Conclusion

These articles advocate being proactive.  To reiterate a point made in my Inspirational Woman post, the choices we make during our lives drastically effect us as we age.  This post will zoom out, looking at some of the trends facing social gerontology today, and what this means for the individual.

This image is taken from a report on world 

population aging produced by the UN.

The world's population is getting older.  This is partly due to baby booms, such as happened in the US.  This is also partly due to improved health care.  People are simply living longer.  In some countries, such as China, the senior percentage of the population is growing because of a phenomenally decreased birth rate (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011).

This will put an increasing strain on resources used by elders, particularly health care.  According to Social Gerontology by Hooyman and Kiyak, "In 2005, there was one geriatrician for ever 5,000 adults age 65 and older."  This ratio has not gotten better since 2005.  

Part of being proactive as the strain is felt on services such as health care is educating yourself about your options.  A growing field called telehealth allows a patient to send information to their doctor without ever leaving home ((Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011, p. 475).  For instance, if an elder has a nurse as a caregiver, a telehealth conference can be scheduled with their doctor, the nurse and a webcam.  Another way to use telehealth is to send information to a doctor regularly, such as daily blood pressure. 

Housing patterns for elders are also shifting.  In the US seniors are moving away from cities.  Some move to suburbs or rural areas, while others move to countries where their fixed income has more buying power (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011). Expatriot communities comprised primarily of senior Americans are springing up with increasing frequency, particularly in Central and South America (Gelman, 2002).  

This is something to keep in mind when deciding if remodeling the house using universal design is the right decision.  The lovely, spacious, three story house just 5 minuets from downtown may have features that no longer hold any appeal as one ages.  

With care and forethought, successful and healthy aging becomes much more likely.