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Aerogels are a special class of nanostructured materials with very high porosity and tunable physicochemical properties. Although a few types of aerogels have already reached the market in construction materials, textiles and aerospace engineering, the full potential of aerogels is still to be assessed for other technology sectors. Based on current efforts to address the material supply chain by a circular economy approach and longevity as well as quality of life with biotechnological methods, environmental and life science applications are two emerging market opportunities where the use of aerogels needs to be further explored and evaluated in a multidisciplinary approach. In this opinion paper, the relevance of the topic is put into context and the corresponding current research efforts on aerogel technology are outlined. Furthermore, key challenges to be solved in order to create materials by design, reproducible process technology and society-centered solutions specifically for the two abovementioned technology sectors are analyzed. Overall, advances in aerogel technology can yield innovative and integrated solutions for environmental and life sciences which in turn can help improve both the welfare of population and to move towards cleaner and smarter supply chain solutions.

Aerogels are a special class of nanostructured materials with very high porosity and tunable physicochemical properties. Although a few types of aerogels have already reached the market in construction materials, textiles and aerospace engineering, the full potential of aerogels is still to be assessed for other technology sectors. Based on current efforts to address the material supply chain by a circular economy approach and longevity as well as quality of life with biotechnological methods, environmental and life science applications are two emerging market opportunities where the use of aerogels needs to be further explored and evaluated in a multidisciplinary approach. In this opinion paper, the relevance of the topic is put into context and the corresponding current research efforts on aerogel technology are outlined. Furthermore, key challenges to be solved in order to create materials by design, reproducible process technology and society-centered solutions specifically for the two abovementioned technology sectors are analyzed. Overall, advances in aerogel technology can yield innovative and integrated solutions for environmental and life sciences which in turn can help improve both the welfare of population and to move towards cleaner and smarter supply chain solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The concept of active ageing has been gaining prominence in the Nordic countries and beyond. This has been reflected in policy papers in Norway and other Nordic nations. Aims: The aim of this article is to analyse the topic of active ageing in five Norwegian White Papers (2002 to 2015) and discuss those policy documents in context of relevant research literature. Methods: A qualitative document analyses is employed focusing on how active ageing, and ageing in general, is described and which concepts are employed. No ethical approval was needed. Findings: The general theme of ageing and the specific theme of active ageing are increasingly prominent in the Norwegian White Papers studied. In all documents, some assumptions regarding ageing and active ageing seem implicit, such as independence being more important than (inter) dependence. 'Productive' activities like participation in working life are stressed, while others, like reading, watching TV or watching children playing in the street, are ignored. Conclusions: The policy documents demonstrate that the topic of active ageing is growing in importance. The documents increasingly seem to stress 'productive' activities -- those related to working life, voluntary work or sports and physical training. They exclude activities that are meaningful for many older people, like watching their grandchildren play or reading books. Implications for practice: Practitioners in older people's care could consider reflecting on: • Government documents dealing with their own practice • The prevalent concept of active ageing • The trend of active ageing as a facilitating or hindering factor for good care work • How present discourse on active ageing may influence their attitude towards frail older persons • How they wish to relate to active ageing in their own practice [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As the global demographic shifts towards an ageing population, the significance of the built environment in facilitating ageing in place gains prominence. This study addresses the critical question of how a built environment can support older adults' independence and enhance their quality of life. Method: Utilising a systematic review of review papers, this research scrutinises existing literature to uncover the influence of urban planning, physical accessibility, and residential design on the older people's physical and mental well-being. More specially, the study methodically examines existing review articles that span various aspects of the built environment related to ageing in place. Results: The analysis reveals that specific elements of the built environment, notably rational urban planning and accessible urban spaces, as well as adaptable housing designs, significantly impact ageing individuals' health, social engagement, and overall satisfaction with life. It also identifies contradictions in the effects of environmental features on cognitive health and well-being, underscoring areas that warrant further exploration. Conclusions: The study concludes that thoughtful urban and housing designs are pivotal in creating age-friendly environments that support ageing in place. It emphasises the need for future research and policy development aimed at enhancing the living conditions of older adults within their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Many older people experience memory concerns; a minority receive a diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or Subjective Cognitive decline (SCD). There are concerns that medicalisation of MCI and memory concern may fail to acknowledge subjective experiences. Aim: We explore the meaning individuals