Health Economics and Aging

Objectives: In this paper, aging with its different dimensions is discussed. The characteristics of elderly's life in relation to individual, social, and changes meet aging together with attitudes toward it and major components of elderly are explained. Disease and burden of disease of aging as a central to the areas of Health and Health Economics will be emphasized. The influential factors on the growth of aging, policies and policymakers' responsibilities in this respect, also briefly is analyzed. Methods & Materials: On the whole an attempt will be made to discuss and analyze aging and escalating costs of long - term care of elderly in the context of social problems and phenomenon such as the quality of interactions between elderly and community, attitudes towards elderly and its consequences, as well as gaps between generations. In April 1995, World Health Organization, promoted a program on aging which emphasized more on Healthy aging rather than aging itself. This program followed several purposes including promotion of quality of life and public health particularly among elderly. This paper reflects the program framework in someway. Results: There is a need to reassessment of views towards aging, elderly's health, and their roles and functions in family and community. This approach may enable us to utilize the eldely's effective potentials and enjoy their experience to resolve some existing conflicts among genders and generations. Conclusion: The ideas of scholars either from Iran or from other countries extracted from literature will be the starting point of the present paper since it may help to provide a rather broad and comprehensive picture of life, which aging is considered as a big and important part of it. This picture, however, would demonstrate the weak points of services provided and delivered to the elderly.