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The Platform
International Day of Older Persons 2024: Ageing with Dignity – The Importance of Strengthening Care and Support Systems for Older Persons Worldwide
All the knowledge you need on how we can transform the way we provide care to ensure everyone has the opportunity to make the most of longer lives.
Learn moreOn 14 December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly (by resolution 45/106) designated 1 October the International Day of Older Persons (#UNIDOP). On UNIDOP, stakeholders around the world come together to highlight the important
contributions that older people make to society and raise awareness of the joys and challenges of ageing in today’s world.
Over the next decade, the number of older persons worldwide is projected to increase to
1.4 billion persons. All regions will see an increase in the size of the older population between 2019 and 2050, but this change will be the greatest and most rapid in low- and middle-income countries. UNIDOP is an important opportunity
to:
Find out more about UNIDOP
The United Nations International Day of Older Persons (UNIDOP) 2024 theme is 'Ageing with Dignity: The Importance of Strengthening Care and Support Systems for Older Persons Worldwide'.
Population ageing is a major global trend reshaping societies worldwide. Life expectancy at birth now exceeds 75 years in half of the world's countries, 25 years longer than in 1950. By 2030, older persons are projected to outnumber youth globally, with this increase most rapid in developing countries. This demographic shift has significantly transformed the caregiving landscape, encompassing a wide range of needs for both paid and unpaid support in formal and informal settings. As populations age, the demand for comprehensive healthcare, care, and social support services has grown substantially, particularly for older persons with conditions such as dementia. In recognition of these challenges and opportunities, the 34th commemoration of the United Nations International Day of Older Persons will focus on how we can strengthen the way we provide care and support for all older persons to live with meaning, dignity, and rights.
This year's UNIDOP will bring together experts to discuss policies, legislation, and practices that strengthen care and support systems for older persons. It will highlight the urgent need to expand training and educational opportunities in geriatrics and gerontology, address the global shortage of care workers, and recognize the diverse contributions of caregivers. The commemoration will also emphasize the importance of protecting the human rights of both caregivers and care recipients, promoting person-centered approaches to care that respect the dignity, beliefs, needs, and privacy of older persons, and for the right to make decisions about their care and quality of their lives.
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This year's event brought together experts to discuss policies, legislation, and practices that strengthen care and support systems for older persons. It highlighted the urgent need to expand training and educational opportunities in geriatrics and gerontology, address the global shortage of care workers, and recognized the diverse contributions of caregivers. The commemoration also emphasized the importance of protecting the human rights of both caregivers and care recipients, promoting person-centered approaches to care that respect the dignity, beliefs, needs, and privacy of older persons, and for the right to make decisions about their care and quality of their lives.
MoreOn the International Day of Older Persons, October 1st, 2024, Geneva hosted a significant event titled “Geneva Calls: A Pivotal Moment for Older Persons’ Rights,” at the Palais des Nations. This session, organized by the NGO Committee on Ageing in Geneva, in collaboration with Member States and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), coincided with the 57th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC). It is a crucial forum for examining and discussing the progress and actionable strategies that Member States and stakeholders can employ to enhance the human rights of older persons.
MoreOn the International Day of Older Persons, October 1st, 2024, Geneva will host a significant event titled “Geneva Calls: A Pivotal Moment for Older Persons’ Rights,” at the Palais des Nations. This session, organized by the NGO Committee on Ageing in Geneva, in collaboration with Member States and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), coincides with the 57th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC). It is a crucial forum for examining and discussing the progress and actionable strategies that Member States and stakeholders can employ to enhance the human rights of older persons.
MoreProviding care for older parents or parents-in-law significantly reduces the probability of employment and annual earnings, particularly among women and intensive caregivers, which remains the most prevalent form of long-term care (LTC) for older adults. Addressing the growing care needs of older adults requires increasing coordination, integration, and capacity building within the health and long-term care systems. Engaging the private sector can help bridge the gap between supply and demand of LTC. Governments play a crucial role in providing and regulating LTC services, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where progress has been slow and uneven. Many countries have taken steps towards implementing LTC services, but more is needed to improve access, affordability, and quality of services. A person-centered approach with multiple options supports greater access to LTC services.
