The report was prepared by Wan He, Ph. About the National Institute on Aging: The NIA leads the federal government effort conducting and supporting research on aging and the health and well-being of older people. For more information on research, aging, and health, go to www. Department of Health and Human Services. A swelling senior citizen population equals higher patient volumes, which will further upset the supply and demand balance of healthcare, a problem that's already at a tipping point due to U.
By , US providers will face a collective shortage of about , home health aides, , nursing assistants, and 29, nurse practitioners, Mercer estimates. Despite the grim forecast, the future of our aging population is not hopeless. Several digital technologies already in the healthcare space will become more prevalent in the coming years to help reduce costs.
Arguably the most potentially impactful change is home care. And aside from remaining in a comfortable and known environment, it's also a massive cost savings. Consider these national averages from the U. Department of Health and Human Services :. But how exactly can home care reduce costs? First, we have telehealth , which simply refers to the use of mobile technology to allow medical professionals to monitor their patients outside of traditional clinical settings, such as hospitals and doctor's offices.
And with Medicare telehealth regulations loosening, its popularity will only increase. A subset of that is remote patient monitoring RPM , the specific technology used to electronically transmit information between patients and physicians, and it is just one delivery system within the broader telehealth industry. Common examples of remote patient monitoring devices include voice apps that remind diabetes patients to take their insulin.
These same apps allow their doctors to monitor their conditions. Older adults are working longer. By , 24 percent of men and about 16 percent of women ages 65 and older were in the labor force.
These levels are projected to rise further by , to 26 percent for men and 18 percent for women. Many parts of the country—especially counties in the rural Midwest—are aging in place because disproportionate shares of young people have moved elsewhere. Education levels are increasing. By , this share had risen to 29 percent.
Average U. The gender gap in life expectancy is narrowing. Improvements in life expectancy have also propelled the increase in the older population. Between and , life expectancy at birth increased from 51 years to 74 years for men and from 58 years to 80 years for women, primarily through reductions in infant, childhood, and early adult mortality. Longevity gains since , fueled by declining death rates at older ages, have been slower, especially for women. Life expectancy's future course is uncertain but could grow dramatically.
Some experts claim that half of girls born today will live until age Vaupel Older Americans are also living longer.
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