TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council A2 - Linda G. Martin A2 - Beth J. Soldo TI - Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Health of Older Americans SN - 978-0-309-05489-8 DO - 10.17226/5237 PY - 1997 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5237/racial-and-ethnic-differences-in-the-health-of-older-americans PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Behavioral and Social Sciences KW - Health and Medicine AB - Older Americans, even the oldest, can now expect to live years longer than those who reached the same ages even a few decades ago. Although survival has improved for all racial and ethnic groups, strong differences persist, both in life expectancy and in the causes of disability and death at older ages. This book examines trends in mortality rates and selected causes of disability (cardiovascular disease, dementia) for older people of different racial and ethnic groups. The determinants of these trends and differences are also investigated, including differences in access to health care and experiences in early life, diet, health behaviors, genetic background, social class, wealth and income. Groups often neglected in analyses of national data, such as the elderly Hispanic and Asian Americans of different origin and immigrant generations, are compared. The volume provides understanding of research bearing on the health status and survival of the fastest-growing segment of the American population. ER -