Publisher Description
An expert on elder justice maps the challenges of aging, how things go wrong, and presents powerful tools we can use to forge better long lives for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
As tens of millions of Americans are living longer lives, longevity is creating challenges that cut across race, class, and gender. Caregivers help older relatives for “free,” but with high costs to themselves in time, money, jobs, and health. Scammers target countless seniors. The institutions built to protect older people—like nursing homes and guardianship—too often harm them instead. And epidemics of isolation and loneliness make older people vulnerable to all sorts of harm.
In The Measure of Our Age, elder justice expert and MacArthur “genius” grant recipient, M.T. Connolly investigates the systems we count on to protect us as we age. Weaving first-person accounts, her own experience, and shocking investigative reporting, she exposes a reality that has long been hidden and sometimes actively covered up. But her investigation also reveals reasons for hope within everyone’s grasp.
Connolly’s strategies and action plans for navigating the many challenges of aging will appeal to a wide range of readers—adult children caring for aging parents; policymakers trying to do the right thing; and, should we be so lucky as to live to old age, all of us. This book transforms how we think about aging.
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How can we assure safety, dignity, and good care for people as they age? Building on her extraordinary career as a leading advocate for the rights and protection of older people, M. T. Connolly provides real answers to this question. The Measure of Our Age seamlessly blends compelling stories of unforgettable individuals with careful research and inspired policy analysis. If you are looking to unravel the complexities of aging today, M. T. Connolly is the person you want by your side. The Measure of Our Age is a unique combination of profound insight, fresh ideas, and lived experience that should be read by everyone negotiating life in an aging society – that is, all of us.
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Karl Pillemer, bestselling author of 30 Lessons for Living
