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Home Health Care Houston: Tough Choices Ahead as the Population Ages

As a child of aging parents, have you had ‘the talk’ yet?  Have you, yourself, started thinking about long term care? The following article from the Houston Chronicle gives some staggering statistics and information about the aging Texas population. After reading, if you have questions or would like information about how At Your Side Home Care can help you with Home Health Care for an aging loved one, call 832-271-1600.

Tough Choices Ahead as the Population Ages
By JEANNIE KEVER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Texas policy makers increasingly will be caught between generations as the needs of its youngest residents bump up against those of its oldest, a group the Census Bureau reports is at an all-time high.

Child care vs. nursing homes. Money for public schools vs. money to train health-care workers, provide transportation for people who can no longer drive and protect the pensions of retired public employees.

“We have a perfect storm in terms of the things we need to address for both children and older Texans,” said Steve Murdock, director of Rice University’s Hobby Center for the Study of Texas.

An analysis of the nation’s older population released Wednesday by the Census Bureau found people 65 and older make up a larger share of the population than ever, in part because of better medical care and growing emphasis on exercise and healthy lifestyles.

Gender gap shrinks

More than 40 million people, or 13 percent of the population, were 65 or older in 2010, up from 35 million, or 12.4 percent, in 2000.

That share continues to rise as members of the baby boom generation began turning 65 this year. They will do so at a rate of 10,000 people a day for the next 19 years.

Women still outnumber men, and the gulf widens with age. By age 90, women outnumber men by nearly three to one.

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For information about Home Health Care in Houston, contact At Your Side Home Care at 832-271-1600.

Donna Wrabel, LMSW

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