Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

8
Self-Help Tools for Older Persons
and Their Caregivers
NINA TUMOSA
In 2006, 37 million people aged 65 and over — or just over 12% of the
total population — lived in the United States (National Center for Health
Statistics, 2008). Their median age was reported as 74.8 years (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2009). The size of the oldest-old population — those aged 85
and over — was just over 5.3 million. Once all of the Baby Boomer generation
— those born between 1946 and 1964 — reach or surpass age 65 in
2030, the proportion of people aged 65 and over will remain relatively
stable at around 20% of the population, even though the absolute number
of people in that cohort will continue to grow. The oldest-old population
is projected to grow rapidly after 2030 as the Baby Boomers move
into this age category.
The portion of the U.S. population who are more than 65 years old,
a population whose ages span almost 50 years, are not a homogeneous
group, but as a group they do differ from the overall U.S. population in
many significant ways as presented in Table 8.1.
Compared to the overall population, they are more likely to be female,
White, widowed, disabled, living alone, living in the same house as the previous
year, owning their home, a veteran, disabled, and foreign born. Older
persons are less likely to have a high school diploma and be in the labor
force but are also less likely to live in poverty. About 4.3% reside in a nursing
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