambitions which are appropriate for one's life satisfaction and to realize these goals despite functional limitations.” They explore the research that shows that vitality is an important factor in wellbeing among older people, and how, in practice, this can be achieved.

However much (or little) wellbeing has been realized through succeeding phases of life, each life eventually comes to an end. Chapter 14 from Julian Hughes explores the philosophical issues of maintaining wellbeing through the end of life. Hughes addresses questions like what constitutes a “good life,” highlighting three philosophical theories that underpin wellbeing. He uses Aristotelian logic to suggest that “the good life is characterized by the virtues,” and not just on one occasion but throughout life, even at its end. “But we must add ‘in a complete life’,” Aristotle reflected, “For one swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day; and so too one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed and happy.”

Finally, we complete the book with a trio of chapters that offer a distinctive perspective on wellbeing in later life from specific populations, two defined by geography in the contemporary world and one derived from looking to the past. In Chapter 15 Ngaire Kerse, Mere Kēpa, Ruth Teh, and Lorna Dyall address crosscultural issues of aging and wellbeing, drawing in particular on the Life and Living in Advanced Age Cohort Study in New Zealand (LiLACS NZ). The special circumstances of population diversity in New Zealand provide a rich basis for comparison of the Māori and European peoples, from which important lessons can be derived about crosscultural issues in other parts of the world as well. In Chapter 16 Yasuyuki Gondo, Yasumichi Arai, and Nobuyoshi Hirose analyze the wellbeing of the oldest old, including centenarians, in present day Japan. The significance of the Japanese experience is profound since for many years Japan has had the highest life expectancy in the world, having also undergone a dramatically rapid increase in life expectancy during the latter half of the twentieth century. The chapter introduces and discusses theories of psychological wellbeing with a special focus on the concept of “gerotranscendence” as a model for the adaptations that individuals may make at very old ages. Lastly, Chapter 17 by Helen Yallop explores how wellbeing in later life was considered in eighteenth-century England. She reveals many remarkable parallels between attitudes to wellbeing and aging then and now, exposing issues that remain fully fresh today. Indeed there are lessons to be relearned from this valuable historical perspective that we will do well to remember as we grapple with the issues of wellbeing in later life in the twenty-first century.

References

Cooper, C. L., Field, J., Goswami, U., Jenkins, R., & Sahakian, B. (2009). Mental capital and wellbeing. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Kirkwood, T., Bond, J., May, C., McKeith, I., & Teh, M.-M. (2008). Foresight mental capital and wellbeing project. Mental capital through life: Future challenges. London: The Government Office for Science.

Part 1

Longevity and Wellbeing

2

The Changing Demographic Context of Aging

Roland Rau

University of Rostock, Germany and Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany

James W. Vaupel

Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark, and Duke University, U.S.A.

Introduction

The world is aging. In nearly every country the average age of the population will increase over the course of the twenty-first century and the proportion of people above age 65 will grow. This trend will change the nature of human life: fundamentally and perhaps with greater impact than any other change over coming years. People will live on average decades longer than they did as recently as a century ago and they will live in societies with many more octogenarians, nonagenarians, and centenarians.

In most high-income countries populations have been aging for several decades. Table 2.1 shows the number of women and men aged 65 and higher and aged 80 and higher and their respective proportions in 1960 and 2010 for selected countries. About 20% of all women and 15% of all men in these countries are now 65 years old or older. In each country more than 2% of the men and 4% of the women are above 80; in Japan, which has exceptionally high life expectancy and low birth rates, nearly 8% of women are above 80.

Table 2.1 Population in Eight Selected Countries in 1960 and 2010 at Age 65 and Above and Age 80 and Above for Men and Women (counts and proportions of total population in percent). Data are our own estimations, based on data from the Human Mortality Database (2012), University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A. and Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany. Available at http://www.mortality.org or http://www.humanmortality.de.

Particularly startling is the growth in the number of people who have celebrated their 100th birthdays. Before 1800 few if any centenarians were alive in most populations and even as recently as 50 years ago centenarians were rare (Jeune & Vaupel, 1995). In 1960—when people who are centenarians today were 50 or more years old—one had to live in a city with more than 100,000 inhabitants to have a reasonable chance of meeting a nearby centenarian. Today in the United Kingdom there are 20 centenarians on average per 100,000 people, and in Japan there are 30. In total there were about 12,000 centenarians in the United Kingdom in 2010; the number is doubling every 8 years or so.

The main reason for population aging is the improvement in survival chances. In a recent study, Preston and Stokes (2012) estimated the contribution of low fertility, decreasing mortality, and immigration and emigration to the change in the mean age of the population. It turns out that in highly developed countries net migration tended to slightly decrease average age, whereas declines in fertility and mortality both contributed to population aging. According to the study, improvements in survival in high-income countries were more than three times stronger than the influence of decreases in fertility (Preston & Stokes, 2012, p. 227, table I).

