Contextual Knowledge: From Globalization to Global Aging

As our general view of global history and societal development has shifted towards a more integrated approach, we face the challenge of finding the best ways to achieve integration across geographical and cultural distances. In dealing with the rising challenges associated with the global trend of demographic aging, it is argued that obtaining and accumulating contextual knowledge of local practice can be critical and productive especially in the planning phase of an eldercare intervention project. Three basic types of contextual knowledge—i.e., the context of experience, context of praxis, and context of theory—which are crucial for understanding eldercare practice situations, are discussed, along with its possible impacts on not only the understanding of the eldercare situation in a specific location, but also the choice and implementation of effective intervention solutions.