The changing well-being of older adult registered Indians: an analysis using the Registered Indian Human Development Index.

The demographic aging of the Registered Indian population suggests that the social, economic, and health conditions of older Registered Indians will be increasingly important for communities and policymakers. We have adapted the United Nations Development Program's Human Development Index using data from the Census of Canada and the Indian Register to measure whether improvements seen in the knowledge, standard of living, and health of the Registered Indian population between 1981 and 2001 are also observed among Registered Indians of older ages. The absolute levels of well-being of older Registered Indians were found to have improved, but gaps with other older Canadians had widened, particularly in terms of income and male life expectancy.