The Silver Tsunami
By 2050, it is estimated that there will be more than 1.5 billion persons aged above 65 years (National Institute on Aging National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). In the US, the number of adults aged 65 and over is expected to double compared to 2005 and be around 70 million (Institute of Medicine (U.S.). Committee on the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans., 2008). Therefore, increased needs related to aging diseases are expected; these are mostly non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and chronic diseases mainly: a) cancer, b) diabetes, c) cardiovascular diseases, and d) reduction of mental clarity and spiritual health issues (e.g. dementia). Moreover, a so-called silver economy is expected to flourish (Gasiorowski-Denis, Elizabeth, 2017).
In developing countries, whereas there is low average income, it is expected to have more emphatic age-related issues, because a) a higher proportion of the population which will be over 65 years old, due to life expectancy increase and b) the financial status of older people which will be worst, compared to that of older people in the developed world. In the fifties, about 200 million of the earth population was aged more than 60, separated almost equally between the developed and the developing world. However, by 2050 it is expected that, globally, more than1.5 billion people will be over 65 and the higher percentage of these will be in the developing countries (National Institute on Aging National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011).