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Healthy Ageing: Challenges and Opportunities of Demographic and Societal Transitions

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Older People: Improving Health and Social Care

Abstract

The demographic situation in Europe is changing rapidly. Humans are getting older, and the proportion of older people is rising, also because the birth rates have fallen. Demographic changes are seen as a fundamental challenge for our welfare and economies. Societies have to embrace various policy options to improve healthy ageing and to help people to stay healthy and active in old age. Between European countries and in different regions, health status and life expectancy vary considerably. Inequalities in income, education, housing, employment and access to health and social care facilities affect population’s health directly and indirectly. This chapter gives a short overview of the demographic trends and the consequences for societies in Europe. It describes a life course perspective on healthy ageing, starting with children and adolescents, tomorrow’s workforce and the changing retirement context. The number of people requiring informal care will increase and therefore is considered at meso, macro and micro level. We end this chapter with an overview of the consequences of the demographic changes for the health and social care systems.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Erik Buskens

  2. Department of Operations Management and Operations Research, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Erik Buskens

  3. Department of Demography, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, Population Research Centre, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Tobias C. Vogt

  4. University Medical Center Groningen, Univerity of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Aart C. Liefbroer

  5. Demography of Young Adults and Intergenerational Transmission at the Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Aart C. Liefbroer

  6. Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Menno S. A. Reijneveld & Kène C. J. I. M. Henkens

  7. Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Ute Bultmann

  8. Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), The Hague, The Netherlands

    Kène C. J. I. M. Henkens

  9. Center of Expertise Healthy Ageing, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    J. Han de Ruiter

  10. University Center of Geriatric Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Sophia E. J. A. de Rooij

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  1. Erik Buskens
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  2. Tobias C. Vogt
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  3. Aart C. Liefbroer
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  8. Sophia E. J. A. de Rooij
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Correspondence to Erik Buskens .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Expertise Healthy Ageing, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Bea L. Dijkman

  2. School of Health Care, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Kuopio, Finland

    Irma Mikkonen

  3. School of Nursing, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Petrie F. Roodbol

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Buskens, E. et al. (2019). Healthy Ageing: Challenges and Opportunities of Demographic and Societal Transitions. In: Dijkman, B., Mikkonen, I., Roodbol, P. (eds) Older People: Improving Health and Social Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97610-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97610-5_2

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