Disease and death are a part of life, but so too is being well. The lively voices found in this book are not shy about stating the ways in which the widely held notion that they are in decline has been a far larger problem than many other features of their lives. For students, scholars, and policy makers, the message is to attend to these voices, and to design and build better programs that address the social determinants of healthy aging and social inclusion throughout the life course.

Janice E. Graham is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Bioethics and Director of the Qualitative Research Commons & Studio (QuRCS) in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Janice E. Graham's profile page

Peter H. Stephenson is a Michael Smith Foundation Research Associate at the Centre on Aging, Professor of Anthropology, and Director of the School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, British Columbia.

Peter H. Stephenson's profile page

This book represents a welcome contribution to the growing Canadian literature critiquing the hegemony of the decline and loss paradigm that unfortunately underpins most discussions of aging, whether those discussions are scholarly or popular.

<em>Canadian Journal on Aging</em>

Graham and Stephenson's innovative and powerful book deconstructs contemporary developments in understanding aging and loss. Rather than reinforce a convention of fatalistic language associated with loss of roles, or loss of people or loss of life, this book dramatically deconstructs long-held assumptions through consistent use of insights from Critical Gerontology. This is a breath of fresh air. The book is also very well written and the material is well packaged into a very detailed and thorough exposition.

<i>Ageing & Society</i>

In Contesting Aging and Loss, readers of medical anthropology and gerontology will find a rich array of academically solid case studies set in a framework of advocacy and social policy. The book is well suited for use in even undergraduate teaching, for instance in courses on the anthropology of aging or of the life course, medical anthropology, or kinship, but I hope that it also will stimulate similar research that combines an open-ended inquiry into the lives of elders with a commitment to freedom and well-being on their own terms.

<em>Medical Anthropology Quarterly</em>