Aging In America:
Coming To Terms With The Inevitable

by
Diane Wagner

Aging means acknowledgment of finitude: of limited time, a change in our organic being and an eventual end to life as we know it. This very thought means fear and denial to a major portion of our society. However, since the end result of denial is usually unveiled into some type of startling reality, our society may as well educate themselves about the realities of aging now and not later. It is impossible for any one individual to completely avoid being affected by the aging process. This process will eventually affect each of us as human beings, or touch us through the lives of those around us. Many of us will end up acting as caregivers for older family members and/or loved ones. All in all, growing old is a natural process that will impact everyone of us, and it can be seen as negative and depressing, or regarded as a positive process with growth potential.

On an optimistic note, aging may be viewed as an achievement of an abundance of life. In this century we have seen a remarkable increase in life expectancy. In brief, we have created societies in which most human beings born can expect to reach old age. Our challenge is to translate the exciting news of increasing life expectancy into maintaining meaning and an acceptable quality of life for this portion of our society.

In 1900, life expectancy in the United States averaged 43 years. In 1988, it was 71 for men and 78 for women. Astonishingly, two-thirds of all the gains in life expectancy since the emergence of the human species have occurred in the 20th Century, In the 1980s, the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging published the following trends and projections:

• In 1900, one in 10 Americans was age 55 and over, and one in 25 was age 65 and over. By 1984, one in five was at least 55 years old and one in eight was at least 65.

• The older population grew twice as fast as the rest of the population in the last two decades.

• The median age of the U.S. population is projected to rise from 31 today to 36 by the year 2000.

• The 85-plus population is growing especially rapidly. This "very old" population is expected to increase seven times by the middle of the next century.

• The elderly population is growing older. In 1980, 39 percent of the elderly population was 75 years old and older. By 2000, half of the elderly population is projected to be 75-plus.

• Elderly women now outnumber elderly men three to two. This disparity is even higher at age 85 and older, when there are only 40 men for every 100 women.

• The ratio of elderly persons to persons of working age has grown from seven elderly per 100 persons age 18 to 64 in 1900 to 19 per 100 today. By 2010, there are expected to be 22 elderly persons per 100 working-age and by 2050, 38 per 100.

• Life expectance at birth improved dramatically over the last century. People born today have a life expectancy 26 years longer than those born in 1900.

• Aging is an international phenomenon. The number of persons 60-plus in the world is expected to increase from 376 million in 1980 to 1.1 billion in 2025.

These statistics speak for themselves in regards to the significance of the aging phenomenon as well as the need to re-evaluate our stance and maintain or increase services available.

Aging is defined in a variety of ways. It is generally defined as the universal change process that occurs in all living organisms from conception to death. Changes occur in our physiological being, as well as our psychological self. Biological aging incorporates an abundance of changes. As crude as it may sound, it is true that the body is a machine and that, with all machines, it becomes less functional with age.

Physical occurrences associated with aging are directly correlated with functional limitations and loss of specific functions over a period of time. In addition to physiological factors, older adults deal with the related changes in cognition and psychosocial issues. Cognitively, elders experience a decrease in brain cells and elasticity. While cognitive functioning is ultimately extremely individualistic, many older persons will have decreased short-term memory, decreased capacity for new learning and decreased speed for processing information. Psychosocial concerns continue to be ongoing and critical. It is imperative that these aspects of aging be reviewed in detail because contrary to the other characteristics discussed, we have the ability to directly impact the psychosocial lives of the elderly.

The psychosocial lives of older adults can be highly correlated with their leisure lifestyles. As people grow older, their time availability generally increases. The majority of seniors are retired and have fewer family responsibilities than in earlier years. They have a greater need and opportunity for healthy leisure pursuits.

Unfortunately, some older persons are unable to reap the full benefits of their golden years. Some elders may become disabled and have difficulty adjusting to their lifestyle. Also, many older people are not aware of the resources available to them or the services that they need (including transportation and recreation programming) are not available. A growing problem relates to the leisure values of older adults. Some people do not value leisure as an important aspect of their lives. They do not realize the physical and emotional benefits of healthy leisure and that recreation involvement can help make a senior's life healthier and happier.

Growing old can be a challenge. It can also be an opportunity. The increasing number of older adults can be viewed as a triumph or aging can be seen as deterioration. Our seniors offer time and energy for volunteering. They present an ever growing number of customers, and age also offers experience. A service oriented field such as recreation can be directly affected by the increase in the older population. More importantly, our profession can directly affect the quality of life for the older population.

About the Author

Diane Wagner is a therapist at the Midwest Institute for Rehabilitation at Christ Hospital and Medical Center.