- Section 1 Ageing population and policy
- Chapter 1 Demography of global ageing
- Chapter 2 Population ageing in Europe
- Chapter 3 Ageing in North America: Canada and the United States
- Chapter 4 Population ageing in South and Central America
- Chapter 5 Population ageing in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Chapter 6 Population ageing in Asia
- Chapter 7 Population ageing in Arab countries
- Chapter 8 Population ageing in Oceania
- Chapter 9 Health expectancies
- Chapter 10 Life course approach to understanding inequalities in health in later life
- Chapter 11 Implications of population ageing for societies and governments
- Chapter 12 Economic implications of population ageing
- Chapter 13 Policy options for responding to population ageing
- Section 2 Key concepts in care of older adults
- Section 3 Principles and organization of care
- Section 4 Age-related biological changes, altered physiology, and vulnerability to diseases and chronic conditions
- Section 5 Geriatric syndromes in clinical practice
- Section 6 Nutrition and metabolism
- Section 7 Mobility disorders: prevention, impact, and compensation
- Section 8 Infections in older adults: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 9 Cancer: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 10 Vascular diseases: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 11 Neurological disorders: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 12 Cognitive decline and dementia in older adults: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 13 Mental health of older adults
- Section 14 Management of common medical conditions: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 15 Palliative medicine and end-of-life care
- Section 16 Healthy ageing
(p. 69) Life course approach to understanding inequalities in health in later life
- Chapter:
- (p. 69) Life course approach to understanding inequalities in health in later life
- Author(s):
Ruth Bell
and Michael Marmot
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780198701590.003.0010
A long and healthy life is universally valued. The starkest inequalities in later life are how many years of life remain at an older age such as 65 years, and how many years of life that remain free from disabilities that impede physical, cognitive, and social functioning to the extent that they limit the sense of valuing one’s life. In this chapter we apply the frame of social determinants of health, using the life course approach to understand inequalities in health in later life. Healthy ageing is patterned by degrees of social advantage. Biological ageing, as revealed by physical and cognitive changes, is slower in people in better socioeconomic circumstances. These inequalities in health in later life need to be understood in terms of current social, economic, environmental conditions of living, as well as previous experiences and living conditions across the life course that affect the biological processes of ageing.
Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.
Please subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.
For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
- Section 1 Ageing population and policy
- Chapter 1 Demography of global ageing
- Chapter 2 Population ageing in Europe
- Chapter 3 Ageing in North America: Canada and the United States
- Chapter 4 Population ageing in South and Central America
- Chapter 5 Population ageing in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Chapter 6 Population ageing in Asia
- Chapter 7 Population ageing in Arab countries
- Chapter 8 Population ageing in Oceania
- Chapter 9 Health expectancies
- Chapter 10 Life course approach to understanding inequalities in health in later life
- Chapter 11 Implications of population ageing for societies and governments
- Chapter 12 Economic implications of population ageing
- Chapter 13 Policy options for responding to population ageing
- Section 2 Key concepts in care of older adults
- Section 3 Principles and organization of care
- Section 4 Age-related biological changes, altered physiology, and vulnerability to diseases and chronic conditions
- Section 5 Geriatric syndromes in clinical practice
- Section 6 Nutrition and metabolism
- Section 7 Mobility disorders: prevention, impact, and compensation
- Section 8 Infections in older adults: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 9 Cancer: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 10 Vascular diseases: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 11 Neurological disorders: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 12 Cognitive decline and dementia in older adults: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 13 Mental health of older adults
- Section 14 Management of common medical conditions: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 15 Palliative medicine and end-of-life care
- Section 16 Healthy ageing