On Ageing

Environmental Perspectives on Ageing

According to Dannefer, context, broadly defined,1 ‘refers to the totality of the diverse range of phenomena, events and forces that exist outside the developing individual’ (1992: 84). The assumption that ageing occurs in context has meanwhile become, implicitly or explicitly, a core feature of models of ageing in biology, as well as those in the social and behavioural sciences. How such contex...

SECOND WORLD ASSEMBLY ON AGEING A strategy for active ageing

This article argues that a strategy of active ageing, by linking the key policy domains of employment, pensions, retirement, health and citizenship, provides a sound basis for industrialized countries to respond to the challenges presented by population ageing. The article outlines the genesis of the concept of active ageing and the principles that should be embodied in a modernized, comprehens...

Healthy ageing: ageing safely.

The population of the developed world is steadily ageing. In the European Union, approximately 22% of persons are over 60 years of age and this is projected to increase to more than 27% by the year 2020. This has major implications for health care resources and the productive workforce. Ageing is accompanied by a decline in the physiological reserve of all organ systems, compromising homeostasi...

Ageing and vascular ageing.

There is an age related decline in various physiological processes. Vascular ageing is associated with changes in the mechanical and the structural properties of the vascular wall, which leads to the loss of arterial elasticity and reduced arterial compliance. Arterial compliance can be measured by different parameters like pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, and systemic arterial complian...

On Active and Healthy Ageing