Butler R N
J Allied Health. 1980 Aug;9(3):161-8.
The improvement and expansion of health care for our older population, that is, those over the age of 65, must now be a major priority of all health care providers. It is expected that the number of older Americans will grow from approximately 23 million today to approximately 55 million by the year 2030. This increase will place unprecedented demands on all segments of the health-care community, including nurses, psychotherapists, administrators, technicians, physicians, teachers, and allied health professionals, among many others. Gerontology is a relatively new and broad field of study, encompassing the clinical, biological, and social aspects of aging. Thus, we are faced with tremendous challenges in trying to create a medical and social system which responds to the varied and growing demands of caring for the elderly. It is the goal of the National Institute on Aging, and we hope the goal of all allied health professionals, to use all resources available to us to learn more about the processes of aging and to translate this knowledge into specialized services and medical care for older people.
改善和扩大针对老年人口（即65岁以上人群）的医疗保健服务，如今必须成为所有医疗保健提供者的首要任务。预计美国老年人数量将从目前的约2300万增长到2030年的约5500万。这一增长将给医疗保健领域的各个方面带来前所未有的需求，包括护士、心理治疗师、管理人员、技术人员、医生、教师以及众多其他相关健康专业人员。老年学是一个相对较新且广泛的研究领域，涵盖衰老的临床、生物学和社会方面。因此，在试图创建一个能够应对照顾老年人不断变化且日益增长的需求的医疗和社会系统方面，我们面临着巨大挑战。这是美国国立衰老研究所的目标，我们希望所有相关健康专业人员的目标也是如此，即利用我们所能获得的一切资源，更多地了解衰老过程，并将这些知识转化为针对老年人的专业服务和医疗保健。
