The Situation in Brief

Today’s older adults are living longer and healthier lives than their parents did. American society can benefit enormously from the energy, experience and wisdom of these older citizens.

However, society first needs to update its structures and services in order to move older adults from being invisible to being integral parts of society. When the contributions of older persons are accepted and valued, society will be able to make progress on difficult problems and older adults’ sense of purpose and meaning in life will improve.

Preserving the health and independence of older Americans and facilitating their active, visible participation in society requires careful attention to prevention and treatment of illness from both health professionals and older adults themselves. If older people become more physically frail, then health and social-support services become urgent issues.

Unfortunately, most of the key health professionals in the US who serve older people received little or no special training in geriatrics and few health systems make it easy for health professionals to provide truly excellent care.

Ageing Programme Goals

The goals of the Ageing Programme in the United States are as follows:

• Improve health and support services for older adults via continuing education and training of key professionals as well as by helping older adults and their caregivers better navigate the health care and support system. To do this, we support organisations that:
  
  • work to improve the geriatric knowledge and skills of practising health care professionals (physicians, nurses, social workers, direct care workers);
    
  • advocate public policy changes that improve reimbursement levels for these professionals; and
    
  • empower older adults to be knowledgeable about and active in their own health care.

• Increase the opportunities older adults have to give back to society through civic engagement. To do this, we support organisations that:
  
  • expand the number, visibility, diversity and range of opportunities for older adults in volunteerism, employment and lifelong learning; and
  • empower older adults by improving consumer information and education with regard to their basic needs for income and living supports.

Ageing Resources

• American Federation for Aging Research, www.afar.org
• American Geriatrics Society, www.americangeriatrics.org
• Civic Ventures, www.civicventures.org/resources.html
• Federal Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics, www.agingstats.gov/chartbook2000/default.htm
• National Academy on an Aging Society, www.agingsociety.org/agingsociety
• National Council on Aging, www.ncoa.org, www.healthyagingprograms.org
• National Institute on Aging, www.nia.nih.gov
• US Department Health of Human Services, Administration on Aging, www.aoa.gov/press/fact/pdf/ss_stat_profile.pdf
• US Senate Special Committee on Aging, aging.senate.gov/public

More Facts At a Glance

• Most older people are fully independent in their daily activities and can care for both themselves and others.⁴
• Declining mortality and disability rates mean that older adults will probably enjoy even more active years. ⁵
  
• Older adults have to maintain their independence by coping with or managing an average of two chronic health conditions, such as high blood pressure, arthritis or diabetes.⁶
• While relatively few people over 65 have cognitive impairments, the rates of serious neurological diseases go up dramatically with age, such that nearly a third of older adults surviving to 85 have significant cognitive impairment.⁷
• Fewer than 3% of today’s medical students take even a single course in geriatrics; in the past, this percentage was even lower.⁸
• Considering only non-pediatric fields, residency and fellowship training standards for geriatrics still do not exist in 75% of the specialties important to older people.⁹
• Fewer than 1% of the nation's 2.2 million working registered nurses are certified in geriatric nursing. Only 23% of current nursing schools have a required course in geriatric nursing. ¹⁰
  
• Fewer than 5% of social workers identify ageing as their primary practice area, and among non-specialised social workers, only 2% report taking a course in gerontology or geriatrics.¹¹

Footnotes

1, Source: “Social Gerontology: A Multidisciplinary Perspective,” 6th edition, Nancy R. Hooyman, H. Asuman Kiyak

2, Source: A Profile of Older Americans 2004, Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, p. 1

3, Source: AoA, p. 2

4, Source: Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics, Older Americans 2004, Key Indicators of Well-Being

5, Source: ”Beyond 50.03: A Report to the Nation on Independent Living and Disability,” AARP, 2003, p. 39

6, Source: Wolff, J.L., Starfield, B., & Anderson, G. (2002) Prevalence, expenditures, and complications of multiple chronic conditions in the elderly. Archives of Internal Medicine, Nov 11, 162(20) pp. 2269-2276

7, Source: Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics, Older Americans 2004, Key Indicators of Well-Being

8, Source: ILC, 2001

9, Source: http://www.adgapstudy.uc.edu/pdf/February2004.pdf

10, Source: Public Policy and Aging Report, Spring 2003

11, Sources: Public Policy and Aging Report, Spring 2003; Damron-Rodriguez, et. al, Gerontology and Geriatrics Education, 17(3), 3-18