Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The ‘New Era’ in Health

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Population Aging

Part of the book series: International Perspectives on Aging ((Int. Perspect. Aging,volume 3))

  • 2174 Accesses

Abstract

A revolution has been taking place in understanding how the goals of improving health and “adding life to years” might be accomplished. These insights have led to new theories and ideas relevant to explaining contemporary features of morbidity and mortality in aging populations. Chapter 4 (The ‘New Era’ in Health) presents an assessment of these developments especially in relation to the current stage of the epidemiologic transition and aspects of survival and health most important in the study of aging – such as the extension of life and longer survival through ages at greatest risk of frailty and disabling diseases. Issues of particular concern are: (i) the roles of individual and societal responsibility in the occurrence of health risks; (ii) the importance of lifestyle choices and social inequality as concerns for health policies; and (iii) and the nature of the leading causes of lost years of healthy life. The chapter concludes with a comparison of the prevalence of premature mortality and health risks in selected national populations. This leads into Chap. 5 which compares societies in terms of indicators of population health.

Health status is one of the most important indicators of well-being, and it predicts a large proportion of societal expenditures on health and social services for the elderly. (National Research Council 2001: 201)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare). (2010). Australia’s health 2010: The twelfth biennial health report of the Australian institute of health and welfare (Cat. No. AUS 122). Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, K. (2001). National strategy for an ageing Australia: an older Australia, challenges and opportunities for all. The Hon Kevin Andrews MP, Minister for Ageing. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barsky, A. J. (1988, February). The paradox of health. The New England Journal of Medicine, 18, 414–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blane, D. (2006). The life course, the social gradient, and health. In M. Marmot & R. G. Wilkinson (Eds.), Social determinants of health (pp. 54–77). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broe, G. A., & Creasey, H. (1995). Brain ageing and neurodegenerative diseases: A major public health issue for the twenty-first century. Perspectives in Human Biology, 1, 53–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunner, E., & Marmot, M. (2006). Social organization, stress, and health. In M. Marmot & R. G. Wilkinson (Eds.), Social determinants of health (2nd ed., pp. 6–30). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen, K., Doblhammer, G., Rau, R., & Vaupel, J. W. (2009). Ageing populations: The challenges ahead. Lancet, 374, 1196–1208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coale, A. J., & Demeny, P. (1983). Regional model life tables and stable populations. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cockerham, W. C., & Yamori, Y. (2001). Okinawa: An exception to the social gradient of life expectancy in Japan. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 10(2), 154–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, M., & Hope, S. (2006). Health service needs and labour force projections. In J. Boston & J. A. Davey (Eds.), Implications of population ageing: Opportunities and risks (pp. 221–251). Wellington: Institute of Policy Studies, Victoria University of Wellington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doll, R., et al. (2004). Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years’ observations on male British doctors. British Medical Journal, 328(26 June), 1519–1528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emberson, J. R., Whincup, P. H., Morris, R. W., & Walker, M. (2004). Reducing social inequalities and the prevention of coronary heart disease. International Journal of Epidemiology, 33(5), 1152–1153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fries, J. (1980). Aging, natural death, and the compression of morbidity. The New England Journal of Medicine, 303(3), 130–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruenberg, E. M. (1977). The failures of success. The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly/Health and Society, 55, 3–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howse, K. (2006). Increasing life expectancy and the compression of morbidity: A critical review of the debate (Working Paper No 206). Oxford: Oxford Institute of Ageing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis, M., & Wardle, J. (1999). Social patterning of individual health behaviours: The case of cigarette smoking. In M. Marmot & R. G. Wilkinson (Eds.), Social determinants of health (pp. 240–255). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis, M. J., & Wardle, J. (2006). Social patterning of individual health behaviours: The case of cigarette smoking. In M. Marmot & R. G. Wilkinson (Eds.), Social determinants of health (2nd ed., pp. 224–237). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B. P., & Wilkinson, R. G. (Eds.). (1999). The society and population health reader: Income inequality and health. New York: New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marmot, M. (1999). Introduction. In M. Marmot & R. G. Wilkinson (Eds.), Social determinants of health (pp. 1–16). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marmot, M. (2004a). Commentary: Risk factors or social causes? International Journal of Epidemiology, 33(2), 297–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marmot, M. (2004b). The status syndrome: How social standing affects our health and longevity. New York: Henry Holt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marmot, M., & Wilkinson, R. G. (Eds.). (2006). Social determinants of health (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrow, D., Clark, D., Tu, W., & Wu, J. (2006). Correlates of health literacy in patients with chronic heart failure. The Gerontologist, 46(5), 669–676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers, G. C., & Manton, K. G. (1984). Compression of mortality: Myth or reality. The Gerontologist, 24(4), 346–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council. (2001). Preparing for an aging world: The case for cross-national research. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2010a). Factbook 2010: Economic, environmental and social statistics. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2010b). Health data 2010, selected data, risk factors. http://www.oecd.org/document/16/0,3343,en_2649_34631_2085200_1_1_1_1,00.html. Accessed Sept 2010.

