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Innovation in the Face of Super-Aging: Understanding the Challenges and How Education Must Evolve
The proportion of people over 65 is set to surge significantly in the coming decades, a phenomenon that will have significant implications for nations worldwide. Martin Dewhurst, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, and his coauthors cite this as a growing challenge, with care demands increasing and dependency ratios shifting dramatically. This has been dubbed ‘super-aging’ in certain countries such as Italy, South Korea, and Japan, where population aging is set to be remarkably rapid. In stark contrast, nations such as Ghana are likely to experience a slower transition as their population ages over a more extended period.
Technology and economics
The unprecedented aging of the population has significant implications both technologically and economically. To support the growing elderly demographic, nations must develop innovative technological solutions to assist care providers and new economic policies in providing adequate financial support. This could include more robust government programs to increase aid to healthcare systems, improved elderly care facilities, more sophisticated tools to monitor and assess the health of elderly individuals, and enhanced accessibility to necessary medical supplies. In addition, nations will need to…