Reference Reviews

Lawrence Looks at Books

The Gale Encyclopedia of Senior Health: a Guide for Seniors and their Caregivers, edited by Jacqueline L. Longe. 5 vols. 2,120p. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2009. 2008-17305. $650

This new medical guide provides a comprehensive and authoritative discussion of health issues affecting the elderly. As with other Gale guides to health, an advisory board of medical professionals helped formulate coverage and reviewed each entry for accuracy. The team of contributing medical writers includes many writers with degrees in medicine and nursing. Coverage includes general health and nutrition issues as well as diseases and conditions affecting the population over 60 years of age. The purposes and steps of tests and procedures are explained along with recovery and rehabilitation processes. Also outlined are the uses of common prescription medicines, vitamins and nutrition supplements. Students, home caregivers and others training in the field are introduced to various professions, equipment and tools. In order to make the material more accessible to general readers, medical jargon is avoided, and topics are presented in standardized rubrics. For instance, discussion of diseases include demographics, causes, symptoms, diagnostic procedures, treatment options, related nutritional concerns, therapy, prognosis, preventive measures, and caregiver concerns. If technical terminology is used, such specialized vocabulary is defined in lists of key terms within each article. More than 2,000 of these definitions are cumulated in the stand-alone glossary in the final volume. Numerous sidebars provide tips for preventive medical care as well as questions to ask of doctors. Frequent use of bold faced cross-references lead users to related topics and glossary entries. The up-to-date lists of suggested resources are often substantial and include books, periodical articles, Web sites and organizations. The uniform approach to topics is shared with The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, The Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine and The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health. In fact, articles on acupressure, bacterial infections, endoscopy, informed consent, sexually transmitted diseases and vitamins seem to be adapted from these sources with modest revisions for older patients. Other entries, from AARP and cataracts to walking problems and wrinkles, are new to this resource. In any case, the convenient and thorough presentation of more than 600 health topics related to the elderly makes this work a valuable resource. This guide is highly recommended to public libraries and other collections providing services to senior citizens and their caregivers.