give to their memory concerns, with or without a diagnosis of MCI and SCD. Method: We scoped literature exploring subjective experiences of memory concern, with or without a diagnosis of MCI or SCD. We searched CINAHL, PsycINFO and MEDLINE in March 2020, and updated in Sept 2021.We used (Arksey & O'Malley, 2005) framework to guide our scoping review method and thematic analysis to analyse our findings. Results: We screened 12,033 search results reviewing the full texts of 92 papers. We included 24 papers, including a total of 453 participants, the majority of whom were female, from White ethnic majority populations (or from studies where ethnicity was not identified) with high levels of education. In 15 out of 24 studies, 272 participants were diagnosed with MCI. We identified two themes; Making a diagnosis personal and Remembering not to forget. We found that subjective experiences include normative comparison with others of the same age and responses including fear, relief, and acceptance, but culminating in uncertainty. Conclusion: Drawing upon sociology, we highlight the subjective experiences of living with memory concerns, SCD and an MCI diagnosis. We identify a gap between the intended purpose of diagnostic labels to bring understanding and certainty and the lived experiences of those ascribed them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social isolation and loneliness greatly contribute to negative health consequences in older adults. Technological solutions can be an asset in promoting social connections and healthy behaviours. This paper presents an innovative structure for an Internet of Things (IoT) platform specifically tailored for older persons. The framework utilises a supervised learning algorithm to classify users into four identified profiles to facilitate the adoption and engagement of technology. The platform incorporates wearables, such as socks and smart bands, to track physical activity, and a messaging module to encourage social interaction. The platform processes the acquired data to quantify steps and deliver tailored interventions remotely to the older adults through the AGAPE Assistant, the mHealth solution of the platform. Furthermore, the AGAPE Assistant has a user interface design for older adults, with a focus on their specific needs. Additionally, improving digital literacy among older adults is crucial for maximizing the long-term compliance and benefits of such technological solutions. On the other hand, AGAPE Monitor is a web application used by formal caregivers to configure the tailored interventions. The platform's usability was assessed using different usability scale questionnaires, which revealed a mild level of user satisfaction and acceptance. The proposed framework is currently being deployed on more than 112 older adults across three countries: Italy, Romania, and Portugal. The proposed framework provides a holistic solution to encourage active ageing by adopting technology, implementing hybrid interventions, and promoting social interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The active ageing approach supports a set of roles or activities that are supposed to be beneficial for older adults. This paper reassesses the benefits of activities for the quality of life by (a) analysing many activities at the same time to control each other, (b) using panel data to detect the effects of activities over time, and (c) performing separate analyses for four European regions to test the context-specificity of the effects. The effects of roles in later life are tested on panel data from three waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) project. The results of fixed-effects regression show that only some activities – volunteering, participating in a club and physical activity – increase the quality of life, and that care-giving within the household has the opposite effect. Moreover, the beneficial effects are much weaker and less stable than the other types of regression suggest; they are beneficial only in some regions, and their effect is much weaker than the effects of age, health and economic situation. Therefore, the active ageing approach and activity theory should reflect the diverse conditions and needs of older adults to formulate more-context-sensitive and less-normative policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the general framework of 'lifestyle migration', the paper explores three materialities associated with the arrival and settlement of British, German and Dutch later-life migrants in the Italian region of Marche, a relatively new 'frontier' region for international retirement migration. The first is about the aesthetics of landscape and the scenic and emotional qualities of the physical and social environment. The second concerns 'home', where we examine house types, property location and home-making practices in terms of 'authenticity', material objects and the cultivation of land for productive purposes. The paper's third thematic focus is on consumption patterns. Most of the 69 participants interviewed for this study hanker after what they perceive as a simpler, more genuine way of life, in tune with the surrounding mixed-farming agricultural environment and distinct from other regions where tourism has taken hold. Many grow their own produce, including some who have small vineyards and olive groves. They enjoy shopping in local markets, eating out in inexpensive local hostelries, visiting museums and cultural festivals, and exploring the many pretty villages and historic towns of the region. The participants embody later-life migration as 'active ageing', but those who are older and/or frailer must consider, often reluctantly, the reality of a less-active and more isolated life in the Italian countryside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid demographic transition heightens the urgency to develop a monitoring mechanism for policymakers to evaluate the impact of population ageing. The Active Ageing Index (AAI), developed for 28 European Union countries, has served as a global quantitative toolkit to benchmark the diverse experience of active ageing and older people's potential. One can presume that the experiences of Asian elders are different to those with Europeans who have different cultural backgrounds. Thus, an approach that incorporates Eastern