The United Nations Decade of Healthy Aging (2021-2030) is a global collaboration that brings together governments, organizations, professionals, academics, the private sector, and the media to improve the lives of older people, their families, and the communities in which they live.
The Decade
will focus on four areas:
•
Creating
Age-Friendly Environments
o
Age-friendly
environments are created by removing physical, social and economic barriers and
developing services, products, technologies, systems, and policies that address
the social determinants of healthy aging. Social determinants of healthy aging include,
but are not limited to, access to nutritious food, safe housing, and affordable
transportation.
•
Combatting
Ageism
o
Negative
attitudes regarding older individuals are common across societies and rarely challenged.
Negative stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminatory behaviours towards people on
the basis of their age can have detrimental effects on their health and well-being.
The many contributions of older individuals to society need to be recognized.
•
Ensuring
the Provision of Integrated Care
o
Older individuals require access to good
quality essential health resources such as: preventive, curative,
rehabilitative, and end-of-life services; vital medicines; dental care; and
health and assistive technologies. Use of these resources should not cause
financial hardship.
•
Ensuring
the Provision of Long-Term Care
o
Older
individuals may reach a point in their lives where substantial declines in
physical and/or mental capacity makes it impossible for them to care for
themselves without additional supports and assistance. Access to good quality long-term
care is critical for individuals to maintain functional abilities, enjoy basic
human rights and live with dignity.
Improving
the lives of older individuals at the local, regional, national, and
international levels will require the concerted efforts of multiple
stakeholders. The involvement of older individuals is critical as they are
agents of change as well as recipients of services.
Building
capacity among various stakeholders, and connecting stakeholders is essential
for leveraging resources, sharing experiences, and aligning actions. Effective
governance and leadership are required to foster healthy aging and reduce
inequities through the development of appropriate laws, policies, financial
resources. and accountability mechanisms. Data and research are required to
help inform local and national action on healthy aging.
An in-depth
analysis of data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) was
included in the Baseline Report for the Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030).
This report addresses five areas:
• Healthy
aging, the Decade’s actions, and a pathway to accelerate impact by 2030
• A
look at healthy aging worldwide at the current time
• Improvements
that could be expected by the end of the decade
• How
older individuals and stakeholders can work together to positively impact the
lives of older people
• Opportunities
to boost collaboration and impact by the next reporting period in 2023
For more
information on the Decade of Healthy Aging, go to
https://www.who.int/initiatives/decade-of-healthy-ageing
The
Baseline Report is available at https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240017900
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