Aging Produces a Heterogeneous Population
Aging is actually a series of processes that begin with life and continue throughout the life cycle.
As we move through the processes, we become more and more different from everyone else.
Thus, it is noted that the aging population is a very heterogeneous population.
What makes individuals, as they age, different from one another is a combination of many factors (for example, place of birth, place of residence, marital status, the foods eaten and not eaten, education, heredity, physical and mental health, family size and composition). There is also a time period effect on an individual. A person's age when he or she experiences a particular time period (for example, the Great Depression; the assassinations of JFK, MLK, Jr. and RFK; the events of 9/11) also influences how they age.
In sum, the factors that influence the manner in which people age are too numerous to mention here.
Because of the burgeoning size and heterogeneous nature of our nations aging population, there is a rapidly increasing need to understand both the normal aging processes and the consequences of aging on the population.
Where once it was unusual for families to have three living generations, now it is not unusual for families to have four living generations.
Many persons experience full lives for two to four decades past 60 years of age. In fact, they are quite capable of enjoying life fully until the end of their lives.
For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress,
And as the evening twilight fades away,
The sky is filled with stars invisible by day.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Thanks for your visit,
Riverwatch
Thanks for your visit,
Riverwatch
