This best-selling text on social aging takes a multidisciplinary approach by considering the many factors — biological, psychological, historical, cultural — that affect the way aging individuals experience the world.

The text provides a comprehensive, holistic view of aging that considers the implications for an older person's interactions with their social and physical environments, including the immediate environment of family, friends, and home, as well as the larger social structure of community, organizations, and society. Based on the latest research findings, the text offers greater depth and breadth to the critical issues of aging, attending to differences by age and cohort, gender, ethnic minority status, sexual orientation and socio-economic status.