Ageing Explained

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People worldwide are living longer.

Today, for the first time in history, most people can expect to
live into their sixties and beyond. By 2050, the world’s population aged 60 years and older is
expected to total 2 billion, up from 900 million in 2015. Today, 125 million people are aged 80
years or older. By 2050, there will be almost this many (120 million) living in China alone, and
434 million people in this age group worldwide. By 2050, 80% of all older people will live in low-
and middle-income countries.

The pace of population ageing around the world is also increasing dramatically. France
had almost 150 years to adapt to a change from 10% to 20% in the proportion of the
population that was older than 60 years .However, places such as Brazil, China and
India will have slightly more than 20 years to make the same adaptation.

While this shift in distribution of a country's population towards older ages – known as
population ageing - started in high-income countries (for example in Japan 30% of the
population are already over 60 years old), it is now low- and middle-income countries
that are experiencing the greatest change. By the middle of the century many countries
for e.g. Chile, China, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation will have a
similar proportion of older people to Japan.

A longer life brings with it opportunities, not only for older people and their families, but
also for societies as a whole. Additional years provide the chance to pursue new
activities such as further education, a new career or pursuing a long neglected passion.
Older people also contribute in many ways to their families and communities. Yet the
extent of these opportunities and contributions depends heavily on one factor: health.

There is, however, little evidence to suggest that older people today are experiencing
their later years in better health than their parents. While rates of severe disability have
declined in high-income countries over the past 30 years, there has been no significant
change in mild to moderate disability over the same period.

If people can experience these extra years of life in good health and if they live in a
supportive environment, their ability to do the things they value will be little different from
that of a younger person. If these added years are dominated by declines in physical
and mental capacity, the implications for older people and for society are more negative.

Ageing explained

At the biological level, ageing results from the impact of the accumulation of a wide
variety of molecular and cellular damage over time. This leads to a gradual decrease in
physical and mental capacity, a growing risk of disease, and ultimately, death. But these
changes are neither linear nor consistent, and they are only loosely associated with a
person’s age in years. While some 70 year-olds enjoy extremely good health and
functioning, other 70 year-olds are frail and require significant help from others.

Beyond biological changes, ageing is also associated with other life transitions such as
retirement, relocation to more appropriate housing, and the death of friends and
partners. In developing a public-health response to ageing, it is important not just to
consider approaches that ameliorate the losses associated with older age, but also
those that may reinforce recovery, adaptation and psychosocial growth.

Common health conditions associated with ageing


Common conditions in older age include hearing loss, cataracts and refractive errors,
back and neck pain and osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes,
depression, and dementia. Furthermore, as people age, they are more likely to
experience several conditions at the same time.

Older age is also characterized by the emergence of several complex health states that
tend to occur only later in life and that do not fall into discrete disease categories. These
are commonly called geriatric syndromes. They are often the consequence of multiple
underlying factors and include frailty, urinary incontinence, falls, delirium and pressure
ulcers.

Geriatric syndromes appear to be better predictors of death than the presence or


number of specific diseases. Yet outside of countries that have developed geriatric
medicine as a specialty, they are often overlooked in traditionally structured health
services and in epidemiological research.

Factors influencing Healthy Ageing

Although some of the variations in older people’s health are genetic, much is due to
people’s physical and social environments – including their homes, neighbourhoods,
and communities, as well as their personal characteristics – such as their sex, ethnicity,
or socioeconomic status.

These factors start to influence the ageing process at an early stage. The environments
that people live in as children – or even as developing foetuses – combined with their
personal characteristics, have long-term effects on how they age.

Environments also have an important influence on the development and maintenance of


healthy behaviours. Maintaining healthy behaviours throughout life, particularly eating a
balanced diet, engaging in regular physical activity, and refraining from tobacco use all
contribute to reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases and improving physical
and mental capacity.
Behaviours also remain important in older age. Strength training to maintain muscle
mass and good nutrition can both help to preserve cognitive function, delay care
dependency, and reverse frailty.

Supportive environments enable people to do what is important to them, despite losses


in capacity. The availability of safe and accessible public buildings and transport, and
environments that are easy to walk around are examples of supportive environments.

