TEACHING GERONTOLOGY Nov. 16, 2002 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx In this issue: - From the Editor - Health Care Expenditures - New Instructor's Manual - AgeLine Data Base Now Free - Web Sites to See - Are Old People Getting Poorer? - Facts about Aging - Newsletter on Human Values and Aging xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FROM THE EDITOR (HRM) "And Trees Will Grow to the Sky..." Every now and then a supposedly well-informed person makes a statement that reflects poor thinking, such as the following: "It's very likely that over the next 25 years, society will see serious and effective medical intervention in the aging process -- people undergoing such therapy will keep looking and feeling and acting younger than their calendar age. The prospect of individuals living significantly longer than the current norm will begin to open up. In fact, looking at historical trends, one finds that over the past century, we nearly doubled our lifespan, the average having gone from about 45 to 85 (sic). There's no reason to imagine that we won't do at least as much in the next century. If you double 85, you're at 170 -- so my bet is actually conservative." [Statement by Global Business Chairman Peter Schwartz in "Wanna Bet?," WIRED Magazine, May, 2002, p. 131.] Hmmm. What's the difference between "life expectancy" and "maximum lifespan?" It would be an interesting exercise to ask our students to analyze the flaws in the reasoning in this piece, which-- not surprisingly-- is the same kind of thinking that led to the dot com bubble (and subsequent collapse). The notion that "living to age 170" is "conservative" suggests that gerontology education for the public has a long way to go. For the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistical report on life expectancy and other health trends, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.htm ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ HEALTH CARE EXPENDITURES Will an aging population make society go broke? Will we have to ration health care on grounds of age? Some answers to these questions emerge from a recent article addressing the causes for the rise in health care expenditures. Economist Charles Jones notes that "Aggregate health expenditures as a share of GDP have risen in the United States from about 5 percent in 1960 to nearly 14 percent in recent years," and he goes on to ask, Why? Jones offers a simple explanation based on technological progress. Namely, medical advances today permit diseases to be cured, at a cost, that could not be cured at any price in the past. When technological progress is combined with a Medicare and rising life expectancy, the size of health-related transfer payments as a share of GDP must go up. See the article "Why Have Health Expenditures as a Share of GDP Risen So Much?" (National Bureau of Economic Research, Nov. 2002) at: http://papers.nber.org/papers/W9325 For more on rationing health care, see: http://www.pineforge.com/moody/ration.htm ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ NEW INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL A new Instructor's Manual is now available, without charge, for the textbook AGING: CONCEPTS AND CONTROVERSIES. The Instructor's Manual contains pedagogical ideas, classroom activities, sample test questions for chapters in the book, and other resources helpful in teaching gerontology. Professors using the textbook can contact the publisher, Pine Forge Press (Sage), to get a free copy of the Instructor's Manual. To request your copy of the Manual, contact: Kristin Snow at Kristin.Snow@sagepub.com Faculty considering adoption of AGING: CONCEPTS AND CONTROVERSIES can also get the Instructor's Manual and an examination copy of the textbook by contacting the publisher. ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ AGELINE DATABASE NOW AVAILABLE FREE Do you need up-to-date bibliographical references gerontology? A valuable resource is now available at no cost. AGELINE is a searchable electronic database containing detailed summaries of publications about older adults and aging, including books, journal and magazine articles, and research reports. Until recently, AgeLine was available only by subscription through CD-ROM at $ 1,000 a year. Now the entire database is available free from AARP. Visit the AgeLine site at: http://research.aarp.org/ageline/home.html ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ WEB SITES TO SEE GERIATRICS ON LINE. The "Geriatrics Resource Guide" is an on-line encyclopedia for geriatric medical issues. Maintained by the Buehler Center on Aging at Northwestern University. This web- based e-book contains links to other web resources of value. Available at: http://www.galter.nwu.edu/geriatrics/ SOCIAL WORK & AGING. For an annotated "Working Bibliography on Social Work and Aging" visit: http://www.cswe.org/sage-sw/aboutswaging/annotatedbib.htm STATISTICS. Internet Resources for Statistical Information is available at: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/med/healthstat/age.html#Internet%2 0Resources ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ ARE OLD PEOPLE GETTING POORER? "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the poorest group of all?" It's not an easy question to answer, especially if you compare poverty rates and age groups in different countries. The Luxembourg Income Study sheds light on the question "Getting Older, Getting Poorer? A Study of the Earnings, Pensions, Assets and Living Arrangements of Older People in Nine Countries," by Atsuhiro Yamada and Bernard Casey. Go to Working Paper No. 314 available at: http://www.lisproject.org/publications/wpapersg.htm Poverty rates among the old are an important dimension of the debate "Should Age or Need be a Basis for Entitlement?" For more on this, see: http://www.pineforge.com/moody/entitle.htm For "Poverty Rates by Age" (1959 - 1996) see: http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/poverty96/povage96.html ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ FACTS ABOUT AGING RIDE IN LUXURY: The average age of buyers of American-made luxury cars is 65. OR TRAVEL BY OTHER MEANS: People over 50, rich or poor, are the biggest travelers: 70% of cruise passengers are over age 50, but so are 70% of bus passengers. MORE BAD NEWS FOR MEN: The death rate for males is higher than females at every age throughout life, even before birth (!) (Oh well, at least failure isn't always due to bad habits or something we did wrong). On gender differences. Question: Why are there ten million sperm and only one egg? Answer: Because the sperm won't ask for directions. ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ NEWSLETTER ON HUMAN VALUES AND AGING The "Human Values in Aging UPDATE" e-newsletter is available upon request at no charge. Monthly issues cover lifelong learning, ethics and aging, life enrichment programs, and related issues. For a sample issue or subscription, contact: valuesinaging@yahoo.com ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ 4th EDITION OF TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE The 4th edition of AGING: CONCEPTS and CONTROVERSIES (Pine Forge Press, Sage Publications, 2002) is now available. The book presents gerontology through "great debates" around topics such as assisted suicide, privatizing Social Security, extension of the human lifespan, and the search for meaning in later life. Details about the new, fourth edition are available at http://www.pineforge.com/ Copies of AGING: CONCEPTS and CONTROVERSIES are available at no charge for college faculty to consider for course adoption. For questions about how to get review copies, call Sage Publications for Customer Care at 1-800-818-7243 (805-499-9774 outside the U.S.) or e-mail textbooks@sagepub.com. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This electronic newsletter, edited by Harry (Rick) Moody, is published by the Institute for Human Values in Aging in cooperation with Pine Forge Press (Sage Publications). TEACHING GERONTOLOGY contains items of interest to improve the teaching of aging. To submit items or request subscription changes, contact teachgero@yahoo.com (c) Copyright 2002; all rights reserved. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx