Why is healthy aging an important topic?
It is not just about physical health, it is about your environment and the people around you
The baby boom generation
- When?
- Importance?
1946-1964
Changed the social structure by taking up jobs, social needs and health care
What effect does having more seniors than children have on our world?
- Changes the workforce - Less individuals going into jobs, more retiring
- More demand in health care
why is Newfoundland and Labrador the highest senior population?
- fertility trends
- migration (less people of working age)
- life expectancy
life span predictions
- decreased infant mortality rate
- Advances in public health
- Plateau of life expectancy
- Adding “life to years” instead of “years to life”
does living longer mean living better?
NO
contraindications associated with living longer
- decreased quality of life
- decreased physical, cognitive, mental and social health
- increase in common morbidities and comorbidities
aging and quality of life statistic
massive improvements in global life expectancy BUT proportion of life spent in poor or moderate health has not changed
what population wants to live longer?
MEN
what is the desire to live longer associated with?
- positive psychological well-being
- increased happiness, life satisfaction and purpose in life
- decreased risk of all-cause mortality (mediated by lifestyle behaviours)
- decreased mortality from cancer or suicide (mediated by lifestyle behaviours)
types of aging
- chronological age
- biological age
- psychological age
- functional age
- social psychological/ subjective age
- social age
chronological age
the number of years a person has lived
biological age
description of an individuals development based on molecular or cellular events
(can change based on medial conditions)
psychological age
description of one’s own experiences using nonphysical features such as emotions, experience and logic
*how you think and view the world
social psychological/subjective age
subjective age based on how old the individual feels
social age
the social roles that an individual had placed on them by society that determines their age
ex retired = older adult
functional age
a combination of chronological, biological and psychological age
types of functional aging
1st age= childhood
2nd age= working and parenting
3rd age= “young old” btwn age 65-84
4th age= above 85
*people sometimes skip 2nd age - also changes depending on biological and psych health
definition of healthy aging (WHO)
a continuous process of optimizing opportunities to maintain and improve physical and mental health, independence, and quality of life throughout the life course
healthy aging characteristics
ability to…
1. meet basic needs
2. learn, grow, make decisions
3. be mobile
4. build and maintain relationship
5. contribute to society
biopsychosocial (BPS) model
contribution of biological, psychological and social health on physical and mental health
history of SA - Fries
1980
compression of morbidity: typically have more illness when you’re older
Rowe and Kahn - 3 main points to successfully age
- avoiding disease and disability
- high cognitive and physical function
- engagement with life
MacArthur Foundation Study on Successful Aging
longitudinal study (1984-1993)
- how people define and perceive healthy aging over time
- believed interdisciplinary cooperation was most important for healthy aging
