Heath and Ageing
In this summary I will explain the different aspects, concerning health and ageing. These are aspects are population and ageing, social exclusion, quality of life, discrimination and ageing and health in gerneral.
To start with the aspect of population and ageing, the main issue first of all, is that the numbers and proportion of older people in the population are growing because of decreasing birth rates and increasing life expectancy. In fact, ageing is one of the greatest social and economic challenges of the 21st century for the European societies.
But not in every country life expectancys or the problem, that their population gets older, while the birth rate decreases, is the same. Lets take for example the EU, and pick out some countries to make an example. Sweden has the oldest population in Europe in percentage of people 80 years and above, followed by Italy. Italy has the highest percentage of people aged 65 and over, while Albania has the lowest. Turkey has the youngest population, followed by Romania.
Also the income, in other words the amount of money which the older generations have for living, which is of course highly related to the life expectancy and the social life style, differs enormes. For instance Eastern and Central European contexts also differ from Western EU countries. Older people’s circumstances are more difficult in many new Member States, where majority of older people are poor. They face other kinds of problems, such minimal social care system and inadequate access to health and social services.
To make sure we are talking about the same thing, if we relate to the term 'ageing', we have to point out, that there are several different 'types' of ageing, so in other words, there is a certain Terminology we should keep in mind. In research protocols and policy documents the following phrases have become increasingly common: active ageing, healthy ageing and lastly successful ageing. So first of all the term active ageing is the
To start with the aspect of population and ageing, the main issue first of all, is that the numbers and proportion of older people in the population are growing because of decreasing birth rates and increasing life expectancy. In fact, ageing is one of the greatest social and economic challenges of the 21st century for the European societies.
But not in every country life expectancys or the problem, that their population gets older, while the birth rate decreases, is the same. Lets take for example the EU, and pick out some countries to make an example. Sweden has the oldest population in Europe in percentage of people 80 years and above, followed by Italy. Italy has the highest percentage of people aged 65 and over, while Albania has the lowest. Turkey has the youngest population, followed by Romania.
Also the income, in other words the amount of money which the older generations have for living, which is of course highly related to the life expectancy and the social life style, differs enormes. For instance Eastern and Central European contexts also differ from Western EU countries. Older people’s circumstances are more difficult in many new Member States, where majority of older people are poor. They face other kinds of problems, such minimal social care system and inadequate access to health and social services.
To make sure we are talking about the same thing, if we relate to the term 'ageing', we have to point out, that there are several different 'types' of ageing, so in other words, there is a certain Terminology we should keep in mind. In research protocols and policy documents the following phrases have become increasingly common: active ageing, healthy ageing and lastly successful ageing. So first of all the term active ageing is the