HERC Presented at SwedAge: International Conference on Healthy Ageing
SwedAge, an international conference on healthy ageing, was held in Gothenburg, Sweden, on 1 October 2012. Academic researchers and other relevant stakeholders participated in the event to explore the latest research on ageing in relation to health and work.
The main theme of SwedAge this year was “Healthy ageing as a political challenge.”
The main topics discussed by participants in the panel debates were:
- Healthy ageing as a challenge for research and policy
- Ageing without getting “old”
- Research on Active and Healthy Ageing – International perspectives
Director of HERC, Professor Maria Slowey delivered a presentation entitled “From lifelong learning to longlife learning” in which she explored how interventions in later life can support longlife learning. In order to address opportunities for learning over the life course it is very important to consider issues of equity and access. Professor Slowey highlighted a five equity gaps that are particularly relevant for longlife learning:
- Level of previous educational attainment
- Social and Cultural capital
- Socio-economic factors and gender
- Lack of investment in social, economic and environmental aspects of ageing research
- Structural and institutional barriers
Other contributors in the session on International Perspectives to Active and Healthy Ageing were Professor Richard Ennals, Professor of Corporate Responsibility and Working Life, Kingston University, UK; Elettra Ronchi, Senior policy analyst, Communications Policy Division of the OECD; Professor Peter Byass, Umeå Centre for Global Health Research, Sweden; Dr Richard Suzman, Director of the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging, US.