Problems Faced By Senior Population Essay

doctor, then what are they to do? They can not just sit at home and

Seniors, ages 65 and older, are the fastest growing population group in Canada. (“Canada’s aging population,” 2002) Two main causes of the aging of Canada’s population is an increase in life expectancy and the change in fertility rates between the years of 1940’s and 1960’s, this generation is now known as the baby boomers. (“Canada’s aging population,” 2002) In 2001, one out of every eight Canadians was over the age of 65, and it is estimated that by 2026, one in every five Canadians will reach the age of 65 or older. (“Canada’s aging population,” 2002) Moreover, it is estimated that more than 16 million Canadians live with at least one chronic disease. (Singh, Khan & Paul, 2009) In Canada chronic diseases accounted for 89% of deaths in 2005. (Singh, Khan & Paul, 2009) The demographic shift and rise in prevalence of chronic diseases will be a major test for the health care system of Canada which it might not be ready for. Canadians across the nation are forced to wait two or three times longer for necessary medical procedures than citizens of other countries who also have universal healthcare systems. (“Wait Times Alliance,” 2014) In a 2005 poll done by Pollara Strategic Insights, when Canadians were asked what the most serious problem facing the healthcare system was, the highest number of respondents (43%) identified long wait times. (“Waiting Too Long,”

Nowadays, the population of Canada is increasing year by year. According to my research, Ontario has 13.5 million populations, which is two fifths of overall and also approximately 1.5 million are older people. Five years later, population of the elderly might up to twice. In another word, Canada will have a tendency of step into the aging society in the future.

There is diversity among all Canadian, hence there is differences among the aging population. Not all seniors are aging well and have the appropriate programs and services to meet their needs. Some seniors are victims of abuse and some are living in isolation and poverty. Some seniors suffer from chronic illness and other socio-economic factors limit the amount of money they can put away for retirement. Hence these middle and low income elderly retirees will have to depend mainly on the pension plan that is offered between the age of 60- 65. The age of 60-65 is regarded in Canada as the age of retirement. This paper will focus mainly on the disadvantaged older populations. The disadvantaged older populations are those who are currently

While writing this essay, I have analyzed the strengths and limitations of the policies for the elderly. When I read different articles for writing this essay, I understood that elder abuse in Canada is not considered as a common issue rather ageism is considered as structural violence (Banerjee, Daly, Armstrong, Szebehely, Armstrong & Lafrance, 2012). Also, I understood that the very old with limited or no functional capacity, the poor and women are more vulnerable to ageism and this issue remains as unrecognized and untouched (Donovan & Regehr, 2010)

One of the most important issues that are threatening the prosperity of Canada is the aging of the baby boomers. The aging of the baby boomers will result in the general aging of the Canadian population. Wister and McPherson (2014) explain that baby boomers make up 30 per cent of the Canadian population. In 2011 this worked out to 10 million people between the ages of 46 to 65. In the near future as the baby boomers continue to age the number of people 65 years old and older in the population will increase significantly (p. 4). The aging of the baby boomers is an important demographic issue.

To advance my current knowledge of how ageism affects older adults in relation to healthcare, I will review professional literature and interview two elders for their accounts of how they feel they are treated by their physicians, social workers, and other healthcare professionals. The individuals will be from different socioeconomic standings to find commonalities and differences of their experiences. Ageism is a significant topic for all social workers to understand and recognize when working with the older adult population for many reasons. Fist, as a social worker, one of the codes of ethics we are expected to live up to in our profession is to promote the dignity and worth of a person( NASW, 2017). By doing this, social workers recognize that older adults have the right to self –determination and decision-making ability for his/her life. An older adult who is not offered the same form of treatment for surgery based on age alone, is a form of ageism social workers

According to statistic Canada their will be a dramatic change in the senior population in Canada, this mean that the entire baby boomer generation will become part of Canada’s senior population which is those aged above 65. Furthermore in 2010 statistics Canada reported that by the year 2036 the seniors population will increase to about 23-25%. This change in the aging population of Canada has a huge impact on the health care services. Many seniors require regular access to health care

