第31章　高齢化社会と介護

Across the world, societies are rapidly growing older. The proportion of people who are elderly is now larger than at any time in history. This change, which experts call population aging, has begun to reshape almost every part of modern society. There is good news in these numbers. Better medical care and a healthier diet mean that aged citizens can now expect to live longer, more comfortable lives than their grandparents ever dreamed of. A person of seventy today is often as active as a person of fifty was a century ago.

Yet long life brings new problems too. Many older people gradually become isolated, especially when they live alone after a partner has died. Loneliness, doctors warn, can damage health almost as seriously as a physical illness.

In earlier times, several generations of a single family often lived under one roof, and the young naturally cared for the old. As that pattern weakens, more and more elderly people must depend on professional support for their daily needs. Nursing the very old is demanding work. Each patient must be treated with patience and dignity, often for years rather than days. Good carers understand that they are dealing with a whole human being, not simply a list of medical conditions. Society as a whole must share the cost. Health insurance and public welfare programs spread the burden of nursing across millions of households, so that no single family is destroyed by the price of caring for one elderly parent. We should also remember what older people give back. A senior who has lived through decades of change carries a kind of wisdom that no school can teach. To honor that experience, and to listen to it, is in everyone's interest, not only the old. In the end, we have a clear duty toward those who built the world we live in. A good society must consist of people of every age, sharing the same streets and the same future. Finding a fresh approach to care, so that the old remain valued members of the community, is one of the great tasks of our time.