culture needs to be developed. In this paper, key findings of the focus group discussions with older men and women across the territories of Hong Kong are summarized. The lay perceptions of active ageing in the general public are identified and compared with the constituents of the European AAI. Also, the relative importance of the indicators given by the older Chinese people were differentiated by their demographic characteristics. The extent to which the older Chinese citizens and the expert groups of the AAI revealed similar judgement on the relative importance of the indicators of active ageing are also examined. The results reported in this paper illustrate how the mixed-method approach could serve as an appropriate method in extending the active ageing research in the Asia-Pacific region. The insights obtained would inform the construction of a more meaningful AAI in the Asian context. It is argued that incorporating the perspective of older people to encapsulate the defining characteristics of active ageing will lead to a wider acceptance of the AAI in a policy-setting mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to develop a proposal for an Active, Inclusive and Trust-Based Framework of Environmental Education of the Elderly. It is based on the concept of environmental education, active and healthy ageing as well as generativity, and also takes into account trust in sources of environmental knowledge. In the course of quantitative research (n = 401) carried out among Poles 55+ in order to validate it, the perception of environmental issues, the awareness of and motivation for undertaking pro-environmental actions, and the credibility of sources of knowledge about environmental behaviour were examined. Elderly individuals in Poland express their belief in the need to take care of the natural environment. They are afraid that maintaining the status quo will cause permanent damage to the environment. In their opinion, pro-environmental behaviour is necessary to save the planet. These key conclusions have confirmed the correctness of the assumptions about the need for environmental education of the elderly, leading primarily to their environmental activation. Varied assessments of the credibility of sources of environmental knowledge indicate the need to assign them adequate priorities in the environmental education of the elderly. Our findings have important implications for shaping non-formal environmental education of seniors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technologies (ICTs or TIC) represent not only an extension of humans but pervasive environments in which all individuals move. However, even today, there is a gap between users in relation to age: the over-65s in Europe and Italy, for example, present difficulties in the use of digital tools and therefore strong disparities in relation to access to Internet and related resources and opportunities. This means that the elderlies are in serious risk to social exclusion and marginalization in the knowledge society, in which technological artifacts are instead crucial for social inclusion. Therefore, the essay aims to reflect on these issues through a sociological lens, with references to digital literacy and media education as possible alternatives, and social-relational interventions to reduce digital disengagement and the consequent digital divide. Thus, the paper proposes the intergenerational digital social innovation perspective that, by activating bottom-up digital-oriented welfare policies, promotes learning in old age. In fact, this is a determining factor in the design of educational spaces co-constructed together with the older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the smart health and elderly care industry responds to the growing demand for a better life for the elderly in the context of population aging, and integrates the development opportunities brought about by the development of modern science and technology and population aging to the transformation and upgrading of the industrial structure. Existing studies have fully affirmed the necessity of the development of smart health and elderly care industry. and put forward countermeasures and suggestions to promote the high-quality development of smart health and elderly care industry from different directions. However, on the whole, the analysis of the realistic scenario of the development of the smart health and elderly care industry needs to be further investigated, and the systematic and holistic study of the supply and demand of the smart health and elderly care industry needs to be further deepened. Based on the supply and demand analysis framework of the smart health and elderly careindustry, this paper analyzes the real demand and supply situation of the smart health and elderly care industry. It is found that the development of the smart health and elderly care industry is still in the primary stage. Supply dilemmas such as unbalanced and insufficient supply, improper connection of industry chain links, difficulty in crossing the digital divide of smart health and elderly care products, lack of professionals in smart health and elderly care services, and unsound coordination and cooperation mechanisms between the government and the market are still restricting the high-quality development of the smart health and elderly care industry. We propose high-quality supply countermeasures for the smart health and elderly care industry: set the supply according to the demand and improve the quality of industrial supply: integrate advantages and build a stable and efficient industrial chain: let the elderly enjoy smart services and promote the construction of digital accessibility: put talent first and solidify a high-quality professional team: make concerted efforts and promote a better combination of efficient market and effective government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the associations between social participation and individual life satisfaction among older adults. It specifically considers the diversity of the practices and social inequalities among this population. For analyses, we used a large survey of individuals of 65 years and older conducted in 2011 in Switzerland (N = 2,727). The first set of linear regression analyses examines Diener's Satisfaction with Life Scale and its