An empirically based approach to working proactively on the mental health needs encountered by those caring for an aging family member

Addressing the complex issues that arise in working with family caregivers, this timely book is filled with clinical illustrations, guidance, tips for practice, and encouragement. In this informative guide, editors Sara Qualls and Steven Zarit have brought together a notable team of international contributors to produce a clear structure that offers clinicians a framework for engaging families effectively in the important, but frequently stressful and complicated, role of caring for older family members.

Part of the Wiley Series in Clinical Geropsychology, this thorough and up-to-date guide features coverage of:

• The support provided by families for elderly family members

• Integration of families into long-term care mental health services

• Clinical services for families engaged in the care of an older person

• The background in social services and policy required for clinicians in order to practice effectively with older adults and their families

• Future directions in family caregiving

Aging Families and Caregiving provides clinicians with a solid foundation to help families manage age and disability in a manner consistent with their values, maximize positive outcomes for the care receiver, and reduce the emotional and physical costs on the caregiver.

Sarah.Qualls, PhD, is a clinical psychology faculty member at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. She has twenty years of academic, clinical, and continuing education training experience and is the co-chair of the Adult Development and Aging Division of the American Psychological Association.

Steven H. Zarit, PhD, is Professor and Head of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University. He is a clinical psychologist whose research and practice have centered for more than a decade on stress in family caregivers of dementia patients.