U.S. Perspectives: International Action on Aging. A Background Paper Prepared by the American Association for International Aging for the Select Committee on Aging. House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, Second Session.

In response to challenges and guidelines set forth in the 1982 International Plan of Action on Aging (IPAA) by the World Assembly on Aging, this background paper summarizes (1) immediate and long-range reasons for the World Assembly; (2) content and significance of the IPAA and the factual base on which action plan decisions were made; (3) follow-up steps taken within the United Nations system since the World Assembly; (4) similarities and diversities among peoples as they become more aware of aging as a factor affecting the quality of life for all generations; and (5) the past and future role of the United States in supporting recommendations of the IPAA, in expressing its support for a continuing U.N. priority to aging concerns, and in maintaining communication with other nations on aging issues of mutual concern. Data in chapter one build a case for action on aging. Several key points of the IPAA are made in chapter two. In chapter three, responses by the United Nations and by individual nations since 1982 are detailed, while chapter four focuses specifically on past and future responses of the United States. Appendices include a fact sheet on the American Association for International Aging, the complete text of the IPAA, an annotated list of trust fund projects approved or earmarked for funding, a state department report on the World Assembly on Aging, and the concluding chapter of Charlotte Nusberg's "Innovative Aging Programs Abroad: Implications for the U.S." (LH)