The Aging Connection. The number of olderAmericans has increased dramatically because older adults areliving longer partly due to the improvements in health caretechnology. However the question of quality of life has beenraised as people live longer and experience more health problems inthe midst of rising health care costs and as the textbook authorsnote individuals past health histories also directly affecttheir use of health care and will continue to do so (Markson &Stein 2012).