Global AgeWatch Index Research Articles

Measuring of Older Adults’ Well-Being in Iranian Provinces Using Age Watch Index

Aims: Today, the issue of older adults’ well-being has become a serious challenge of policy-making and a key subject of researches. The complexity, multidimensionality, and multileveled nature of the concept of well-being have resulted in numerous objective and subjective indexes at the micro and macro levels. The aim of the article is to assess and measure the well-being of Iranian elderly using the AgeWatch index. Materials and Methods: The method of the study was a secondary analysis of various data sources using Excel and SPSS25 software in the methodological framework of the Global AgeWatch index. This method assesses the well-being of Iranian older adults at the national and provincial levels for 2016. The index provides a holistic view of older people's lives in four dimensions included income security, health status, capability, and the enabling environment. Results: The results indicated the significant provincial differences in the AgeWatch index and its various dimensions, especially income security, and health status. The AgeWatch index scores ranged from 6.5 in Sistan and Baluchestan province to 77.9 in Tehran province. In general, the highest rank goes to the provinces of Tehran, Semnan, and Fars, respectively, and the lowest rank goes to the provinces of South Khorasan, Ilam and Sistan and Baluchistan, respectively. The results showed a significant correlation between AgeWatch index and human development index in Iran. In addition, the results showed Iran is ranked 64th among 97 countries in AgeWatch index. Iran was the best in terms of health status (43rd) and worst in terms of capacity dimension (88th). Conclusion: Economic and social policies supporting the employment, income, health, and independence of older adults play an important role in increasing the well-being and welfare of older adults. Therefore, dimensions of financial security, such as the development of universal coverage of pensions and poverty reduction, as well as capacity dimension, such as providing elderly self-employment and promoting the education and training of the elderly, should be a policy priority.

CARE OF ELDERLY IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: A PAKISTANI PERSPECTIVE

CARE OF ELDERLY IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: A PAKISTANI PERSPECTIVE

Cross-national analysis of the older workers’ employment rate

The share of older people in population structure is constantly rising in developed countries. This leads to a decrease of working age population. Labor market situation of Eastern European countries is aggravated by labor force migration. An effective response to challenges of ageing is productive ageing policy aimed at attracting older workers to labor market. The countries with remarkable success in older workers’ employment are defined in the article. Research method – analysis of extreme values repeatability (5 leading countries and 5 outsider ones) of the statistical sample. An object of the study – is replenishment of human resources at the national labor market. Subject of the study is involving older workers to national labor market. There are three stages of the study. The first stage is ranking the countries according to the older workers’ capability to implement their professional qualities at the labor market on a global scale. Capability domain of Global Age Watch Index is chosen as a criterion for ranking. Relative stability (the composition of countries) and relative volatility (annual change of country indicators’ value) are the features of the leaders’ group. The main feature of the outsider’s group is absence of the state policy towards older workers’ employment. The second stage of the study is ranking OECD countries by older workers’ employment rate. PWC Golden Age Index. Is chosen as a criterion of ranking The values of the criterion is a result of the common policy in the framework of intergovernmental agreements. The proof is positive dynamics of the criterion in both groups. The third stage of study is ranking European countries by duration of the working life. State policy of productive ageing is directed towards prolongation of working life. So, direction of seniority duration characterizes policy effectiveness. Extreme values of seniority demonstrate mutual loyalty of the employers and employees. The decrease in the highest values of seniority and the suspension of their pace of dynamics suggests the existence of an upper limit of seniority. The growth rate of low values of seniority is increasing, which proves the mobility of the bottom line.

A reformulation and assessment of the Global AgeWatch Wellbeing Index: inclusion of a gender-based domain

The Global AgeWatch Index (GAWI) is a measure that ranks countries according to the wellbeing of their older populations. The GAWI was originally constructed using four domains of economic and social wellbeing including: income security, health status, capability and enabling environment. This paper proposes and develops a new domain of gender equality to produce a reformulated index (rGAWI). This cross-sectional study utilised publicly available data on female labour force participation, total fertility rate and age at first marriage in combination with the original GAWI data. The country ranking based on the two indices (GAWI and rGAWI) were subsequently compared and analysed. The inclusion of the gender inequality domain into the GAWI resulted in changes in the rankings of 87.5% of the countries, indicating that the inclusion of a gender inequality domain increases the specificity of the well-being measure.

