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Population ageing is one of humanity’s greatest achievements with the elderly who offer valuable resources and make an important contribution to the structure of our societies. At the same time, this ageing population poses great challenges, as it requires greater economic and social needs. Institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO) are promoting policies that aim at promoting active ageing, which is understood as the process of optimizing health, participation and security opportunities in order to improve people’s quality of life as they get older. The main objective of this study is to identify scientific production related to the area of Active Ageing. The work methodology used is the bibliometric analysis of the articles indexed in the multidisciplinary databases WoS and Scopus. There were 171 articles in WoS and 234 in Scopus that were selected, with a time limit in 2017. In the analysis carried out it is observed that active ageing is a topic that has aroused interest among researchers in recent years, proof of this is the increase both in the number of articles published in scientific journals and in the citations received. The Scopus database presents a greater coverage of the subject. The Overlap Index shows that Scopus covers 90.06% of the WoS articles and its Single Documents index is 34.19% versus 9.94% of WoS.

While active ageing has emerged as a main strategy to address the challenges of population ageing in Europe, recent research has stressed the need to increase knowledge on within-country differences to promote active ageing through appropriate policy responses. This article draws on the Active Ageing Index (AAI) to capture recent trends in active ageing in Italy with a focus on sub-national diversity. To this end, we compute AAI breakdowns by region separately for men and women for four different years: 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2018. Then, we use linear regression to describe the geographical and sex-specific patterns of change in the AAI over the considered period. The results demonstrate the diversity of regional outcomes and trends in the active ageing of Italian men and women, indicating that the widening geographic gap deserves further consideration by national and regional authorities in designing and implementing active ageing policies. By showing the persistence of disparities in the value of the indicator to the disadvantage of women, results also suggest the need to further integrate both the gender dimension and the life-cycle perspective into active ageing strategies. This article provides an example of how the AAI can be used as a practical tool by policy makers to monitor active ageing trends and outcomes at the sub-national level, and to identify target areas that require further action.

Active ageing has been discussed in international political organisations and among researchers as a major means for combatting the challenges of demographic ageing. This study aims to make a critical-theoretical and empirical assessment of the active ageing concept, challenging the active ageing discourse from two different angles. First, an assessment of the theoretical framework of active ageing shows that the conceptual framework is undertheorised, lacks conceptual and analytical clarity, and fails to propose clear contributing factors and barriers. The second part presents an empirical analysis of the concept of active ageing guided by the following research question: is active ageing realistic—and for whom? Using Danish data subjected to multiple correspondence analysis, it is found that active ageing at the individual level is preconditioned by health, education, having good finances, etc. Furthermore, a Matthew effect of accumulated advantage is found; that is, older adults who are blessed in one sphere of life are also blessed in others, and such inequalities in old age are the outcomes of social life biographies (i.e., cumulative advantages/disadvantages over the life course). Thus, empirical findings indicate that active ageing may be an elusive goal for a large segment of older adults.

This paper is aimed at the development of a tool analysing the AAI results for the Russian older citizens from different population groups, as well as at identifying factors underlying the inequalities in active ageing outcomes by calculation the AAI on the national and individual levels. The adaptation of the methodology of the AAI to the individual-level data and the limitations of the approach are explicitly explained. The older generations of Russia show relatively high levels of education, financial security and engagement in family care, especially in the care to children. The most significant potential for development have employment, volunteering, political engagement, physical activity, lifelong learning and use of the Internet. The calculation of the AAI at the individual level has revealed significant inequalities in the degree of realisation of potential in different areas of active ageing. The results of the project provide scientific evidence for the implementation of policy measures in the target groups. The high correlation of the index values with human capital indicators (health and education) underlines the importance of the early interventions aimed at promoting and supporting human capital at the earlier stages of the life course till the old age. The substantial positive connection of employment with other forms of activity stresses the necessity of developing a package of activation policy measures aimed at the retention of older adults in the labour market. At the same time, the statistical analysis showed the absence of a “dilemma of choice” between certain types of activity of the older generation, for example, between caring for grandchildren and employment, or employment and volunteering - the potential in different areas may be increased simultaneously.

