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30 - The Promise of Active Aging

from Part III - Socio-Demographic Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2019

Rocío Fernández-Ballesteros
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Athanase Benetos
Affiliation:
Université de Lorraine and Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM) Nancy
Jean-Marie Robine
Affiliation:
INSERM
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Summary

This chapter considers the major global concept of active ageing, which represents the widely agreed optimum response to population ageing among international governmental organisations such as the European Community, UN, WHO and OECD. Despite its pre-eminence however there is often confusion about precisely what it means in practice. This chapter argues that this lack of clarity is restricting the potential of the idea of active ageing to provide an effective strategy aimed at ensuring that the effects, both societal and individual, of ageing are as beneficial as possible. In the course of examining why active ageing is so important in the era of population ageing, the promise it embodies, the concept is contrasted with its sister concept of successful ageing. The chapter then focuses on the barriers in the way of realising the full potential of active ageing and, finally, there is a sketch of the principles upon which it can be advanced in an effective and equitable way.
Type
Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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