The transition is from high-mortality high-fertility to low-mortality low-fertility. Since people’s life expectancy is increasing, this demographic change lead Canada become an aging population country. When elder people leave their working position, it results in a shortage of labour force. Moreover, after retirement, elder people begin to claiming pension, public expenditure will

The health sector in Canada has experienced a lot of challenges regarding to the seniors who are increasingly coming into being. This has posed a challenge to the Canadian health sector in general, although through proper health strategies the number has posed no challenge to the Canadian government so far. Provisionally, the health sector has taken a different approach in ensuring that the old aged are taken care of appropriately. The analysis of the different provinces strategies is therefore important in ensuring that the sustainability of the old aged population is achieved. According to the national statistics in Canada in 2011, the population of seniors who are aged 65 years and above was 153,705. Nova Cotia had the highest number of seniors totaling 16.5% of the population with Saskatchewan following with a percentage of 14.87%. However, by 2036, it is expected that the Newfoundland and Labrador will have the highest proportion of seniors.

As Canada’s baby boom generation begins to turn 65, attention is now focusing on the demographic trend that anthropologists have been discussing for years. Canada like many countries is aging. Life expectancy has been rising for decades. In 2006, people could expect to live to 81 compared to just 25 years earlier when the average life expectancy was only 76. Canada's birthrate exploded between the end of WWII until about 1965, this increased birthrate was due to an improving economy which lead to an increase in larger families. Canadian women born between 1911 and 1912 had an average of 2.9 children, whereas those born between 1929 and 1933 had an average of 3.3. These two generations separated by 20 years shows a 13% increase in the number

Canada is on the verge of running into a large increase in the number of elderly people who will need quality health care in the next few years. In fact, in the report “Canada's population estimates: Age and sex, 2014”, (Statistics Canada Demography Division 2014) it states that, “on July 1, 2014, 15.7% of Canada’s population (nearly one in six Canadians) was aged 65 and older... Furthermore, seniors would account for between 24% and 28% of the population by the year 2063”. This report targets the challenges the elderly population in Canada face in their health care system, how these issues are going to get worse with the expected aging population, as well as some possible improvements that will prepare the health care system of Canada to meet

Demographers predict that by 2061, 25% of Canada’s population will be over the age of 65 (BOOK 46). This will lead to changes in the social infrastructure of Canada. The health care system will have to adjust to support all the needs of the older people. The main type of ageism that is seen is inter-generational ageism, which is ageism between younger and older populations. The younger population of Canada is ageist towards older adults because they think they’re old and going to die anyways, so they do not want to waste medical resources on them. In the article, Dr. Beauchamp said that many of his patients were turned down from hospitals due to their age. However, he does not accept them right away; he examines the individual and examines their MRI and ultrasound images to see if there is anything he can do to help. Also, older adults usually contract chronic conditions which take more time and resources to cure, whereas health care professionals are focused on treating acute illnesses. The reason for this happening, could be that older adults are not included in drug researches, which leads to physicians not knowing how to treat diseases in the geriatrics field and not being able to provide certain treatments that may improve their patient’s life. Many times, health care professionals classify their patients’ symptoms as part of the aging process and do not assess the individual to understand what is causing

This paper will address aging population in Canada and the strain this will have on our healthcare system. The aging population will bring with it an increase in chronic conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, dementia, and heart disease. These are complex conditions that the healthcare system is currently not prepared to handle due to the lack of home health supports. This issue is important for the nursing profession because as the population ages, people have more chronic conditions and corresponding need for hospitalization and medical care. Canada’s aging population is not sustainable in our current healthcare system as there is a lack of homecare and health promotion.

Canada, along with many other nations, is currently faced with an aging population. In Canada seniors are the fastest growing age group and make more then half of the population. And the numbers of older adults are higher in rural areas than in urban areas (Menec et al., 2015). Rural communities exist throughout Canada where there are large aging populations and higher number of children, but there are fewer working individuals as compared to urban communities (Menec et al., 2015). Many rural areas are aging more quickly than its urban counterparts as many choose to move to a rural community for the slow pace of life, attractive scenery and smaller community areas (Spina & Menec, 2015, Menec et al., 2015). Rural seniors challenged with issue