Abstract
International and national guidelines have been promoting active aging while creating the necessary means for decision-makers and other relevant actors to work together (governance mechanisms) to implement local and active aging policies. This is especially important in the present COVID-19 pandemic context, posing greater challenges on older people who tend to be self-isolated. How are local actors conceptualizing active aging? What are their priorities related to a healthy life for older people? Which governance mechanisms are used to implement such policies? These are some of the questions addressed in this paper, targeting Portugal, a southern European country. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design combining a survey conducted at a national level and interviews with key actors in the NUTS III Aveiro Region was employed to identify and understand the underpinning governance mechanisms. Findings confirm the ‘passive organization type’ in which European politico-territorial studies tend to place Portugal, as there are gaps in the way policies are formulated, implemented and evaluated, as well as a lack of coordination. Results of this study have important impacts on the way local governments and other stakeholders will prepare themselves in the post-pandemic period to design and implement policies addressing active aging.
Highlights
Populations in developed countries are aging rapidly, and an increased number of older people is expected to live longer [1,2,3,4]
The first phase of data collection was based on the questionnaire, which, as aforementioned, comprised three main sections: (i) identification of the most relevant active aging-related concepts and respective sources of knowledge
The results obtained with this study allowed a deeper understanding of what is being outlined at the local level regarding active aging, while identifying some of the inherent mechanisms of the decision-making policies process
Summary
Populations in developed countries are aging rapidly, and an increased number of older people is expected to live longer [1,2,3,4]. Amongst the European Union member-states, Portugal is already the third-most aged country, in which approximately 21.5% of the population is more than 65 years old [5,6]. This phenomenon results in several positive societal factors, it creates countless individual and collective challenges. Expectations towards public policies increased as older people became more demanding, mostly due to the growth of literacy rates visible among all Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Seniors began to reflect and even to fight for their economic, social and cultural rights in order to be an active voice in decisions concerning their lifestyles [10,11,12]
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