Aging and the Aged Health Article

Definition

Aging is the process of growing older, a process that includes physical changes and, sometimes, mental changes. "The aged" refers to elderly people, those who have reached an advanced age.

Description

The concept of aging and the aged has changed, as record numbers of people around the world are living longer, a trend expected to continue throughout the twenty-first century and beyond.

The word "elderly" used to refer to an older person, generally someone age 65 or older. At the beginning of the twentieth century, 65 was considered an advanced age. The life expectancy for a baby born in 1900 was 51 years for a girl and 48 years for a boy. That year, approximately one in 25 Americans was over 65.

By the 1930s, legislation set older adults apart from the rest of American society. Social Security laws declared that people had to retire from work by age 65. The ruling affected about 7.5 million people during the 1930s.

At the end of the twentieth century, the older population had increased 10 times since 1900. In 2000, approximately 35 million people age 65 and older accounted for 13% of America's population, according to Older Americans 2000: Key Indicators of Well-Being, a 2000 report from the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics. According to the report, by 2030 70 million Americans will be 65 or older.

Since the late twentieth century, the age group growing fastest in many countries has been the "very old" or the "oldest old." Opinions vary about the age classification for this group. The United States federal government defines this group as people 85 and older. The United Nations (U.N.) classifies people 80 and older in this demographic group.

The oldest age group includes the rapidly increasing number of centenarians, people age 100 or older. In the United States, the number of centenarians is projected to grow from about 60,000 in 2000 to some 2 million by the middle of the twenty-first century.

The demographic revolution

Advances in areas such as health care, medicines like antibiotics, and nutrition during the twentieth century mean that more people are living longer. An American baby born at the turn of the twenty-first century is expected to live nearly 30 years longer than one born a century earlier, according to Older Americans 2000.

The increase in life expectancy during the late twentieth century is believed to be as high or higher than any increase from recorded time until 1900. In many countries, one out of 10 people was 60 or older in 2000, according to The Ageing of the World's Population, a 2000 report from the U.N. Division for Social Policy and Development. The ratio of people over 60 was projected to change to one out of five in 2050 and one out of three in 2150, according to the report.

At the same time that more people are living longer, people around the world are having fewer children. The lower birth rate is attributed to the availability of family planning methods. The combination of a growing older population and a declining birth rate has produced a demographic revolution that the U.N. predicts will continue into subsequent centuries.

These demographic trends affect what the U.N. calls the "old-age dependency balance," the relationship between the number of people age 65 and older and the number of working people age 15 to 64.

Traditionally in the United States, younger workers have supported older people through wage deductions for programs such as Social Security. During the first half of the twenty-first century, the U.N. estimated that the old-age dependency ratio will double in more developed areas and triple in less developed areas.

With a smaller pool of workers, organizations around the world are studying methods to ease the

dependency burden. One method of accomplishing this is to help older adults remain healthy and independent for as long as possible. Not only does this benefit the aging person, but health care costs are also reduced.

The demographic revolution has political, social, and economic significance. Of primary concern is how to provide health care for the growing number of older people, especially those 85 and older. Generally, the oldest old need more health services than younger people.