America has a problem helping the aged enjoy a healthier old age with the current technologies that are available as outlined in the report available in the link below.
Quote from press release:
"This is the very first time that anyone has compared national health goals set for older adults over a decade ago to the current reality," according to Toni C. Antonucci, Ph.D., President of The Gerontological Society of America. "The report finds that we're living longer lives, but not necessarily better ones. But it also points out what we can do to help turn the promise of healthy aging into reality for older Americans."
The report also focuses on the growing gap between older Americans' physical and mental health care needs and the preparation and skills of health professionals who care for them. The report issues "calls to action" to increase education and training in geriatrics for current and future health professionals and to improve the diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions among the elderly.
The mindsets of the public and health professionals are not keeping pace with available therapies for improving the quality of life of aging individuals. Add this to the active discouragement of research into life-extension technologies we see from the Presidents Council on Bioethics and the outlook for the aging in the short term looks pretty bleak. It underlines the necessity for the individual to take responsibiltiy for self education of available therapies as they age and to become active in directing the future of aging research as acceptance of the concept that health must decline with age is deeply embedded in society. It seems the old, the weak and the weary have more than the effects of aging to fight and they don't have a lot of support coming from the government.
State of Aging Report
Edited by kperrott, 18 March 2003 - 03:47 PM.