association with various indicators of social participation. While the second set of logistic regression addresses the issue of social inequalities by evaluating the impacts of gender, age group, region and education on social participation indicators that are significantly associated with the satisfaction with life score. Our results stressed the importance of combining multiple forms of participation for life satisfaction and shows that some forms are particularly meaningful: in particular, the involvement in associations, visitation of family or visitation of friends/acquaintances and church attendance. When inequalities among older adults are considered, having rich and varied social participation, being involved in associations and maintaining private sociability with non-kin appear more elitist. While institutionalised and/or private sociability types of participation appear particularly significant for older adults' life satisfaction, the most traditional integration forms – i.e. family and religions – are crucial for the more vulnerable. Implications for active ageing was equally discussed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As older people have accumulated more developed networks, stronger financial positions and a greater ability to leverage resources and create more credible businesses, they are better placed to start new and more successful businesses than the younger generation. This paper presents the research that has been conducted for the ENTRUST project, which aims at designing an entrepreneurship training programme for people aged 50+ who are interested in creating new businesses to foster the sustainable development of rural areas and to provide services to tourists or other businesses that support tourism in rural areas. The results of the surveys for potential 50+ entrepreneurs (72 respondents) and experts in rural development and tourism organizations (100 respondents) show that there are perceived business opportunities in rural areas for experienced 50+ professionals. There is also a high demand for training targeted at rural tourism entrepreneurs. The interviews of experienced 50+ entrepreneurs (8) who work in cooperation with the rural community show that 50+ entrepreneurs find their work meaningful and that they want to continue working "as long as their health allows". They greatly value the opportunity to develop the rural area and to be involved in preserving its historical and cultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Active ageing' has become core to ageing policy internationally. This paper argues that housing, and specifically home purchase, is fundamental to the governance of active ageing in liberal welfare states such as Australia, the UK, the US and Canada. Specifically, the paper expands understanding of how neoliberally inflected active ageing agendas are advanced in conjunction with housing consumption, and builds new knowledge of the governance of asset-based welfare, the investor subject, and housing marginality, showing how these practices and identities are governed temporally through ideas about what it means to age well. Arguments are advanced through analysis of Australian government ageing and age-connected housing strategies in the 20 years to 2015. These strategies construct three key connections between housing and ageing. First, housing is framed as a base (or location) for active ageing, with secure, appropriate and affordable housing depicted as enabling participation. Second, home ownership is positioned as an individual responsibility. In this framing home ownership becomes a 'choice' and means through which individuals can demonstrate responsibility by self-insuring against the fiscal risks of older age. Third, home ownership is connected to the activation of ideal ageing identities by enabling home owners as productive agers (the home as a form of income) and active consumers (home as a resource to fund prudential and age-defying consumption in older age). Significantly, in framing home ownership as an individual responsibility and choice the importance of structural factors shaping housing access are downplayed. This is a question of key geographical significance, foregrounding an interlinked agenda of not just how, but where, ageing should take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world's population is rapidly ageing, which places a heavy burden on traditional healthcare systems with increased economic and social costs. Technology can assist in the implementation of strategies that enable active and independent ageing by promoting and motivating health-related behaviours, monitoring, and collecting data on daily life for assessment and for aiding in independent living. ICT (Information and Communication Technology) tools can help prevent cognitive and physical decline and social isolation, and enable elderly people to live independently. In this paper, we introduced a comprehensive tool for guiding seniors along the designed urban health paths employing urban architecture as an impulse to perform physical and cognitive exercises. The behaviour of seniors is monitored during their activities using wearable sensors and mobile application. We distinguished three types of data recipients (seniors, path/exercise designers, and the public), for whom we proposed methods of analysing the obtained data and examples of their use. In this work, a wide range of diverse information was examined from which short- and long-term patterns can be drawn. We have also shown that by fusing sensory data and data from mobile applications, we can give context to sensory data, thanks to which we can formulate more insightful assessments of seniors' behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the potential that coping with ageing experiences in later life might have for dealing with the current Covid-19-pandemic. The paper is based on the results of a qualitative study on subjective ageing experiences and the respective coping strategies of older people. The study is based on subject-obnderlying social structures. (e.g. BMBF, 2010). A qualitative research design was developed using the method of group discussions. The data gathered in these discussions were evaluated based on the approach of grounded theory. The results of this study are discussed regarding the ways in which