In this chapter we provide an overview of the demography of aging. Over the past two decades vastly more data, for many countries and over many years, on age-specific population counts and death rates has become readily available for analysis. It used to be thought—and still is widely believed—that life expectancy is approaching a looming limit, but no evidence for this is found in demographic data. It seems probable that very long lives, of a century or more, are not the distant privilege of remote future generations but the likely destiny of most children alive today in countries with long life expectancy. The world has gotten older, and may be about to get much older.

Life Expectancy and Death Rates

The most widely used indicator to summarize the mortality experience of a population is life expectancy at birth. This statistic is estimated as the number of years a person born in some year could expect to live if death rates at every age in that year do not change over the person's life. If, as in recent decades, progress is being made in reducing age-specific mortality, then a group of newborns will live longer, on average, than this estimate of life expectancy. Over most of human existence, however, there was no systematic decline in death rates. Estimates for prehistoric times indicate that life expectancy at birth may have varied between 20 to 30 years (Weeks, 2005). Life expectancy increased in some populations after 1500 but was still below 40 years in eighteenth-century England (Wrigley, Davies, Oeppen, & Schofield, 1997, p. 295). Demographic research during the last decade documents a revolution in life expectancy after 1800. While studies differ in the selection of countries, the starting year of the analysis, and the nature of linear trends, there is consensus that for more than 160 years life expectancy in the most advanced countries has risen steadily at a remarkably rapid pace (Oeppen & Vaupel, 2002; Tuljapurkar, Li, & Boe, 2000; Vallin & Meslé, 2009; White, 2002).

For instance, Oeppen and Vaupel (2002) investigated the pattern of record life expectancy; that is, the highest value of life expectancy measured in any national population in a given year. In 1840, Swedish women enjoyed the highest life expectancy, some 45.7 years (see supplementary online material of Oeppen & Vaupel, 2002). A newborn girl in Japan today has a life expectancy of just over 86 years, more than 40 years longer than newborn girls born 170 years earlier in the country with the best conditions.

The rise in record life expectancy has been astonishingly linear. As Oeppen and Vaupel (2002, p. 1029) remark, the straight-line increase “may be the most remarkable regularity of mass endeavor ever observed.” The slope of the line is 0.243. This implies that life expectancy in the population doing best has been increasing almost 2.5 years per decade. Or, more dramatically, that the gain is 6 hr every day. We reestimated Oeppen and Vaupel's 2002 results with data that has become available in the meantime and obtained the same slope.1 There is no sign of any slowing of the rate of progress. Given these results, the steady increase in best-practice life expectancy can be used as a starting point to forecast mortality and life expectancy (Torri & Vaupel, 2012).

The linear rise in life expectancy not only holds for the best-practice populations but, since 1950, for many specific countries. The trend in France is the most regular but in the United Kingdom, West Germany, Italy, Sweden, and various other countries the trend is parallel to that in the record-holding countries, albeit at a somewhat lower level of life expectancy, as shown in Figure 2.1. The best-practice trend seems to exert a pull on countries doing less well. For instance, in the final third of the twentieth century, countries such as the United States, Denmark, and the former East Germany started to lag behind the international trend in life expectancy for various political, social, and behavioral reasons (e.g., Christensen et al., 2010; Jacobsen, Keiding, & Lynge, 2002; Preston & Wang, 2006; Vaupel, Carey, & Christensen, 2003). For these countries, however, the poor performance lasted only a few decades and was followed by a period of catching up.

Figure 2.1 Development of Female Life Expectancy in France, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S.A. The black line indicates the trend in record female life expectancy in the countries doing best. Based on an updated version of a graph in Oeppen and Vaupel (2002) and our own calculations based on data from the Human Mortality Database (2012), University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A. and Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany. Available at http://www.mortality.org or http://www.humanmortality.de (data downloaded in 2012).

The observed pattern of roughly steady increase in life expectancy is remarkably resilient even in the presence of major mortality crises such as the Spanish flu at the end of the second decade of the twentieth century or the Second World War. This is well illustrated in Figure 2.1 by the data for France: within a few years after 1920 and again after 1945, life expectancy returned to the long-term line of improvement.

During the nineteenth and the early twentieth century, improvements in infant and childhood mortality were primarily responsible for the increase in life expectancy. Following Omran's (1971) definition of the “epidemiologic transition,” this coincides with the “age of receding pandemics,” when infectious diseases became less lethal than they had been previously. The theory of the epidemiologic transition postulated that the decline in mortality would level off and that the “age of degenerative and man-made diseases,” recalcitrant diseases, would be entered. But life expectancy did not follow the theory and kept increasing. Figure 2.2