Old age. Between diagnosis and acting - a review

Review of a book by Remigiusz J. Kijak and Zofia Szarota (2013), Old age. Between diagnosis and acting presents the reasons which make the book subject matter socially important: 1) the proportion of elderly people in society is growing. 2) It is worthwhile to help younger people prepare for elderly age. 3) People of every age would benefit from deepening intergenerational dialogue. 4) Most goods and services are addressed to young people and senior needs are mostly neglected. The work presents issues discussed in individual chapters of the monograph. In the first chapter Z. Szarota discusses demographic data presenting an increasing number of people after 60 in relation to the population as a whole. The second chapter concentrates on social aid and social policy. It draws attention to complementary character of two local social policy perspectives: 1) interventionist - care- focused and 2) optimisation - focused on optimal satisfaction of elderly people developmental needs and the needs of their families. The third chapter discusses senior social work specifics and gerontologic education encompassing four directions: 1) up to elderly age, 2) elderly age, 3) throughout elderly age and 4) for elderly age. Chapter four by R. Kijak presents research results about senior sexuality. Chapter five deals with violence against elderly people and chapter six discusses how the seniors themselves experience old age. Finally the advantages of the book in question were summarised: 1) it stresses the necessity to take actions aimed at increasing senior life quality. 2) It points out the problem areas and 3) presents action proposals, which would solve the problem. 4) The information presented is based on reliable review of scientific research.