In the broadest sense, The Well-Being of the Elderly in Asia is a study of social change and of anticipating future social change. It examines the effects on the current and future elderly of the rapid demographic transition that has occurred over much of Asia, accompanied in many countries by equally dramatic social and economic transformations. Policymakers in Asia have been aware of these trends and their potentially deleterious consequences for a decade or more, and have sought to fashion appropriate policies and programs that anticipate and mitigate their effects. Accordingly, any study of the sociodemographic trends and their impact must be examined in the light of policies put in place and under development.

During his long and distinguished career, Albert I. Hermalin has devoted himself to the training of demographers from all over the world, to sustained research collaborations with his former students, and to the continued expansion of the boundaries of demography. Former President of the Population Association of America and now Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Michigan, he continues his lifelong research at the University of Michigan's Population Studies Center, a division of the Institute for Social Research. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the MERIT Award from the National Institute on Aging (which helped to fund this book), and the author of several books, including Population Health and Aging: Strengthening the Dialogue between Epidemiology and Demography (with M. Weinstein and M. A. Stoto), published in 2001.