MoreThis report presents an in-depth cross-country analysis of how long-term care workers fare along the different dimensions of job quality. In the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the applause for care workers was a clear expression of the strong recognition of their hard work and exposure to risks in their job. However, as the applause faded after the peak of the crisis, questions have re-emerged about how to improve the working conditions of long-term care workers in a sustainable way. Over the coming decades, the demand for these workers will increase substantially. Several countries are already facing shortages as the large baby-boom generation joins the older population. To go Beyond Applause, a comprehensive policy strategy is needed to tackle poor working conditions and insufficient social recognition of long-term care work, attract workers in the sector and avoid labour shortages reaching unacceptable levels. Such a strategy should cover several dimensions, with different priorities across countries depending on their specific context, including: direct interventions to raise wages and increase staff requirements; increasing public financing and fostering the leading role by governments; supporting collective bargaining and social dialogue; strengthening training; increasing use of new technologies; and, strengthening health prevention policies.
MoreThe Care at work report offers a global overview of national laws, policies and practices on care, including maternity, paternity, parental, child and long-term care. It highlights how some workers fall outside the scope of these legal protections. These include the self-employed, workers in the informal economy, migrants, and adoptive and LGBTQI+ parents. It also looks at the case for – and potential impact of – greater investment in care. The need for long-term care services for older persons and those with disabilities has been rising steeply because of increased life expectancy and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic . However, the study finds that access to services such as residential care, community day services and in-home care, remains inaccessible to the great majority of those who need them world-wide, although “long-term care services are essential to ensure the right to healthy ageing in dignity”. The report finds “a strong investment case” for creating a transformative package of care policies, based on universal access, that would create a breakthrough pathway for building a better and more gender equal world of work. Investment in gender equal leave, universal childcare and long-term care services could generate up to 299 million jobs by 2035, it says. Closing these policy gaps would require an annual investment of US$5.4 trillion (equivalent to 4.2 per cent of total annual GDP) by 2035, some of which could be offset by an increase in tax revenue from the additional earnings and employment.
MoreHuman resources are essential to ensure the quality of long-term care. Yet, there are many things we do not know about the wellbeing, the working conditions, and the training of the caregivers for older people. Our work aims to fill some of the existing knowledge gaps by analyzing new data on the conditions of paid and unpaid caregivers in Latin America and the Caribbean. The new data is generated by a continuous self-administered online survey created by the Inter-American Development Bank, implemented since November 2023 in English, Portuguese, and Spanish in 25 countries. The results highlight the vulnerability of both paid and unpaid caregivers. Paid caregivers typically earn the minimum wage or less. A notable percentage reports episodes of verbal (39%) or physical abuse (14%). Three in ten received no training. Unpaid caregivers are not better off. 31% report feelings of depression and 44% say they had to stop working to provide care for their relatives. Only one in five had any formal training. Given that most long-term carers are women, these results have important implication for gender equality. The findings underscore the pressing need for policies to develop skills and improve working conditions and wellbeing of caregivers, which is further exacerbated by rapid population aging in the region. By shedding light on these critical issues, this work is relevant for the design and implementation of care policies that improve the wellbeing of both older persons and their caregivers.
MoreThe demographic shift towards an ageing global population is already increasing the demand for care and support. Today, the world has 807.8 million people aged 65 and older, a six-fold increase since 1950. By 2050, 55% of the 2 billion older people will be female, with 59% aged 80+, primarily residing in lower- and middle-income countries. On 29 October 2023, the world celebrates the first International Day of Care and Support, following a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It aims to spotlight the vital role of care and support in promoting gender equality and the sustainability of societies and economies. To achieve this, care and support systems need to address the intersections of gender, age and disability. On this occasion, this research highlight outlines the significant contributions older women make and the multiple disadvantages they face from the perspective of their participation in care work (both formal and informal).
MorePeople worldwide are living longer, but the opportunities that arise from increasing longevity depend strongly on the health and well-being of older populations. Healthy ageing needs to be fostered by creating integrated and responsive primary health care systems and services; ensuring access to long-term care for older people who need it; changing how we think, feel and act towards age and ageing; and cultivating age-friendly environments. If these actions are underpinned by activities to address socioeconomic inequities, then they can improve the health and well-being of current and future generations.
