New Book — Fact Book on Aging
We are pleased to release the 7th edition of the Fact Book on Aging in British Columbia and Canada (Wister, O’Dea, Fyffe and Wagner, 2019, GRC). The many requests that the GRC receives each year for information about the Province's older population and national comparisons provides the impetus for its continued production that has spanned more than three decades.
This year we are distributing electronic and paper copies of the 7th edition at no charge to the public. The Fact Book provides a range of descriptive data on a variety of topics that showcase major demographic, health and social patterns of older adults. The current seventh edition of the Fact Book is based on the 2016 Census, and supplemented with data from national health surveys, such as the Canadian Community Health Surveys, and other targeted surveys conducted in B.C.
A milestone has been reached in that over thirty years of data have been covered. We have also made some selected comparisons of key patterns across the different editions of the Fact Book in order to highlight major trends over time. The main comparisons of demographic data include: geographic comparisons between British Columbia and Canada, as well as other provinces in certain tables; gender differences; and those related to age patterns, such as comparisons between middle-aged and older persons or among senior age groups, as well as differences over time.
Topics highlighted in the 7th edition cover a wide range of areas including: the size and historical rate of growth of the elderly population of British Columbia; trends in life expectancy, mortality rates and causes of death; the marital status of the elderly population; its geographic distribution and residential mobility; ethnic composition; a description of living arrangements and housing; education, employment, and economic status; disabilities; diet and physical activity; and health service utilization. It is hoped that this monograph contributes to gerontological knowledge, practice and policy in efforts to promote well-being over the life course.