本文之目的係要探討現代之老化概念、老化理論與老化之研究發展趨勢，以供老人學界與老人保健學界討論如何應用科技理論於實際之老人保健服務與老人照顧課題。老化概念係為一種繼續性、普遍性、進行性、本質性與衰退性之過程。老化理論將包括生物科學與行為及社會科學之理論學說。生物科學之老化理論可分為兩組；第一組之預先規劃的老化理論與第二組之過失或錯誤理論。第一組有預先規劃的長壽理論、內分泌、免疫、基因控制、染色酵素、海夫利克之限制、死亡荷爾蒙、胸腺刺激等八個遺傳性有關之理論。第二組有穿戴損傷、生活速度、交聯作用、自由基、基因突變、錯誤修補、殘渣堆積、細胞損傷、平衡與輸送、線粒體之損傷、熱能限制、焦糖化與酸化理論計有十二個後天統計學－隨機錯誤有關之老化理論。本文主要目的乃在探討老化理論之研究發展趨勢特別指出生物科學注重生物演化之研究，將其老化理論應用於老人疾病之治療，例如老人早老性癡呆症與糖尿病之治療，並強調老化研究之重要性與應用性，鼓勵更多之老人學專家學者投入老化之研究並將老化理論應用於解決實際之老化問題。並鼓勵醫療科技專家學者，不論是醫師、護士、社工師、老人保健師、營養師、家庭教育師與作業治療師等人都要參與跨科系、跨文化之老化研究與推廣服務。最後建議大學研究院與公私立老人福利機構或社團應多多栽培老化研究與服務人才以應時代之需要。

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the basic concepts and various theories of aging and its research trends in order to promote the application of theories into practice for the fields of health care, social services, elderly care, and geriatric services. Aging is starting at what is commonly called middle age, operations of the human body begin to be more vulnerable to daily wear and tear; there is a general decline in physical, and possibly mental functioning. Biologists regard aging as reflecting the sum of multiple and typical biological decrements occurring after sexual maturation; behavioral scientists view it as reflecting regular and expected changes occurring in genetically representative organisms advancing through the life circle under normal environmental conditions. Aging is not merely the passage of time. It is the manifestation of biological-psycho-social-cultural events that occur over a span of time. Aging is a complex interaction of genetics, chemistry, physiology, culture and behavior. The concept of aging can be defined as a continuous, universal, progressive, intrinsic, and deleterious process that eventually results in the death of life. There are two categories of aging theory: biological theories and behavioral-social science theories. The current biological theories of aging can be divided into two groups: Build-In-Programmed theories and DNA Damage-Error theories. The DNA Damage-Error theories explain that aging is caused by accumulated damage to DNA, which in turn inhibits cells' ability to function and express the appropriate genes. This leads to cell death and overall aging of the organism. The paper has finally pointed out the importance of aging study and its implication on the national policies of elderly care, social welfare, health care, and gerontology and geriatric education in the university and professional associations.