An Age Friendly Community Benefits People Of All Ages

I have identified the aging population (greater than 55 years of age) in Chatham/Kent, Ontario (in a community I am familiar and work within); a population on the rise and with minimal government and Ministry of Health support that enables seniors to maintain quality of life,

The rapid growth in the number of seniors in America and around the world is creating a global demographic revolution without precedent. During this century, advances in hygiene and water supply and control of infectious diseases have reduced the risk of premature death much. As a result, the proportion of population over 60 years in the world is growing faster than in any previous era. In 1950 there were approximately 200 million people aged over 60 worldwide. By 2000 there will be over 550 million, and by 2025, the number of people over 60 is expected to reach 1,200 million.

According to the recent studies the older people as compared to the youth are becoming more economically and demographically attractive. However, there are costs of an aging population that the society bears as a whole. (Andrews, 2009)

Aging Americans, like other age groups, are feeling the effects of the declining real estate and stock markets, as well as soaring fuel and food prices. Seniors’ economic security will only increase in importance as the U.S. population ages. The nation’s health and social services resources will face unprecedented demand as 75 million people in the baby boomer generation reach retirement age—some with eroded savings and retirement accounts. Aging people of color are more likely than white

Cultural patterns are likely to change, as the average of age of the population rises and the share ever age sixty-five climbs higher. Younger will see more seniors everywhere like shopping malls, sporting events and walking around outside if they can. Older people and seniors are now welcome to continue school if they want to because colleges now are opening their doors for them. Some elder people actually try to complete their degrees so they could get a new career so they don’t have to retire. Between the ages of sixty-five and seventy-five are more likely to live independently with good health and financial security, they are called the “young old.” Past the age of seventy-five, are more likely to have money and health problems and tend to

Data from the Census Bureau tell us that in 2015, there are around 47.8 million Americans age 65 and older, up from about 25.5 million just 35 years ago; demographers predict that in another 35 years, there will be nearly 88 million Americans in this age group. The rate of growth of the “oldest old” population—those age 85 and older—is even more dramatic: Their numbers currently stand at approximately 6.3 million, but by 2050, that number will have almost tripled, to 18.7 million Americans. This population explosion is unprecedented in history, and the resulting demographic shift is causing profound social and economic changes.

The aging population is the fastest growing population in our nation. By the year 2030, it is estimated that approximately 61 million people will be between the ages 65 -85 and 9 million individuals will be ages 85 and older (Ouchida &Lachs, 2015). Perceptions of the elderly have slightly changed for the better in recent years, but biases and discrimination are still very widespread in our society today. “Ageism” is a phrase coined by Robert Butler in 1969 and implies a preconception, prejudice, and discrimination against older adults and can come in many forms.

Ageism can affect both the youth and the elderly, but in today’s times it is mainly focused on the elderly. The elderly are constantly harassed, judged, and stereotyped for their age. The elderly are viewed as disabled, has-beens, and basically serve no propose, instead of being viewed as wise, bold, experienced, and valuable. In the article “Putting The

While these aspects of society certainly do impact a nation with a growing older population, they are not the most problematic. Financial instability of the country should not be the spotlight of concern, but as people are living longer, people should be more concerned with that the typical life should look different in the future. With this in mind, the article proposes other areas of concern: lack of incentive for volunteering, little to no new education for older adults, and massive technological change with no way for older generations to learn how to use it. If these areas are not provided with change, it will ultimately lead to economic hardship for the elderly, due to the lack of new education and technological knowledge, which would, in turn, able them to work longer. If older generations were able to stay in the workforce longer, our aging society, which people believe may eventually not have a large enough work force, would be able to avoid this presumed

Relatively new to this research are the correlations found between living environments and improved health and well-being for the people who live there. Employment and business opportunities also arise to support and maintain services for this vastly growing cohort. Ideas are being put forth now to create urban communities for senior living that will embrace continued learning and service opportunities. Aging-In-Place models, where seniors remain at home and in the community in which they have always lived is argued in research entitled, Innovative Models of Aging in Place: Transforming our Communities for an Aging Population (Bookman). Membership in a community can build relationships and identify common interests and purpose, as well as integrated settings to help promote meaning in the “golden years”. Bookman states that this is a global phenomenon and that in 1950 only 8% of the world population was over 60. Less than 70 years later that has changed dramatically, with the largest increase occurring in the most developed nations. The many benefits are people who are not only living longer, but leading active and healthy lives into ones 80’s and 90’s. The wisdom, experience and skills of this older population are available to family, friends and the communities for many decades. On the other hand, there are also

To compensate for this, many are looking towards helping older adults stay in their home for as long as possible, even if they experience functional or cognitive impairments. This idea is known as aging in place. In the USA, 95% of adults over the age of 75 want to age in place. There are benefits and challenges to aging in place. The benefits of aging in place are that it improves perceived quality of life and is cost-effective, whereas the challenges include declines in cognitive and functional abilities of older adults, as well as time pressures on formal and informal caregivers who must visit older adults in their homes throughout the community (Connelly, Laghari, Mokhtari, & Falk, 2014).

Andrew Lehning, Andrew Scharlach, and Teresa Dal Santo discuss in their article, A web based approach for helping communities become more “Aging friendly”, that there are three characteristics to creating an aging friendly community and having a sense of purpose and self-worth are key components in this concept. By integrating seniors with children, we as a community are providing a need that the seniors are fulfilling which is thought to prolong the life of most in this proposed theory (Lehning,

Canada, along with many other nations, is currently faced with an aging population. In Canada seniors are the fastest growing age group and make more then half of the population. And the numbers of older adults are higher in rural areas than in urban areas (Menec et al., 2015). Rural communities exist throughout Canada where there are large aging populations and higher number of children, but there are fewer working individuals as compared to urban communities (Menec et al., 2015). Many rural areas are aging more quickly than its urban counterparts as many choose to move to a rural community for the slow pace of life, attractive scenery and smaller community areas (Spina & Menec, 2015, Menec et al., 2015). Rural seniors challenged with issue

According to the UN World Health Organization definition of aging over 65 years as "elderly", when the population of a region or country, the ratio of the elderly more than 7%, referred to as "aging society."

The American population is getting older which presents us with many challenges but also present us with potential opportunities. With the length of life and quantity and fraction of older persons rise in most industrialized and many evolving nations, a crucial question is whether this population will be accompanied by continued or better-quality health, an improving quality of life, and adequate social and cost-effective resources. This answer lies in the ability of peoples and societies, as well as modern social, governmental, financial, and health service delivery systems, to provide optimum assistance to older persons.