Aging and gerontology: a paradigm of transdisciplinary research

During the latter half of the twentieth century many societies experienced rapid increases in the number of persons aged 65 years and older. Such increases followed world wide reductions in infant and childhood mortality and the widespread control of infectious diseases through sanitation and medical advances. Today, we observe increasingly older average ages in many industrialized cosmopolitan societies, some approaching 35 years. With this increase, the need to understand the problems of elders and research on age-related patterns of health change also have increased. This paper explores some of the advantages that a transdisciplinary approach might have to studies of aging and gerontology. Particular emphasis is placed on the chronic degenerative diseases, activities of daily living, and longitudinal patterns of individual change.