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Active and Healthy Ageing: Blended Models and Common Challenges in Supporting Age-Friendly Cities and Communities

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Age-Friendly Cities and Communities in International Comparison

Part of the book series: International Perspectives on Aging ((Int. Perspect. Aging))

Abstract

This chapter considers the importance of identifying the origins of active and healthy ageing behind Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (AFCC). After discussing some general trends and definitions within the fields of active and healthy ageing and building on some overall limitations, this chapter (re)introduces empowerment as a key element of active and healthy ageing. By focusing on two central elements of a theoretically grounded yet practically oriented vision of empowerment—i.e. a multilevel perspective and an insider’s view—a life course perspective on active and healthy ageing is proposed in which the merits of both notions are integrated. By placing a well-considered vision on empowerment at the centre of the argument, the frequent criticism on active and healthy-ageing discourses being too centred on individual responsibilities can be overcome. Potentials of this perspective for AFCC are discussed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to Phillipson, these organizations support a neoliberal vision of ageing at a global level, characterized by a reduction of pension systems and State intervention; an extension of working lives without necessarily adapting workplaces; a global concurrency between workers in an extended free market.

  2. 2.

    Although AFC(C) studies tend to refer to the notion of active ageing in only a general fashion, this is not to say that programmes offering a comprehensive perspective on ageing issues and using similar principles as those gathered in AFC(C) do not exist; for example, the Community for a Lifetime from Florida State existing since 1999 (Florida Department for Elder Affairs 2007) presents a close relation with the WHO perspective of supporting local communities in ageing policies.

  3. 3.

    For instance, the first two articles are “Towards a Healthy Old Age” and “A Global Strategy for Healthy Ageing”.

  4. 4.

    “The concept of Active Aging refers to the social reconstruction of the situation of the aging in modern societies, which would provide the aging with developmental opportunities besides humanitarian care, benefiting both the aging and the society” (D’Souza 1993, p. 333).

  5. 5.

    In Québec, the interpretation of active ageing in a work context received little attention. Moulaert and Paris (2013) hypothesized that Quebec may be associated with a liberal market where the position of older workers in the job market is less regulated.

  6. 6.

    We will come back to this idea of adaptation later in the chapter: in addition to making adaptations in the sense of accepting altered levels of functioning, particular attention will be paid to alternative ways of maintaining engagement with life in face of these altered abilities.

  7. 7.

    The activity theory was criticized as overly idealistic because of its emphasis on the maintenance of activity patterns typical of middle age (Walker 2002).

  8. 8.

    For a detailed overview on overlaps between various terms, see Boudiny (2013).

  9. 9.

    The different cultural and national origins of the authors of this chapter have been a strong driver for discussions; while we all work with the notion of empowerment, we build here a common knowledge and present how empowerment holds potential for AFCC.

  10. 10.

    Van Regenmortel (2009) discusses research on socially vulnerable groups, which shows that the insider’s perspective helps so-called outsiders to gain more insight into the various meso- and macro-level factors that attribute to a vulnerable situation besides people’s own share of factors.

  11. 11.

    Recently, there is an observable trend towards either the abolishing of mandatory retirement or an increase in age limits (OECD 2013).

  12. 12.

    Instead alternative ways of ageing actively should be acknowledged, hereby presenting the older person with a wider choice of active-ageing activities (Boudiny 2013).

  13. 13.

    Back to the introduction of this chapter, it might help to build more bridges worldwide, including with American gerontologists who produce comprehensive and innovative thinking on “Age-friendly community initiatives” (see the recent publication of Greenfield et al. 2015) without noticing the potential relations with the European thinkers of “active ageing” (e.g. Boudiny 2013; Walker 2009). With their attention to the prevention of problems and ‘consumers’ sharing in the power of decision-making, the work of Greenfield and colleagues (2015, p. 192) shows some common grounds (that could be explored in future research) with ideas expressed in this chapter. The same holds for US researchers linking child- and age-friendly communities based on the idea that both population groups have similar needs (Warner and Morken 2013): by asking for planning tools such as affordable housing and accessible parks that can be used to promote both a child- and age-friendly community, the authors hope to design communities that meet the needs of all residents across the entire life course. While no attention is given to the notions of active and healthy ageing, the incorporation of these terms could be useful, because of the life course perspective that is inherently embedded in these terms (at least in the way they have been conceptualized throughout this chapter). By doing so, the authors’ main focus on the implementation of tools and services that are beneficial to various age groups, could be complemented by attention for the enhancement of active and healthy ageing across the life course ‘within individuals’ (e.g. developing healthy lifestyles from childhood on)—and this not solely driven by an economic imperative (i.e. not just to build “the workforce of the future”, Warner and Morken, p. 55), as it is also presented in the chapter by Biggs and Carr. Hopefully this book may contribute to the enhancement of such (worldwide) connections.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. REIACTIS, Dijon, France

    Thibauld Moulaert

  2. School of Public Health, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Thibauld Moulaert

  3. Human and Social Sciences Institute, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Thibauld Moulaert

  4. School of Social Work, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada

    Thibauld Moulaert

  5. PhD FWO-Flanders, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, CELLO (Research Center for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Kim Boudiny

  6. Research Centre on Aging, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada

    Mario Paris

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  1. Université Catholique de Louvain, School of Public Health, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Thibauld Moulaert

  2. and Research Centre on Aging, School of Social Work and Research Centre on Aging, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada

    Suzanne Garon

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Moulaert, T., Boudiny, K., Paris, M. (2016). Active and Healthy Ageing: Blended Models and Common Challenges in Supporting Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. In: Moulaert, T., Garon, S. (eds) Age-Friendly Cities and Communities in International Comparison. International Perspectives on Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24031-2_16

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