Active Aging – What Is It About?

Every human being ages in different ways. In a context that recognizes the influence of culture, society, hereditary factors or upbringing, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes active aging. Why is it like that?

Today we will tell you what active aging is about and how it has evolved throughout history. We will also talk about an interesting proposal that covers this idea.

The story of how people age

Aging has been conceived in a different way throughout history:

• Ancient Greece. In the Republic , Plato referred to old age as a positive stage. Aristotle, however, said that it was a stage of weakness and compassion in rhetoric . In addition, he characterized older people as suspicious, erratic, selfish and cynical.

• Cicero. He saw old age as the stage of understanding and reason. In addition, he talked about the importance of preparing for old age.
• Horacio. This man suggested that old age was not a valid stage because it required several adjustments.
• The Middle Ages. At this time, Thomas Aquinas suggested that old age was synonymous with decadence.
• The Renaissance. This era was marked by an escape from death. During this time, the elderly were also considered mature. Some said that the elderly were experts in tricks and sorcery.
• 19th century. The first scientific studies gave a twist on the conception of old age.
• 20th century. After World War II, researchers noticed a larger population. After defeating various infectious diseases, thanks to the advancement of protocols and medical technology, life expectancy increased.

Aging in modern times

Nowadays, aging is a stage that people do not worry so much about, except for caregivers and those who have reached this stage. There are many older people in the western world. Maybe it’s because society encourages people to try to stay young longer and there are many who prevent it through all kinds of products, training and operations, among other things.

In addition, there is not much talk of death. In fact, it is as if it is a matter that people do not want to acknowledge so that they do not talk about it. The same thing happens with aging. The elderly population is also excluded in different countries and they live mainly in nursing homes. Most are separated from the family core. In other words, society went from evaluating the experience of an older adult to completely underestimating that person. Most people will not believe that they will reach this age one day.

However, it is a completely different story in the East. In countries like Japan, older adults are considered honorable because of their many abilities and wisdom. That is why people treat them with respect and admiration.

Active aging

According to the World Health Organization, active aging consists of optimizing well-being at three levels:

• Physical. Consists of everything related to the physical body.
• Social. It consists of the interactions that people establish. For example, a toxic environment can lead to a life of poor quality.
• Mental. The affective and cognitive world.

The idea is to take them all into account. For what purpose? To expand everyone’s quality of life, productivity and healthy life expectancy in old age.

This means that active aging emphasizes health in an integrated way. It is to take into account all the stages that the individual goes through because prevention can help improve them.

Why is active aging important?

This is an important issue since the idea is to give people a multidimensional well-being in the aging stage. To achieve this, people must trade from different sectors:

• Health. From the perspective of both assistance and prevention.
• Economic. This is so that older people must also be financially stable.
• Educational. For the prevention of diseases and to keep the mind active.
• Professional. Some people think they can no longer work because they are older.

However, there are several ways to do it. All you have to do is create a system that you can customize. People could work in any area they want because old age is a comprehensive concept.

In addition to these , active aging proposes changes in transport, housing and justice. Thus, one can get a more functional population integrated into society, value everything they can give us and try to meet their needs.

Active aging is something that applies to everyone. It is about collaborating from different sectors to improve the quality of life at this stage. You grow old no matter how old you are right now. If everyone cooperates with each other, active aging will become a reality.