Aging and Health Interrelations at the United States-Mexico Border

Between Mexico and the United States there is a border more than 3,200 kilometers long. It is not only a political division between two countries, it also marks the encounter between development and underdevelopment, where two different cultures and lifestyles meet. In an apparent paradox, strong interrelations across the border are generated not in spite of differences but because of such disparities. Relationships go from north to south and from south to north. The intensity and regularity of these short-distance international relations characterize the life of the region in all aspects, from big business to family economy, permeating social perceptions and creating a new culture, driving demographics, and affecting health outcomes. In fact, the border as a division is at the same time a shared space that imposes special conditions on very concrete situations and problems that deserve bi-national attention and policies. In the study of the border there are always questions like, “What is the border region and how it is physically delimited?” In fact, these questions arise every time a border issue is undertaken because one must consider which key elements are to be addressed and what are the tools available to address them. For the border population the United States–Mexico border region is defined by the set of counties in the U.S. that border Mexico and the set of municipios in Mexico that are adjacent to the United States. There is a practical reason for this definition that is due to the availability of statistics, in which the smaller administration units are counties and municipios.