Exam 14: Basic Concepts II: Aging, Health Care, and Society

Today, older people are more likely to die from infectious diseases, such as influenza or pneumonia, than from chronic diseases, such as heart disease or cancer.

Aging is not a life-long process but something that only happens after maturity.

______ refers to the private health insurance policies that older people may purchase to supplement their Medicare coverage.

How did Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels, 1726) characterize the Struldbrugs, and how does this characterization assist in our understanding of the possible implications of population aging?

Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the Medicare program. What could be done to strengthen the Medicare program?

The majority of people over age 65 need assistance with activities of daily living.

The term long-term care covers health care and social services for those who need extensive help with daily life because of a chronic illness or condition.

Among all people over age 65, about ______ percent are in nursing homes at any given time.

Long-term care costs are projected to increase dramatically in the 21st century.

Only a small percentage of those over age 60 report feeling "very confident" or "somewhat confident" about maintaining a high quality of life as they grow older.

In 1983, Congress responded to the high costs of hospital care under Medicare Part A by introducing ______.

Once someone is admitted to a nursing home, he or she is likely to remain there for the rest of his or her life.

Many people fear the prospect of having to live in a nursing home. Discuss some reasons for this prevalent fear, whether or not this fear is realistic, and the conditions under which living in such a setting may be appropriate.

A multidimensional functional assessment involves which of the following?

Advances in medical technology are largely responsible for the large drop in mortality rates that occurred at the beginning of the 20th century.

Two thirds of all dementias are of the Alzheimer's type.

Precursors of late life suicide include which of the following:

It is thought that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to Alzheimer's disease.

Evidence from biology indicates that maximum life span is genetically determined and thus fixed for each species.

Chronic illness is much more common among the old than among the young.