active aging

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a concept developed by the World Health Organisation in its 2002 Active Ageing Policy Framework describing the process of optimising opportunities for health, participation, and security as people age, with the goal of enhancing quality of life rather than merely extending its duration; active aging challenges deficit models of aging that focus primarily on decline and dependency, instead emphasising the productive contributions that older people make to families, communities, and economies through paid and unpaid work, caregiving, volunteering, and civic engagement; the concept has shaped government policy across Europe, East Asia, and beyond, influencing pension reform, health promotion programmes for older adults, urban design standards, and workplace age discrimination legislation; critics argue that active aging can become a neoliberal burden — placing the responsibility for healthy aging entirely on individuals while neglecting the structural inequalities of class, race, gender, and access to healthcare that determine whether active aging is actually possible for different populations