Book Description:
This book aims to help provide an understanding of the relationship between the elderly generation and the multigenerational families they belong to through an analysis of family and individual development in later life and a study of the structural and functional complexion of the multigenerational family (the basic unit of analysis). The increase of life expectancy and the consequent later ageing of the population is making Western families undergo considerable changes. The demographic ageing of societies is increasing the number of living generations and decreasing the number of living relatives within these generations. These ageing societies are also seeing a changing of some traditional life-transitions, such as individuals delaying economic independence from parents, marriage or long-term cohabitation, as well as parenting. Themes discussed in this book are:

1. multigenerational families are now commonplace in the western countries;
2. legacies and inheritance are an important theme for the integrity of families in later lives (since the increase of welfare-states, the economic importance of inheritance decreases);
3. a substantial proportion of elderly persons and their families live in poverty, having to deal with the diminishing of their sensoral and physical capacities, as well as lower income and higher medical expenses;
4. families have to combine the caregiving of elderly relatives with the caretaking of their own children and a professional career;
5. counseling becomes an important factor for older adults since many families issue then arise.

Table of Contents:
Editorial:
New themes on ageing families (Liliana Sousa) pp. 1-25

Part 1 - Developmental and normative processes in later life

Chapter 1. The multigenerational family and the elderly: a mutual or parasitical symbiotic relationship? (Henrique Vicente and Liliana Sousa) pp. 27-48

Chapter 2. Material inheritance: constructing family integrity in later life (Marta Patrão and Liliana Sousa) pp. 49-74

Chapter 3. Counseling older adults with family issues: forgiving and empowering (Margarida Pedroso Lima) pp. 75-95

Part II - Reframing traditional research themes for families in later life
Chapter 4. Elderly men on ageing families (Oscar Ribeiro) pp. 97-116

Chapter 5. Reinventing family caregiving: a challenge to theory and practice (Daniela Figueiredo) pp. 117-134

Chapter 6. Quality of life, family role and chronic illness in elderly people institutionalized and living at home (Carlos F. Silva, Rosa Martins, Isabel Santos and Jorge Costa) pp. 135-162

Part III. Rethinking perspectives: overview

Chapter 7. Constructing family integrity in later life (Liliana Sousa, Ana Raquel Silva, Filipa Marques and Liliana Santos) pp. 163-186

Index

Author Affiliations:

Ana Raquel Silva(University of Aveiro, Department of Health Sciences Aveiro, Portugal)

Carlos F. Silva (University of Aveiro, Department of Educational Sciences Aveiro, Portugal)

Daniela Figueiredo(School of Health Sciences of University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal)

Filipa Marques (Department of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro; Aveiro, Portugal)

Henrique Vicente (Foundation for Science and Technology, University of Aveiro, Department of Health Sciences, Aveiro, Portugal)

Isabel Santos (Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Aveiro, Department of Educational Sciences, Aveiro, Portugal)

Jorge Costa(University of Aveiro, PsyLab, Department of Educational Sciences, Aveiro, Portugal)

Liliana Santos (University of Aveiro, Department of Health Sciences, Aveiro, Portugal).

Liliana Sousa (University of Aveiro, Department of Health Sciences, Aveiro, Portugal)

Margarida P. Lima (University of Coimbra, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Coimbra, Portugal)

Marta Patrão(University of Aveiro, Department of Health Sciences, Aveiro, Portugal)

Oscar Ribeiro(School of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, Portugal)

Rosa Martins (Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Health Sciences School Viseu, Portugal)