This volume and its companion, The new dynamics of ageing volume 1, provide comprehensive multi-disciplinary overviews of the very latest research on ageing. Together they report the outcomes of the most concerted investigation ever undertaken into both the influence shaping the changing nature of ageing and its consequences for individuals and society.

This book concentrates on four major themes: autonomy and independence in later life, biology and ageing, food and nutrition and representation of old age. Each chapter provides a state of the art topic summary as well as reporting the essential research findings from New Dynamics of Ageing research projects. There is a strong emphasis on the practical implications of ageing and how evidence-based policies, practices and new products can produce individual and societal benefits.

Introduction ~ Alan Walker;

Part 1: Autonomy and independence in later life;

Sleep and autonomy in later life ~ Sara Arber, Susan Venn and Ingrid Eyers;

Negotiating unfamiliar environments ~ Judith Phillips, Nigel Walford, Ann Hockey, Mike Lewis and Nigel Foreman;

Financial elder abuse ~ Mary Gilhooly, Deborah Cairns, Miranda Davies, Kenneth Gilhooly and Priscilla Harries;

Maintaining dignity and independence ~ Liz Lloyd, Michael Calnan, Ailsa Cameron, Jane Seymour, Randall Smith and Kate White;

Families and caring in South Asian communities ~ Christina Victor, Maria Zubair and Wendy Martin;

Part 2: Biological perspectives;

Understanding Immunesenescence ~ Anna Whittaker, Niharika Arora Duggal, Jan Oyebode and Janet Lord;

Towards understanding the biological drivers of cell ageing ~ Lynne Cox and Penelope Mason;

Nutrition and ageing ~ Arlene Astell, Claire Timon, Faustina Hwang, Tom Smith, Tim Adlam, Hassan Khadra, Linda Maclean, Laura Brown and Elizabeth Williams;

Combating malnutrition in hospitals ~ Paula Moynihan, Lisa Methven, Gemma Teal, Claire Bamford and Alastair Macdonald;

Migration and nutrition ~ Janice Thompson, Joy Merrell, Barry Bogin, Hannah Jennings, Michael Heinrich, Vanja Garaj, Diane Harper, Gablin Molik and Jasmin Chowdhury;

Part 3: Representations of old age;

Representing self – Representing ageing ~ Lorna Warren;

Ageing, fiction, narrative exchange and everyday life ~ Philip Tew and Nick Hubble;

Narrative representations of the self: Encounters with contemporary visual art ~ Andrew Newman and Anna Goulding;

The place of theatre in representations of ageing ~ Miriam Bernard, David Amigoni, Ruth Basten, Lucy Munro, Michael Murray, Jackie Reynolds, Jill Rezzano and Michelle Rickett;

Conclusion ~ Alan Walker.