Aging in Ontario: Diversity in the New Millennium

Christine Hughes is a policy analyst at the Ontario Native Affairs
Secretariat.

Aging in Ontario successfully integrates qualitative and quantitative
data to provide a timely examination of issues facing the growing
seniors’ population in Ontario. The demographic diversity of older
Ontarians is thoroughly documented in an early chapter, with
accompanying maps, statistical information, charts, and graphs. What
distinguishes Maurier and Northcott’s monograph from many other recent
books in the field is their liberal use of quotations from seniors with
wide-ranging life experiences and points of view. Sharing in these
thoughts, fears, and expectations brings readers a fresh reality to the
well-documented problems and issues confronting seniors today.

The authors build on these personal anecdotes as they structure their
book around one central theme: diversity. They consider diversity in
age, marital status, gender, health status, income, ethnicity, and
region of residence (i.e., Northern or Southern Ontario). The chapter on
health uses national survey data to document diversity among seniors in
Ontario and the consequences of planning for health and health-care use,
including hospitalization, home care, and consultation with health-care
professionals. This chapter also does a fine job of defining health and
various health determinants. Another chapter looks at the informal and
formal social support systems used by seniors, with particular attention
to long-term care facilities and institutionalization. Yet another
chapter describes provincial and federal income security, health care,
and housing programs available to seniors in Ontario. The authors detail
cost and utilization of each program, as well as eligibility
requirements, to assess whether the programs are meeting the needs of
their intended clients. The concluding chapter draws together all the
diversity themes and comments on implications for future policies.

This book provides current information and a detailed list of
references that would likely be of interest to gerontologists,
public-policy makers, demographers, and sociologists. Northcott, a
professor of sociology at the University of Alberta, has written two
previous monographs on population aging in Alberta and British Columbia.