Defining Old

Fleming, Anne; Paoletti, Isabel; Hvalic Touzery, Simona; Kydd, Angela

Abstract

The number of people classed as the ‘oldest old’ is growing at a faster rate than any other age group. Projections globally show that the numbers of those classed as the ‘oldest old’, those aged 85 and over are the fastest growing cohort Yet, much of the literature on ‘older people’ and ‘later life’ classifies old in so many different ways as to render it a fairly useless term. Given that older people are living longer and have relatively healthier lives, it is surely time to address the needs of the oldest old and write about this distinct group with different health and social care needs. The authors, from the UK, Italy and Slovenia conducted a narrative literature review to explore the concept of the ‘oldest old’ or ‘fourth age’ as defined in the six top most non-medical rated journals. This paper presents the findings of the review.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics
• Start Date: Jul 23, 2017
• End Date: Jul 28, 2017
• Deposit Date: Sep 21, 2017
• Keywords: Ageing,
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/976876