the coping strategies of the participants revealed the specific abilities of older people to manage crisis experiences. The findings offer new perspectives on improving current images of ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK population is predicted to grow from 65 m in 2015 to 71 m in 2030 and 75 m in 2040, with the number aged 65-plus rising to 18 m. Successive governments have been reluctant to increase taxes but this looks increasingly unsustainable, if the increasing demand for health and social care is to be met. Increasing state pension age is the customary response for keeping pension contributions and benefits in balance in Pay As You Go (PAYG systems). However, this policy raises concerns about the capability of people to work to ever higher pension ages. Using newly available labour market data on health and disability, the paper finds limits to how far pension age can be increased without necessary health improvements. If improvements were forthcoming, planned pension age rises could be postponed. However, inequalities in healthy life expectancy across the UK are a major barrier to its achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose: This paper aims to consider how the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic questions the neoliberal project of ageing, based on a notion of a healthy, active, working older person. A long-term struggle to include older people has been (temporarily) replaced with a struggle to exclude them. This seems to be one of the most sensitive sore spots of the coronavirus crisis and one of the most serious challenges to social policy and welfare systems the world over. The purpose of this paper is to consider where the concepts of ageing and the action on ageing were at right before the crisis and what their further development may look like. Design/methodology/approach: This paper provides a critical overview of main conceptions based on the neoliberal project of ageing. Findings: The main principle of the neoliberal project of ageing, which had been formed on the crossroad of social theory and policy through decades, became vulnerable in the face of COVID-19 pandemic. The new forced ageing reveals its repressive nature through ensuring seniors' safety from exposure, their removal from work and isolation. The theory now faces new challenges of meshing a neoliberal actor – active, independent and productive – with an older person in isolation, who needs safeguarding, of re-conceptualizing social exclusion of seniors in a situation where exclusion is equated with safety, of resolving a dilemma between isolation and respect of human rights and of keeping progress in anti-ageism. Research limitations/implications: This paper presents an overview of the main conceptions, underlying the neoliberal project of ageing. It aims to designate the vulnerabilities of the project, which were revealed under the situation of pandemic. Further development of the discussion needs detailed analysis of theoretical conceptions of ageing. Practical implications: Theoretical debate reflects policy of ageing. Discussion of theoretical problems of ageism, social exclusion, safeguarding of the elderly and compulsion are necessary for improvement of social policy of ageing. Social implications: When the neoliberal project of ageing comes into collision with the reality with the reality, the authors recognize it as a crisis. It moves the society, and especially the elderly, to the situation of uncertainty. This paper calls for discussion and search for a new balance among the generations in a society. Originality/value: This paper relies upon the current debate on neoliberal project of ageing and responds immediately to the situation of pandemic. Now conceptual problems in theories of ageing and policy projects became visible, and the authors suppose it is time to initiate this discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ageing of populations is an unprecedented worldwide phenomenon that has created anxiety about labour and skill shortages in many developed countries. One way to address these concerns is to extend the working lives of seniors through appropriate retirement, retention and recruitment policies. This paper utilises official policy documentation and employment data to compare the policies, practices and predicaments of senior employment in Hong Kong and Singapore, two of developed Asia's most ageing economies. It finds that while labour force participation rates among Hong Kong seniors have declined since the early 1990s, older workers in Singapore remain largely confined to the secondary labour market. This paper examines why these trends are occurring and whether longer working lives will lead to greater opportunities for ‘active ageing’ in employment or, conversely, force older workers into a reserve army of labour to maintain their incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the country with the largest population of older people, while still being a developing one, China is confronted with huge challenges in seeking an optimum response, which is high on the agenda of policy makers in Beijing. This paper makes the case for a radical new strategy on ageing which substitutes an ageing-oriented paradigm for the previous passive, instrumental and economistic ones. We first present an overview of the trend of Chinese population ageing, compared with already aged societies, followed by a summary of its impacts on the social welfare system associated with old age. Then we outline an alternative WHO influenced policy paradigm, active ageing, focusing on health, participation and security. In the light of this new approach, more active policies on ageing are called for, which are rooted in a comprehensive understanding of population trends, draw on international experience and conform to Chinese conditions and traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The starting point of this paper is that, according to the statistics of the European Bureau of Statistics - Eurostat, by 2060 there will be only two older workers (15-64 years old) in the European Union per person aged over 65, compared to one a four to one report, today. The strongest change in this direction has begun starting with 2015 and till 2035, when children born in the two decades after World War II (the “baby-boomers”) have