As the world’s population of people 60 and over increases, health care providers must meet the increased needs
When we say we feel old, we’re not kidding. The world’s population of people 60 years of age and older has doubled since 1980 and is forecast to reach 2 billion by 2050, according to The World Health Organization (WHO). The good news is that the ageing of the world’s population – in both developing and developed countries – is an indicator of improving global health. Older people make important contributions to society as family members, volunteers and as active participants in the workforce, WHO reminds us.
However, along with these benefits come special health challenges for the 21st century, and health providers – including your long-term care customers – must be prepared to meet the specific needs of older populations. Health professionals require more and more training on old-age care and chronic disease prevention and management, and society at large must be educated on sustainable policies for long-term and palliative care. And, the development of age-friendly services and settings is becoming more important than ever, says WHO.
The need for long-term care is rising. The number of older people who are no longer able to look after themselves in developing countries is forecast to quadruple by 2050. The inability to live independently due to limited mobility, frailty or other physical or mental health problems will mean that many of these individuals will require long-term care, including home-based nursing, community-, residential- and hospital-based care.
The main health burdens for older people are from non-communicable diseases, according to WHO. Today, even in the poorest countries, the biggest killers are heart disease, stroke and chronic lung disease, while the greatest causes of disability are visual impairment, dementia, hearing loss and osteoarthritis. Older people in low- and middle-income countries carry a greater disease burden than those in wealthier countries. In fact, older people in low- and middle-income countries lose about three times the number of years than their wealthier counterparts due to premature death from heart disease, stroke, and chronic lung disease. They also have much higher rates of visual impairment and hearing loss – problems that often can be easily prevented.
Good care is important for promoting older people’s health, preventing disease and managing chronic illnesses, and in years to come, WHO predicts health workers will spend increasingly more time caring for this section of the population. Yet, currently, most training for health professionals does not include instruction about specific care for older people.
Society needs to break stereotypes and develop new models of ageing for the 21st century, says WHO. This means creating age-friendly physical and social environments, which can have a big impact on improving the active participation and independence of older people. It also means encouraging healthy behaviors in earlier stages of life, including what we eat, how physically active we are and our levels of exposure to health risks, such as smoking, harmful consumption of alcohol, or exposure to toxic substances. And, it’s never too late to start. Giving up smoking – even later in life, between 60 and 75 years of age – can help lower the risk of premature death by 50 percent.
A new world
A lot will change over the next 35 years, according to The World Health Organization, which predicts the following trends affecting the world’s ageing population:
- Between 2000 and 2050, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 years will double, from about 11 percent to 22 percent. Over the same period, the number of people aged 60 years and over is expected to increase from 605 million to 2 billion.
- Between 2000 and 2050, the number of people aged 80 and older will quadruple. By 2050, the world will have almost 400 million people aged 80 years or older. Never before will the majority of middle-aged adults have living parents.
- By 2050, 80 percent of older people will live in low- and middle-income countries. For instance, Chile, China and the Islamic Republic of Iran will have a greater proportion of older people than the United States. And, the number of older people in Africa will grow from 54 million to 213 million.
For more information visit http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/ageing/en/.