Age + Health

Question 1

age - predictor?

what is j-curve

Answer 1

age is one of the strongest predictors of death + disease. common sense.
J curve: very early in life, dangerous, high mortality. drops v quickly. and slowly increases with age. once in older age, increase quite sharply

Question 2

what does j-curve look like now? why?

Answer 2

J- curve is reduced. infants still have higher mortality in first year of life but greatly reduced since interventions for infants became better.

Question 3

trend in death by age?

Answer 3

varies by age. accidents, congenital malformations, suicide in younger years.
older = cancer, heart disease.

Question 4

trend in disability with increasing age?

Answer 4

increased age = increase disability

Question 5

two reasons for aging popln

Answer 5

1. previously, infectiuos disease didn’t allow for old age. now post-epidemiological shift, more seniors, more ppl with chronic disease.
2. more seniors bc baby boom.

Question 6

what is the baby boom? when?

Answer 6

post ww2 - soldiers go home + establish family. large upswing in fertility rates.
now, “baby boomers” babies from that generation are aging = older + greater impact on health care.

Question 7

birth rate in Canada now?

Answer 7

low birth rate. not replacing dying..

suggests that could be trouble w paying for seniors health care..

Question 8

2 views of aging popln + burden on health care

Answer 8

1. the grey tsunami

2. unwarranted panic

Question 9

describe grey tsunami view of aging popln and burden on health care

Answer 9

increase aging popln + declining birth rate = too few workers to support health care needs.
- reform health care system now, before crisis + overwhelming pressure on system.

Question 10

what is elderly dependency ratio?

Answer 10

ratio of popln 65+ : popln 15-64.

Question 11

trend in elderly dependency ratios

Answer 11

steady increase in dependency. after 2010, projected increase is at great incline bc baby boom age + lower birth rates to replace those retiring.

Question 12

health spending per age in Canada TREND

Answer 12

j - curve. v high in first year when mortality rates are high. after 65, steady increase in health spending.

Question 13

unwarranted panic view of aging + burden on health care.

Answer 13

there is a problem that could resolve the issue.

• can be used to benefit society. 3 reasons.
  1. cost offset. 2. trend towards improving health of popln. 3. maybe HC does more for each senior = overwhelming

Question 14

unwarranted panic - reason 1

Answer 14

cost offset: share resources differently. less money into education bc fewer students + more money into health care because greater # of patients.
- taxes on furture pensioners finance future costs of boomers.

Question 15

unwarranted panic -reason 2

Answer 15

improving health of popln.

• baby boomers have lower rates of heart disease, hypertension + arthritis than previous gens.
• compression of morbidity

Question 16

what is compression of morbidity?

Answer 16

age of onset of chronic illness may be delayed = highest morbidity in shorter period, near end of life.

Question 17

unwarranted panic - reason 3

Answer 17

HC does more for seniors in past.
- lives organizaed around HC. good because catch things early + rpreventative. but maybe too much resources going into that. HC system not as effective or wise bc of this.

Question 18

general trends in health spending per age group, relate to popln growth. 200-2014

Answer 18

infant: stable popln. stable health spending.
middle age: slight decrease in popln, light decrease in health spending - not to same extent as decrease in popln tho.
old age: increase popln + similar increase in popln. altho similar increases, each 1% = 2 billion $..