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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Caring for the oldest old | | Author(s) | Domhnall MacAuley, Zoe Slote Morris |
| Journal title | British Medical Journal, vol 334 no 7593, 17 March 2007 |
| Pages | pp 546-547 |
| Source | http://www.bmj.com |
| Keywords | Costs [care] ; Family care. |
| Annotation | As the population ages the costs of care will rise. This brief article reviews an article in the same issue by Robine and colleagues on costs of care for the oldest old (<85 years in this instance). In the United Kingdom, an estimated 3.5 million more carers will be needed by 2037 to care for those aged 75 and over. Robine and colleagues in their proposed four age model introduce the concept of the oldest-old support ratio. They make the assumption that the "sandwich age cohort" - the young retired - will care for the oldest people. However, MacAuley and Morris speculate as to whether the young retired will be around to help, or indeed, willing to help, as social mobility amongst families has increased and the roles and aspirations of women has changed. These problems apply to all first world countries where infant mortality and childhood illness has largely been replaced by the burden of care for the oldest-old; this being "the price of affluence", the authors speculate. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-070327203 A |
| Classmark | QDC: P6:SJ * |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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