title: Understanding Very Old Age: Looking Back and Thinking Forward.
abstract: Understanding human development among the oldest old is a sequential building process taking into account building-block data, theories, and models from childhood, adulthood, and old age toward a new territory of oldest-old survivors who have lived way beyond the average life-span. A central question is whether the oldest-old survivors have developed specific survival techniques and/or protective environments that nurture survival. Or are the oldest old statistical outliers who by happenstance continue to survive further into old age? This commentary provides a historical framework on the papers in this series that describe challenges confronted by the oldest-old survivors in order to advance our understanding of survival of the oldest old. A clear understanding of the contributors to longevity could guide public policies toward well-being and life satisfaction among our oldest-old citizens.
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Gerontology , University of Georgia , Athens , Georgia , USA.
authors.forename: Leonard W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.affiliation: b Department of Human Development and Family Studies , Iowa State University , Ames , Iowa , USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychology , Lund University , Solvesborg , Sweden.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hagberg
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005853:Geriatrics; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D012106:Research
keywords: Aging; centenarians; longevity; oldest old; quality of life