Springer Contextualizing Health and Aging in the Americas: Effects of Space, Time and Place

This book presents new insights into the consequences of the impending growth in and impact of the older segment of Latino aging adults across distinctive regions of the Americas. It uses a comparative research framework to further understanding of current issues in health and aging in the transnational context of the health and migratory experiences of the U.S.- Mexican population. It provides an important contribution to the interdisciplinary investigation of chronic diseases and functional impairments, social care and medical services, care-giving and intervention development, and neighborhood factors supporting optimal aging, using new conceptual and methodological approaches (inter-group comparisons). Specifically, the chapters employ different methodologies that investigate trends in aging health and services related to immigration processes, family and household structure, macroeconomic changes in the quality of community life, and focus on the new realities of aging in Latino families in local communities. The book focuses on measurement, data-quality issues, new conceptual modeling techniques, and longitudinal survey capabilities, and suggests needed areas of new research. As such it is of interest to researchers and policy makers in a wide range of disciplines from social and behavioral sciences to economics, gerontology, geriatrics, and public health. From the Back Cover This book presents new insights into the consequences of the impending growth in and impact of the older segment of aging communities on local economies. It uses a comparative research framework to further our understanding of issues in health and aging in the transnational context of the health and migratory experience of the U.S.- Mexican population. It also provides an important contribution to the interdisciplinary investigation of new conceptual and methodological approaches in comparative studies (inter-group comparisons) of Hispanic aging and health research. Specifically, the chapters employ different methodologies to address issues related to immigration processes, family and household structure, macroeconomic changes in the quality of community life, and focus on the new realities of aging in Latino families in local communities. The book focuses on measurement, data-quality issues, new conceptual modeling techniques, and longitudinal survey capabilities. As such it is of interest to researchers and policy makers in social sciences and public health. About the Author Williams A. Vega is a Provost Professor at USC with appointments in social work, preventive medicine, psychiatry, family medicine, psychology and gerontology, and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. He is the Cleofas and Victor Ramirez Professor of Practice, Policy, Research and Advocacy for the Latino Population at the USC School of Social Work. Vega is also the Executive Director of the USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging and an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Prior to joining the USC Roybal Institute, he was director of the Luskin Center on Innovation and an associate provost at UCLA. Professor Vega has conducted community and clinical research projects on health, mental health and substance abuse throughout the United States and Latin America. His specialty is multi-cultural epidemiologic and services research with adolescents and adults ― work that has been funded by multiple public and private sources. He has published more than 200 articles and chapters, in addition to several books. In 2006, the ISI Web of Science listed him in the top half of one percent of the most highly cited researchers worldwide in social science literature over the past 20 years, and currently listed in Research Gate in the top 2% internationally. He is the recipient of many awards including the Community, Cultur