Challenges in responding to population ageing


Diversity in older age

There is no ‘typical’ older person. Some 80 year-olds have physical and mental
capacities similar to many 20 year-olds. Other people experience significant declines in
physical and mental capacities at much younger ages. A comprehensive public health
response must address this wide range of older people’s experiences and needs.

Health inequities

The diversity seen in older age is not random. A large part arises from people’s physical
and social environments and the impact of these environments on their opportunities
and health behaviour. The relationship we have with our environments is skewed by
personal characteristics such as the family we were born into, our sex and our ethnicity,
leading to inequalities in health. A significant proportion of the diversity in older age is
due to the cumulative impact of these health inequities across the life course. Public
health policy must be crafted to reduce, rather than reinforce, these inequities.

Outdated and ageist stereotypes

Older people are often assumed to be frail or dependent, and a burden to society.
Public health, and society as a whole, need to address these and other ageist attitudes,
which can lead to discrimination, affect the way policies are developed and the
opportunities older people have to experience Healthy Aging.

A rapidly changing world

Globalization, technological developments (e.g. in transport and communication),


urbanization, migration and changing gender norms are influencing the lives of older
people in direct and indirect ways. For example, although the number of surviving
generations in a family has increased, today these generations are more likely than in
the past to live separately. A public health response must take stock of these current
and projected trends, and frame policies accordingly.

WHO’s response
In accordance with a recent World Health Resolution (67/13), a comprehensive Global
Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health is being developed by WHO in
consultation with Member States and other partners. The Strategy and Action Plan
draws on the evidence of the World report on ageing and health and builds on
existing activities to address 5 priority areas for action.

