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The authors discuss the awareness of the need for initiatives on bridging knowledge, policy, and practices in ageing and disability along with the Toronto Declaration. They mention the priority areas addressed in the Declaration including health and well-being, inclusion, and income security. They state that the United Nations General Assembly has examined age discrimination and social security during its third session of the Working Group held in August 2012.

The article offers information on the 2011 Growing Older with a Disability (GOWD) Conference which was held in Toronto, Canada on June 5-8. Topics include the difficulties experience by people with disabilities, the challenges for the 21st century on pension and social security systems, and the Barcelona Declaration on Bridging Knowledge in Long-Term Care and Support. Moreover, the income security, research on bridging aging and disability, and abuse prevention are discussed.

Purpose: The need for bridging between disability and ageing is significant for two primary reasons: 1) the growing population of persons aging with long-term chronic conditions and disabilities who have not been part of most traditional long-term care supports and service programs for older adults, and 2) the increasing trends towards both integrated health and social care systems and merged care systems for older and younger adults with disabilities. Aim: To raise social awareness and policy action to promote bridging and knowledge transfer between ageing and disability (A&D) care and policy Methods: An expert-based building blocks approach has been followed to develop a long-term multi-step policy strategy. These blocks were developed by iterative discussion and they include the following deliverables: 1) Series of international conferences on the topic, 2) Series of policy documents including two declarations: a) A position statement (Barcelona, 2009) and b) A policy action plan (Toronto, 2012), 3) Development of a consensus-based formal definition and generic description of the field of bridging and knowledge transfer in A&D, 4) Development of a preliminary knowledge-base in cooperation with IJIC (Supplements in 2009 and 2012 including editorials, reviews and conference abstracts and slideshows), 5) Development of the Bridging Ageing and Disabilities International Network (BADIN), 6) Development of stable links with key scientific organizations, research centres, public agencies, stakeholders' and international organizations. Results: Deliverables up to block 5 have been accomplished. The iterative discussion grounded in the summary of findings produced an expert-based consensus statement with global scope and specific plans for action. A definition of bridging was developed identifying its purpose as improving efficiency, equity or care, inclusion and support at all levels from person to society. The expert group found bridging to encompass a range of concepts, tasks, technologies and practices aimed at improving knowledge sharing and collaboration across stakeholders, organizations, and fields of care and support for persons with disabilities, their families, and the aging population. Tasks involved in bridging were determined to be activities dissemination, coordination, assessment, empowerment, service delivery, management, financing and policy. Specific priority areas for bridging related to long-term care were proposed to be support of families and caregivers, training and education of direct support professionals, self-determination, access, availability, and affordability of supports and services, ethnical issues related to non-discrimination in areas such as palliative care and end of life. Recommendations for action include: development of a formal agenda for bridging aging and disability, provision of public and private financial support for research and scholarship that advances the science of bridging, and the incorporation of bridging and knowledge transfers as key strategies in policy planning where all citizens can fully participate. Policy implications: This conceptual framework and building-block approach has created a scaffolding to aid the development of the science of bridging ageing and disability knowledge, practice, and policy in long-term care supports and services. It translates existing knowledge and policy directives that support the concept of bridging into a working model that facilitates international dialogue about bridging. It should also articulate closer links with similar developments in other innovative areas such as integrated care and person-centered health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]