Main description:

Most scholars do not consider the long-term nature of caregiving, but rather focus on a specific developmental period (e.g., old age) or a specific disability (e.g., cancer). Yet the most important lessons about caregiving may occur at any age, regardless of disabilities or other limitations. Caregiving is a lifelong process. It begins in a mother's womb, continues throughout the lifespan, and ends after death. Caregiving Across the Lifespan emphasizes caregiving as a process that occurs throughout one's life. It discusses infant care, the developmental needs of children and adolescents, the many caregiving issues in adulthood and mid-life, and finally end-of-life care and bereavement.

Key coverage includes:

Examining caregiving issues across a developmental perspective.

Caregiving from infancy through early childhood through end of life.

Mid-life and multigenerational bonds and responsibilities.

Caregiver identity in older adults.

Family caregiving at the end of life.

This must-have volume offers a wealth of insights and ideas for researchers, practitioners, and graduate students across the caregiving fields, including psychology, social work, public health, geriatrics and gerontology, and medicine as well as public and education policy makers.

Contents:

Foreword; Rosalynn Carter.- Chapter 1. Caregiving: A Lifelong Developmental Perspective; Ronda C. Talley & Rhonda V. J. Montgomery.- Section I: Caregiving from Birth Through Adolescence.- Chapter 2. Caregiving in Early Childhood; David A. Mrazek.- Chapter 3. Middle Childhood: Coping with Typical and Atypical Development; Jan Blacher & Kristin Abbott Feinfield.- Chapter 4. Responding to the Challenges of Preadolescence: Roles for Caregivers; Marleen Wong & Erum Nadeem.- Chapter 5. Caregiving Across the Lifespan: Adolescence; Deryl F. Bailey.- Section II: Caregiving in Adulthood.- Chapter 6. Caregivers in Early Adulthood: The Challenges; Charles W. Given & Barbara A. Given.- Chapter 7. Midlife, Multigenerational Bonds, and Caregiving; Judith G. Gonyea.- Chapter 8. Pathways to a Caregiver Identity for Older Adults; Rhonda V. J. Montgomery & Karl D. Kosloski.- Chapter 9. Family Caregiving at the End-of-life: Current Status and Future Directions; William E. Haley.- Chapter 10. Perspectives on Caregiving Across the Life Span: Current Status and Future Directions; Rhonda V.J. Montgomery & Ronda C. Talley.