Care of the Older Adult in the Office Setting

The aging of America is upon us. For decades, health care providers gave little attention to the tables and graphs showing the shifting age distribution of the US population while alarmists made dire predictions. But now, with the realization that the first of the baby boom generation will turn 65 years old in just 6 years, the contents of the tables and the trajectories displayed on the graphs give all of us a sense of urgency. The number of Americans aged 65 years and older has grown from 3.1 million in 1900 to almost 36 million today, and is projected to be 71.5 million in 2030. Even more impressive is the number of Americans aged 85 years and over: 4 million today and projected to reach 20 million by 2050