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Transforming the future of ageing

People are living longer than ever before, in Europe and around the world. This is a great achievement of the past century, but also brings challenges for European societies: adjustment to an ageing and shrinking workforce, and finding financially viable ways to deliver high-quality health and social care for all.

SAPEA report "Transforming the future of ageing"
Image: SAPEA

A new report by scientists from across Europe calls upon every age group to become involved. The group of scientists was chaired by Jean-Pierre Michel, Professor of Medicine at the University of Geneva.

The report’s main messages:

  • Lifestyle behaviours such as healthy diet, physical activity, etc. need to be promoted from early childhood;
  • Age-friendly communities must become the norm so that older people can feel secure and go about their daily life comfortably;
  • Changes such as climate change, antibiotic resistance, changes in society etc. are to be accommodated in drafting policies on ageing for them to be successful;
  • Barriers of acceptance and practicality of wearable and assistive devices, artificial intelligence, etc. need to be overcome;
  • Education of the young is important to improve individual health and equip our future workforce with the skills it needs to support an ageing population.

The report was drafted as part of the academy project SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies), to which the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences contribute. SAPEA convenes expertise from over 100 academies, young academies and learned societies in more than 40 countries across Europe. SAPEA is part of the Scientific Advice Mechanism, which provides independent, interdisciplinary and evidence-based scientific advice on policy issues to the European Commission.

Pages: 294 p.
Standard identifier: ISBN 978-3-9820301-1-1 / DOI 10.26356/ageing

Categories

  • Ageing
  • Antibiotics
  • Europe

Contact

Dr. Roger Pfister
Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences
House of Academies
PO Box
3001 Bern
Switzerland


English