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IS110 Successful Aging

What Do We Mean by “Successful Aging”?
Theories and suggestions about how to age well have a long history. However, with the United Nations projecting the world’s population of the oldest-old (over 85) will triple by 2025, demands to age successfully, productively, optimally, actively, effectively and independently have accelerated. The most popular model of successful aging today suggests that maintaining full function to the end of life is possible and a matter of personal control, while other models insist that healthy and successful aging has age limits.

We will explore theories of successful aging and critically evaluate the philosophical, scientific, medical, political and economic issues informing each one. Our goal is to examine how each theory addresses important issues such as failed aging, ageism, disability, death and personal responsibility. Limit of 65.