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This controversial book argues that concepts such as 'successful' and 'active' ageing are potentially dangerous paradigms that reflect and exacerbate inequalities in older populations. Essential reading for anyone seeking to make sense of social constructions of ageing in contemporary societies

Making a case for cultural participation by older adults to enhance the quality of their lives and building on concepts of adult human development and empowerment, Elizabeth Brooke reframes 'active ageing' to include forms of creative expression and cultural participation crucial to transforming later stages of the life course.

The article discusses the issues of calculating the Active Ageing Index in Russia and its regions. It presents an overview of the existing approaches to assessment, highlights their advantages and disadvantages. The main drawback of the considered approaches is the unavailability of data for calculating the index — statistical observations and surveys used are carried out irregularly or not for all subjects of the Russian Federation. An alternative approach to assessment of the Active Ageing Index in the regions of Russia is proposed. The information base for calculating the index is data tracked on a regular basis annually for all subjects of the Russian Federation. The index calculating is based on five indicators grouped by three dominants (health, labor activity and safety). The index indicators are selected according to five criteria. Construction of the Active Ageing Index includes four consecutive stages. To obtain normalized indicators, threshold values are set — minimum and maximum. The proposed approach to the construction of the Active Ageing Index was tested on data for 2020. The results of the assessment showed that not all subjects of the Russian Federation have successfully implemented measures in the field of active ageing, and the results are uneven. No subject of the Russian Federation has reached the fixed threshold (target) values for all indicators of the Active Ageing Index. This approach to assessment allows, firstly, to regularly identify shortcomings of the regional target indicators and inconsistency of the regional policy goals with the national goals and requirements of international organizations; and, secondly, to compare regions by how they cope with achieving results in active ageing in order to identify the best practices.

The National Strategic Policy for Active Ageing: Malta 2014-2020 represents a new dawn for Maltese ageing policy. A necessary first step for the successful implementation of active ageing principles is the integration of policy responses to population ageing, together with the concerns of older persons, into national development frameworks. The National Strategic Policy for Active Ageing reflects the government's quest to implement a vision that acts as a catalyst for improved levels of positive, productive and successful living in later life. The policy also affirms the government's mandate to not solely 'add years to life', but in parallel, also to 'add life to years'.

The study presents through international examples of how the security and quality of life of elderly and disabled people can be enhanced. 12 partners in eight Central European countries carried out pilot activities within the framework of the HELPS project. The aim of this international project is to contribute to the decrease of the social exclusion of elderly, and to elaborate practises through which seniors would not be constraint to institutional care, and can live in their homes on a longer term. The study presents the outcomes of these pilots and the ensuing primary experiences. The presented innovative solutions offer possibilities in various fields (housing, services, career, practises, information of relatives) for the home care of elderly and people living with disabilities. Prior to the elaboration and put into practice of the development ideas and plans, the partners evaluated the health care system and related services offered to elderly and disabled people in their homeland. The analyses revealed those shortage areas, where further developments would increase the possibility to keep and care for the target group in their homes.

'Active ageing' has become a key phrase in discourses about challenges and remedies for demographic ageing and the enrolment of older adults into voluntary work is an important dimension of it. The pattern and factors conditioning volunteering among older people has so far been an under-researched topic in Europe and this is the first book to study volunteering among older people comparatively and comprehensively

"This article deals with active ageing as a policy concept and its meanings in different cultures. We describe the Czech Republic and Poland, formerly communist states that experienced economic and political transitions in the 1990s and joined the European Union in 2004. Both countries are demographically similar, with ageing populations, but their understanding of active ageing as a policy issue are quite different. The methodology used was a meta-analysis of expert interviews and consultations. The results show that there is no comprehensive policy towards active ageing in Poland and the Czech Republic does not have an overall systemic vision based on the principles of active ageing. The debate on activity in old age focuses on labour market employment activity, neglecting most of the issues of social services, care-giving or just plain leisure. The lack of institutional mechanisms, fiscal limitations, discriminatory socio-cultural perceptions and an unfavourable economic climate have all constituted barriers to implementing active ageing strategies in the period analysed. However, it seems that the problem has been noticed and that demographic changes and the attitudes of the elderly in the future could bring forth a more wide-ranging discussion on active ageing." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

