In From The Inside Looking Out, Auger, Tedford-Litle and Wallace-Allen
seek to overcome the "us" and "them" dichotomy that characterizes much
of the literature on aging. By asking older people to talk about their
experiences and treating this information as valuable, the authors have
presented a tool that can be used to begin such a process.
This second edition documents the lived experiences of older persons
obtained from a series of focus group discussions and interviews across
Nova Scotia. Individuals compare their realities of growing old with the
often-theoretical assumptions of gerontologists and specialists who
claim knowledge of the aging experience. In this field of study, there
are few instances where the voices of older persons are heard, other
than as consumers of various programs and services. Furthermore, the
voices of Indigenous and African-Canadians are typically unheard. Topics
covered include health care, life satisfaction, death and dying, end of
life decisions, cultural differences in the aging process, spirituality
and religion, ageism and discrimination, and the critique of the many
stereotypes of growing older.