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Living Well with Loss in Later Life

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Mental Health and Older People

Abstract

The concept of living well with loss in later life is consistent with contemporary, critical perspectives on ageing. Such perspectives challenge traditional notions of ageing as problematic and burdensome and support the growing awareness of older people as assets and contributors to the societies in which they live. They also challenge us to understand more fully the nature of losses over the life course and their consequences in later life and, in so doing, to identify more effective strategies for countering them and enhancing quality of life as we age. Within that context, this chapter has three aims: to explore contemporary understandings of loss and grief over the life course, to examine how these can contribute to improvements in outcomes for older people, and to identify the implications for practice.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    CORE ims is a not-for-profit leader in the field of routine outcome measurement in mental health psychological therapies, which delivers and supports validated, reliable routine measurement tools (http://www.coreims.co.uk).

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Correspondence to Bernadette Bartlam MA, PhD .

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Bartlam, B., Machin, L. (2016). Living Well with Loss in Later Life. In: Chew-Graham, C., Ray, M. (eds) Mental Health and Older People. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29492-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29492-6_3

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