E d i t o r i a l I n t e r n a t io n a l Y e a r o f t h e O l d e r P e r s o n s W h a t d o e s it m e a n 'to g ro w o ld gracefully?' I con sulted th e O x fo rd D ic tio n a ry - p le a sin g , a ttra c tiv e e s p e ­ cially in fo rm , m o v e m e n t o r a c tio n ". M a y I s u g g e s t p o s tu re , m o v e m e n t a n d f u n c tio n a s m o re a p p ro p r ia te . T h is d e f in itio n w ill s u r e ly m a k e e v e ry p h y s i o th e r a p is t s it u p a n d think! You w ill p o n d e r n o t o n ly fro m a p ro fe s s io n a l p o in t of v ie w b u t also fro m a p e rs o n a l p o in t of view , for if it d o e s n o t a p p ly to y o u n o w , y o u w ill su re ly b e 'th e r e ' o n e day. H o w c a n a p e r s o n b e g ra c e fu l if th e y are b e n t, stiff a n d in p ain ? T he p a p e rs p r e s e n te d in th is jo u r ­ n a l c o v e r m o s t a re a s a ffectin g th e a g in g p ro c ess. C u ltu ra l issu e s w h e re d iffe re n t a ttitu d e s to a g in g a re p o s ­ tu la te d , as w ell as p sy ch o so cial issu es w ill p r o v id e in s ig h t in to h o w p e o p le re a ct to d iffe re n t situ a tio n s. You w ill r e a d a b o u t h o w all th e sy ste m s of th e b o d y c h a n g e as o n e g e ts older. I n c lu d e d m u s t b e th e sen ses, e s p e ­ c ially h e a r in g se e in g a n d feeling. A c o m m e n ta to r c o v e rin g th e te n n is c h a m p io n s h ip s a t W im b le d o n con­ f irm e d th is for m e b y s ta tin g th a t a 3 5 -y ear o ld p la y e r w o u ld n o w b e e n te rin g th e v e te ra n age. R e tir e m e n t o f te n r e s u lt s in a c h a n g e in lifesty le a n d th e re m a y b e a loss o r d im in is h e d in com e. T his m a y r e s u lt in a loss of c on fiden ce a n d se lf-e ste e m a n d d e p re s s io n , w h ic h is n o t u n c o m m o n in a g in g . O n th e o th e r h a n d m o tiv a te d in d iv id u a ls m a y e m b a r k o n a n e w c a re e r o r h a v e th e tim e to p u rs u e n e g le c te d h obbies. In th e d e v e lo p e d w o rld p e o p le are o fte n fo rced to re tire e a rly a n d th e p o p u la tio n o v e r 65 is g ro w in g a t a ra te of 2.5% p e r year. H o w e v e r, th e e m e rg e n c e o f H IV / A ID S a n d its r a p id p ro life ra tio n w ill h a v e a p r o ­ fo u n d effect o n th e se statistics. T he U n ite d N a tio n s P ro g ra m o n H IV / A ID S a n d W H O r e p o r te d 6 m illio n n e w H IV in fe c tio n s in 1998. In su b S a h a ra A frica a lo n e th e re w e re 5 500 d e a th s fro m A ID S e v e ry day. T hey r e p o r te d 20% - 25% p re v a le n c e in H IV in f o u r of th e se c o u n trie s r e d u c ­ in g life e x p e c ta n c y b y as m u c h as 17 y e a rs. A local n e w s p a p e r r e p o r te d a d r o p in th e life e x p e c ta n c y fro m 64 y e a rs to 47 y e a rs in Z im b a b w e . T he im p a c t o f AIDS h a s b e e n d e s c rib e d as 't h e g re a te s t crises in th e re c o rd e d h is to r y o f A f ric a '. W h a t a re th e im p lic a tio n s of th is s ta te m e n t? G r a n d p a r e n ts w ill h a v e to care for th e te rm in a lly ill a t th e sa m e tim e as lo o k in g a fte r th e ir g r a n d c h ild r e n . G o v e rn m e n t p o licy of c h a n g in g th e e m p h a s is of h e a lth care f ro m te rtia ry care to p r im a r y h e a lth care h a s n o w b e c o m e a reality. P h y s io th e ra p is ts w h o h a v e c o n tin u a lly re so lv e d to b e c o m e m o re c o m m u n ity o rie n ta te d in p r im a r y h e a lth care h a v e n o a lte r ­ n a tiv e b u t to a ct n o w as p o s ts in te r ­ tia ry h o s p ita ls b e c o m e fro z e n . It is in th e ir o w n h o m e s th a t th e te r m i­ n a lly ill p a tie n t a n d th e ir fam ilies a n d c a re g iv e rs w ill n e e d g u id a n c e a n d s u p p o r t fro m th e p ro fe ssio n a ls. G e n e ra liz a tio n s a b o u t th e c h a ra c ­ te ristic s of a n y a g e g r o u p m u s t b e m a d e w ith c a u tio n . We k n o w w ell th a t e v e ry h u m a n b e in g is d ifferen t. I q u o te fro m D r E a le s' p a p e r 'The fact is that the longer we live the more differ­ ent from each other we become because our life experiences are different." W e h a v e m u c h to le a r n fro m th e o ld e r m e m b e rs of society if w e choose to listen. MURIEL G O O D M A N EDITOR 2 SA J o u r n a l o f Physiotherapy 1999 V o l 55 No 3 R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. )