The Active Ageing Index (AAI) is an important tool for measuring and comparing the potential for active and healthy ageing of different societies. Its 22 indicators arranged in 4 domains have been computed by UNECE for EU countries for the period 2010–2018. Many of its constituent dimensions are negatively associated with age, with older people being less active. Given the context of generalized population ageing, of which EU countries stand at the forefront, it is natural to consider to what extent population ageing is affecting negatively active ageing indicators. Based on indicator- and sex-specific linear models with country-specific fixed-effects there are surprisingly no indicators for which population ageing has had a negative effect. A similar pattern is also observed based on aggregate indicators. The interpretation of this surprising results is double: positive effects of ageing can be explained by successful adaptation of EU societies to ageing (at least over the period 2010–2018), or to ageing indicators working as proxies for omitted trends in cohort health and human capital. For some of the indicators it is possible to discern the relevant explanation, but more work is needed for a precise separation. In any case, the results indicate that so far there have not been decreasing levels of active ageing as the ageing process progressed.

Active Ageing is conceptualised to measure the extent to which older people remain actively engaged with life. However, there is no evidence that the concept of Active Ageing is actually associated with the activity levels of older persons. Influences of age, ethnicity and spirituality on Active Ageing are also unexplored. Using the Active Ageing Index (AAI), this study examines whether the level of Active Ageing predicted the actual activity level of 120 Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay and Indians ethnicities, aged 55–64 years old or 65 years and above. Spirituality, measured by the Spirituality Index of Well-Being, was added to the AAI, to see if the predictive power of AAI improved. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that the AAI alone (controlling for age) did not significantly predict the activity level of older persons. The predictive power of the AAI improved significantly with spirituality included. Two-way between-groups Analysis of Variance revealed main effects of age and ethnicity, with higher AAI in those aged 55–64 and in Indian-Singaporeans. These findings suggest that the theoretical construct of Active Ageing needs further examination to identify the domains that distinguish it from chronological age, and support broadening the construct by including spirituality in Active Ageing.

The combination of an increase in life expectancy over the last century and a decline in fertility rates since the 1970s has led to the ageing of the EU population. The purpose of this study is to design a new index to monitor local active ageing policies in the EU. This index is called the AAI_locp. The European Active Ageing Index (AAI) (developed to measure the potential of the older population), and survey on active ageing policies implemented across the Galicia-North Portugal Euroregion at local level from 2000 to 2012 were used in its construction. The survey was part of the \"More Active Ageing\" European project, which was funded by the ERDF under a European Territorial Cooperation programme for the 2007-2013 period. The AAI_locp provides an independent variable at the local level that could be associated to the results of the AAI in future multilevel analyses.

The purpose of this study is to construct Taiwan’s Active Aging Index (TAAI) based on the Active Aging Index (AAI) of the European Union (EU) and with consideration of the cultural and specific characteristics in Taiwan and to compare the result with the AAI status in the EU-28 countries. The first draft of TAAI was developed; 25 experts from the aging industry, government representatives, and academics were invited to participate in the modified Delphi method or an expert group meeting. Older adults were invited to collect opinions from the perspective of older people. The weights of the TAAI indicators were assessed by an analytical hierarchical method based on the Delphi method questionnaire. The indicators collected by a survey questionnaire were designed, pretested and modified, and then, the data were collected from a sample across four regions of Taiwan (n = 738). The TAAI indicator scores were calculated accordingly. The AAI performance of Taiwan was also compared with the performance of the EU-28 countries. The original 4 AAI domains were maintained in the framework. In TAAI, 11 indicators were added to the existing four domains and, in total, 33 indicators were suggested. The TAAI indicators showed acceptable reliability and predictive validity in self-rated health. The indicators regarding health and capacity for active aging in Taiwan were good, and social participation and economic security could be improved. The TAAI framework and indicators are suggested to be applied in the monitoring and policy making of active aging and in future research.

