Peer Review

Contemporary Narratives of Ageing, Illness, Care

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Oct 24, 2022 by Health Sciences

Bookmark

Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

This collection of essays explores cultural narratives of care in the contexts of ageing and illness. It includes both text-based and practice-based contributions by leading and emerging scholars in humanistic studies of ageing. They consider care not only in film (feature and documentary) and literature (novel, short story, children’s picturebook) but also in the fields of theatre performance, photography and music. The collection has a broad geographical scope with case studies and primary texts from Europe and North America but also from Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Argentina and Mexico. The volume asks what care, autonomy and dependence may mean and how these may be inflected by social and cultural specificities. Ultimately, it invites us to reflect on our relations to others as we face the global and local challenges of both the pandemic and ageing societies.

Type of Material:

Open (Access) Textbook

Recommended Uses:

Could be used as extra reading for a geriatrics course, ethics, medical introductory course to promote consideration of the affective domain.
Could be used to facilitate discussion in class or in an online forum.
This material is interesting reading for self-paced.
It could be used for professionals with an interest in films, theater, music, or fictional reading.

Technical Requirements:

Used Chrome web browser on a PC and worked well
Opened on an iPad and worked well

Identify Major Learning Goals:

After reading this book, the learner will be able to:

Describe how COVID-19 affected care for older adults.
Describe what care is. What does the photography of care depict?
State performances showing the circuit of care for aging people.
Describe Australian aging care practices through a narra-theatrical lens.
Report how film can explain dementia to families.
Provide examples of the ethics of care.
Show how music can express aging, Alzheimer’s, and care.
Outline how care could be reimagined.

Target Student Population:

College Upper Division
Graduate School
Professional

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Computer skills to download the materials.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The content depicts reality form the creator's eyes (not health science).
The content is relevant.
The content teaches how film, theater, and fictional literature portray elderly care.
The information is significant.
The content includes short narrative stories for assignments or discussion. Great way to integrate art into a curriculum.

Concerns:

The material is not health science but subjective from the author's point of view.
The book is not valid compared to healthcare evidence.
The book does not provide information for a healthcare curriculum.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

Subjective concepts were presented.
It is a complilation of views of care.
The chapter are engaging.
It may help to bring information of health disparities for the aging to light for students who may not have a great deal of experience with the elderly.

Concerns:

No learning goals were provided in the source.
This material is difficult to compare to other scientific sources, because it is based on the subjective view of the author.
Only the written style and a few pictures are used.
There is no area to check learning.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The information is in written form, which is familiar to learners.
The chapters are easy to navigate.
It is self-contained.
There are no links or plug-ins.
The terms are explained.
The content is well-organized.
Easy to access and read.
Open access.

Other Issues and Comments:

Beautifully written and would be great to use it in a geriatric nursing course as a supplement to the regular textbook to open consideration and discussions of the affective domain of learning.

Creative Commons: