Active Ageing is the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is all about having the ability to enable people to be and do what they believe to be necessary to achieve happy and healthy living and ageing.
This includes a person’s ability to be able to:
- Meet basic needs
- Learn, grow and make solid decisions
- Be mobile
- Contribute to society
- Build and maintain engaging relationships
People deserve the opportunity to be active members of society and build a long and healthy life. However, the per cent of older people that are part of the Active Ageing process, is lower than the acceptable amount. On this premise, the Active Ageing Index was created by the EU.
The Active Ageing Tool
Across Europe, one of the most common problems for many societies is the active inclusion of older people. The elderly are rather often excluded from the most common of practices. The elderly are usually viewed as people that are not able to add to the local economy or in general be active members of the society. That is, of course, a big mistake especially if we consider the fact that due to experience alone, older people can be a lot more productive when it comes to some of the most essential parts of the society.
The Active Ageing Index is a tool to measure the untapped potential of older people for active and healthy ageing across countries. It measures the level to which older people live independent lives, participate in paid employment and social activities, and their capacity to age actively.
To gain access to all the important information on the Active Ageing Index, all you need to do is visit the EU’s official website. You can see the leaflet on AAI functionality and application here and you can gain access to the Guidelines for the active ageing tool, in non-EU countries. here.
You can also try the web-tool on AAI and send any potential feedback you might have directly at ec-active-ageing-index@ec.europa.eu.
The AAI is a product of a joint project undertaken in 2012 by the UNECE Population Unit together with the European Commission Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research in Vienna.
The Official Results Are In!
For more information on the AAI you can visit the special wiki dedicated to the Index as well as the 2018 Analytical report that was jointly launched by UNECE and the European Commission.
The progress that has been observed since the creation of the Active Ageing Index has been strong. Is the Index enough to help promote Active Ageing all around Europe and later, the world?
The Active Ageing tool is a strong asset for many European projects focusing on active ageing. One such project is the Collabor-Active project implemented by an experienced consortium of partners. One of those partners is the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development. For more information, you can visit the project’s official website.
