These daily activities include the ability to walk, bathe, leave the house, transfer from a bed or chair, dress, use the toilet, and eat. Although most people maintain basic self-care functions throughout their lives, some type of assistance or care is necessary for those who do not. Many of these conditions are preventable or the onset delayed, thus enabling a person to be healthy and independent longer. For example, obesity and overweight are risk factors for the development of heart diseases, some cancers, and diabetes. If this were prevented or treated, the risk for developing the associated chronic diseases would be lessened.
Some elders live many years with one or more chronic disease.
These chronic conditions may affect how the elderly person is able to function in their daily lives. This is over ten times the death rate for the general U.S. male population in this age group. However, many elders continue to practice their traditional medicine. For example, the percentage of households without running water ranges from 4 percent on the Blackfeet Reservation to 51 percent on the Navajo Reservation. Low income elders may not be able to afford home and community based programs if they have to pay for them.