Identification of the Best Societal Measurement of Healthy Aging.

Almost six decades after the first proposals to define and evaluate the quality of individual aging, the first indexes for assessing the aging process at the societal level have appeared. Moreover, in five years, three different scores for measuring societal aging have been developed and tested in different areas. The Global Age Watch Index focused on 96 countries from around the world, while the Active Ageing index is limited to the European Union countries and the Ageing Society Index targets Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. This paper analyzed and compared the results of these three indexes. The rankings vary little at the bottom end of the scale, with the same countries consistently ranked among the lowest scores (for example, Poland ranked last among the European countries in the three indexes). The same is true at the top of the rankings, with Sweden, the Netherlands, and Ireland consistently among the high-scoring countries. However, the three indices tend to differently rank the countries in the middle. The United States, for example, is ranked ninth in the Global Age Watch 2015 and third in the Ageing Societal Index 2018. In cases in which the results are not consistent, it is difficult for politicians and policymakers to adequately identify needs and orient the policy to promote active and healthy aging. There is clearly a compelling need for wide-scale debate to reach a consensus on a comprehensive score or index at the societal level.

Analysis of indicators of life quality and well-being of people of older age groups in the russian federation

Aim: to study the problems of the elderly population and the directions of optimization of the geriatric care system. Material and methods. The reports of the international study Global Age Watch Index for 2013 and 2015, the data of state statistics on demography for 2013-2017 are analyzed. The levels of demographic aging in federal districts werestudied. Using Microsoft Excel, SPSS, statistical data processing was performed. 210 respondents were interviewed in an equal gender ratio by the method of simple random sampling in Moscow and the Moscow region.Results. Based on the Global Age Watch Index global rating, an analysis was made of indicators of the quality of life and wellbeing of older people living in the Russian Federation. The factors influencing demographic aging are considered and their estimation is made on the basis of the correlation analysis on the example of four federal districts of the country. To study the motivation for the consumption of drugs by persons of older age groups, a sociological survey was conducted. A conceptual model of the geriatric service management system is proposed with the introduction of systemic unity and an integrated approach to solving organizational, financial, and scientific and methodological problems of providing geriatric care.Conclusion. As a result of the analysis, the reasons for the low position of the Russian Federation in the Global Rating of the Global Age Watch Index, including the incomplete medical personnel and the variation in per capita incomes of the population in the regions, are identified. In the course of the sociological survey, the main pharmacotherapeutic groups of drugs purchased by persons of older age groups as well as the level of expenses were identified. In addition, the respondents' opinion was revealed on optimizing the organizational and managerial structure of medical, social and pharmaceutical care, focused on active longevity, the use of the personal potential of the elderly in work activities.

Well-being of older persons in Central and Eastern European countries

 Central and Eastern Europe is a unique region in terms of its social, economic anddemographic trends, particularly because of legacy of the communist system andtransformation to a market system. The transition coincided with a rapiddemographic change in which younger generation was able to reorganise themselvesrelatively easily whereas older people found this change much more difficult. Thispaper builds a picture of well-being of older population in eight Eastern Europeancountries: Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey andUkraine and compares it to eight other European Union (EU) member States of thesame region. We used the Global AgeWatch Index – an analytical framework ofZaidi (2013 ) offering comparative analysis of older people’s well-being across theworld. It is extended by gender-specific analysis for two domains: health status andcapability. The results show that the combined Index value of eight Eastern andSouth-Eastern non-EU countries is considerably below the average observed foreight EU member States, however, in some individual indicators, some of the non-EU states performed better than the EU countries. The evidence summarised can beused to assess the position of the region and points to areas where policy changes arenecessary.

GERONTOGROWTH AND POPULATION AGING IN AFRICA: WHY DOES THIS DIFFERENTIATION MATTER?

