Our Aging Society #1: How do we promote mental health now and in 10 years?
One in Four Ratio of Older Adults in 2030
Promoting mental health is an important topic to explore as we are facing rapid population aging in Canada. Population aging is a global phenomenon that is driven by a steady increase in life expectancy due to technological advances and a continued decline in fertility rates. How many centenarians are among us today? More than three times as many as twenty years ago; 11,517 today compared to 3,522 in the year 2001 (3).
According to Statistics Canada, the proportion of seniors over 65 had risen from 8% in the 1960s to 14% in 2009. Fast forward to 2020, over 6.8 million older adults are over the age of 65, representing 18% of Canada’s population. Projecting to ten years from now, by 2030, about 23% of Canadians (close to 1 in 4) will be seniors, totaling over 9.5 million strong. Good mental health enables older adults to live life to its fullest potential and to cope with challenging life events, while poor mental health carries adverse effects (1). As a society, we need to adapt to this demographic shift to empower older adults to maintain psychological wellbeing and promote healthy aging through equitable policies, evidence-based social programs, services, and community support (1). If you are an older adult or a caregiver to an older adult, or you are middle-aged, this topic will be of interest to you.
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing". - George Bernard Shaw
What is Aging?
Aging is a biological, psychological, and social development process (2) that impacts our physical and mental health, as well as the social engagement aspects. I will devote a few blog posts in the coming weeks on Aging and Mental Health. They can be accessed via these links:
Why would this be significant?
Imagine you were the driver in the picture. What would you do if you were driving home from the neighborhood but got stuck in between two slow-moving vehicles? You probably would not care too much about the one behind you. But you would be frustrated to have missed the green light because the old granny driving the blue Toyota Corolla in front of you decided to yield rather than make a swift right turn.
Every year, we can expect to be sharing the road with more and more senior drivers. How does that sound? In what ways can society support our older drivers?
Looking Ahead
I will explore the broader social and systems implications of older adults with mental heath issues associated with normal aging and those with diagnosed mental health disorders.
Do you have any insight on this subject? Or, are you taking care of elders in your immediate or extended family?
Please free feel to leave a comment.
References:
(1) MacCourt, P. (2008). Promoting Seniors' Well-Being: The Seniors' Mental Health Policy Lens Toolkit. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://healthyagingcore.ca/sites/default/files/2020-02/Seniors_Seniors_Mental_Health_Policy_Lens_Toolkit_ENG_0_1.pdf
(2) Segal, D., Qualls, S., & Smyer, M. (2018). Aging and Mental Health. In Aging and Mental Health. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
(3) Statistics Canada. (2020). Seniors and aging statistics. Retrieved December 02, 2020, from https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/subjects-start/seniors_and_aging
