Chapter 4: Who gets counted? Ageing statistics and advancing age equity

This week we are covering Chapter 4,  Who gets counted? Ageing statistics and advancing age equity, authored by Madeline McCoy and Renate Ysseldyk.

Our authors this week take on a very interesting topic- Who is actually included in data sets and who isn’t? When it comes to older adults, much research relies heavily on national and international health statistics to shape policies, guide programs, ultimately working to improve peoples lives.

This chapter takes a closer look at the way older adults show up in major Canadian and Global health data. What our authors find suggests: many groups of older adults are missing altogether. Whether due to age cutoffs, sampling gaps, or the way questions are designed, entire communities are left out of the picture.

Throughout this chapter, our authors assert that when certain groups aren’t counted, the policies meant to support them and this causes immense challenges when it comes to things like age-friendly initiatives. Programs may fail to meet the needs of those who are most vulnerable, and efforts to advance age equity become harder to achieve. Our authors suggest that we need data that reflects all older adults. Because if people aren’t counted, they risk not being considered and that’s a gap we need to take seriously.

To read the full chapter and the rest of our book find it here on the Bristol University Press Digital webpage