Population aging is a major achievement of human development enjoyed by an increasing number of people around the world. In Africa, despite the remarkable increase in absolute terms, the proportion of African elderly is only 5% of the African population, against over 12% of the elderly population worldwide. No less important than the increase in the numbers is the remarkable global progress in quality of life and satisfaction of the elderly. At this level, most African low-income countries are overrepresented as the worst countries for the elderly to live in, as shown by the Global AgeWatch Index 2015. According to HelpAge International the countries with the worst performance lack a comprehensive approach to policy framework to address the challenges posed by the aging of their populations. Although this conclusion is not entirely wrong, it needs careful attention and qualification: What does it mean to have a comprehensive approach to population aging in countries where increasing numbers of elderly, here designated ‘gerontogrowth’, is overshadowed by the rejuvenation of the younger population? Why people would worry in advance with a phenomenon that they still do not live or feel? Without questioning the new Index’s potential this article shows that its explanatory power and reach can and should be substantially improved with a really more comprehensive analytical and methodological framework. A framework that articulates the concept of capabilities with crucial structural concepts of population dynamics, in the context of the different stages of global demographic transition, where the world’s elderly population is integrated.

A note on suitable and healthy housing in the Netherlands

Housing is one of the eight domains of the concept of age-friendly cities or environments of the World Health Organization. This concept concentrates mainly on enabling active ageing and tapping the potential that older people represent for humanity. Proper housing is essential for the safety and well-being of older people and there is also a link between appropriate housing and access to community and social services in influencing independence and quality of life of older people. Given the importance of housing for older people, it looks at least a bit awkward that both the Global Age-Watch Index GAWI and Active Ageing Index AAI pay so little attention to the physical aspects of housing. The question emerges which sub-indices can be made available for GAWI and AAI to include suitable and healthy housing. In our contribution we are offering some suggestions.

‘Gerontogrowth’ and population ageing in Africa and the Global AgeWatch Index

Abstract Population ageing is one of the main gains of human development, enjoyed by an increasingly large number of people throughout the world. In sub-Saharan Africa (‘Africa’) most low income countries are among the worst countries for elderly people to live in, as shown by the Global AgeWatch Index 2015. According to HelpAge International, the author of this new Index, the worst preforming countries lack a comprehensive approach in the political framework to respond to the challenges posed by the ageing of their populations. While this conclusion is not completely wrong, it needs careful attention because of questions such as those raised in this article: what does it mean to have a comprehensive approach to population ageing in countries where the increase in the number of elderly people, here referred to as gerontogrowth, is neutralised by the rejuvenation of the population in general? Why would people be concerned to anticipate a problem they are not yet living through or feeling? Without questioning the potential of the Global AgeWatch Index, this article argues that its explanatory scope could be substantially improved, but for this an analytical and methodological framework really more comprehensive is needed. A framework that articulates better the concept of capacities with crucial structuring concepts of population dynamics, notably putting into context the various stages of the world demographic transition, in which the world’s elderly population is involved.

Measuring healthy and suitable housing for older people: A review of international indicators and data sets

Everyone has a right to adequate housing. Housing is vital for shelter, private and personal space, and as a place to bring up a family. The cost and quality of housing can also impact on individuals’ income security, health status, intergenerational relations, engagement with others, autonomy and quality of life in general. A number of international frameworks such as WHO Age-Friendly Cities, the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, and the Sustainable Development Goals recognise this right and call for the measurement of accessibility and quality of housing. The following paper reviews internationally proposed indicators for healthy and suitable housing for older people. We examine availability of age-disaggregated data sets for these indicators and make recommendations on how the Global AgeWatch Index can be expanded to include healthy and suitable housing. The potential indicators of access to improved water source and sanitation are disaggregated by age and sex for EU countries only. Additionally, Eurostat offers a greater variety of indicators to capture healthy and suitable housing. There is a need for other national governments and multilateral organisations to report age, sex, and disability-disaggregated data for all countries to ensure progress on human development is measured more accurately and older people are not left behind in the development process.

The Global AgeWatch Index, GAWI 2013

Global ageing has been known for decades. Although there are few things in economic and social life that are predictable, the ageing of population is one such thing. Nevertheless, the policies of national and local governments have not been adapted timely. In 2012, United Nations Population Fund UNFPA and HelpAge International published a report on global ageing. Then the needs of global comparisons became explicit. In 2013, after consulting internationally widely known researchers in the field, HelpAge International published the first version of the Global AgeWatch Index (GAWI), a comparison of the ageing situation in different countries around the globe. Researchers, policy makers and innovators in the field of gerontechnology should become acquainted with this index to support their work of improving the situation for older adults. At the same time, the gerontechnology community is called and encouraged to develop further especially the domain of ‘Enabling environment’ because this is most in need of scientific documentation.