When her husband's ill health forces them to move into an assisted living facility, Anne M. Wyatt-Brown suddenly finds herself surrounded by elderly residents. In this lively and provocative collection, other distinguished gerontologists reflect on Anne's moving account of her transition to becoming a member of a vibrant and sociable community that offers care-giving support, while encouraging her to pursue her own interests, including exercising, reviewing articles for scholarly journals, serving on committees, and singing. By redefining notions of care and community, undoing the stigmas of aging, and valuing the psychological factors involved in accepting assistance, this volume provides a bold new framework for thinking about aging, continuing care, making the big move to a retirement community, and living with vitality in the new environment.

About the Author

Anne M. Wyatt-Brown is Emeritus Associate Professor in the Program in Linguistics, University of Florida.

Ruth Ray Karpen is Professor Emeritus in the College of Liberal Arts at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Helen Q. Kivnick, Ph.D., L.P. is Professor of Social Work at the University of Minnesota.

Margaret Morganroth Gullette is an internationally known age critic, nonfiction writer, and essayist.

Reviews

We Americans prize independence, but for many elderly people, the price they pay for independence is loneliness and worthlessness. The Big Move is a fascinating attempt to marry personal experience with academic analysis to help us all reconceive of one option for later-life living. Moving to a continuing care retirement community need not be viewed as a withdrawal from life, but rather as a new platform to manage one's infirmities at the same time as one uses one's skills.

* Huffington Post *

This is a remarkable book about finding the right place to age. It uses a single true story, refracted through personal experience and multiple forms of expertise, to say as much as piles of data. You'll want to read it if you're looking for clear advice about the big move into continuing care, assisted living, even a nursing home. And it's appealing for anyone along the life course making "a big move." This book gives the perspective that is so often missing. It's a story not often told and too often dreaded. It tackles the broader social issue of how to age well and treat elders well on an irresistibly human scale.

-- Sally Chivers, Professor of English Literature * Trent University *

We have very few accounts of gerontologists who have grown old, and never before a memoir by a gerontologist who moved into a long-term care facility. This book is not only a first, but is a remarkable and riveting account of challenges all of us must contemplate. The author's own story is amplified by insights from other contributors to this volume, which altogether make it memorable and compelling. Highly recommended.

-- Rick Moody, retired Vice President for Academic Affairs * AARP *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253020642
Author Ruth Ray Karpen
Format Paperback
Page Count 118
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 227g