SOC101Y1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 17: United States House Committee On Oversight And Government Reform, Adult Daycare Center, Dementia
Document Summary
We can learn much about health and aging by reading stories of people"s lives. Sociology offers a lens through which to examine the social factors linked to people"s health and longevity as they age. Today, most canadians can expect to live to old age, barring accidents and wars. Once they reach age 65, they can expect to live even longer. It is not until their 90s that men and women can expect to have approximately the same number of years left to live. The fact that almost everyone can expect to live to old age distinguishes our era from earlier historical periods. In the past, some individuals lived as long as people live today, but never before has the vast majority expected to live to old age. The main reason for the increasing proportion of older adults in the population is that it reflects decreases in fertility; further declines in mortality are now concentrated at the older ages.