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Over the next 25 years, the aging of the Canadian population will increase dramatically, as baby-boomers enter late life. The proportion of the population over the age of 65 will grow from the current 13% to 21% by the year 2026. This demographic transformation of Canadian Society has profound consequences for all aspects of individual, community, and national life. It also reflects the imperative that research on aging be at the forefront of the health research agenda in Canada. Through consultations with researchers and various stakeholders, the Institute of Aging identifies five priority areas for research on aging and health:
Each of these priorities will embrace research across all four CIHR types of health research.
Healthy and successful aging
The increase in the proportion of older Canadians creates an extraordinary opportunity to empower people to arrive at older ages in better health and closer to a state of fully realized well-being, to seek the full inclusion and participation of older people in society; to enable older people to contribute more effectively to their communities and to the development of society. Research is needed on the determinants of healthy and successful aging, including:
Biological mechanisms of aging
The biological mechanisms of aging are not well understood. Most of the work in this area has focused on age-related diseases (e.g., cancer, atherosclerosis), rather than on aging itself. For centuries, people have dreamed of finding the Fountain of Youth and the secret of maintaining anatomical and physiological integrity with aging. With the progress in genetics, genomics and molecular biology, it is now possible to hope for major progress in understanding and influencing the mechanisms of aging.
Research in this area needs to target:
Cognitive impairment in aging
Aging is associated with a high prevalence of cognitive impairment. It is estimated that 16% of people over 65 suffer from cognitive impairment, in addition to 8% presenting a degenerative brain disease such as dementia. This prevalence increases exponentially with age to figures of 30% (cognitive impairment) and 35% (dementia), after age 85. These problems not only threaten the quality of life of older people but also have an impact on the family and caregivers, as well as representing challenges to health services. The Institute will lead the development of a National Research Strategy on Cognitive Impairment in Aging encompassing:
Aging and maintenance of functional autonomy
Over the last century, life expectancy has increased dramatically, contributing to the aging of the population. However, disability-free life expectancy has not increased proportionately. In 1996, Canadian women reaching the age of 65 could expect to live another 20 years but only 12 of these would be spent without disability. Canadian men at 65 could expect to live for 11 years without disability out of an expected total of 16 additional years of life. The challenge is to compress the period of disability and to improve the quality of life, instead of simply prolonging life. The focus of the Institute of Aging is primarily on the functional limitations as the consequences of diseases rather than on the diseases themselves, as these are addressed by other CIHR institutes:
Health services and policy relating to older people
The older population is a major user of health care and social services. This, together with the expected aging of the Canadian population, will create challenging pressures on health and social services, even though the health and social status of the older population may change positively over time with the addition of healthier new cohorts. Thus, it is important to develop new and more effective services and to improve the quality of existing ones in order to guarantee accessibility to excellent health and social services by the older population. It is also necessary to strengthen existing policies and develop new ones to support these services and the access to them by the older population. The Institute of Aging will support research in these areas:
