Using the principles of clinical epidemiology, public health officials were able to
organize society to prevent the transmission of disease and premature death well before
the basic science mechanisms of such interventions were understood.
1
Using the same principles, the association between aging, disease, disability, and
social structures has been recognized for at least a century.
2
Community-based surveys in the 1950s identified a litany of medical, psychological,
and social ailments common among older adults. Since that time, dozens of longitudinal
cohort studies in multiple countries have reported similar findings: (1) most older
adults live independently at home and most of their needs are provided through informal
care systems; (2) these older adults suffer from unmet social and medical needs; and
(3) the lack of social, economic, recreational, and educational opportunities contribute
to disability.
2
These studies also revealed that conditions once thought to be inevitable concomitants
of normal aging were, in fact, preventable or could be properly managed so as to prevent
excess disability. A cohort study of older adults in 2013 would reach similar conclusions.
What continues to change, however, is this boundary between normal aging and disease
and, thus, the range of potential targets for medical or social intervention.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 02, 2013
Identification
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© 2014 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
