Abstract:

Demographic trends indicate that both the number & population proportion of single, older females have been increasing dramatically each year, particularly in the upper age groups. Consequently, there is a growing economically & socially deprived older population. Women, who have greater health care problems, face government cost containment measures that have both undermined access to quality medical care & engendered greater home care needs. At the same time, the paucity of appropriate home health services, along with public programs that encourage institutional care, force many single, elderly women into nursing homes. While costs & profits of such institutions have increased significantly, fraud & patient abuse continue unabated. It is evident that aging is a women's problem & that its sources are the social systemic problems of deprived, or soon to be deprived, younger women.