Aging in Alberta: Rhetoric and Reality - Softcover

Northcott, Herbert C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1550592785 ISBN 13: 9781550592788

Publisher: Brush Education, 2005

Synopsis

Throughout the developed world and increasingly in developing countries, increases in life expectancy coupled with declines in fertility have resulted in the aging, or so-called greying, of populations. That is, seniors (usually defined as persons aged 65 or older) tend to constitute an increasing proportion of a given population. This aging-of-the-population trend has been widely described as a "challenge," a "problem," and/or as a "crisis." In this book, it is argued that the crisis definition of population aging is a social construction that in many ways misrepresents and distorts the realities of the population aging trend. An attempt is made to distinguish the rhetoric of population aging from the realities of population aging. That is, the considerable rhetoric surrounding the aging-of-the-population trend is challenged and scrutinized, and underlying assumptions, veiled motivations, and implications are laid bare. This book first examines the demography of population aging in Alberta. The book then goes on to examine the social epidemiology of aging in Alberta focusing on rates of service utilization and on local population surveys designed to assess need for services. Various political, economic, and socio-cultural issues associated with population aging and emerging themes in service delivery are then discussed. It is argued that the perception of a population aging problem (or crisis) is a social construction that reflects myth more than reality. Further, it is argued that the social construction of the population aging problem is fundamentally motivated by economic factors and by various vested interests rather than by demographic trends, per se.

About this edition

• Publisher: Brush Education
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1550592785
• ISBN 13: 9781550592788
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 200