Holistic Approaches to Healthy Aging: Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Older Adults

The field of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is expected to grow tremendously in the next few years. In addition to an increase in the general population, the baby-boomer generation is quickly entering retirement and will likely take advantage of CAM increasingly as it ages.

Although CAM research as applied to aging is just beginning and health professionals receive no special training in CAM and aging, the United States population still continues to employ it. For diagnoses that accompany aging such as cancer, neurological diseases, psychiatric disorders, and physical disabilities, CAM has often been used in addition to or in place of unsuccessful conventional methods of treatment.

This new and up-to-the-minute compendium of reliable and authoritative information on complementary and alternative therapies seeks to provide information that older adults may use as they seek to improve their health and quality of life. Covering dietary means; physical, mental, and spiritual methods of treatment; and various types of therapies, this handbook is the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource on complementary and alternative medicine available today. Each chapter or article includes:

Brief definition of modalityAnecdotal reports of usefulness Discussion of scientific evidence for and against modalityList of resources that reader can use to find further information

Examples of therapies covered include:

Art & MusicMassageAcupuncture Meditation Homeopathy Ayurveda Aromatherapy

Twenty American academics and practitioners contribute 16 chapters on various complementary and alternative therapies that health professionals may use as they seek to improve the health and quality of life of their patients. The text provides an introduction to those therapies that may be of most use to the aged and that are relatively easy to integrate into a conventional model of care or self-care. Each chapter includes discussion of scientific evidence for and against the modality, and a list of resources for further information. Coverage includes nutrition; herbs and supplements; homeopathy; music, art, and massage therapies; Asian perspectives--mainly Chinese and Indian--including yoga, acupuncture, and qigong; and spirituality and meditation. For doctors, nurses, gerontologists, and social workers.
Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Twenty American academics and practitioners contribute 16 chapters on various complementary and alternative therapies that health professionals may use as they seek to improve the health and quality of life of their patients. The text provides an introduction to those therapies that may be of most use to the aged and that are relatively easy to integrate into a conventional model of care or self-care. Each chapter includes discussion of scientific evidence for and against the modality, and a list of resources for further information. Coverage includes nutrition; herbs and supplements; homeopathy; music, art, and massage therapies; Asian perspectives--mainly Chinese and Indian--including yoga, acupuncture, and qigong; and spirituality and meditation. For doctors, nurses, gerontologists, and social workers. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

This new and up-to-the-minute compendium of essential and reliable information provides you with grounded research on complementary and alternative therapies. It offers essential data that professionals can use in enhancing the health and quality of life for their older adult clients as well as a theoretical perspective that policy-makers can use in enhancing the overall care of the aging population.