The United Nations World Assembly on Aging has made advancing
health and well-being into old age a worldwide call for action. And
this text at hand shows us what researchers worldwide are doing to
answer that call. Here, three of America's most esteemed experts on
aging lead a global team of contributors - each an expert in his or
her country - to show us what the top challenges of each nation
are, and what top research is being done there to meet those. While
we cannot predict with absolute certainty all of the issues that
will arise over the next 20 years, we can anticipate some and we
must start now to prepare for these challenges, an expert from the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services warned at a recent UN
World Assembly on Aging. Needed response to the global population
shift is not just the responsibility of governments, but will be a
product of wise, long-term decisions made by individuals and
societies, she explained.
In most nations globally, populations are graying and the number
of people aged 65 and older is vastly increasing, creating a larger
segment of senior citizens than the world has ever before seen.
Across human history, the elderly accounted for no more than 3
percent of the world population. By the year 2030, the elderly are
expected to make up about 25 percent of the world population. And
while longevity is of course seen as a great success, longer
lifespan for such masses also creates dilemmas. For example, the
incidence of dementia has already increased significantly with an
11-fold increase in people aged 65 and older in the US since the
turn of the century, and a similar increase in aged people in
Scotland has researchers there scrambling to find treatments for
what they expect will be a 75 percent increase in dementia over the
next 25 years. Chronic diseases that come with aging are already
taxing health care systems in the US and around the world to Japan,
with most experts aware their current health systems would be
overrun and lack enough staff and facilities to handle the needs of
an elderly population multiplying largely in the coming two
decades. Increases in psychological issues such as dealing with the
depression often striking aged people are impending, too, as are
social issues such as how families, and public policies, will deal
with the changing shape of the family.
General
Imprint: |
Praeger Publishers Inc
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
October 2009 |
First published: |
October 2009 |
Editors: |
Erdman P. Palmore
|
Foreword by: |
George L. Maddox
|
Editors: |
Frank Whittington
• Suzanne Kunkel
|
Dimensions: |
235 x 156 x 38mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Paper over boards / With dust jacket
|
Pages: |
724 |
Edition: |
3rd edition |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-313-35230-0 |
Categories: |
Books >
Social sciences >
General
|
LSN: |
0-313-35230-5 |
Barcode: |
9780313352300 |
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