This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. Preface

KEY TAKEAWAYS

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  The US elderly experience several health problems, including arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, hearing loss, vision problems, diabetes, and dementia.
  
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  Nursing home care in the United States is very expensive and often substandard; neglect and abuse of nursing home residents is fairly common.
  
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  Despite help from Social Security, many older Americans face problems of financial security.
  
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  It is difficult to determine the actual extent of elder abuse, but elder abuse often has serious consequences for the health and lives of older Americans.
  
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  During the last few decades, older Americans have been active in the political process on their own behalf and today are an important political force in the United States.