This article deals with active ageing as a policy concept and its meanings in different cultures. We describe the Czech Republic and Poland, formerly communist states that experienced economic and political transitions in the 1990s and joined the European Union in 2004. Both countries are demographically similar, with ageing populations, but their understanding of active ageing as a policy issue are quite different. The methodology used was a meta-analysis of expert interviews and consultations. The results show that there is no comprehensive policy towards active ageing in Poland and the Czech Republic does not have an overall systemic vision based on the principles of active ageing. The debate on activity in old age focuses on labour market employment activity, neglecting most of the issues of social services, care-giving or just plain leisure. The lack of institutional mechanisms, fiscal limitations, discriminatory socio-cultural perceptions and an unfavourable economic climate have all constituted barriers to implementing active ageing strategies in the period analysed. However, it seems that the problem has been noticed and that demographic changes and the attitudes of the elderly in the future could bring forth a more wide-ranging discussion on active ageing. Adapted from the source document.

Singapore faces a major challenge in providing care and support for senior citizens due to its rapidlyageing population and declining old-age support ratio. The concept of Ageing-in-Place was introduced by the Singapore government [1] to allow older people to live independently in their own homes and communities so that the need for institutionalised care will only be utilised when necessary. We have three fundamental questions that this project will answer: 1. How to make community care serviceseffective through innovations in care delivery? How to lower the cost of service delivery and improve 2. productivity of caregivers, by leveraging information and communications technology (ICT)? 3. Can we quantify such productivity gains?

Europe's demographic problem (an ageing population) is well-known and has been the object of a number of research projects in the EU. As an example of the scale of the problem, the percentage of persons 55 or older in the overall population of the EU was 30% in 2010, and is expected to rise to 37% in 2030. Raising the retirement age - the response implemented in a number of EU Member States in recent years - cannot be considered as a comprehensive solution to the problem. Older persons encounter more difficulties finding employment, even though they possess knowledge and experience which could be valuable in the conduct of economic activities. Recent years have witnessed a growth in the trend toward 'active ageing', which is considered to be 'a process of optimization of the chances for good health, active participation, and security, in order to improve the quality of life over the passage of time', a concept closely correlated with the idea of entrepreneurship among the elderly.It can be noted that there is no comprehensive policy supporting entrepreneurship of elderly people in the age of the Ageing Society in Europe. The aim of the paper is to present the foreseen benefits of the development of enterpreneurship of elderly people supporting policy in the EU and in Poland

The 'Active Ageing Index' was created with the purpose of helping policy makers implement and monitor active ageing policies both at European and national levels. However, this index has not fully achieved this purpose. In this article we propose a methodological approach based on Data Envelopment Analysis to enhance the measurement of active ageing in the European Union countries. We use a model with 22 indicators grouped into four domains. By introducing different types of virtual weight restrictions, we combine normative judgements with an optimisation procedure, showing each country in the best possible light. Furthermore, we undertake a sensitivity analysis regarding the effect of varying the limits of the relative contribution of each domain.The results show that the proposed approach has great potential in this context, allowing the comparison of countries and the identification of relevant targets and benchmarks, even when there is uncertainty regarding the relative importance of the indicators and domains considered. For most countries, the results are robust regarding different levels of flexibility for the relative contribution of each domain. We identify six countries that represent relevant benchmarks for the underperforming countries. The underperforming countries have some potential for improvement in terms of active ageing, whilst respecting their preferences and specificities for the processes that can be used to actively age. Based on a flexible evaluation of the countries, we contribute to develop a better tool to guide the European Union countries towards the formulation and monitoring of more effective policy measures to promote active ageing. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.