9.I. Workshop: Healthy ageing and public health: a bound fate
Authors:   Organised by: Tor Vergata University of Rome (Italy),   Chair persons: Leonardo Palombi - Italy
Published: October 2020

The promotion of healthy ageing at all ages of life is a key point of public health strategy in almost all health systems throughout the world with a special focus on the systems of the advanced economies. The World Health Organization promotes a lifespan approach in order to put the basis of healthy ageing in the early life, supported by a growing set of data that show the relevance of life habits and socio-economic condition since the childhood for the older adults' health. However, we already witness the impact of large cohort of older adults who fuel the demand for health and social services, with worrying projection for the next 20-30 years in terms of economic stressors on the public finances coming from the request for Long Term Care as well as for Acute care services. Prevention at all age, namely at older age, is crucial to manage the demand for care. What interventions can lead this approach? What model of care could be put on the field in order to offer a mix of integrate health and social care able to meet the individual needs and to promote the best possible quality of life for each individual? what is the role of bio-psycho-social frailty as synthetic indicator of the needs of care at population level as well as of key information to stratify the risk of negative event at individual level? what professionals should be more involved in the new model of community care? what pathway in terms of training could we promote in the next years to support the shift from acute to long term care? what contribution should be asked to civil society to allow the spread of community care? Answers to these questions should fit with different geographical, political, social and economic settings as well as with different health systems. At the same time the development of a multidimensional assessment of the demand of care, both at individual and population level, is a crucial step to plan effective interventions. The main obstacles to this process seem to stem from the organization of community care still in silos with rare collaboration among different professionals. To overcome the obstacles a mindset change should be achieved mainly by training of personnel to set up a new model of care based on the systematic interaction among the prevention and care actors. Moreover, a pro-active component of prevention and care programs at community level, could strengthen many interventions that address a population which is not always aware of the risk associated to the progression of frailty. Finally, ICT devices could provide a valuable contribution to the reshuffling of community care, if they are embedded in a comprehensive model including a robust investment in human resources. The aim of the workshop is to report on the challenges that healthy ageing process has to face in different world areas and to discuss future developments likely to affect public health policies.

Key messages

Multidimensional approach to public health policies aimed at increasing health promotion programs impact on older adults is the key to promote healthy ageing. Pro-active services could increase the involvement of older adults’ population into healthy ageing program.