Subtitle Hope, Relationality, and the Creative Self
Publisher Routledge
EAN/ISBN 978-0895034113
Release Date 2012-06-15
Author(s)

Janet L. Ramsey and Rosemary Blieszner
Summary This book integrates psychosocial and theological aspects of spirituality and aging at an unusually deep level, and thus contributes to a growing body of scholarship on religion and healthy aging. The importance of community over a purely individual understanding of spirituality, and the use of narrative and object relations theories, add to the book's significance. The authors analyzed and interpreted rich interview data within a compelling, systematic, and original conceptual framework. They provide useful recommendations for professionals in every chapter. Although this book is based on research with older adults, the results are relevant for adults of all ages. —Harold G. Koenig, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Associate Professor of Medicine, Director, Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, Duke University Medical CenterThe term that Ramsey and Blieszner use, spiritually resilient aging, is a wonderful, positive image of aging that flies in the face of the ageism rampant in our society. The thick narrative developed by the authors' excellent research methodology is not only illuminating but also inspiring, with stories of those who survived World War II. The use of narrative approaches is key in giving voice to elderly people, who link for the reader recovery, resistance, resiliency, and reconfiguration. The balance for these older adults is between agency and community and understanding the communal aspects of spirituality. In addition, we come to appreciate the importance of healthy aging through a sense of vocation and meaning in life. In summary, this is a solid, comprehensive book on a topic that will touch every single one of us- aging. It's a must-read. —Abigail Rian Evans, M.Div., Ph.D., L.H.D., Charlotte W. Newcombe Professor of Practical Theology Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, Scholar-in-Residence, Center for Clinical Bioethics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC Drs. Ramsey and Blieszner bring a fresh and profound perspective to the question of how to age well. They offer a theoretically grounded, incisive analysis of elders' narratives. They broaden our understanding of essential aspects of resiliency that are often missed, including the crucial roles of community, religious framing of life's evolving narrative, and ongoing vocation. —Rabbi Dayle A. Friedman, MSW, MAJCS, BCC Author, Jewish Visions for Aging: A Professional Guide to Fostering Wholeness Founding Director, Hiddur: The Center for Aging and Judaism of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College