MoreAlongside supporting community-level services, the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) approach helps broader health and social care systems effectively respond to the diverse and complex needs of older people. The ICOPE Implementation Framework provides guidance for policy makers and programme managers to concretely assess and measure the capacity of services and systems to deliver integrated care at the community level. The ICOPE Implementation Framework provides a score card to help assess the overall capacity of health and social care services and systems to deliver integrated care in community settings and support the development of ICOPE implementation action plans. There are 19 actions needed to implement ICOPE on the services level (meso) and systems level (macro). The scoring process provides an evidence-based means of highlighting areas for improvement as well as establishing concrete measures of future improvements.
MoreNumerous physiological changes occur with increasing age, and for older people the risks of experiencing declines in physical and mental capacities increase. These declines often progress and manifest themselves as visual impairment, hearing loss, cognitive decline, malnutrition, mobility loss, depressive symptoms, urinary incontinence and falls. The Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) approach reflects a continuum of care that will help to reorient health and social services towards a more person-centred and coordinated model of care. The findings in this report, which summarise findings from ICOPE's pilot phase, can support governments to recognize the value of responding to the additional resource needs of implementing Integrated Care for Older People as part of efforts towards universal health coverage. With the successful implementation of ICOPE, supported by high levels of grassroots support and stakeholder engagement, we can expect a brighter future for older people around the world.
MoreThe WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre – WKC) has produced a series of research briefs on financing long-term care (LTC) which translate research evidence to guide policy-makers on designing and financing LTC in low- and middle-income countries. Brief 6 in the series, Financing health and social long-term care: lessons for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), addresses how countries can ensure financial protection in LTC.
MoreThe growing prevalence of morbidity and functional decline associated with global population ageing and gains in life expectancy have increased the demand for care and access to long-term care (LTC) to address the complex care needs of older people. This publication includes a list of LTC interventions that all countries could consider, prioritize and provide and could integrate within health and social care sectors, depending on their context. The package should be implemented in line with overall plans to design, establish and expand formal, integrated LTC systems and services towards universal health coverage (UHC). The package is intended primarily for governments and policy-makers responsible for planning and implementing LTC service provision at national or subnational level. It provides guidance in foreseeing and mainstreaming essential LTC interventions, which can be contextualized according to local needs and resources. The package is neither a clinical guideline for LTC service providers in daily practice nor a manual, standard operating procedures or specific steps.
MoreThis report provides updated information on long-term care in the Region of the Americas, summarizing current knowledge about the health and aging of older persons in the Region at the start of the Decade of Healthy Aging 2021-2030. The data paint a detailed picture of the long-term care situation in Latin America and the Caribbean, the burden and effects of care dependency, and current long-term care systems and services in the subregion. The rapid aging of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean is fueling a substantial increase in the demand for care services at a time when the supply of unpaid care provided by families––currently the main providers of dependency care––is shrinking. This detailed report can serve as the foundation for the design of strategies that formalize this dimension of health care, with the idea that developing national long-term care systems is essential for protecting and promoting the rights, dignity, and well-being of care-dependent older persons and their caregivers.
MoreThis brief illustrates how improving health and aged care in Asia and the Pacific hinges on tackling the shortage of trained staff, better analyzing key trends, and harnessing the digital technologies needed to build resilient systems. The brief looks at changing demographics, high rates of noncommunicable diseases, and the impact of the pandemic. It considers the effects of migration and the challenge of attracting workers to underserved areas. It sets out how a more integrated approach that focuses on gender and climate, supports the most vulnerable systems, and exploits digital health solutions can help meet the region’s current and future needs.
MoreThis report aims to assess the extent of progress made in the first phase of implementation of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, from 2021 to mid-2023; present contributions to the Decade being made by stakeholder groups, including Member States, UN agencies, civil society, academia, the private sector, community groups and older people themselves; and inspire and motivate stakeholders to collaborate in their continued efforts to implement the Decade at country level and scale up interventions to ensure healthy ageing.
MoreCountries in the East and Southern Africa (ESA) region are ageing rapidly, and 95 million people aged 60+ will reside in the ESA region by 2050. The impact of this trend and the needs of growing populations of older people are still not sufficiently considered in national and internationally driven development initiatives, putting older people at risk of being left behind. This report provides an overview of population ageing and health trends in 23 countries in East and Southern Africa, and assesses the readiness and responsiveness of health, social welfare and long-term care systems to ageing and the needs of older people in the region. It assesses the state of regional, sub-regional and national frameworks and structures in place to support healthy ageing in six focal countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Rwanda, and South Africa) and provides a set of recommendations to inform policy development and strategic interventions going forward.
