SENIOR HEALTH: New Report Highlights Racial Differences
Americans are enjoying their golden years longer, healthier and wealthier than ever before, but rising rates of chronic disease, as well as health and economic disparities between racial ethnicities, are large, according to a Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics report titled, "Older Americans 2000: Key Indicators of Well-Being." At a time when baby boomers are beginning their slide into retirement, the report revealed that by 2030, 70 million people will be 65 or older, increasing the number of seniors to 20% of the American population (Newman, Washington Post, 8/10). According to the Scripps Howard News Service/Richmond Times Dispatch, a consortium of 10 federal agencies culled data for the 128-page report released today. Key findings include:
- A tenfold increase in the 65-and-older population since 1900 -- including increasing proportions of minorities;
- A significant decline in seniors living in poverty -- from 35% in 1959 to 11% in 1998 -- although poverty rates remain high for women and minorities (26.4% of blacks, 16% of Asians and 21% of Hispanics);
- A 25-year rise in life expectancy from 1900, increasing from 48 to 74 years for men and from 51 to 79 years for women;
- An increase in reports of chronic disease among those over 70 years, including memory impairment and depression;
- An increase in the need for home care services as fewer seniors are living in nursing homes.
The report forecasts that these economic and health inequalities between white seniors and their minority counterparts will only continue to widen over the next 50 years, as the proportion of the minority populations grows (8/10). "There have been very clear improvements in health, economic status and education, and the increase in life expectancy is one of the crowning achievements of the last century. But it's a tale of two populations: Not everyone has shared in the improvements," Richard Suzman, associate director for behavioral and social research at the National Institute on Aging, said. Elderly whites are the most likely to report being in good health, followed by Hispanics and then blacks. Indeed, a greater incidence of chronic disease among minorities may explain some of the economic gap; in 1995, 67.2% of blacks over 70 suffered from arthritis, compared with 57.9% of whites, and more than 20% of blacks over 70 had diabetes, which was almost twice the rate for whites at that age. Robert Butler, president and CEO of the New York-based International Longevity Center, noted that the health and economic status of the next generation of black seniors is threatened due to the number of young black men in prison and the higher rates of AIDS and drug abuse in minority communities (Washington Post, 8/10). Among the Hispanic community, a high percentage of seniors report difficulty obtaining health care services, and although they are less likely to die from Alzheimer's, they receive flu and pneumonia vaccinations, mammograms and other common health screenings much less frequently than whites (West, Arizona Republic, 8/10).
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