Introduction: Moldovaranks 107 out of 188 countries in the Human Development Index 2016.  In 2017, 17.2% of the Moldovan population were aged 60 and over, by 2025 older people will represent at least 25%. Moldova loses 106 persons a day; every hour 5 persons are born, 6 persons die and 4 persons go abroad. Annually Moldova loses 37.000 persons that is equal to 5 Moldovan villages (NBS 2014). The average pension covers 82% of the subsistence minimum. Description: In 2015, the SRC stared a project “Active Ageing and Health” aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of the elderly and promoting active ageing concept. Active Ageing (AA) is a highly relevant concept for Moldova where according to UNFPA Active Ageing Index study, 70% of the people aged 55 years have no opportunities to participate in the economic and social life thus repressing untapped potential for active and healthy ageing. Only one in 10 participates actively in the social life, every second is deprived of an independent, healthy, and secure living. The enabling environment for active aging is limited because of low life expectancy and social connections (32.2%), lack of skills in using information technology (2.9%) and limited opportunities for lifelong learning (0,3%). Members of the Initiative Groups (IGs) developed their self-help potential, their vision and skills in communication, advocacy, community mobilisation, participation and empowerment, thereby engaging with key local stakeholders to jointly address urgent issues of the vulnerable community members and older people. The role of IGs was crucial as they demonstrated that AA is about everyone’s engagement, empowerment and participation tapping into hidden resources and activism of the older people, it has changed the mind-set of the population and the older people, that have become more open to development and learning. By gaining new skills, participating in the decision making they made their options count finding solutions for community problems. Aim of Change: Our aim of change derives from the AA framework developed by the World Health organization that means ageing in optimal health conditions, having an active role in society, feeling professionally fulfilled, having the autonomy in daily life, and being involved in civic activities. We have been able to activate 55% of the target population in Active Ageing activities. Impact: The SRC project empowered 314 older people from 15 communities in Moldova to become members of the IGs that work together to increase their participation and integration in the social life of the community, to create enabling environment for active ageing and support their engagement with local authorities. The members of the IGs feel the ownership of the change they triggered are confident of their capacity and skills to cooperate with local authorities. The Initiative Groups have a vision and mission are more visible. Conclusion/Recommendation: The Initiative Groups, are drivers of change which demonstrated that no community initiative can succeed without the involvement of the older people. The acquired know-how is used to address the needs of vulnerable peers and finding solutions for community problems.

Three interconnected and mutually supporting priority areas of “Europe 2020”, which will continue as priorities until 2030, constitute the idea of sustainable development based on three pillars—economic, environmental and social. The third pillar, related to social inclusion, aims to protect the interests of various social groups, including the growing group of elderly individuals. In this context, the activity of seniors becomes one of the key elements of sustainable development. For many years, it has been advocated that seniors have to be active, not only in terms of their physical activity, but also in terms of the so-called digital/technological inclusion or exclusion. This article attempts to answer the question of whether seniors’ activity in various areas of life (for example, taking into account the components of the Active Aging Index) can translate into a better assessment of their lives. We compare the activity of Polish seniors with their peers from EU countries. By identifying the differences, we try to pinpoint the causes of inactivity and indicate the areas of action necessary to stimulate their activity. Pointing out the disadvantages of the AAI’s construction, which are related to the cultural schemes, traditions, and social conditions of EU countries, we propose an original active aging indicator, which was created using Hellwig’s method and which is based on the results of a pilot study conducted with Polish seniors in 2020. The values of both indicators (AAI and the original) were also used to examine the impact of seniors’ activity on their general life satisfaction. In this part of the study, we used a comparative analysis and a classification method.