Rise in the Population of the Elderly,Familial Changes and their Psychosocial Implications: The Scenario of the Developing Countries

The rapid rise in the elderly population and the structural changes in the family and the support system that are a result of “modernization” constitute an important social dimension of global changes. Their psychosocial impacts are far-reaching especially in the developing countries. Changes in the demographic profile of the aged, the nature of familial changes and their implications with regard to support systems for the elderly, their health, role in socialisation, economic dependency, overall lifestyle, satisfaction, cognitive capacities, attitudes and aspirations are discussed in this paper.