A Life Course Perspective on Health Threats in Aging

A life course perspective lends to our understanding of health threats in aging and provides a framework for examining health program emphases for individuals in different phases of the adult life cycle. By comparing health survey data and health behavioral research on individuals in young adulthood, middle age, and older adulthood, the following three important observations may be made: (1) chronic rather than acute disease and disability pose the greatest threat to successful aging; (2) two chronic diseases, cancer and Alzheimer's disease, may have the farthest-reaching and potentially most negative impact on well-being of individuals and families as they age; and (3) health programs must address the degree of chronic disease and disability that comes with a rapidly aging society such as ours. This article is a discussion of these observations.