A fundamental issue facing the global community is meeting the challenges of population aging and achieving healthy aging to maintain an active older population and reduce the number of disabled people.

The focus of this book is on theoretical issues and empirical findings related to trends and determinants of healthy aging, including factors related to "healthy longevity" of the oldest-old, aged 80 and over. The group is the most rapidly increasing elderly sub-population and is most likely to need assistance in daily living in all countries. Chapters include both longitudinal and cross-sectional data from North America, Europe, and Asia in country-specific studies and cross-national comparisons.

Part I focuses on the definition, components, concepts, measurements, and determinants of healthy aging, and discusses the trends and patterns of disability and healthy life expectancy at the macro level. Part II addresses individual healthy aging, including its biological and socio-demographic aspects. Part III focuses on issues concerning the family and healthy aging, and Part IV explores formal and informal care for healthy aging through governmental policy interventions and community service programs.

Inhalt
Disability and Healthy Life Expectancy.- Can We Live Longer, Healthier Lives?.- Aging and Disability in Taiwan: Prevalence and Transitions from a Panel Study.- Disability Patterns for Us Elderly Nursing Home Residents Over Two Decades: Findings from the 1973 to 1997 National Nursing Home Surveys.- A Method for Correcting the Underestimation of Disabled Life Expectancy, with an Empirical Application to Oldest-Old in China.- Effects of Diabetes on Healthy Life Expectancy: Shorter Lives with More Disability for Both Women and Men.- Increasing Longevity: Causes, Consequences, and Prospects.- Individual Healthy Aging.- Age Differences in Allostatic Load: An Index of Frailty.- Aging without Dementia.- Does Apolipoprotein E Polymorphism Determine the Survivability of Vascular Accidents at Advanced Ages? Implications for Mortality Differentials.- The Danish Longitudinal Centenarian Study.- Gender and Healthy Aging.- Female Disadvantages Among the Elderly in China.- The Relationship Between Occupational Status, Mobility, and Mortality at Older Ages.- The Family and Healthy Aging.- Impact of Longer Life on Care Giving from Children.- Living Arrangement of the Oldest Old in China.- Longevity Among Chinese Consanguines.- Community Effects on Healthy Aging.- Socio-Demographic Factors Associated with the Use of Formal and Informal Support Networks among Elderly Canadians.- Variation in Cohort Size and Lower Mortality in the Elderly: Implications for Pay-As-You-Go Healthcare Systems.- Successful Aging Amongst the Very OldEvidence from a Longitudinal Study of Aging.- Needs, Provision, and Financing of Care for Elderly.