The authors of book： Mary M. Gergen, Kenneth J. Gergen and Su-fen Liu.

 

The global population is aging, and Taiwan is no exception.  Although the Long-Term Care Service Act was passed in 2017, which assures the Taiwan government’s provision of care to the elderly, the idea of equating aging with deterioration and medicalization needs to be modified.  This book thus promotes the concept of positive aging, with the hope that the public can construct an active perception of self or others’ aging process and status.

 

The content of this book is adopted mainly from Positive Aging Newsletter with a few articles written based on Taiwan’s aging situation.  The book is composed of 9 chapters, with each containing summaries of real case findings published in research journals, magazine articles, and news releases.  There is no sequential relationship between articles; each one is independent of the others.  The end of the book attaches a reference list by chapter.  In each chapter, the bibliographies are placed according to the order of appearance in the articles.  By presenting the positive side of aging, I hope that more people can shatter the stereotype of aging and explore more possibilities to embrace the diversity and rigor of later life and to allow the zeal to flourish and continue until the end of life.

 

The purpose of publishing this book is not for making profits from sales, but rather to promote the concept of positive aging, with the goal for people to look forward to and enjoy their later years of life.  I also hope to use this book to raise funds to set up the “Positive Aging Research and Extension Center (PAREC)” at National Pingtung University.  For a free download of this book, please e-mail a request to ugasfliu@gmail.com or go to www.taosinstitute.net/worldshare-books-in-chinese.