Will Society Change Its Focus As It Gets Older In Regard To Elderly and Disabled Issues?
_ Today, issues for the
disabled and elderly have pretty much been in the background.
Yes, they come to the fore quite often as "specialty" issues when the right Presidential administration is in office or simply when activists get loud enough and laws are put in place to protect rights, but the current demographic of "65 and older" is going to become the largest demographic in the next few years.
Will this change rights for the elderly and disabled as a result?
That remains to be seen, of course, but it's likely that it might. In fact, as society ages, these types of issues are going to be increasingly prevalent simply because the population is so large.
That means, accessibility issues are going to be more the forefront because more of society will have accessibility issues than previously was true; healthcare is increasingly going to have to address disability issues, and so on.
However, there's another way to look at this, too. Because having the population age as it is doing is going to necessarily put a strain on the healthcare industry, too, the focus may increasingly turn to keeping people independent and in their homes as much as possible instead of being put into a specialized institution such as assisted care or a nursing home.
And if that's true, then the disabled, too, are going to benefit by default, since laws and practices will need to be developed to help keep these older citizens active and independent and in their own homes.
Many of those laws and practices will by default benefit disabled citizens, too, since they have also been seen as a "substandard" group that is often overlooked instead of having a focus on making them more independent themselves.
Therefore, how might these change things?
Public transportation accessibility
For one, public transportation is likely to become accessible by default. Right now, there are specialized transport buses that those who are disabled can call, but they're expensive and often must be paid for by insurance or other specialty organizations -- and then, only if the disabled person qualifies.
But as more and more of the population becomes "disabled" simply by aging, public transportation, too, is going to have to adjust; because the elderly increasingly give up their licenses as they lose their ability to drive, this makes public transportation a more attractive option -- but only if they can actually use it because it's accessible.
A shift in the insurance industry
Of course, public health care is on the minds of everyone these days, as a new Presidential administration takes office and as a large percentage of the country operates without health insurance at all.
However, the disabled population has not been traditionally able to qualify for private health insurance if they do not qualify for such public health insurance programs as Medicare. In fact, the insurance industry is one of the remaining places where it is actually legal to discriminate against someone because of a disability.
Therefore, having the entire population age and having a "disabled" population indirectly become the largest demographic is also likely to induce changes in the healthcare industry, too. Among the things that are possible will be the decrease of unfair insurance practices against the disabled.
All of this is hypothetical, of course, but it's certainly an interesting concept to consider, that simply by having "disability" more visible, it may become less of an issue at all.
Yes, they come to the fore quite often as "specialty" issues when the right Presidential administration is in office or simply when activists get loud enough and laws are put in place to protect rights, but the current demographic of "65 and older" is going to become the largest demographic in the next few years.
Will this change rights for the elderly and disabled as a result?
That remains to be seen, of course, but it's likely that it might. In fact, as society ages, these types of issues are going to be increasingly prevalent simply because the population is so large.
That means, accessibility issues are going to be more the forefront because more of society will have accessibility issues than previously was true; healthcare is increasingly going to have to address disability issues, and so on.
However, there's another way to look at this, too. Because having the population age as it is doing is going to necessarily put a strain on the healthcare industry, too, the focus may increasingly turn to keeping people independent and in their homes as much as possible instead of being put into a specialized institution such as assisted care or a nursing home.
And if that's true, then the disabled, too, are going to benefit by default, since laws and practices will need to be developed to help keep these older citizens active and independent and in their own homes.
Many of those laws and practices will by default benefit disabled citizens, too, since they have also been seen as a "substandard" group that is often overlooked instead of having a focus on making them more independent themselves.
Therefore, how might these change things?
Public transportation accessibility
For one, public transportation is likely to become accessible by default. Right now, there are specialized transport buses that those who are disabled can call, but they're expensive and often must be paid for by insurance or other specialty organizations -- and then, only if the disabled person qualifies.
But as more and more of the population becomes "disabled" simply by aging, public transportation, too, is going to have to adjust; because the elderly increasingly give up their licenses as they lose their ability to drive, this makes public transportation a more attractive option -- but only if they can actually use it because it's accessible.
A shift in the insurance industry
Of course, public health care is on the minds of everyone these days, as a new Presidential administration takes office and as a large percentage of the country operates without health insurance at all.
However, the disabled population has not been traditionally able to qualify for private health insurance if they do not qualify for such public health insurance programs as Medicare. In fact, the insurance industry is one of the remaining places where it is actually legal to discriminate against someone because of a disability.
Therefore, having the entire population age and having a "disabled" population indirectly become the largest demographic is also likely to induce changes in the healthcare industry, too. Among the things that are possible will be the decrease of unfair insurance practices against the disabled.
All of this is hypothetical, of course, but it's certainly an interesting concept to consider, that simply by having "disability" more visible, it may become less of an issue at all.