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Gerontology's Future: An Integrative Model for Disciplinary Advancement

Correspondence: Address correspondence to Gretchen E. Alkema, MSW, LCSW, Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, 3715 McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0191. E-mail: alkema{at}usc.edu

Scholars have debated the legitimacy of gerontology as a discipline since Metchnikoff coined the term more than 100 years ago. Recent developments such as the emergence of interdisciplinary aging theories and consensus on longitudinal research methods suggest that gerontology is materializing as a unique discipline, rather than a subset of another more established disciplinary tradition. In this article we review substantive evidence from gerontological theory and scholarship to suggest orienting principles for the emerging discipline of gerontology. We offer a conceptual framework of gerontology as a discipline that integrates contributions of biopsychosocial perspectives with well-established concepts of age, aging, and aged and multiple contextual elements. We conclude with a discussion of how our model relates to gerontology's progress, including examples of successful interdisciplinary research, and offer questions for gerontologists to consider for further advancement of the field.

Key Words: Aging research • Discipline paradigm • Interdisciplinary theory

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