This article delineates the current and future trends related to aging in the United States. The demographic and economic forces outlined are ones that will clearly challenge health services leaders and policy-makers in the coming decades. Various policy interventions and strategies currently underway to address the needs of the aging population are described. Shifts in caregiving patterns, the delivery of long-term care services, economics, choices in living arrangements, and managed care programs for the elderly are a few of the issues presented in this article. Health and human services for the elderly will undergo a profound change as the health system continues to adapt itself to the demands of an aging society.
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