Gerontology Programs
Why Gerontology? • Background • Undergraduate Minor • Graduate Minor • Faculty • About Nursing • About Social Work
Why Study Gerontology?
Gerontology is the interdisciplinary field studying aging and focusing on social, behavioral, and biological sciences. It has recently been receiving considerable attention from health practitioners because of the need for professionals who are knowledgeable about the physical, social, and psychological affects of aging. Gerontology brings together practitioners, researchers, and educators in diverse disciplines to address the issues of aging for individuals, families, and society. Aging is a normal part of the life cycle and the source of many challenges and opportunities for those disciplines concerned with causes and consequences of the human aging process. At the University of Tennessee campus, there are many disciplines connected to gerontology including: child and family studies, adult education, educational psychology and counseling education, exercise science, health, nursing, nutrition, and social work. In the past, there has been involvement from sociology and audiology, and hopefully a future including them once again with new members from biology, history, communications, philosophy, psychology, counseling law, recreation, and others in health-related and other humanities areas.
The need to address gerontology issues and educate tomorrow’s practitioners is today’s challenge. Globally populations are aging. The fastest growing segment of the population, particularly in the U.S. is the 65 and over age group, and specifically the 85 and over age group. People are living longer, the baby boomers, approximately 77 million in number are fast-approaching the age of 65. The first of the baby boomers will be 65 in 2011. With this age-wave, it is estimated that over 25% of the U.S. population will be 65 or older by 2030. Tennessee needs to be dealing with this now. The 2002 census estimates indicate that Tennessee has 719,177 adults 65 years and older. This is approximately 12.4% of the current state population and accounts for a 12.7% increase in the older adult population since 1992. There are 14.6% of these older adults living below the poverty level.
Health care demand and costs by older adults is disproportionately higher (12.8%) than that of the rest of the population (5.8%). In 2002, out-of-pocket expenditures for older adults averaged $3,586, increasing over 45% since 1992 compared to total population expenditures averaging only $2,350. Most older adults have at least one chronic condition and many have multiple chronic conditions. The most frequently occurring chronic conditions in 2000-2001 include: hypertension (49.2%); arthritis (36.1%); various heart diseases (31.1%); various cancers (20.0%); sinusitis (15.1%); and diabetes (15.0%). Among the public health issues identified were vaccinations (67% for influenza and 55% for pneumococcal), obesity (22%), physical inactivity (27% aged 65-74 and 17% aged 75 and over), smoking (9%), excess alcohol consumption (4%), and psychological distress or depression (2.5%).
These are just examples of the impact that aging has on individuals, families, communities, and society as a whole. As the aging population continues to increase, the demands on an already over-taxed system of health care delivery and services, housing, marketing of products and services, workforce, and government programs will be stretched further. The composition of these areas will be affected and there will be an increasing need for professionals in public and private organizations to restructure and reorganize a failing system and to provides a variety of services that represent diverse ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic groups. The University of Tennessee is pivotal in the growth of filling the need for professionals who have the expertise in this rapidly growing field.
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335 Claxton Complex
1122 Volunteer Boulevard
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
Phone: 865-974-2201
Fax: 865-974-8718