ABSTRACT
While physiological decline is correlated with growing older, seniors tend to suffer more from chronic than acute illness and more from functional disability than disease. Decline is also more likely with age for some diseases that affect our mental health, such as dementia. However, subjective overall well-being does not tend to decline—seniors, for example, report high perceptions of their health and of overall life satisfaction. These facts have much relevance for practice, because our health care system is oriented toward a medical perspective and acute illness, neither of which are most appropriate for an aging society. Furthermore, mental health is still a neglected aspect when it comes to services. Seniors, like others, can and do live primarily active lives in which a health promotion approach is not only feasible but desirable. An aging society, therefore, requires a health care system that promotes health and, when disability strikes, supports rehabilitation and functioning. A health promotion perspective applies equally, irrespective of whether we are talking about physical or mental health; indeed, the two are related.
