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Geropsychology

Sociologyindex, Sociology Books 2011, Gerontology

Geropsychology focused on practice within an age group that is not yet clearly distinct from other specialties that serve adult populations. Geropsychology is the field within psychology devoted to the study of aging and the provision of clinical services for older adults. Geropsychologists are at the forefront of research on questions related to health and aging. As with younger adults, a variety of mental health disorders, such as anxiety and depression, affect older adults. In fact, older adults have the highest rates of suicide of any age group in the U.S., and depression is its foremost risk factor. In addition, stressors common in late life such as loss of loved ones, relocation, medical conditions, caregiving demands, change in employment status, and poverty significantly affect the health and independence of older adults. Geropsychologists address these and other issues as diverse as family relationships, memory, sexuality, mental capacity assessment, health promotion and substance abuse.

Ten doctoral programs in psychology currently offer substantive training in geropsychology; numerous doctoral internships offer geropsychology training; a variety of postdoctoral programs in geropsychology exist; a large body of gerontological and geropsychological literature undergirds the practice of geropsychology.

Ph.D. specialty program in geropsychology at CU-Colorado Springs - According to an abstract describing the geropsychology program, courses are "consistent with a scientist-practitioner model. The curriculum sequence builds systematically from basic to complex knowledge and skills across the domains of scientific psychology, research methodology, general clinical, geropsychology science and clinical geropsychology." Practical experiences within the discipline also build skills in core clinical competencies needed by geropsychologists. These include "assessment, psychotherapy, neuropsychological evaluations, caregiver consultation and counseling, health psychology and outreach/prevention," the abstract states. "Research mentoring prepares students with the skills needed to conduct independent research useful to the clinical practice of geropsychology." - cu.edu/sg/messages/3754.html

Geropsychology and Psychology in the Last Quarter of the 20th Century
Bibliometrical Results for the German-Speaking Versus Anglo-American Research Community
Günter Krampen, Institute of Psychology, University of Trier, Germany
Hans-Werner Wahl, German Center for Research on Aging, University of Heidelberg, Germany

This paper presents bibliometrical results on the development of gerontopsychology in the last quarter of the 20th century. Analyses are based on the psychology literature documented in PsycINFO, covering mainly publications from the Anglo-American region, and PSYNDEX, covering publications from the German-speaking countries, for the years 1977 to 2000. Results show that both literature bodies on gerontopsychology have steadily grown, in absolute terms, since the beginning of the last quarter of the 20th century. The geropsychology literature in the German-speaking countries has grown faster than the Anglo-American literature. In terms of a relative frequency view, the findings support the notion that geropsychology has found a clear and stable position within psychology as a whole in both research communities, contributing 1-3% to the overall psychology literature and 8-15% (PsycINFO) respectively 30-50% (PSYNDEX) to the overall developmental psychology literature since 1978. - psycontent.com

GeroPsychology - An Applied Field for the 21st Century
Rocío Fernández-Ballesteros, Autonomous University of Madrid
Europe is the oldest continent in the world; in the year 2000, about 17% of Europeans (EU-15) were older than 65, and projections say that in the year 2025 one-fourth of the European population will have reached this age. Nevertheless, the threat to the population is not aging but disability; although life expectancy at birth is about 80, the expected number of years with disability runs from 5.7 to 7.2 years (WHO, 2002). The United Nations recently approved the II International Plan of Action on Aging (MIPAA, UN, 2002) with special recommendation for the European region. This situation is highly demanding both for the science of psychology and for European psychologists. This article introduces a set of research programs - linked with the three priority directions of the MIPAA - as examples of how psychology is one of the disciplines calling for improved quality of life and well-being in old age and, therefore, GeroPsychology as an applied field should be consolidated in the next decades. - psycontent.com 

 

 

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