Aging Population In Canada

Social integration and participation of seniors in society are important indicators of healthy aging. However, seniors are always at risk of being socially isolated. Many factors can cause social isolation and among them population aging that resulted more seniors to live longer is one of the most important factors.

In this paper, we first review the trend of aging population in Canada. The existing literature is reviewed to highlight the importance of social integration. Then, we present the definition of loneliness and social isolation and explore the risk factors that cause social isolations. Among the many recognized risk factors, population aging is a significant risk factor that is highly correlated with social isolation. A review of

The risk factors of isolation include health and disabilities, gender, loss of a spouse, living alone, reduced social networks, transportation issues, place of residence, and aging. Among these factors, aging has higher correlation with other factors. Given that some studies (Hall, Havens, 1999) show that the risk factors are in fact additive, meaning that the presence of more than one risk factor compounds the risk of loneliness and social isolation, the importance of emerging population aging in Canada becomes more significant.

Several studies also asserted that loneliness is correlated with aging itself (Tijhuis et al, 1999; Victor et al, 2000) and that there was a gradual increase in loneliness up to the age of 90 (Holmen, 1992). This increasing trend can be attributed to interactions with other factors due to additive nature of risk factors for loneliness and social isolation (Victor et al, 2000).

The Effects of Seniors’ Social Isolation on Health and Social Service

Their findings indicate that socially isolated seniors seem to have higher ties to community agencies as indicating their higher utilization of services in general. This association of social isolation with higher service usage confirms the theory that isolated individuals use more services as a substitute for social ties” (Coulton and Frost, 1982 p. 336). In another work, Choi (1994) examined the effect of family support on social service use. In his study seniors were divided into three groups; those who lived with children, those whose children lived apart and those who were childless. The study confirmed the importance of children as informal care providers to those seniors with the most functional and physical problems. It also noted the role of family members as enablers to service