Kontis et al. (2017, 1355) are of the viewpoint that the life expectancy of an organism can be defined as a statistical measure of the average amount of time that the organism is expected to survive on earth from its birth to death. According to the “United Nations World Population Prospects 2015 Revision”, the average life expectancy of the male human beings at birth is 67 years (Life expectancy at birth, total (years) | Data, 2018). On the other hand, the average life expectancy of females at birth is 71.1 years (Life expectancy, 2018).
The average life expectancy of the individuals in the nation of New Zealand is 81.61 years as per the data of 2016 (Life expectancy, 2018). However, it is seen that there is a variation in the life expectancy rate of the individuals of the nation belonging to the different demographics (Barer, 2017, 214). For example, it is seen that the life expectancy rate of the people living in the major cities of the nation like Auckland and others is more than 82 years (Life expectancy, 2018). On the other hand, life expectancy rate of the individuals related to the various ethnic communities of the nation like Maori and others is below 75 years (Stoddart & Evans, 2017, 61). Furthermore, it is seen that the people living in the southern part of the nation have a higher life expectancy rate (of more than 5 years) than the people living in the northern part of the nation (Life expectancy, 2018).
Wang et al. (2016, 1501) are of the viewpoint that the high life expectancy rate that the people of the nation enjoy can be attributed to the high quality of the public health care services offered by the health care system of the nation. The various governmental health care policies like “Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011”, “New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000”, “Nationwide Service Framework (NSF)” and others have contributed in a substantial manner towards this high rate of life expectancy (Life expectancy, 2018).
The life expectancy rate of the individuals in the nation of Japan is one of the highest ones of the world and there are many individuals in the nation who live way above the age of 100 years of age (Welcome to Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2018). As per the World Health Organization (2018), “the average life expectancy in Japan is 84.2 years old. Men live an average of 81.1 years, and women live an average of 87.1 years”. However, there is a disparity in the life expectancy rate of the individuals living in the different parts of the nation. For example, it is seen that the people living in the rural areas have a higher life expectancy rate than the ones living in the cities (Veroff & Veroff, 2016, 197). This can be attributed to the fact that the people in the rural parts of the nation have access to better quality natural resources than the ones living in the cities of the nation. More importantly, it is seen that the life expectancy of the individuals in the nation has increased by three years in the last five years (Life expectancy, 2018).
Chatterji et al. (2015, 575) are of the viewpoint that one of the major reasons for the high life expectancy rate of the individuals of the nation is the nutritious diet which the people of the nation consume. In addition to this, it is seen that the public health care services which are being offered to the people of the nation by the governmental authorities is on par with the ones offered by the developed nations like USA, Canada and others (Hughes et al., 2015, 193). The national government of the nation over the years has formulated various kinds of policies which had contributed in a substantial manner to increase the life expectancy rate of the individuals of the nation. In this regard, it needs to be said that the national government of the nation bears more than 70% of the health care costs incurred by the individuals of the nation (George, 2018, 185). Furthermore, the nation, at the same time, bears more than 90% of the health care costs for the people belonging to the below the poverty line (Stoddart & Evans, 2017, 62).
The people of the nation of Japan enjoy a higher life expectancy rate in comparison to the ones of New Zealand. It is pertinent to note that although the people of New Zealand have access to far better health care services and also the policies of the national government of the nation are far better than that of Japan (George, 2018, 186). However, this discrepancy in the life expectancy rates of the two nations can be explained on the basis of the diet and also the lifestyle of the people of Japan (Wang et al., 2016, 1502). It is pertinent to note that unlike the people of New Zealand, people in Japan refrain from smoking, drinking and other kinds of activities that can affect their health. In addition to this, the initiative of the national government of Japan to bear the health care cost of the people has also contributed in a substantial manner towards the enhancement of the same (Stoddart & Evans, 2017, 62). More importantly, the suitable climate of Japan reduces the risks of chronic and other kinds of fatal diseases and thereby enhances their life expectancy rate. These in short are some of the main reasons for the higher life expectancy rate of Japan in comparison to New Zealand.
The three recommendations that the national government of New Zealand can follow to increase the life expectancy of the older adult are-
According to “WHO Global Age-Friendly Cities project”, the notion of age friendly can be defined as the “optimization of opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age” (Welcome to Age-friendly World – Age-Friendly World, 2018). The primary focus of this initiative of the WHO is to make the various cities of the world friendly wherein the ageing people would find the right kind of environment, in terms of health care system and also the attitude of the people (Steels, 2015, 52). There are two important strategies, namely, “The Health Ageing Strategy” and “Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health” which are being used by the various nations to help the population of their nations to age in an effective manner.
