Thursday, October 28, 2021

The United Nations Decade of Healthy Aging

 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

No comments:

Post a Comment