The elderly between the needs for care and active ageing

The article starts from the dichotomy that currently characterises the scientific and political debate on ageing. Two opposing, or rather mirrored theses mark the discussion on the “elderly question”. On the one hand it is evident that the progressive ageing of the population brings with it growing costs for the welfare system, given the increase in social security and health expenditure. Indeed in our country the social demand for care on the part of the elderly is on the increase (according to the latest ISTAT data -2007- there are around 2 million non self-sufficient elderly people, and more than 4,800,000 affected by chronic illnesses and pluripathologies). On the other hand it is claimed that, generally speaking, the elderly can be a resource for the whole of society, not only because they live longer, but also because often, even beyond the age of 80, they enjoy good health. On this subject many epidemiological studies have shown that improvements in health without precedent are taking place among the population in general, and the elderly in particular. This is thanks to economic and social progress and to the discovery of new cures and new medical technologies which today can act more effectively on multi chronic conditions, thus slowing down, or at any rate putting off the onset of real and true disability. This confirms what Riley (1979) stated, i.e. that ageing cannot be considered an inexorably degenerative process. Rather, it is the result of the systematic interaction of biological, psychological and social processes. Since these biological, psychological and social processes are in continuous change in time, ageing is a process in continuous transformation (author’s italics) which never shows itself the same. From this perspective, since every new cohort is born at a particular moment, and faces a unique series of roles and environmental events they have their own personality. Hence individuals belonging to different cohorts tend to age in different ways. Thus the elderly of the third millennium are experiencing ageing in good health. This article intends to specularly analyse the two aspects of ageing, seeking to maintain together, in a manner of speaking, the two sides of the same coin, discussing on the one hand the factors that determine the social demand for care, and on the other, the many factors that influence the continuation of working activity beyond the age of 65 (a fact generally referred to when active age is discussed in literature and political debate).