 Consultation on Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health

1. Commitment to Healthy Ageing. Requires awareness of the value of Healthy Ageing


and sustained commitment and action to formulate evidence-based policies that
strengthen the abilities of older persons.
2. Aligning health systems with the needs of older populations. Health systems need
to be better organized around older people’s needs and preferences, designed to
enhance older peoples intrinsic capacity, and integrated across settings and care
providers. Actions in this area are closely aligned with other work across the
Organization to strengthen universal health care and people-centred and integrated
health services.
3. Developing systems for providing long-term care. Systems of long-term care are
needed in all countries to meet the needs of older people. This requires developing,
sometimes from nothing, governance systems, infrastructure and workforce capacity.
WHO’s work on long-term care (including palliative care) aligns closely with efforts to
enhance universal health coverage, address non-communicable diseases, and develop
people-centred and integrated health services.
4. Creating age-friendly environments. This will require actions to combat ageism,
enable autonomy and support Healthy Ageing in all policies and at all levels of
government. These activities build on and complement WHO’s work during the past
decade to develop age-friendly cities and communities including the development of the
Global Network of Age Friendly Cities and Communities and an interactive information
sharing platform Age-friendly World.
5. Improving measurement, monitoring and understanding. Focused research, new
metrics and analytical methods are needed for a wide range of ageing issues. This work
builds on the extensive work WHO has done in improving health statistics and
information, for example through the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health
(SAGE)
Fact file: Misconceptions on ageing and health
Some of the most important barriers to developing good public policy on ageing are pervasive misconceptions,
negative attitudes and assumptions about older people. Although there is substantial evidence about the many
contributions that older people make to their societies, they are frequently stereotyped as dependent, frail, out of
touch, or a burden. These ageist attitudes limit older people’s freedom to live the lives they choose and our
capacity to capitalise on the great human capacity that older people represent
. There is no typical older person
Older age is characterised by great diversity. Some 80-year-olds have levels of physical and mental capacity that
compare favourably with 20-year-olds. Others of the same age may require extensive care and support for basic
activities like dressing and eating. Policy should be framed to improve the functional ability of all older people,
whether they are robust, care dependent or in between.
. Diversity in older age is not random
A large proportion of the diversity in capacity and circumstance observed in older age is the result of the
cumulative impact of advantage and disadvantage across people’s lives. The physical and social environments in
which we live are powerful influences on Healthy Ageing. Yet the relationships we have with our environments
are shaped by factors such as the family we were born into, our sex, our ethnicity, and financial resources.
As a result, older people with the greatest health-related needs often have the least economic and social
resources available to meet them. Policy must avoid reinforcing the health inequities that underlie much of this
diversity.
Only a small proportion of older people are care dependent
Only a small proportion of older people are dependent on others for care. In fact, older people make many
contributions to their families and societies. Research in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland in 2011 estimated that, the contributions older people made through taxation, consumer spending and
other economically valuable activities were worth nearly GBP 40 billion more than expenditure on them through
pensions, welfare and health care combined.
This is set to rise to GBP 77 billion by 2030. Although less evidence is available from low- and middle-income
countries, the contribution of older people in these settings is also significant. In Kenya, for example, the average
age of smallholder farmers is 60 years, making them critical for ensuring food security. Policy should avoid
stereotypical views that lead to discrimination against individuals and groups simply on the basis of age.
. Population ageing will increase health-care costs but not by as much as expected.
Although older age is generally associated with an increased need for health care, the link with health service
utilization is weak. For example, despite the high burden of disease in low-income settings, older people tend to
use health services less often than younger adults. In high-income countries, there is growing evidence that at
around age 70, health-care expenditure per person falls significantly, with long-term care filling the gap.
One way of controlling unnecessary health-care costs is therefore to invest in long-term care systems. Enabling
people to live long and healthy lives may also ease pressures on the inflation of health-care costs since some
health care costs actually fall in advanced old age
70 is not yet the new 60
There is little evidence that older people today are experiencing life in better health than was the case for their
parents or their grandparents.
An analysis by WHO in 2014 of large longitudinal studies conducted in high-income countries suggested that
although the prevalence of severe disability (defined as a situation when help is required from another person to
carry out basic activities such as eating and washing) may be declining slightly, no significant change in less
severe disability has been observed during the past 30 years. Investing in Healthy Ageing is crucial for countries
to benefit from population ageing.
. Good health in older age is not just the absence of disease
Most people over the age of 70 experience a number of health conditions at the same time, but continue to be
able to do the things that are important to them. The combination of a person’s physical and mental capacities
(known as intrinsic capacity) is a better predictor of their health and wellbeing than the presence or absence of
disease.
Services that are integrated and focus on improving older people’s intrinsic capacity have better outcomes and
are likely to be no more expensive than services that focus on any specific disease
Families are important but alone cannot provide the care many older people need
While families will always play a central role in long-term care, changing demography and social norms mean it
is impossible for families alone to meet the needs of care dependent older people. Long-term care is about more
than meeting basic needs – it is about preserving older persons’ rights (including to health), fundamental
freedoms and human dignity.
This means caregivers require adequate training and support. Responsibility for long-term care should be shared
between families, governments and other sectors in order to ensure access to quality health care and avoid
financial hardship to both older people and their caregivers.
Expenditure on older populations is an investment, not a cost
Rather than framing the expenditures on older populations simply as a cost, they are better considered as
investments. These investments can yield significant dividends, both in the health and well-being of older people
and for society as a whole through increased participation, consumption and social cohesion.
Policies should be framed in ways that enhance the abilities of older people to do the things they value and to
make these contributions, rather than looking to simply reduce social expenditures
. It’s not all about genes
While Healthy Ageing starts at birth with our genetic inheritance, only approximately 25% of the diversity in
longevity is explained by genetic factors. The other 75% is largely the result of the cumulative impact of our
interactions with our physical and social environments, which shape behaviours and exposures across the life
course.
Many of the opportunities and barriers we face are strongly influenced by personal characteristics, such as our
sex and ethnicity, as well as our occupation, level of education, and wealth. Policies should address these person-
environment interactions across the life course.
Mandatory retirement ages do not help create jobs for youth
Policies enforcing mandatory retirement ages do not help create jobs for youth, but they reduce older workers’
ability to contribute. They also reduce an organization’s opportunities to benefit from the capabilities of older
workers. Age has not been shown to be a reliable indicator for judging workers’ potential productivity or
employability.
Moreover, surveys in the United States, for example, have found that the majority of people approaching
traditional retirement age do not actually want to retire. Despite this, many countries or industries still have
mandatory retirement ages. These discriminatory practices should be abolished.

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