Why I Expect to be

Alive at 75

Americans Are Living Longer

Than Ever

What is missing from these

portraits?

What is missing from these

portraits?

• Roughly 40 million Americans over 65.

• Assisted living residents—1 million

• Nursing home residents—1.7 million

• Homebound elderly—3.6 million

What’s Important in Life?

Is it Quantity of Life or

Quality of Life?

The American Immortal

Is It Quantity?

• Aubrey de Grey,

biomedical gerontologist.

• He claims the first person

who will live to 150 has

already been born.

• The first person who live

to 1,000 will be born in the

next 20 years.

Some People Want Quality of

Life

• “American Immortals”

• Desire fuels push for

regenerative medicine

• Some want to live to

be 1,000

Compression of Morbidity

• Theory developed in 1980

by James F. Fries

• As we extend our

lifespans into the 80s and

90s, we will live healthier

lives

• We will develop disabilities

later and have fewer

disabilities overall

How Should We Think About

Growing Old and Dying?

• Part I—The Nature of Old Age

• Part II—The Nature of Dying

• Part III—The Meaning of Life

The Nature of Old Age

• Physical Disabilities

• Mental Disabilities

• Dementia

• The Expansion of Morbidity

• Decrease in Creativity

Physical Disabilities

• Between 1998 and 2006, the percentage

of American men ages 80 and older with a

physical limitation increased from 28% to

42%.

• In 2006, more than half of women 80 and

older had a physical limitation.

Eileen Crimmins, USC

Mental Disabilities

• Slower mental processing

• A decrease in working and long-term

memory

• An increase in distractibility

Prevalence of Alzheimer’s

Disease by Age

British Medical Journal

Americans with Alzheimer’s

Disease

Alzheimer’s Association

The Expansion of Morbidity

The Expansion of Morbidity

Eileen Crimmins, USC

Age-Related Loss of Creativity

• Research from Dean

Keith Simonton at the

University of California

at Davis has shown

creativity peaks about

20 years into the

career and then enters

an age-related decline

Caregiving Burdens

• In 2013, family and friends provided 17.7

billion hours of unpaid care to those with

Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

• Additional care for adults with physical

disabilities and dying patients.

Alzheimer’s Association

What Makes Life Meaningful?

Happiness

Happiness

• “U-Curve” of

happiness

• The people who rate

themselves as most

happy are ages 82-85

• Happiness is linked to

social engagements

and community ties

Happiness

• The study had a biased sample – it did

NOT include any person in a nursing

home

• Increasing happiness was linked to a

narrowing of goals

Happiness is not the answer

Meaningfulness is

Attitude of Patients with

Cancer

• “Best thing that ever

happened to me”

• Cancer makes them focus

A Meaningful Life

• We contribute to our communities

and families

• We enrich the people around us

• We feel fulfilled