Public Health Perspectives on Aging in Displacement

The global population is aging. Displaced populations are also aging, and, increasingly, many are aging in displacement. Similarly, voluntary immigrants are aging in their host nations. As such, health practitioners and healthcare institutions in many nations are facing an increasingly diverse patient population and need to enhance their cultural competence skills. Public health planning must also adapt to global migration trends and incorporate standards for the delivery of services to an increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse population. As such, international migration trends and the aging of an increasingly diverse population present important issues for clinicians to confront, particularly in the realm of mental health where context and the meaning of illness are essential.