Religion, Aging, and Health: A Global Perspective

This highly thought-provoking book breaks new ground in understanding the complex relationships within major religions of the world in regard to faith, well-being, and longevity. Despite the fact that each major world religion has significant impact on aging and health, this subject has never before been addressed from a global perspective.

Written by recognized international authorities and sponsored by the World Health Organization, Religion, Aging, and Health reflects the organization's ideals of promoting and protecting the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of elderly persons throughout the world. This volume will be of interest to all those concerned with the relationship of world religions, human aging, and health. Experts in the fields of gerontology, health, and religion examine attitudes toward aging and describe how each religion--Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Protestantism--interacts with aging, longevity, behavior, and lifestyle. For each of the religious traditions that is highlighted, the authors use stories and parables, sacred writings, personal experience and reflection, or various other methodologies to identify elements of tradition that function to protect the physical, mental, and social health of older persons and encourage the development of culturally relevant health policies for the aging population.