Eighteen years after presenting Active Ageing: a policy framework, that highlights “the process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age” (WHO, 2002, p.12) and five years after the World report on Ageing and Health, targets healthy aging as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age” (WHO, 2015, p. 28), the World Health Organization (WHO) presents now a plan for a Decade of Healthy Ageing 2020–2030.
This agenda is based on the principle that healthy aging not only adds value to individual´s well-being but also has benefits for society, since experiencing old age with good health is important to fully participate and continue being an integral part of families and communities. Both health and participation and their association with active and healthy aging are have been the major focus of research the Quality of life and Aging in Spain, Sweden and Portugal (QASP) study, so the WHO’s most recent plan only reinforces QASP’s purpose.
Information on the Decade of Healthy Ageing 2020-2030 plan deserves a careful reading; on the website[1] there is information on how to get involved in the Decade. Here we highlight the four areas for action to address, as well as two crucial assumptions:
(i) change how we think, feel and act towards age and ageing;
(ii) ensure that communities foster the abilities of older people;
(iii) deliver person-centred integrated care and primary health services responsive to older people;
(iv) provide access to long-term care for older people who need it.
- Older people themselves must be at the centre of this plan; their voices must be heard.
- All sections of society (governments, civil society, international agencies, professionals, academia, the media, the private sector and others) have to work together; this must involve multiple sectors and include several action levels.
Despite being formulated before the pandemic, this plan makes even more sense now. The current crisis we are facing worldwide has revealed that there is still much to be done to protect older adults’ rights.
References:
WHO (2002). Active ageing: a policy framework. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/67215/WHO_NMH_NPH_02.8.pdf;jsessionid=C6C2A96585AC5B2CE1FD6F4D951E2D36?sequence=1
WHO (2015). World report on ageing and health. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/186463/9789240694811_eng.pdf?sequence=1
WHO (2020). Decade of Healthy Ageing 2020-2030. https://www.who.int/initiatives/decade-of-healthy-ageing
By Lia Araujo, Oscar Ribeiro and Laetitia Teixeira
CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research