A Review of Aging in European Societies. Healthy Aging in Europe, edited by Constantinos Phellas

Abstract

The book Aging in European Societies: Healthy Aging in Europe, edited by Constantinos Phellas, Professor of Sociology at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus, presents articles on the current state of knowledge on aging in Europe from a panel of experts who approach the subject from broad theoretical and applied perspectives pertinent to research on aging and the design of social policies. The book’s subtitle, Healthy Aging in Europe, exemplifies the desire of European nations to promote a positive lifestyle, regardless of the approach used (healthy, productive, active, successful, optimal, and so forth), to help individuals have a better quality of life in old age. The goal is to promote a better quality of life not only in old age but throughout the life cycle to ensure behavior that allows one to reach old age with continued well-being. In Chapter 1, C. Phellas, the book’s editor, provides a clear analysis of all of the contributions presented and synthesizes the challenge that nations have of addressing the impact of population aging on an individual, community, national, and international basis in current economic and social contexts. The same author, in Chapter 15, examines the impact of age and personal and contextual characteristics on quality of life and wellbeing in a sample of 100 Cypriots aged 65 and over. Within the same area, Ioannidi et al. (Chapter 10) deal with fundamental issues that affect inequalities in life, focusing on socio-demographic, national, and cultural factors. An important issue in well-being and quality of life, not usually studied in the social sciences, is food, food security, nutritional status, and the significance of food in old age. These issues are discussed in Chapter 4 by Fjellstrom et al., who also examine the challenge of organizing regular catering services for dependent older people. Claβen et al. (Chapter 3) study the role of technology in aging from a broad Applied Research Quality Life (2013) 8:269–271 DOI 10.1007/s11482-013-9231-0