Should society be more active in developing alternative strategies for Research Paper

Should society be more active in developing alternative strategies for caring for the elderly - Research Paper Example Therefore, there is an additional momentum to make societies more active in developing alternative strategies for caring for the elderly population. Elderly population involves both, individuals who remain fit by adopting healthy lifestyles and others witnessing an intense health care requirements. However, demographic and epidemiological surveys state that over 85% individuals belonging to the age group above 80 years witness one or more health related chronic condition while 62% of this population reports more than one health related predicament (Anderson & Horvath, 2004; MacKellar, 2000). It becomes even more challenging for the societies to devise appropriate strategies for elderly care as UNPD stated that â€Å"the number of older persons has tripled over the last 50 years; it will more than triple again over the next 50 years† (UNPD, 2002). The trend in population is attributed to decreasing fertility and increasing life expectancies, life expectance increased by two decades since 1950 (from 48 years in 1950-55 to 68 years in 2005-10) while the fertility rate dropped from 5 children per women (1950) to 2.5 in present situation and is likely to reduce to 2.2 by 2050 (Population Aging: Facts, Challenges, and Responses). The fact brings to attention that over the yea rs there will be higher elderly individuals and less population of working-age which could directly influence economy and business of the societies. Thus, population ageing lift alarming and primary challenges. In order to deal with the coming events it is essential that strategies be designed to deal with such overwhelming situation. Strategies should encompass novel opportunities, in the form of extensive working years depending upon individuals capability and requirements. The present article deals with the formulation of strategies involving elderly individuals, organizations and the societies. These involve- World elderly population estimated by UN Population