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Most of us can agree that it’s a good thing people all over the world are living longer. The number of people over the age of 65 is expected to double in the next 25 years! But how does society adjust to a population that is getting older? In his new book, The Age of Aging: How Demographics Are Changing the Global Economy and Our World, George Mangus explores the challenges of global ageing . He states that “Ageing is not a problem like climate change or global poverty. Nevertheless there are costs to reckoned with…” IAHSA members are keenly aware of both the challenges and opportunities that global ageing presents. They have developed innovative programmes to help improve the quality of care society provides to its elders. You can learn about some of these stand-out programes on the IAHSA Web site.
For those of you interested in what’s going on in China – in addition to the Olympics and the issues surrounding Tibet – the Chinese Government has issued a paper describing its plan for dealing with its increasing elderly population. Entitled ‘The Development of China’s Undertakings for the Aged’, the paper outlines their official position on a variety of issues, including:
I. State Mechanism of Undertakings for the Aged
II. Old-age Security System
III. Health and Medical Care for the Aged
IV. Social Services for an Ageing Society
V. Cultural Education for the Aged
VI. Participation in Social Development
VII. Safeguarding Elderly People’s Legitimate Rights and Interests
I read BBC online every day to see what’s going on around the world related to ageing. Today I’ll share three articles focusing on research on ageing and ‘drugs’ – I call it The Good, the Bad and the Tasty.
The Good News: Blood pressure drugs help elderly – Imperial College London researchers announce that blood pressure drugs cut the risk of strokes and heart problems in the over 80s.
The Bad News: Medication ‘worsens’ Alzheimer’s’ – a research report from Kings College London says that anti-psychotic drugs have no long-term benefit for patients with mild symptoms and may even cause a deterioration in behavior.
And The Tasty News: Daily Caffeine Protects the Brain – in the past there have been conflicting reports on the benefits or detriments of caffeine. Now research published by the University of North Dakota suggests that coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body.
You never know what will effect your life. Personally I avoid taking any medications at all. But I do love a good cup of coffee. Thankfully I don’t have to worry about that, for now at least.
Last week I read an article from the Chicago Sun Times about the growing need for creation of accessible housing for the ageing baby boomers in the US – the Post-WW2 generation that will become the largest segment in US history to age at one time.
As they age and begin to hit geriatric roadblocks, some will need special housing.
Making new housing accessible is required by law – making new construction specifically designed to be lived in or visited by people who have trouble with steps or use wheelchairs or walkers.
But the term ‘visitable’ was new to me. And I think a good addition to the vocabulary. It means that the building is inclusive to everyone. It allows a person with a disability to become integrated into a community – to be able to ‘visit’. And these ‘visitable’ homes are designed to allow for greater adaptations as the owners’ needs change.
IAHSA Past Chair, Espen Aspnes is a Senior Advisor with SINTEF, a leading research organization in technological development. He recently visited South Korea to learn more about how that rapidly growing economy is dealing with the challenges of an ageing society. According to the Korea National Statistical Office, it will take only 19 years for the number of people over 65 to double from 7% to 14%. Compare that to 47 years in the UK and 76 years in Norway.
Given these daunting statistics, the Koreans are investing in technology in a big way. One of Espen’s colleagues, Changan Choi, market adviser at Innovation Norway in Seoul, issued a report on the trends and opportunities in the sector – with a major focus on technology. It is good to see how countries are sharing advancements. A good example of creating community across borders. Thanks, Espen, for sending this to us.
Overview of trends and opportunities in the medical and health sector
As I posted earlier this week, every 7 seconds there is a new case of dementia somewhere in the world. In 2001, 24 million people were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease or other forms of dementia. Researchers expect this number to rise to 43 million by 2025 and to 81 million by 2050.
The medical community has long been challenged on how to make a definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. Currently doctors use a combination of brain scans, blood tests and patient interviews, but distinguishing the disease from other forms of dementia is difficult, and time consuming, and the accuracy of diagnosis is only about 85%. A truly definitive diagnosis is only possible after death.
Now, according to a recent BBC News report, researchers at University College London have published findings in the journal Brain showing that, using computer technology, they can identify brain damage caused by Alzheimer’s with an accuracy as high as 96%.
Alzheimer’s Disease symptoms only emerge after a considerable amount of damage has already occurred in the brain so it is important to make an accurate diagnosis early to improve the chances of effectively preventing further deterioration.
Having a powerful, non-invasive, fast and cheap technology to provide early diagnosis would be a much needed advancement in the treatment of this terrible disease. The researchers are doing further analysis to understand the full benefits and accuracy of the technique and to see if it can be used to assess the effectiveness of new drugs.
We have our fingers crossed that they are successful.
Every 7 seconds there is a new case of dementia somewhere in the world. In 2001, 24 million people were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease or other forms of dementia. Researchers expect this number to rise to 43 million by 2025 and to 81 million by 2050.
These figures were outlined in a recent article about global ageing in the AARP Journal by Marc Wortmann, Executive Director of Alzheimer’s Disease International [ADI], an the umbrella organisation of Alzheimer associations around the world.
ADI plays a very important role helping national Alzheimer associations become stronger, educating the public about the disease, and serving as an important resource to emerging economies for developing resources to address the needs of their populations.
Three communities in three different countries – places where people live longer than anywhere else on earth? Is that possible? Yes, according to a recent BBC news report.
The remote Japanese island of Okinawa has a population of one million and of those 900 are centenarians, four times higher than the average in Britain or America. The small Sardinian mountain town of Ovodda is the only region of the world where as many men as women live to be 100 years of age, bucking the global trend. And the city of Loma Linda, California, USA, has citizens who live between five and 10 years longer than fellow citizens.
What are the secrets? Diet perhaps? Genes? Religion? Whatever it is, each city is the focus of research programs to see if there are lessons to be learned.
Finding an adequate number of workers has been identified as one of the major challenges brought on by the global ageing crisis. Ageing service providers around the world have recently felt the shortage and continually look for ways to address the issue.
Long-term care is hardly alone in facing the workforce shortage.
According to a study by McKinsey & Company, Africa bears one-quarter of the burden of disease around the world yet has barely 3 percent of all health workers. Millions of people across sub-Saharan Africa suffer needlessly because they cannot obtain medical care from trained workers. Fully 820,000 additional doctors and nurses are needed to provide the region with even the most basic health services. The money to hire, train, and sustain such an increase won’t be available in the foreseeable future. Even if funding materialized, 600 additional medical and nursing schools would be needed to fill the gap, and it would take more than two decades to train the requisite number of professionals.
McKinsey believes that to ameliorate the problem in the coming decade, countries in Africa should build systems based on thoughtful ratios between professional and paraprofessional workers. Governments can’t do so alone; the development community and the private sector also have roles to play.
To read the study, click on the link below.
Last week we wrote about a study conducted in the US about the financial burden US family caregivers face when caring for their older family members or friends.
A new report out of Australia demonstrates the widespread impact of caregiving on employment and job status.
The Hidden Face of Care prepared by the Taskforce on Care Costs, has found that almost half of Australia’s working carers are forced to take jobs beneath their skill or educational levels to get enough flexibility to look after the person they care for.
It also says that the balance of the total 2.5 million carers leave the workforce altogether. One in four working carers are forced to cut their hours because of the cost of having someone else care for their aged or disabled relative or friend.
And 67% said they would turn down a job promotion if it interfered with their caring responsibilities.
This is clearly a major issue and one that deserves attention. And it will only get more extreme as the boomers age. Help spread the word in your region and let us hear about what is being done in your area to assist family caregivers.
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