MoreThis report shares insights on capacity building for long-term care in six countries at different stages of population aging: Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, and Viet Nam. It explores these countries’ long-term care systems and their particular circumstances and challenges. It also examines what they have in common and highlights good practices that may be helpful to other countries facing similar issues. The report draws on insights from the Asian Development Bank technical assistance project Strengthening Developing Member Countries’ Capacity in Elderly Care.
MoreWith more chronic conditions and an ageing population, a growing share of the population will need end-of-life care, reaching close to 10 million people by 2050. While end-of-life care services help improve quality of life through relieving pain and other symptoms, currently, there are substantial gaps in the provision of services. More than half of deaths still occur in hospital across OECD countries, despite home generally being the preferred place of death, because of lack of appropriate services and poor care co-ordination. There are marked inequalities in access with people from higher education twice as likely to receive end-of-life care services than those with low education. Planning, recording of wishes and shared decision-making fall short of what is desirable, with only one-quarter of wishes being recorded in the form of advance directives. People at the end of life do not always receive appropriate symptom relief, while others suffer from overtreatment. This report suggests avenues to improve care for the dying by enhancing measurement and monitoring of quality and rethinking funding and governance models of care. End-of-life care could also be improved by increasing knowledge among health care staff across different care settings, and making communication around the topic more person-centred.
MoreThese infographics made for social media summarise the key points of the WHO Policy Brief Ageism in Artificial Intelligence for Health. Over 3 social media tiles, the graphics outline 1) what ageism in artificial intelligence (AI) is, 2) what the risks of ageism in AI for older people are, and 3) 8 ways to maximize the benefits of AI for older people.
MoreThe global population is ageing, leading to changes in health and care needs around the world. To promote healthy ageing, and ensure older people’s right to health, a transformation of health and social care systems is needed, towards the provision of integrated and person-centred care. Older people's engagement in this process is critical. Since 2017 WHO has been developing the integrated care for older people approach, or ‘ICOPE’. In this film, seven older people who have participated in the ICOPE pilot in Andorra, China, France and India share their perspectives on ICOPE. They tell us about their experiences of the ICOPE pilot, how the programme has helped them, and their thoughts about the future.
MoreThe video demonstrates the application of the World Health Organization's Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) Screening Tool in the Community. ICOPE is an evidence-based approach developed by WHO that emphasises early intervention in priority health conditions associated with declines in older people's physical and mental capacities, which include: mobility limitations, malnutrition, visual impairment and hearing loss, cognitive decline, and depressive symptoms. The Asian Centre for Medical Education, Research & Innovation (ACMERI) is a non-profit organisation that aims to improve people's health by imparting education, conducting research on relevant health issues, and developing innovative ways to improve healthcare delivery.
MoreWhat do we know so far about older adults and COVID-19 vaccines? How long does the effect of the vaccine last and how successful have countries been in vaccinating older adults? Learn more about these topics and more in this episode of WHO's Science in 5: a video and audio series where WHO experts explain the science related to COVID-19.
MoreThis is a comprehensive list of guidance resources related to community and home-based care for older people in the context of COVID-19, maintained by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies through the COVID-19 Health Help Desk initiative.
MoreThe International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) has compiled this list of resources relevant to palliative care and COVID-19 published by academia, civil society organizations, member states and special agencies of the United Nations, with links to all of the websites and documents listed.
MoreThe accelerated aging process affecting the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean imposes unprecedented pressures on the field of long-term care. Increased demand for care by the elderly population is occurring in a context of reductions in the informal supply of care. Governments in the region should be prepared to face the pressures to come by supporting the provision of services to alleviate social exclusion among the elderly. The Inter-American Development Bank has prepared the Panorama of Aging and Long-Term Care with the objective of informing decision-makers about the health conditions of the elderly and the present and future needs for support services and policies based on the available empirical evidence. The Panorama provides comparable indicators, publications, and references that promote the design of effective policies to mitigate the effect of population aging.
MoreOld School is a clearinghouse of free and carefully vetted resources to educate people about ageism and help dismantle it. The site contains blogs, books, articles, videos, speakers, and other tools (workshops, handouts, curricula etc.) that are accessible to the general public. The goal of the Old School Clearinghouse is to inform and help catalyze a movement to make ageism as unacceptable as any other kind of prejudice. We created it because movements need tools, best practices, and ways to share them. To that end, and because this work can be hard and lonely, in 2021 we began hosting quarterly, virtual Movement-Builders Convenings for people who identify as pro-aging/ anti-ageism advocates. A related Google Group enables participants to learn more about and support each other's work.
