“This study suggests the daily lives of older adults are changing and, on balance, trends are encouraging, especially for older women,” said Vicki Freedman of the Michigan Center on the Demography of Aging (MiCDA) who initiated the project using data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study.
Over the past decade, the news has largely been good for older Americans: More people are able to meet their daily care needs without assistance and women seem to be thriving the most.
Findings are from a recently released series of online dashboards and chartbooks that tracks nationwide trends for adults ages 70 and older from 2011 through 2020.
According to the report, over the past 10 years, older adults have experienced improvements in physical functioning, vision and hearing, and, through 2019, lower rates of dementia. As a result, fewer are living in nursing homes and assisted living settings, and fewer of those in the community are receiving help. More are using assistive devices in their daily activities and the percentage going online for activities has also increased dramatically.
Read the full article, “Older Americans are aging better than ever, especially women.”