  • Oeppen, J., & Vaupel, J. W. (2002). Broken limits to life expectancy. Science, 296(5570), 1029–1031.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olshansky, S. J., & Ault, A. B. (1986). The fourth stage of the epidemiologic transition: The age of delayed degenerative disease. The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 64(3), 355–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Population Reference Bureau. (2010). 2010 World population data sheet. Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robine, J., Cheung, S. L. K., Horiuchi, S., & Thatcher, A. R. (2008a). Is there a limit to the compression of mortality? In Living to 100 and beyond. Orlando, USA: Society of Actuaries. http://www.soa.org/library/monographs/retirement-systems/living-to-100-and-beyond/2008/january/mono-li08-03-cheung.pdf. Accessed Feb 2011.

  • Robine, J., Cheung, S. L. K., Horiuchi, S., & Thatcher, A. R. (2008b). Is the compression of morbidity a universal phenomenon? In Living to 100 and beyond. Orlando, USA: Society of Actuaries. http://www.soa.org/library/monographs/retirement-systems/living-to-100-and-beyond/2008/january/mono-li08-04-cheung.pdf. Accessed Feb 2011.

  • Rogers, R. G., & Hackenberg, R. (1987). Extending epidemiologic transition theory: A new stage. Social Biology, 34, 234–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1998). Successful aging (large print ed.). New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadowski, C. A. (2010). Providing health information to older adults. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 21(1), 55–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Senate Community Affairs Committee. (2005). Quality and equity in aged care. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/aged_care04/report/index.htm. Accessed June 2011.

  • Shanas, E., Townsend, P., Wedderburn, D., Friis, H., Mihoj, P., & Stehouwer, J. (Eds.). (1968). Old people in three industrial societies. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stampfer, M. (2004). New insights from the British doctors study. British Medical Journal, 328, 1507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki, M., Willcox, B., & Willcox, C. (1995). Centenarians in Japan. Tokyo: Nakayamashoten. See: Okinawa centenarian study. http://www.okicent.org/study.html. Accessed June 2011.

  • Temple, J. B. (2006). Household factors associated with older Australian’s purchasing a varied diet: Results from household expenditure data. Nutrition and Dietetics, 63(1), 28–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Volker, D., & Caterson, I. (2001). Nutrition and senescence: Healthy ageing. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 20, 114–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wadsworth, M. (1999). Early life. In M. Marmot & R.G. Wilkinson (Eds.), Social determinants of health (pp. 44–63). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WHO (World Health Organisation). (1998). Health promotion glossary. WHO/HPR/HEP/98.1 Geneva: WHO. http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/hp_glossary_en.pdf. Accessed Jan 2011.

  • WHO (World Health Organisation). (2009a). Global health risks: Mortality and burden of disease attributable to selected major risks. Geneva: World Health Organisation Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • WHO (World Health Organisation). (2009b). WHO Statistical information system, http://www.who.int/whosis/data/Search.jsp; and WHO Core health indicators, http://apps.who.int/whosis/database/core/core_select.cfm. Accessed Apr 2009.

  • Wilkinson, R. G. (1999). Putting the picture together: Prosperity, redistribution, health and welfare. In M. Marmot & R. G. Wilkinson (Eds.), Social determinants of health (pp. 256–274). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willcox, B. J., Yano, K., Chen, R., et al. (2004). How much should we eat? The association between energy intake and mortality in a 36-year follow-up study of Japanese-American men. The Journals of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, 59A(8), 789–795.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willcox, D. C., Willcox, B. J., He, Q., Wang, N., & Suzuki, M. (2008). They really are that old: A validation study of centenarian prevalence in Okinawa. The Journals of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, 63A(4), 338–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilmoth, J. R., & Horiuchi, S. (1999). Rectangularization revisited: Variability of age at death within human populations. Demography, 36(4), 475–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sociology Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T, 0200, Australia

    Donald T. Rowland

Authors
  1. Donald T. Rowland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Netherlands

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Rowland, D.T. (2012). The ‘New Era’ in Health. In: Population Aging. International Perspectives on Aging, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4050-1_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation