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Título del libro: Understanding The Context Of Cognitive Aging: Mexico And The United States
Título del capítulo: Mental health and aging in Mexico and the United States: The new urban reality

Autores UNAM:
VERONICA ZENAIDA MONTES DE OCA ZAVALA;
Autores externos:

Idioma:

Año de publicación:
2021
Resumen:

As the populations of the United States and Mexico age, one of the most pressing areas of research and intervention relates to the mental health of older persons. The rapid increase in the proportion of the populations of both countries over the age of 80 makes the topic especially relevant given the high rate of dementia and other cognitive impairments among individuals in that age category (Vega, Markides, Angel, & Torres-Gil, 2015). Decreases in cognitive capacity and the onset of other mental illnesses, though, are not the simple result of aging, but a reflection of social and economic vulnerabilities that operate over the life course. These vulnerabilities are exacerbated by a serious lack of specialized mental health care, in conjunction with the inability of certain groups to access it (Angel, Angel, & Hill, 2014; Hummer & Hayward, 2015; Saraceno et al., 2007). The rapid urbanization of both countries during the Twentieth Century means that today older Mexicans and Mexican-origin individuals in the United States are growing old in post-traditional urban environments in which they are subject to the stresses and challenges that were unknown in the rural hamlets and small towns in which many grew up. In this chapter, we review the relatively limited literature on mental health and aging among older Mexicans and Mexican-origin older persons in the United States and examine what is known of the life-course risk factors that place certain older individuals at risk of dementia, serious depression, and other mental illnesses. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.


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