As more people live longer than ever before,
the resulting demographic shift raises the profile of frailty
and disability within the world’s population (Davies 1999).
In the United States, two out of every five dependents of
persons between 18 and 64 years of age is an older adult
(McDevitt & Rowe 2002), and one-third of communityresiding, older adults indicate that they are severely limited
by a disabling condition (McNeil 2001).