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Robert H. Binstock

Member of Editorial Board

Robert H. Binstock Robert H. Binstock is Professor of Aging, Health, and Society, at Case Western Reserve University. His primary appointment is in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, in the School of Medicine. He holds secondary appointments as Professor in the departments of Bioethics, Medicine, Political Science, Sociology, and in the School of Nursing.

A former president of the Gerontological Society of America (1976), Dr. Binstock has served as director of a White House Task Force on Older Americans, and as chairman and member of a number of advisory panels to the United States government, state and local governments, and foundations. He is also a former Chair of the Gerontological Health Section of the American Public Health Association. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and state legislatures on about twenty occasions.

Professor Binstock is the author of more than 200 articles and book chapters; most of them deal with the politics and policies affecting aging. His 23 books include The Fountain of Youth: Cultural, Scientific, and Ethical Perspectives on a Biomedical Goal (in press), The Lost Art of Caring: A Challenge to Health Professionals, Families, Communities, and Society (2001); and five editions of the Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences (the most recent published in 2001). Among the honors he has received for contributions to gerontology and the well-being of older persons are the Kent and the Brookdale Awards from the Gerontological Society of America; the Key Award from the American Public Health Association; the American Society on Aging Award; and the Arthur S. Flemming Award from the National Association of State Units on Aging. He is also co-editor with Stephen G. Post of the forthcoming book The Fountain of Youth: Cultural, Scientific, and Ethical Perspectives on a Biomedical Goal (Oxford University Press).

He received his A.B. and Ph.D. degrees in political science from Harvard University.

Related Works

Books

  • Robert H. Binstock, Stephen G. Post, Peter J. Whitehouse (eds.), “Dementia and Aging: Ethics, Values and Policy Choices,” (Johns Hopkins, University Press, October 1992) ISBN: 0801845459
  • Robert H. Binstock and Linda K. George, eds., Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, fifth edition (San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 2001), 513 pp. ISBN: 0120991942
  • Stephen G. Post, Robert H. Binstock, "The Fountain of Youth: Cultural, Scientific and Ethical Perspectives on a Biomedical Goal," (Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN: 0195170083.
New Book:
The Fountain of Youth: Cultural, Scientific and Ethical Perspectives on a Biomedical Goal
By Stephen G. Post, Robert Binstock

While many embrace this quest for "prolongevity" - extended youth and long life - others fear its consequences. If effective anti-aging interventions were achieved, they would likely bring about profound alterations in the experiences of individual and collective life. Read more (link to a page for book) What if aging could be decelerated to the extent that both average life expectancy and maximum life span would increase by forty percent? What if all humans could live to be centenarians, free of the chronic diseases and disabilities now commonly associated with old age? What if modern scientists could find the modern equivalent to the Fountain of Youth that Ponce de León sought? This book addresses these questions by exploring the ramifications of possible anti-aging interventions on both individual and collective life. Through a series of essays, it examines the biomedical goal of prolongevity from cultural, scientific, religious and ethical perspectives, offering a sweeping view into the future of ageing. Order the book online.

