I am delighted to have the opportunity to welcome readers of this book! Many of us prefer not to think too much about growing older, given its common associations with illness, loss, and eventual death. It is ironic that, as relatively younger people who generally hope to live long lives, we may have somewhat negative feelings about the people we will eventually become (if we are fortunate). Across health care professions, very few people choose to specialize in care of older adults, leading to a crisis in access to competent geriatric health and mental health care services for most older adults in the United States (Institute of Medicine, 2008, 2012) and internationally (Beard & Bloom, 2015; Mateos-Nozal & Beard, 2011).

The aging of our society has profound implications for the economy, health care system, family structures, housing, transportation, business opportunities, and more. No matter what your field of interest, it will be important to have a solid understanding of the aging experience, including strengths, challenges, and the wide diversity of human aging. This text provides an excellent foundation on biological, psychological, and social aspects of aging to inform your clinical training and practice, research, teaching, policy, and/or business activities. If you are pursuing a career in academic and/or clinical psychology, or other health professions, consider this book a core resource to help you address age/cohort as an important component of individual diversity. Even if you choose to address the health/mental health of children, adolescents, or younger adults, older adults will be significant members of family and community systems whose abilities and needs will be important for you to understand.

Drs. Yochim and Woodhead are particularly well-suited to have led the development of this text. They both trained at leading geropsychology doctoral training programs; completed postdoctoral training in geropsychology and/or neuropsychology; have extensive clinical, teaching, and research experience in the field; and have established themselves as respected leaders in service to the geropsychology profession. In addition to writing several chapters, they assembled a talented team of psychologists to contribute chapters. Many contributing authors are early-to-mid career geropsychologists with impeccable academic and/or clinical training who provide current and rigorous perspectives on their topics.

My great hope is that many of you reading this text will be inspired to devote some of your talents and energies to the field of aging. You are needed. As a clinical geropsychologist who has spent more than 20 years in the field to date, I feel very fortunate to have discovered such a meaningful, fascinating, and rewarding line of work. As a clinician, interprofessional team member, teacher, supervisor, researcher, administrator, and frequent collaborator with people who work in geriatric health/mental health fields, I am inspired daily by the commitment and generosity of people who dedicate their professional lives to improving the quality of care and quality of life for older people. I am grateful to Drs. Yochim and Woodhead for their work in developing this foundational text on the psychology of aging.