includes references and index

List of abbreviations -- Foreword / Judith Phillips -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Patterns and trends in ageing and health -- Understanding health and care -- The policy process in health and care -- Healthy ageing: upstream actions to prevent illness -- Medicine, ageing and healthcare -- Care for health in later life -- Conclusion -- References -- Index.

"In the context of global ageing societies, there are a few challenges to the underlying assumption that policies should promote functional health and independence in older people and contain the costs of care. This important book provides such a challenge. It offers a critical analysis of the limitations of contemporary policies and calls for a fuller understanding of the relationship between health and care throughout the lifecourse. Located within the tradition of the feminist ethic of care, the book provides a fresh insight into global policy debates and the impact that these have on people's experiences of ageing. Including international evidence on health inequalities, health promotion and health care, this book will be of interest to a range of social scientists, particularly specialists in gerontology and social policy"--page 4 of cover.

Offering a critical analysis of the limitations of contemporary policies, this book calls for a fuller understanding of the relationship between health and care throughout the lifecourse.