International Perspectives on State and Family Support for the Elderly.

This book addresses the current status of family care policy for the elderly in various nations. The editors, authorities in aging and social policy, pulled together professors and researchers from a variety of industrialized countries to provide critical analyses of family caregiving policy in their respective countries. They hoped to stimulate debates and exchange of information to facilitate continued realistic development of policy that is appropriate to the needs of each country and culture.

The introduction presents a brief global overview of state support for the elderly around the world, including the debate over who is responsible for their care and the growing seriousness of the problems of elders in an industrially developing world where the extended family continues to break down. Each article discusses specific health care policies in individual nations, including topics such as political and cultural influences, multiple problems of development and implementation of these policies, and the successes of some policies.

Most of the authors are academicians in their countries and bring a wealth of current knowledge and wide scope of experience in gerontology, psychology, sociology, and health policy to their writings. Each chapter ends with an extensive, up-to-date reference list, but few present any information in tables or charts, a technique that might have made some information more easily accessible. Most information is clearly presented, well-organized, and written in a consistent manner. A summary chapter could have assisted the reader in organizing the diversity of information presented.

The book would be most useful and relevant to those involved in health policy development or teaching, for the provoking of thought and discussion about the direction such policy should take. It should, however, be of interest to all practitioners of health care for the elderly, particularly during this time of ongoing changes in the health care system.