Longer Lives. A Challenge we can no Longer Postpone

The world is entering a demographic transformation for which many of our institutions were inadequately designed.

Today, around 1.2 billion people are aged 60 or over. By 2050, that figure is projected to reach 2.1 billion. Within just a few decades, longer lives are changing the balance of populations — and with it the demands placed on healthcare, families, communities and systems of elderly care.

The issue is not simply that we are living longer. It is how we will live those extra years.

“We need to stop thinking about ageing as something that happens at the end of life. The conditions for healthy ageing are created much earlier — through research, prevention and the choices societies make about health and elderly care,” says Francesco Sparraco, Chairman, Threestones Foundation.

From lifespan to healthspan

By 2030, one person in every six worldwide will be aged 60 or over.

For societies, that means confronting chronic disease, cognitive decline and growing demand for long-term care. For individuals, the distinction that matters increasingly more is between lifespan and “health-span” — not simply how long we live, but how long we remain healthy and independent.

This is where research matters.

Better prevention, earlier diagnosis and advances in our understanding of dementia, age-related disease, mental health and mobility can change what later life looks like.

They can also help societies decide where healthcare and elderly care resources can have the greatest impact.

Threestones Foundation aims to contribute to this effort by supporting research and initiatives that can improve health and quality of life as people age.

As a Geneva-based foundation, it seeks to bring together researchers, institutions and other partners, helping promising ideas develop into work with practical impact.

That can mean supporting better understanding and diagnosis of age-related conditions, improving approaches to care, or encouraging initiatives that help older people maintain their wellbeing, independence and quality of life.

The objective is to help ensure that longer lives can also be healthier, more independent and more fulfilling.

Preparing for a different future

Population ageing is not a distant prospect. It is already reshaping societies around the world.

The challenge now is to ensure that our understanding of ageing — and the systems built around it — develops as quickly as the demographic change itself.

Longer lives are our demographic reality. Healthier longer lives must be the objective.

The International Day of Older Persons was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1990 and is observed each year on 1 October.

The day is intended to draw attention to the opportunities and challenges of longer lives, and to the rights, wellbeing and contribution of older people in society.