Publications

  • Robert H. Binstock, "The War on `Anti-Aging Medicine'," The Gerontologist, Vol. 43, No. 1 (2003), pp. 4-14.
  • Robert H. Binstock, "Some Thoughts on a Faith-Based Initiative in Long-Term Care," The Public Policy and Aging Report, Vol. 12, No. 4 (2002), pp. 20-22.
  • Robert H. Binstock, "The Politics of Enacting Reform," in Stuart H. Altman and David I. Shactman, eds., Policies for an Aging Society (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002), pp. 346-377.
  • "Political Behavior," in David J. Ekerdt, Robert A. Applebaum, Karen C. Holden, Stephen G. Post, Kenneth Rockwood, Richard Schulz, Richard L. Sprott, and Peter Uhlenberg, eds., Encyclopedia of Aging (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002), pp. 1109-1113.
  • "Age-Based Rationing of Health Care," in David J. Ekerdt, Robert A. Applebaum, Karen C. Holden, Stephen G. Post, Kenneth Rockwood, Richard Schulz, Richard L. Sprott, and Peter Uhlenberg, eds., Encyclopedia of Aging (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002), pp. 24-28.
  • "Recasting Social Security's 'Crisis' From Programs to People," Aging Today, Vol. 23, No. 3 (2002), pp. 9-12.
  • Leighton E. Cluff and Robert H. Binstock, eds., The Lost Art of Caring: A Challenge to Health Professionals, Families, Communities, and Society (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001), 260 pp. ISBN: 0801874432
  • Robert H. Binstock and Jill Quadagno, "Aging and Politics," in Robert H. Binstock and Linda K. George, eds., Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, fifth edition (San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 2001), pp. 333-351.
  • Robert H. Binstock, "The Politics of Caring," in Leighton E. Cluff and Robert H. Binstock, eds., The Lost Art of Caring: A Challenge to Health Professionals, Families, Communities, and Society (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001), pp. 219-242.
  • Robert H. Binstock, "Health Care: Organization, Use, and Financing," in G.L. Maddox, ed., Encyclopedia of Aging: Third Edition (New York: Springer Publishing Company, 2001), pp. 466-472.
  • Robert H. Binstock, "Older People and Voting Participation: Past and Future," Gerontologist, Vol. 40, No. 1 (2000), pp. 18-31.
  • Robert H. Binstock, "The 1996 Election: Older Voters and Implications for Policies on Aging," The Gerontologist, Vol. 37, No. 1 (1997), pp. 15-19.
  • Robert H. Binstock, Add a Few Pinches of Politics and Economics," Ageing and Society, Vol. 17, Part I (1997), pp. 81-85.
  • Stephen G. Post, Peter J. Whitehouse, Robert H. Binstock, Thomas D. Bird, Sharen K. Eckert, Lindsay A. Farrer, Leonard M. Fleck, Atwood D. Gaines, Eric T. Juengst, Harry Karlinsky, Steven Miles, Thomas H. Murray, Kimberly A. Quaid, Norman R. Relkin, Allen D. Roses, P. H. St. George-Hyslop, Greg A. Sachs, Bonnie Steinbock, Edward F. Truschke, and Arthur B. Zinn, "The Clinical Introduction of Genetic Testing for Alzheimer Disease: An Ethical Perspective," Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 277 (1997), pp. 832-836.
  • Robert H. Binstock, "Do the Elderly Really Have Political Clout?" in Lenard Kaye and Andrew Scharlach (eds.), Controversial Issues in Aging (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1997), pp. 87-90.
  • Robert H. Binstock, "Six Medicaid Decisions for States," Aging Today, Vol. XVII (1996), pp. 10-12.
  • Robert H. Binstock, "Financing, Use, and Organization of Health Care for Older Persons," in R. Schrier & D. J. Jahnigen (eds.), Geriatric Medicine, second edition (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Science, Inc., 1996), pp. 28-40.
  • Robert H. Binstock, "Continuities and Discontinuities in Public Policy on Aging," in Vern L. Bengtson (ed.), Adulthood and Aging: Research on Continuities and Discontinuities (New York: Springer Publishing Company, 1996) pp. 308-324.
  • Robert H. Binstock, Leighton E. Cluff and Otto von Mering (eds.), The Future of Long-term Care: Social and Policy Issues (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), 300 pp. ISBN: 0801853206
  • Robert H. Binstock, "The Shift to Criteria Involving Economic Status in Old-Age Policies: How Far Can the Trend Go?" in D. Lindeman, H. Young, & P. Diamond (eds.), Social Security: What Role for the Future? (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1996), pp. 157-163.
  • Peter Woll, Robert H. Binstock, “America's Political System: A Text with Cases,” fifth edition, (McGraw-Hill Companies, January 1991) ISBN: 007071584X