Individual and societal initiatives in areas of research, education, and health care policy have resulted in unprecedented
gains in life expectancy. It is true that today more people in the world are living longer and have opportunities
for higher quality lives than ever before. However, the resulting rapid rise in number of older adults has
become a source of concern: Experts of many countries, in anticipation of looming problems, such as overburdened
health care and pension systems, are now seeking opportunities to work together to find common solutions
for globally-shared problems. The good news is that while all countries are experiencing change brought on
by aging populations, the rate of change varies substantially from country to country; differences in historical
events have produced differences in demographic profiles. Some countries have relatively large numbers of older
adults, comprising large percentages of their populations; others have fewer older adults, with slower growth in
numbers and percentages of older adults relative to other age groups. These differences have led to variations
for the type and pace of response mounted by individual countries for problems associated with increasingly
large older adult populations. In turn, these variations in response provide opportunities for countries to learn
from one another. This brief review will outline potential issues associated with aging populations and discuss
strengths and challenges for the integration of primary medical care with behavioral health as an innovative,
best practices approach to the provision of care for aging persons of the world.