Long lasting and healthy. that’s how

by Bruno Nicora

08 MAR –

Dear Director,
the demographic transition brought about by the aging of the population poses challenges and opportunities. From 2000 to 2050, the proportion of people over 60 will double while the proportion of people aged 80 (and over) will quadruple. This demographic dynamic is a stimulus to the increase in health care and socio-economic development (economy of healthy and active ageing) but also poses major challenges because longer lives also involve often unpredictable disadvantages.

Healthy aging (aging maintaining one’s autonomy) and healthy longevity (above-average longevity in full well-being) will constitute the founding concept of the basis of the commitment in ICT assistance (Information and communication technology).

There will certainly remain socio-economic inequalities in the life expectancy of the world population even within the same continent.

The goal of a healthy longevity depends on policies, health systems and also on a set of factors determining and conditioning the state of health. A heterogeneous picture of longevity will be defined between different regions or countries on the planet with a request for adaptability and organizational flexibility of home healthcare systems.

In outlining the profile of the Italian and European population, it is necessary to focus on the concept of fragility.

Frailty is understood as a condition in which the following three factors coexist individually or together: individual susceptibility to developing chronic pathologies (which flare up), instability of a social or economic nature and little or no ability to adapt to negative changes (resilience).

Frailty is a parameter for population stratification. On the basis of the identification of frailty in the population, the need emerges for a “life course” approach aimed at maintaining a state of psychophysical well-being of the person in his biological arc by promoting a preventive action and subsequently optimizing the appropriateness of the interventions: a system of proactive medicine.

Bruno Nicora
Palliative care doctor, Asl Alessandria

March 08, 2023
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