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| -Image generated by Microsoft Bing AI |
Age Redefined
Expressions such as “ Silver Tsunami” so popular with economists and the press, imply that having a growing number of older people in the population will be a bad thing, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be so. Indeed, many countries are starting to see that as an asset, rather than a liability.
Baby Boomers are notorious for defying established norms. Now, thanks to modern medicine and research into exercise and nutrition they are doing it again with respect to established notions about ageing. For the most part they are living longer, healthier and more productive lives than their parents could.
Population matters – the organisation which favours reducing population growth for the sake of the planet, or at least a woman’s right to choose how many children she will have, suggests that we need a new way of counting – not by years lived but by prospective life expectancy. After all, numbers alone no longer mean much. Some people suffer from chronic diseases and even dementia at comparatively young ages. Others remain hale and sound of mind until much later in life. Indeed as my little AI companion, put it when I asked:
“Age is not a 'condition' or a uniform measure of capability or value. Each person’s journey is unique, with strengths and challenges that defy simple categorisation.”
Germany
I must say I was mildly shocked when I first returned to Germany in the 1970s after leaving as a child. Everyone seemed so much older and there were very few children, compared to Australia where there were lots of children and very few elderly folk to be seen.
Apparently Germany’s median age at the time was 34.6 years compared to Australia’s 27.5 at the time, but it seemed to me that most of the people I met were in their 60 -70s. However, Germany’s older people weren’t sitting around watching TV or tucked away in aged care homes waiting to die. They were busy and active. Some were still working. Others were out and about – shopping, catching up with friends, walking their dogs in the park, or going to concerts or travelling.
They were in effect, the forerunners of the successful ageing movement we see today. Age attracted respect rather than the slight stigma or rather pity, that it did in Australia. These were after all the people who had steered the country from economic ruin in the Post War era to prosperity.
There also seemed to be much more attention to preventative health rather than waiting to fix people after their health had deteriorated. One elderly aunt for example, was being sent to a spa by her health fund because she was starting to get arthritis. The meals were modest – much smaller portions of meat than we were used to in Australia, but always fresh salads and rich dark bread. There were no sugared cereals to be seen, but plenty of dairy produce -wonderful cheeses, cottage cheese and yoghurt. Muesli has its origins here too, but was widely popularised by Dr. Bircher - Benner's Clinic in Switzerland.
Although this particular aunt who’d had a difficult life, died in her 70s, many of my other relatives lived well into their 90’s and were or are among Germany’s 40, 465 centenarians and its economy has certainly not suffered. This demonstrates that having an ageing population doesn’t have to be a disaster. Below is a list generated by Bing AI as to the key factors in maintaining good health into old age:
- Having access to high quality healthcare including regular health checks and the elimination of chronic diseases
2.
Good nutrition – see for
example, the Mediterranean or Japanese diets with their emphasis on fresh, seasonal and minimally processed foods
3.
Active Lifestyles – it
doesn’t have to be formal. As someone on my Twitter feed remarked. “How come
Europeans don’t go to gyms, don’t count calories and drink wine with their
meals and yet you never see fat people in Europe like you do in America?”
4.
Social Engagement – strong
social connection and community engagement and support are linked to longer lifespans
5.
Effective Public Health
Policies - vaccination, anti – smoking
campaigns, initiatives to reduce pollution
6. Economic Stability –
I would add political stability and trust in government to these. Japan for example, has virtually had only a single party in power since the war. Germany’s has fluctuated more, but there is still the belief that the government is doing its best for the welfare of the country and is comparatively free of corruption and mismanagement.
As it stands the cost of an increasing number elderly people has been greatly exaggerated. In the European economy it has already been estimated at less than 0.02% per year over the next 40 years with many countries already taking that into account, prior to the pandemic, by increasing contributions to pension funds or raising the retirement age slightly.
Other myths include the idea that migration will solve the problem. Migrants will also grow old and in the meantime it can create worsening social problems such as housing shortages and loss of social cohesion, while adding greatly to environmental pressures and most certainly tensions, as we've seen in the UK, Australia and other countries.
We'll take a look now at how Japan is managing the ‘greying’ of its population.
Japan
We’ve already talked a bit about how Japan is meeting the economic challenge of having the longest life expectancy (84.95) and the largest number of elderly people including 146, 000 centenarians at last count and it expects that number to rise to 402,000 by 2054.
In addition to the financial adjustments Japan has already made, it plans to create an “Age Free” society where people are hired or retained according to their physical and mental capacity, irrespective of age. It is changing its laws to encourage employers to hold on to workers at least until the age of 70 and to provide support for companies which do so, as well as those which increase opportunities for older workers.
Japan is also investing heavily in keeping people fit and healthy for much longer.
To ease the burden on young people of having to care for elderly parents, it is establishing long term care homes, improving nursing care, providing integrated health care within communities and promoting policies which will help to delay the onset of dementia. It is improving the physical environment for all -including older people, by providing barrier – free access to homes, buildings and public spaces, so that they can remain independent for longer. [I’ve written a lot about Age Friendly Cities and Buildings last year if you want to see more on this].
Communities will be enlisted to provide opportunities for older people to be socially engaged in their communities whether working or not.
As to where its workforce will come from, it is investing heavily in the development of Robotics and AI. Having been the first country to experience an ageing population, Japan has invented a number of devices to help in their care. It expects this technology to become a new growth industry as other countries find themselves in the same position. It is also investing in sensor equipping homes to monitor vital signs and summon help in the event of a fall.
Some of these devices help to deliver medication and remind people to take it. Some even help with physical therapy as can be seen in the video and there are also those like Paro -the Personal Assistive Robot, who provide companionship and comfort to dementia patients.
Not a cat person? Perhaps you’d prefer Jennie the Tombot as a companion animal, though this one is American rather than Japanese.
Japan is as much concerned about the mental health of its senior citizens as their physical health and is sharing research with a number of other countries in Asia and Africa regarding nursing care related issues, human resources and disease prevention including dementia.
To be continued......
In Part (b) we will look at the some of the Tiger Economies and what they are doing to prepare for Demographic Ageing.
-Thanks to Microsoft Bing AI for image, lists, references and the quote
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