The “Healthy Ageing Strategy”, which replaced the “Health of Older People Strategy” (2002) is in alignment with the new “New Zealand Health Strategy 2016” (Healthy Ageing Strategy, 2018). This initiative of the national government of New Zealand is intended to improve the quality of health care services which are available to the people and thereby increase their life expectancy. The main objectives of this strategy are to prioritize the medical needs of the ageing people and also to help them to live in an effective manner even with disabilities and medical illnesses (Barer, 2017, 214). More importantly, this strategy also focuses on improving the quality of care which is available to the older people and thereby help them to perform the normal activities of their life in a fruitful manner. On the other hand, the “Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health” was formulated as per the dictums of World Health Assembly in 2014 (Welcome to Age-friendly World – Age-Friendly World, 2018). This strategy has two goals which it intends to achieve by the end of 2030-
The focus of the strategy under discussion here is on the achievement of five objectives-
It is pertinent to note that both of these strategies are intended to improve the kind of health care facilities which are available to the aged people and thereby enhance their life expectancy rate yet there are some inherent differences between the two. Firstly, it can be said that the “Healthy Ageing Strategy” is a national health policy of New Zealand whereas the “Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health” is an initiative of the World Health Assembly (Barer, 2017, 214). Secondly, the Healthy Ageing Strategy solely focuses on offering better quality of care facilities to the elderly people whereas the “Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health” is focused on the improvement of the entire health care facilities which are available to the people (George, 2018, 185).
Scharlach et al. (2014, 192) are of the viewpoint that the notion of age friendly cities benefits not only the people belonging to the older age brackets but people from all ages. For example, it is seen that this concept has enhanced the “inter-generational solidarity” of the various communities and also they are being able to connect with each other in a more meaningful manner (Welcome to Age-friendly World – Age-Friendly World, 2018). Furthermore, this measure also offers better quality of health services to people belonging to all demographics and all sections of the society (Steels, 2015, 52). As a matter of fact, it is seen that the average population of the world has increased by more than 22% since the year 2015 and more than 434 million people are over the age of 80 years of age (Welcome to Age-friendly World – Age-Friendly World, 2018). In addition to this, it is also seen that the average death rate of the world in the last five years has reduced by more than 2% (Welcome to Age-friendly World – Age-Friendly World, 2018). One of the most important reasons which has been ascribed to change in the population of the world and also towards the increase in the people who are over the age of 80 years is the policy of age friendly which is being followed by the different nations (Kontis et al., 2015, 1356).
It is seen that taking the help of this notion, the national governments of the various nations of the world have devised the kind of health and other kind of policies which are likely to benefit the older people. In this regard, mention needs to be made about Japan, wherein it is seen that more than 90% of the costs related to health and other genres of the older people are taken care of by the national government itself (George, 2018, 186). More importantly, in the nation of New Zealand it is seen that the local communities as well as the health care organizations are inter-connected which not only enables them to transfer information but also to offer better treatment facilities to the individuals (Chatterji et al., 2015, 575). This has not only enabled the nation to help the old people to age to in an effective manner but has at the same time increased the life expectancy rate of the individuals as well. Thus, it can be said that the effective usage of the concept of age friendly is one of the major reasons for the high life expectancy rate of the individuals in the nations of Japan and New Zealand.
References:
Barer, M. (2017). Why are some people healthy and others not?. Routledge.
Buffel, T. (2018). Older Coresearchers Exploring Age-Friendly Communities: An “Insider” Perspective on the Benefits and Challenges of Peer-Research. The Gerontologist. doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnx216
Chatterji, S., Byles, J., Cutler, D., Seeman, T., & Verdes, E. (2015). Health, functioning, and disability in older adults—present status and future implications. The Lancet, 385(9967), 563-575. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61462-8
George, L. K. (2018). What life-course perspectives offer the study of aging and health. In Lives in Time and Place and Invitation to the Life Course (pp. 161-188). Routledge.
Healthy Ageing Strategy. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/healthy-ageing-strategy
Hughes, B. B., Kuhn, R., Peterson, C. M., Rothman, D. S., & Solorzano, J. R. (2015). Improving global health. Routledge.
Kontis, V., Bennett, J. E., Mathers, C. D., Li, G., Foreman, K., & Ezzati, M. (2017). Future life expectancy in 35 industrialised countries: projections with a Bayesian model ensemble. The Lancet, 389(10076), 1323-1335. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)32381-9
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Mathers, C. D., Stevens, G. A., Boerma, T., White, R. A., & Tobias, M. I. (2015). Causes of international increases in older age life expectancy. The Lancet, 385(9967), 540-548. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60569-9
Scharlach, A. E., Davitt, J. K., Lehning, A. J., Greenfield, E. A., & Graham, C. L. (2014). Does the Village model help to foster age-friendly communities?. Journal of aging & social policy, 26(1-2), 181-196. doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2014.854664
Steels, S. (2015). Key characteristics of age-friendly cities and communities: A review. Cities, 47, 45-52. doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2015.02.004
Stoddart, G. L., & Evans, R. G. (2017). Producing health, consuming health care. In Why are some people healthy and others not? (pp. 27-64). Routledge.
Veroff, J., & Veroff, J. B. (2016). Social incentives: A life-span developmental approach. Elsevier.
Wang, H., Naghavi, M., Allen, C., Barber, R. M., Bhutta, Z. A., Carter, A., … & Coggeshall, M. (2016). Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. The Lancet, 388(10053), 1459-1544. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31012-1
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