The WHO World report on ageing and health is not for the book shelf it is a living breathing testament to all older people who have fought for their voice to be heard at all levels of government across disciplines and sectors. - Mr Bjarne Hastrup President International Federation on Ageing and CEO DaneAge This report outlines a framework for action to foster Healthy Ageing built around the new concept of functional ability. This will require a transformation of health systems away from disease based curative models and towards the provision of older-person-centred and integrated care. It will require the development sometimes from nothing of comprehensive systems of long term care. It will require a coordinated response from many other sectors and multiple levels of government. And it will need to draw on better ways of measuring and monitoring the health and functioning of older populations. These actions are likely to be a sound investment in society's future. A future that gives older people the freedom to live lives that previous generations might never have imagined. The World report on ageing and health responds to these challenges by recommending equally profound changes in the way health policies for ageing populations are formulated and services are provided. As the foundation for its recommendations the report looks at what the latest evidence has to say about the ageing process noting that many common perceptions and assumptions about older people are based on outdated stereotypes. The report's recommendations are anchored in the evidence comprehensive and forward-looking yet eminently practical. Throughout examples of experiences from different countries are used to illustrate how specific problems can be addressed through innovation solutions. Topics explored range from strategies to deliver comprehensive and person-centred services to older populations to policies that enable older people to live in comfort and safety to ways to correct the problems and injustices inherent in current systems for long-term care.

Almost 25 years have passed since the Demography of Aging (1994) was published by the National Research Council. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging is, in many ways, the successor to that original volume. The Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to produce an authoritative guide to new directions in demography of aging. The papers published in this report were originally presented and discussed at a public workshop held in Washington, D.C., August 17-18, 2017. The workshop discussion made evident that major new advances had been made in the last two decades, but also that new trends and research directions have emerged that call for innovative conceptual, design, and measurement approaches. The report reviews these recent trends and also discusses future directions for research on a range of topics that are central to current research in the demography of aging. Looking back over the past two decades of demography of aging research shows remarkable advances in our understanding of the health and well-being of the older population. Equally exciting is that this report sets the stage for the next two decades of innovative researchâ€"a period of rapid growth in the older American population.

Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an individual's circumstances and perceptions. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that social isolation presents a major risk for premature mortality, comparable to other risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. As older adults are particularly high-volume and high-frequency users of the health care system, there is an opportunity for health care professionals to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults summarizes the evidence base and explores how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, particularly among low income, underserved, and vulnerable populations. This report makes recommendations specifically for clinical settings of health care to identify those who suffer the resultant negative health impacts of social isolation and loneliness and target interventions to improve their social conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults considers clinical tools and methodologies, better education and training for the health care workforce, and dissemination and implementation that will be important for translating research into practice, especially as the evidence base for effective interventions continues to flourish.

Daryoush Daniel Vaziri illustrates that the use of mixed methods designs may support the induction of more subtle and complete theories about older adults’ use of technologies for the support of active and healthy aging. The results show that older adults’ social contexts and environments considerably affect their perspectives, practices and attitudes with respect to health, quality of life, well-being and technology use for active and healthy aging support. Results were collected with older adults aged 60+ as well as relevant secondary stakeholders like caregivers, policy makers or health insurance companies.

"Based on the 10th Measurement and Evaluation Symposium, "Measurement Issues and Challenges in Aging Research," Measurement Issues in Aging and Physical Activity considers research from experts around the world relating to the latest questions, challenges, and techniques in aging and measurement. The reference addresses a range of topics in aging research, including issues from the fields of kinesiology, biology, physiology, technology, urban planning, measurement, and statistics. Measurement Issues in Aging and Physical Activity breaks new ground with a discussion of multicultural factors related to physical activity promotion and intervention. Ideas include using culture as a catalyst for active living and using culture-based physical activity as an alternative approach to promotion of active living. The reference further examines multicultural issues with a look at alternative medicine, including an account of a demonstration of qi-gong, a traditional Chinese exercise, from the symposium. In addition, a new term, kinesmetrics, is introduced for the field of measurement and evaluation. Kinesmetrics is defined as a discipline for developing and applying measurement theory, statistics, and mathematical analysis to the field of kinesiology. The groundbreaking Measurement Issues in Aging and Physical Activity explores subjects in a range of research topics. For both veterans and newcomers to the field, this reference will be a comprehensive guide to the latest research on aging in measurement and physical activity." --Publisher description.

In September 2016, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop to examine trends and patterns in aging and factors related to healthy aging in the United States, with a focus on nutrition, and how nutrition can sustain and promote healthy aging, not just in late adulthood, but beginning in pregnancy and early childhood and extending throughout the lifespan. Participants discussed the role of nutrition in the aging process at various stages in life, changes in organ systems over the lifespan and changes that occur with age related to cognitive, brain, and mental health, and explored opportunities to move forward in promoting healthy aging in the United States. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.