ABSTRACT
The aging of the population is already having major implications for society, including the demand for goods and services, especially healthcare services, housing, transportation, labor and financial markets, as well as family structure and intergenerational ties. The largest and oldest individual membership organization representing futurists is the World Future Society. The four most common methods and tools used by futurists to forecast and predict future change include statistical regression models, Delphi survey technique, environmental scanning—SWOT analysis, and scenario analysis. Statistical regression models are the most basic and commonly used method to predict or estimate a number in the future. Statistical regression models can be used as time series tools predicting a future number based on past numbers using time as a variable. The environmental scanning tool has a number of strengths. Very complex multiple logistic regression models are often used in medicine and public health to calculate the risk of an adverse or negative event.
