Perspectives and Challenges of European Ageing

Abstract

Improving the life quality of the European population is an important goal set in the cohesion policy, which is valid for the whole of the European Union’s territory. The cohesion policy of the European Union strengthens the kind of European solidarity through which geographically different social groups receive similar opportunities to improve their life quality and well-being. To reach this positive goal, the accessibility programs created by the European Union are highly important. The ideology of European accessibility determines complex strategic objectives and imbues these with useful content. The group of elderly people is one of society’s accessibility groups, whose representation will be more and more prominent in the future due to European demographic changes. Member states of the European Union have different approaches to the growing role of seniors in society, which is partly due to their cultural traditions. These viewpoints may provide different answers regarding the processes of ageing, however, the appropriate care of the elderly is a joint social responsibility of each of the member states. The shifting dialogue between generations can be viewed as a positive change, nevertheless, other environmental influences can affect the processes. These environmental impacts can be factors that contribute to ageing. The complex research results of these show that, despite previous stereotypes, during the biological ageing of the human body there is a healthy ageing process in which activity, vitality, success, happiness, well-being and the quality of life play a substantial role. We have studied a group of seniors who have exceptionally active lives and extraordinary results in Hungary. The results of this Hungarian group of seniors show which factors and individual impressions in a local environment contribute to a high-level life quality, which can be an outstanding example and model to be followed by other European senior groups.