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Video Links

• Living Old
  With advances in science and technology, people in the United States are living longer, and the “old” account for a large and growing segment of the population. This will present new challenges for society, in particular, how we will care for those who are physically frail and who may have diminished mental and/or physical capacities and therefore need assistance. This program considers the increasing demand for caregivers and the decline in the number of those able and willing to assume these roles

• Life and Death in Assisted Living
  More and more of the elderly are choosing to live in assisted living facilities as opposed to a retirement home. But is this loosely regulated multibillion dollar industry putting seniors at risk? This documentary examines the issues that are found within assisted living facilities.

• Can You Afford to Retire?
  Many Boomers are entering what they had once believed would be their retirement years only to find that they are financially ill-prepared to quit working. This Frontline special examines the economic realities of retirement for Boomers at both the micro and macro levels. 

• The Age of the Millennials
  Morley Safer reports for 60 Minutes about the characteristics of Millennials and connects these to the cultural environment in which they grew up. It’s a decidedly curmudgeonly view of the generation. 

• A Right to Die, A Will to Live
  This New York Times video (produced in connection with a feature in the New York Times Sunday Magazine) profiles Peggy Battin, a bioethicist who has advocated for the rights of people who are gravely ill and/or seriously debilitated, to legally end their own lives. The topic is now very close to home given her husband’s physical incapacitation. It is an emotional and provocative look at the issue of assisted suicide/euthanasia.

 

Audio Links

• This American Life 179: Cicero
  This program tells the story of a town that time forgot, or more accurately, a town that tried to forget the times. It's the story of what at one time was one of most notoriously racist and corrupt suburbs in America. In the 1960s, Cicero residents reacted so violently to threats of integration that officials told Martin Luther King Jr.'s supporters that marching there would be a suicide mission. Today, two thirds of the population is Mexican American, but the political machine from decades past still holds power. A parable of racial politics in America, of White Americans not wanting change, not wanting to let in the outside world, and what happens when they have no choice.

• This American Life 124: Welcome to America
  This program reveals stories of people moving to this country—what they see and hear about America that those of us who were born here don't necessarily see. Act Two is about Juan Zaldivar, who was born in Cuba. Juan has spent the past 4 years shooting a movie about his father to try to reassure him that he did the right thing to leave Cuba with his family in the 1980s and come to America. His father, so far, is not reassured.

• Few Young Doctors are Being Trained to Treat the Elderly

This podcast from NPR examines the growing need of doctors who specialize in treating the growing elderly population.  It is believed that the deficit of doctors who treat the elderly will continue to grow in the future.  What are the consequences of this trend in terms of being able to adequately meet the needs of the elderly?  This podcast takes a look at this concerning trend.

 

Web Resources

Professional Resources

• City Population
  This website provides information regarding the population of countries around the world. It also provides information on the 10 most populated cities of selected countries.
   
• American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
  AARP was founded in 1958 and is an organization that provides information for seniors. It is a nonprofit advocate and is one of the most powerful lobbying groups for the rights of the elderly in the United States.

​Data Resources

Demographers specialize in the analysis of large-scale data sets, including population censuses like that which the United States government undertakes every 10 years. Consequently, there are far more important sources of demographic data than can be listed here. Some of the more popular sources of data, however, include the following:

• U.S. Bureau of the Census
  The Population Division of the U.S. Bureau of the Census offers socioeconomic and demographic data in nationally representative surveys. 
   
• The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
  The NCHS Data Dissemination Branch makes available its latest data in published form and electronically. 
   
• National Institute on Aging (NIA)
  The Behavioral and Social Research (BSR) Program of the NIA supports basic social and behavioral research and research training on aging processes and the place of older people in society. It focuses on how people change with aging, on the interrelationships between older people and social institutions (e.g., the family, health care systems), and on the societal impact of the changing age composition of the population. 
   
• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
  The Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the NICHD supports large-scale data collection activities that contribute to research on the determinants and consequences of demographic change. 
   
• The Health Retirement Study
  The Health Retirement Study is a nationally representative longitudinal study that provides insights into why people retire and how they cope with declining health in later life. 

​Other Resources

• Fifty Years of New Immigration
  This article, published by the American Sociological Association, looks at the history of immigration over time and how it has changed in recent years. For example, the number of immigrants from Pakistan has grown from 2,500 in 1965 to 210,000 in 2005.
   
• The Population-Environment Research Network
  The Population-Environment Research Network seeks to advance academic research on population and the environment by promoting online scientific exchange among researchers from social and natural science disciplines worldwide (self-characterization).
   
• Why We Need to Listen to the Elderly
  This article from Pacific Standard magazine takes a look at the rising number of the elderly who are now living in the United States. By 2030, older Americans will number 72 million—nearly 30% of the population—yet remain underrepresented in the media and other institutions. This article examines how this can lead to ageism.
   
• The Population Reference Bureau
  The Population Reference Bureau informs people around the world about population, health, and the environment, and empowers them to use that information to advance the well-being of current and future generations (self-characterization).