Description
Book SynopsisConcentrates on the account of elder Americans in rural Iowa who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (PD). Focusing on the impact of chronic illness on an aging population, this title combines prose with qualitative and quantitative research to demonstrate how PD accelerates, mediates, and obscures patterns of aging.
Trade Review"This book is at once a scholarly discourse on an ethnographic study of a cohort of Iowans with Parkinson's disease, and a primer on medical anthropology, Parkinson's disease, and ethnographic research methodology. Recommended." * Choice *
"A welcome addition to the literature, focusing on the experience of older adults who are living with this unpredictable, disabling and stigmatizing condition. The author writes crisply, and yet with compassion and sensitivity, as she offers her readers access into the world of ordinary people who often display extraordinary strength and dignity under traumatic life circumstances." * Contemporary Sociology *
"The book has at its heart an ethnographic account of the experiences of eight adults in rural Iowa living with PD and their families, and also includes a primer on medical anthropology and one on PD itself. Solimeo writes well, and with affecting sympathy, about life with PD."
* Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved *
"The future for medical anthropology must include the ethnography of the neurodegenerative conditions of aging.
With Shaking Hands brings that future into the present with a strong description of the lived experience of elderly people with Parkinson's Disease in America." -- Arthur Kleinman * Harvard University *
"An important and excellent book that describes the experience of Parkinson's disease from the inside: how patients and their family members view it. Thus, it forms a singular contribution to the scientific literature on individual experience and disease." -- Robert L. Rubinstein * author of Singular Paths: Single Men Living Alone *
"A richly detailed and touching ethnographic portrayal of the experiences of elderly people with Parkinson's disease. It is pertinent reading for researchers and clinicians as well as students, especially but not exclusively those in medical anthropology." -- Judith C. Barker * University of California, San Francisco *
"This book is at once a scholarly discourse on an ethnographic study of a cohort of Iowans with Parkinson's disease, and a primer on medical anthropology, Parkinson's disease, and ethnographic research methodology. Recommended." * Choice *
"A welcome addition to the literature, focusing on the experience of older adults who are living with this unpredictable, disabling and stigmatizing condition. The author writes crisply, and yet with compassion and sensitivity, as she offers her readers access into the world of ordinary people who often display extraordinary strength and dignity under traumatic life circumstances." * Contemporary Sociology *
"The book has at its heart an ethnographic account of the experiences of eight adults in rural Iowa living with PD and their families, and also includes a primer on medical anthropology and one on PD itself. Solimeo writes well, and with affecting sympathy, about life with PD."
* Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved *
"The future for medical anthropology must include the ethnography of the neurodegenerative conditions of aging.
With Shaking Hands brings that future into the present with a strong description of the lived experience of elderly people with Parkinson's Disease in America." -- Arthur Kleinman * Harvard University *
"An important and excellent book that describes the experience of Parkinson's disease from the inside: how patients and their family members view it. Thus, it forms a singular contribution to the scientific literature on individual experience and disease." -- Robert L. Rubinstein * author of Singular Paths: Single Men Living Alone *
"A richly detailed and touching ethnographic portrayal of the experiences of elderly people with Parkinson's disease. It is pertinent reading for researchers and clinicians as well as students, especially but not exclusively those in medical anthropology." -- Judith C. Barker * University of California, San Francisco *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: Becoming Old, Becoming Sick
Tell the Guys at the Coffee Shop That I'm Seeing My Anthropologist
It Takes a Little While to Find Out for Sure
It's a Nasty, Hiding Disease
I'm a Little Disappointed in That I Don't Know What to Blame It On
I Don't Know What's Worse-Parkinson's Disease or the Medications
It Gets Worse
I Am More of the Parent Than a Wife
Conclusion: Aging, Embodiment, and Conditions
Appendix A: Interview Participants
Appendix B: Parkinson's Disease Resources