begun to retire. In the first part of the paper we are presenting and analyzing the main European regulations in the field of increasing active ageing in Europe and how they are transposed into Romanian social legislation and policy. In our country, the elderly population is characterized by a low and falling employment rate (as a consequences, Romania is 10% below the European average, very far from developed countries such as Great Britain, Germany, Sweden). The second part of the paper is the result of an analysis of secondary data, at European and national level, the analysis by which we try to answer to the question whether the measures for extending the retirement age in the European states, can be applied also in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of an ageing workforce on the workplace is a concern internationally. Governments are increasingly encouraging the continued labour market participation of older workers, seeking to remove previous barriers to the extension of working lives and give more choice to workers. Despite these legislative drivers, research has consistently found a lack of systematic approaches by employers to prepare and benefit from these demographic and labour market changes. In this paper, qualitative research is drawn upon to examine how managers and older workers think about age and ageing in the workplace; the support put in place for older workers, as well as future priorities; and the lived experiences of the older workers. It is highlighted that employees' age and fitness for work is treated on an individual basis, rather than having formal plans to manage the workplace for older workers. This thus indicates a hands-off approach from management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between the provision of informal care and three specific feelings important in later life – loneliness, meaningfulness of life, and overload. The paper contributes to the research of this frequently studied topic through examining effects of the intensity and multiplicity of care as well as the availability of formal care at the national level to consider the complexity and context-dependence of the effect of caregiving. Data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe for 14 countries is analysed using multilevel regression with important domains of subjective quality of life in older ages as dependent variables. The general effect of providing care is enhancing and this effect is even more pronounced for multiple caregiving. However, this beneficial effect is not significant for very intensive care. Further, higher availability of formal care increases the quality of life, but reduces the beneficial effect of caregiving on loneliness. Overall, the theory of role accumulation is more suitable to explain the provision of care at older ages than the theory of role strain, but the crucial factor for understanding the effect of caregiving is context-sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mostly due to negative demographic trends and unfavourable ratios between the inactive and active working population, prejudiced ideas against older people, that they are unproductive and redundant, are contributing to discrimination and their exclusion. Although human rights should not diminish with age, we are nowadays witnessing discriminatory practices against the older persons considering employment, social protection and access to services. The social construct of 'ageism', according to which older people are treated differently because of the attitudes relating to their age, is not a contemporary idea. Rather, it is a human rights issue that has existed throughout history. Examining the extremely positive and negative descriptions of elderly in ancient Roman literature, the first part of this article contains an analysis of the legal and social position of older people and, consequentially, their contribution to society. Focusing on the concept of 'active ageing', specifically propagated by the Article 25 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the second part of the paper will tackle the existing efforts of the EU in the struggle against ageism. Although Croatian national legislation is largely aligned with the European acquis, due to the large margin of discretion left to Member States, a systematic approach to care for the elderly is still lacking, not to mention its effective implementation. Finally, by exploring the experiences from the past and reflecting on the current EU policy advancements, the goal of this paper is to facilitate a vital shift from the paradigm of the old people as a burden of passive service recipients towards active participants in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The older population is growing globally, and more so in some European countries. Aimed at enhancing the quality of life of older people, active ageing has been on the policy agenda in Europe since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Using a subsample of the European Quality of Life Survey consisting of individuals aged 65 and over living in 27 European countries we explore the effect of active ageing on subjective quality of life. The central argument of the paper is that active ageing is cumulative, consisting of a mix of various interconnected activities. Hence, when assessing the impact of active ageing on quality of life we include the whole collection of activities in which seniors engage and avoid limiting to a single activity. Latent Class Analysis is employed to find the mix of interconnected activities in which older adults engage. We identify three classes: home keepers (mainly engaging in housekeeping activities), carers (mainly engaged in caring, but also some housekeeping activities) and those engaged outside their homes (engaged primarily in paid or unpaid work). Multilevel regression models test the connection between the different strategies to remain active in later life on life satisfaction and happiness, the cognitive and affective indicators of subjective quality of life. Our results show that remaining active in later life does not always lead to improvements in subjective quality of life and that separate strategies to remain active in later life are at work to maintain life satisfaction and happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]