What is Long Term Care | Trends
in the Field | Long
Term Care Overview
What IS Long Term
Care?
Our Aging Population
At the turn of the century, baby boomers were turning
50 at the rate of one every 18 seconds. By 2020,
those over age 65 will make up 20% of the entire
U.S. population. More than 14 million of these individuals
will require assistance with activities of daily
living. Long term care expenditures now represent
the fastest growing portion of U.S. health care
costs, with no end in sight. There is an urgent
need for innovative and educated leaders in long
term care--visionaries who will guide and develop
the systems for more effective delivery of quality
health care, personal care, and social services
to the nation ’s elderly and disabled.
Demographics
According to the Census Bureau's projections, the
elderly population will more than double between
now and the year 2050, to 80 million. By that year,
as many as 1 in 5 Americans could be elderly. Most
of this growth should occur between 2010 and 2030,
when the "baby boom" generation enters
the elderly years.
The "oldest old"-those aged 85 and over-are
the most rapidly growing elderly age group. Between
1960 and 1994, their numbers rose 274 %. In contrast,
the elderly population in general rose 100 % and
the entire U.S. population grew only 45%.
Between 1994 and 2020, America’s 85 and
older population is projected to double to 7 million
and swell to between 19 and 27 million by 2050,
making these seniors the fastest growing segment
of the population.
Trends
in the Field >
