Dr. Rochon, RTOERO Chair in Geriatric Medicine, speaks to RTOERO Spring 2016 Senate

Dr. Rochon spoke to the Fall Senate about the changing nature of our aging population, particularly those 85 years and older, and those in the oldest age category – our centenarians.

Here are some of the facts we learned:

• There are currently more than 750,000 people aged 85 and older in Canada

• There is limited research data on these older adults

• 40% of this population take 10 or more drug therapies

• In the past 15 years, there has been more than a 70% increase in those reaching 100, with 5,825 centenarians currently living in Canada

• More than 100 centenarians are members of RTOERO, 70% of whom are women

• With less than 100 geriatricians in Ontario, and over 1.8 million seniors over 65, we need to ensure that every clinician caring for older adults is competent in geriatric principles and practices

Dr. Rochon’s research will document changes to the size of the centenarian population over the past 15 years; and will create a profile of centenarians to better understand who they are, and what care they are receiving.