healthy and active ageing - EuroHealthNet's Healthy Ageing Website

5. KEY AREAS FOR HEALTH PROMOTION
AMONGST “YOUNGER OLDER PEOPLE”
Those health promotion policies and programmes that are targeted at or relevant to people in the EU
that are 50+ tend to focus on employment and employment conditions, the transition into retirement and
activities that they can take part in to stay active, up to date and socially connected following retirement.
People aged 50+ should adopt good nutrition habits and engage in physical activity. This group should also
utilise healthcare services, which are able to address their specific needs, on a regular basis. In addition,
people in this age group are often ‘carers’ of youth and of older people, and may need assistance coping
with these roles. This section provides information on these different topics on the basis of studies that have
been conducted across Europe. It will address:
A: Employment at transition into retirement
B: Participation/social inclusion, including engagement in voluntary work and mental health
C: Life-long learning and e-inclusion
D: Physical activity and nutrition
E: Utilisation of health services and intake of medication
F: Carers
Further examples of projects and programmes from EU countries and Canada addressing these topics are
included in the compendium following this section.
A. Employment and transition into retirement
Given demographic change and ageing populations, there is a strong focus at EU level and in EU Member
States on labour policies amongst those nearing retirement age. Many governments are developing
policies and programmes to encourage people to work longer to help address the pressure on the younger
generation. Organisations like AGE Platform Europe, however, stress that the debate around active ageing
should not focus exclusively on prolonging working careers to lighten pressure on public budgets, but
should aim at making a society where everyone is empowered to participate at all ages. 25 The EU have
adopted this approach and dedicated 2012 as the European Year (EY2012) for Active Ageing and Solidarity
Between Generations (see Box 2). The EY2012 will focus on advocating for a society for all ages but in
terms of ageing, the year will encourage older people to stay in the workforce and share their experiences;
keep playing an active role in society and live as healthy and fulfilling lives as possible.
There are many health-related reasons to encourage people to work longer. While work can be demanding
and compete with family time and leisure activities, employment also makes people feel like valued members
of and connected to society. Analysis of data from the Survey of Health and Ageing in Europe (SHARE)
(See Box 12) on 11,462 participants who were 50-64 years old in ten countries found that perceived poor
health was strongly associated with non-participation in the labour force in most European countries. 26
Lower educational level, being single, physical inactivity, and high body mass index were associated with
withdrawal from the labour force. Long-term illnesses such as depression, stroke, diabetes, chronic lung
disease and musculoskeletal disease were significantly more common in those not having paid employment.
The authors therefore concluded that social policies to encourage employment among older people should
incorporate the role of preventing ill health and its influencing/contributing factors.
Nevertheless, encouraging older people to continue to engage in full-time work might not be desirable. The
Multilinks project (see Box 13), co-funded by DG Research, surveyed the opinions of Europeans in 23 EU
25 Statement by Anne-Sophie Parent, Director of the AGE Platform Europe at the 3 rd EU Demography Forum in Brussels, 23 November 2010.
26 Unemployment and retirement and ill-health: a cross-sectional analysis across European countries
(Alavinia SM, Burdof A. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2008; 82: 39-45
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