Aging. When you hear these words what emotions rise up in you. Are you afraid of getting old? Do you look forward to aging? Do you think of your grandparents and pity them or do you look at them and say I hope to be just like them. Your emotions may differ based on the environment you grew up in. In some countries, the old are revered, in other they are “dispose” of . For some people age is just a number as they are mobile and independent and highly functioning at the age of 95. For others getting old has meant more illnesses, disabilities and illness. Whatever the case, aging is inevitable. We will all get old one day. The question is how will we grow old? Will we need to be taken care of or will we be independent? Will we live a long prosperous, healthy life or one full of misery and disabilities? The truth is the way we treat our bodies has a lot to do with what kind of experience we will have as an older person. That’s not all on a wider outlook, the way our country invests in our lives now will determine our financial security as an elderly.
Click on this link by MSNBC to view this interesting article and video about Aging in America: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/ps/010524_AgingInAmerica/intro.asp?b=hi&0sp=n9f2
The State of Aging and Health in America 2004 is an article that discusses the current and future trends of Aging. It focuses on the health aspect of the elderly in America and what is to be expected and recommendations on how we can deal with this trend.
http://www.cdc.gov/aging/pdf/State_of_Aging_and_Health_in_America_2004.pdf
The Center for American Progress talks about some of the concerns of our aging population:
the growth in the number of older Americans with Alzheimer's,
continued age-based discrimination in the workplace
the continued absence of a national long-term care policy.
Other issues are the doubling of minority elderlies by 2030
Click on this site for more details:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/09/b183639.html
