Facts and figures
- All countries face significant challenges in ensuring that their health and social care systems are prepared to face this demographic change.
- By 2050, 80% of older people will live in low- and middle-income countries.
- The pace of population aging is much faster than in the past.
- In 2020, the number of people aged 60 and over exceeded the number of children under five years old.
- Between 2015 and 2050, the percentage of the planet’s inhabitants over 60 years of age will almost double, going from 12% to 22%.
Overview
All over the world, people are living longer than ever before. Today, most of the population has a life expectancy equal to or greater than 60 years. Every country in the world is experiencing an increase in both the number and proportion of older people in the population.
In 2030, one in six people in the world will be 60 years old or older. By that time, the population group aged 60 and older will have risen from 1 billion in 2020 to 1.4 billion. By 2050, the global population of people aged 60 and over will have doubled to 2.1 billion. The number of people aged 80 and over is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050, reaching 426 million.
This shift in the distribution of countries’ populations toward older ages—known as population aging—began in high-income countries (in Japan, for example, 30% of the population is already older). 60 years), but the most important changes are currently being seen in low- and middle-income countries. By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population over 60 will live in low- and middle-income countries.
Understanding aging
From a biological point of view, aging is the result of the accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time, leading to a gradual decline in physical and mental abilities, an increased risk of disease. and, ultimately, death. These changes are neither linear nor uniform, and their link to a person’s age in years is rather relative. The diversity seen in old age is not a matter of chance. Beyond biological changes, aging is usually associated with other life transitions, such as retirement, moving to more appropriate housing, and the death of friends and partners.
Common Conditions Associated with Aging
The most common conditions of old age include hearing loss, cataracts and refractive errors, back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, depression and dementia. As you age, the likelihood of experiencing several conditions at the same time increases.
Old age is also characterized by the appearance of several complex health conditions that are commonly known as geriatric syndromes. They typically result from multiple underlying factors including, but not limited to, frailty, urinary incontinence, falls, delirious states, and pressure ulcers.
Factors that influence healthy aging
Extending life expectancy offers opportunities, not only for older people and their families, but also for societies as a whole. In these additional years of life, new activities can be undertaken, such as continuing studies, starting a new profession or taking up old hobbies. On the other hand, older people contribute in many ways to their families and communities. However, the extent of those opportunities and contributions depends largely on one factor: health.
The evidence indicates that the proportion of life spent in good health has remained virtually constant, implying that additional years are marked by poor health. When people are able to live those extra years of life in good health and in a supportive environment, their ability to do what they value most is barely distinguishable from that of a younger person. On the other hand, if these additional years are dominated by the decline in physical and mental capacity, the implications for older people and for society become more negative.
Although some of the variations in the health of older people are due to genetics, the most influential factors have to do with the physical and social environment, particularly housing, neighborhood and community, as well as personal characteristics such as age. sex, ethnicity or socioeconomic level. The environment in which one lives during childhood – or even in the embryonic phase –, in combination with personal characteristics, has long-term effects on aging.
Physical and social environments can affect health directly or through the creation of barriers or incentives that impact health-related opportunities, decisions, and habits. Maintaining healthy habits throughout life, in particular following a balanced diet, engaging in regular physical activity and abstaining from tobacco use, helps reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases, improve physical and mental capacity and delay drug dependence. care.
Supportive environments, both physical and social, also make it easier for people to carry out the activities that are important to them, despite the loss of faculties. The availability of safe and accessible buildings and public transport, as well as places that are easy to walk, are examples of enabling environments. In formulating a public health response to aging, it is important to take into account not only the individual and environmental elements that buffer the losses associated with old age, but also those that can reinforce recovery, adaptation and psychosocial growth.
Difficulties in responding to population aging
There is no such thing as the “typical” older person. Some octogenarians have physical and mental abilities similar to those of many thirty-somethings. Other people, however, suffer considerable deterioration at much younger ages. A comprehensive public health response must address the enormous differences that exist in the experiences and needs of older people.
The diversity seen in old age is not a matter of chance. To a large extent it is due to the physical and social environments in which people find themselves, since that environment influences their opportunities and health-related habits. The relationship we maintain with our environment is determined by personal characteristics such as the family we were born into, our sex and ethnicity, and this gives rise to inequalities in our relationship with health.
Older people are often assumed to be frail or dependent and a burden on society. Public health professionals, as well as society in general, must confront these and other ageist attitudes, as they can lead to discrimination and affect policy formulation and the creation of opportunities for older people. Enjoy healthy aging.
Globalization, technological advances (for example, in transportation and communications), urbanization, migration and changes in gender norms influence the lives of older people in both direct and indirect ways. A public health response must take stock of current and future trends and frame its policies accordingly.
WHO response
The United Nations General Assembly declared the period 2021-2030 as the Decade of Healthy Aging and asked the WHO to lead its implementation. The United Nations Decade of Healthy Aging is a global collaborative project that aims to bring together the efforts of governments, civil society, international organizations, professionals, academia, the media and the private sector to carry out concerted, catalytic and collaborative action over 10 years aimed at promoting longer and healthier lives.
The Decade is based on the WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Aging and the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging, and is a support for the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Goals. of Sustainable Development of the United Nations.
The United Nations Decade of Healthy Aging (2021-2030) aims to reduce health inequalities and improve the lives of older people, their families and their communities through collective action in four spheres: changing our way of thinking, feeling and acting in relation to age and ageism; develop communities in ways that foster the capabilities of older people; provide person-centred integrated care and primary health care services that respond to the needs of older people; and provide access to long-term care for seniors who need it.