AGING

5 principles for older persons declared by the UN
   
    Independence
    Participation
    Care
    Self-fulfillment
    Dignity

5 factors that impact ≥ 1 of the 5 principles
   
    Demographic trends
    Economic resources
    Caregiving relationships
    Long-term care issues
    Housing alternatives

Demographic trends
   
    60+ = 1.2 billion in 2025 (14%); 710 million in the developing world (71% of total)
    85+ = most rapidly growing segment of the elderly; more frail and in need of assistance

    Gender differences

        Women living longer
        % of widows higher than % of widowers
        Women less likely to remarry

Economic resources

    Trend toward early retirement
    Displacement of workers by technology
    Challenges to pay and benefit patterns
         
    Gender differences

        Elderly women more likely to be poor – economic dependency

            Child rearing and domestic duties
            Interruption of careers
            Fewer opportunities for education
            Labor-force discrimination

    Pensions

        Longer proportion of life in retirement
        Availability and adequacy of pensions

    Educational attainment

        Education tied to jobs and pension
        Literacy rate in women linked to fertility

Caregiving relationships

    Family is traditional source of support

        Role and status of the elderly
        Living arrangements

    Women are informal caregivers worldwide
   
Long-term care issues

    Programs to improve caregiver systems

        Respite and day care
        Building agency - caregiver ties

Housing alternatives

    Single most important environmental factor associated with life expectancy

    Safe, secure, comfortable, usable, affordable
    Linked to infrastructure and relationships
    May not be adequate for frail elderly

    Continuum of care

        Assisted living
        Continuing care residential communities
        Nursing homes

    Growing worldwide acceptance that institutionalized care is the least-preferred form of long-term care

Issues

    Conflicting needs of population segments
    Effects of modernization on the elderly and on attitudes toward the elderly

DISCUSSION:

➢    What models of caring for the elderly that were conceived in the industrialized world might (not) work in developing countries?

➢    How can technology and new occupations assist families in meeting the physical and social needs of their older kin as options for family care become more limited?

➢    What are your recommendations for how the elderly, families, governments, and NGOs should partner to address the psychosocial issues of aging?