 |
 |
hello cyber siblings since i've just joined the 'over the hill' crowd this article caught my attention i'll even go out on a limb and declare that i think 'retirement' is a dumb idea in more ways than one i notice that this article doesn't tell us the percentage of all people over 65 who are in nursing homes i believe that figure is much smaller than we would expect as ron vetter might say there's a lot of 'spunk' out there janet > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > Elderly are enjoying living longer, study finds > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Copyright 1997 Nando.net > Copyright 1997 The Associated Press > > WASHINGTON (Mar 17, 1997 7:55 p.m. EST) -- America's elderly are not > only living longer but more of them are staying healthy enough to > enjoy it. A study shows a 14.5 percent decline in the rate of older > people who are unable to care for themselves. > > A national medical survey taken periodically since 1982 shows that the > percentage of people over age 65 who are disabled has dropped from > 24.9 percent to 21.3 percent, a difference of about 1.2 million > people. > > "There is total life expectancy and then there is active life > expectancy," said Kenneth G. Manton of Duke University. "It looks like > both are improving at the same time." > > Manton is the lead author of a survey study to be published Tuesday in > the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. > > The National Long Term Care Surveys analyzed by the Manton team look > at the rates of chronic disability among more than 20,000 people age > 65 and older. Chronic disability is defined as either being in a > nursing home or being unable to perform at least one of the activities > of daily living, such as bathing or dressing oneself, or as being > unable to perform at least one of the instrumental activities of daily > living, such as washing clothes. > > Manton said that people are living longer and remaining active because > medical science is learning more about treating the elderly. > > "We can deal with the elderly and the oldest old in new ways," said > Manton. "There is better diagnosis and treatment of the specialized > problems that you get in a very elderly population." > > Also, older people are now better educated in the ways of health and > long life, said Manton. > > "They are more responsive and they are better medical consumers," said > Manton. "They are more likely to preserve life style factors that > improve health, such as physical activity and nutrition." > > Manton said that the downward trend in chronic disability has been > noted at each step of the survey and is apt to continue into the > future. > > "I think the rates will continue to decline for the next 10 to 15 > years," said Manton. "What happens with medical technology and how > that feeds into this is speculative. But there is a lot of promising > research that deals with the major disabling diseases, such as > Alzheimer's and osteoporosis." > > Richard M. Suzman of the National Institute on Aging said the > continued improvement in disability rates shows "this trend is no > flash in the pan ... but is real and appears to be accelerating. > > "The finding gives us hope that we may be able to handle the > revolution occurring in longevity better than we might have expected," > Suzman said in a statement. > > The study noted that if the percentage of elderly people in > institutions in 1982 remained the same through 1994, the last year of > the survey, there would be a total of 2.1 million in nursing homes or > similar facilities. Instead, there are an estimated 1.7 million in > homes, or 400,000 fewer. > > Assuming an annual nursing home cost per person of about $43,300 in > 1994, the 400,000 fewer amounts to a national savings of $17.3 billion > in nursing home costs, the study found. > > Such savings, said Manton, have important implications for programs > such as Society Security and Medicare, and may encourage the building > of more homes designed to promote the independent living of the > elderly. Such facilities might have wide doors for people who use > wheelchairs, and other designs to make bathing, cooking and moving > about easier for the elderly. > > "There's a lot you can do to make the housing more elderly-friendly > and friendly to people with moderate levels of disability," said > Manton. > > http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/health/031797/health12_12637.html [log in to unmask]