MoreThe WHO Ageing Data Portal, part of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing Platform, brings together data on available global indicators relevant to monitoring the health and well-being of people aged 60 years and over. Through maps, charts and tables, the portal offers tailored options for visualization and analysis of the data. This information will strengthen the visibility of older people, help inform action to improve health and well-being in countries in line with global, regional and national commitments. The Data Portal also offers detailed country profiles to help provide more information at the national level.
MoreThis database provides a searchable list of age-friendly practices implemented by members of the WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities, and beyond. In practical terms, age-friendly environments are free from physical and social barriers and supported by policies, systems, services, products and technologies that promote health and build and maintain physical and mental capacity across the life course; and enable people, even when experiencing capacity loss, to continue to do the things they value.
MoreThe Global Dementia Observatory (GDO) Knowledge Exchange Platform contains key resources to support the implementation of the Global action plan on the public heath response to dementia 2017-2025 and its seven action areas. The GDO KE Platform enhances countries’ and communities’ response to dementia. It provides a space for stakeholders to share resources (e.g. policies, guidelines, case studies and examples of good practice) available at no-cost, to facilitate mutual learning and promote the exchange of knowledge in the area of dementia.
MoreVaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way of protecting people against harmful infectious diseases and is a key component of healthy ageing. Yet globally, rates of adult vaccination are suboptimal. The Adult Vaccination Advocacy Toolkit by the International Federation on Ageing responds to an urgent call from stakeholders and advocacy groups to influence and shape adult vaccination policy. The Toolkit is a collection of authoritative and adaptable resources designed around four key policy issues: vaccine pathways, expansion of the pool of vaccine administrators, effective targeted adult vaccination campaigns, and an environment that strives for vaccination equality. The toolkit contains four policy drivers that are universally essential for improving adult vaccination coverage: 1. Simplification of vaccination pathways; 2. Expansion of vaccination administrators; 3. Targeted vaccination campaign; and 4. Vaccination equity. In the toolkit, each policy issue contains: 1. Context and scenarios that illustrate the barriers to accessing adult vaccination; 2. Links to useful tools and resources; and 3. Actions for advocacy and knowledge assets.
MoreThis communication toolkit contains a series of simplified messages and reminders based on WHO's technical guidance on infection prevention and control in the context of COVID-19.
MoreCOVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care (LTC) facilities can have devastating effects on the health and well-being of residents, as they are vulnerable to serious infection due to their age and possible underlying medical conditions. Strengthening infection prevention and control (IPC) practice is crucial to prevent spread of COVID-19. This preparedness checklist consists of several elements that are crucial for preparing LTCF for COVID-19.
MoreThis toolkit was designed for the Global Campaign to Combat Ageism, an initiative part of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030). The toolkit will equip you with the necessary resources to learn about ageism, initiate your own conversations about this important topic in your community, organize events to raise awareness, and spread the word through social media to create #AWorld4AllAges.
MoreThis package of tools for use globally addresses health promotion through topics such as noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk and prevention, social inclusion and mental health with an ageing focus. These materials embrace a life course approach to bridge the generational gap by teaching both younger populations about healthy choices affecting their quality of life and older populations about managing to live healthier and happier lives. The toolkit is intended to be used with the healthy ageing guides. The toolkit features full-colour imagery, interactive formats and games material to teach all audiences according to the methodology suggested in the guides. All materials can be printed in colour or black/white and are of high resolution for those National Societies wishing to enlarge and print posters and banners for other uses in their healthy ageing activities.
MoreThis guide is designed to support older people to stay healthy at home while physical distancing during COVID-19 outbreaks and to prepare for healthy ageing in the new normal.
MoreThis ACTIVE toolkit provides evidence-based guidance on the key approaches to promote and enable older people to be physically active, regardless of who they are, where they live, or their intrinsic capacities (for example their visual or cognitive abilities) or whether they live with chronic conditions (for example, diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis). It is designed to support all countries at national and subnational levels (particularly low- and middle-income countries with limited resources) to ensure that environments and settings support older people to be active, and that they provide physical activity services and programmes tailored to the needs, preferences and goals of all older people.
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