The Active Ageing Index and policy making in Italy

Abstract

Although the active ageing concept generally has positive connotations, with expected benefits at the micro, meso and macro levels, the application of this concept in terms of policy making presents challenges and risks to be avoided (for instance, a predominantly productivist interpretation and a top-down imposition with limited possibilities for bottom-up exchanges; or a disregard for the risk of excluding older people with more disadvantaged backgrounds). Two crucial strategies to minimise risks are the implementation of policies by considering and respecting territorial diversity, and the involvement of all the relevant stakeholders in a participatory consultative and co-decisional approach. This paper entwines both strategies together by focusing on Italian in-country differences in terms of active ageing, and employing the Active Ageing Index for policy-making purposes. This activity is part of a governmental national pilot project aimed at promoting multilevel co-managed co-ordination of active ageing policies across Italy. The analysis identified five groups of regions that differ from the classical, geographic and socio-economic division between the North, Centre and South. Additional in-group analyses were conducted to investigate within-cluster differences. This study will inform a large multilevel stakeholder network for evidence-based policies and their monitoring at both the national and regional levels, in line with the perspective of mainstreaming ageing.

Active Ageing: The Need to Address Sub-National Diversity. An Evidence-Based Approach for Italy

“…In this framework, this article aims to assess recent developments towards active ageing in Italy with a gender and territorial perspective. To this end, we rely on the Active Ageing Index (AAI): a tool developed to measure active ageing in a given geographical and socioeconomic context that can, therefore, provide an evidence-based guidance to promote active ageing through policies at regional/local level rather than only at the European and national level [20]. First, we estimate AAI breakdowns by region separately for men and women and present the related descriptive statistics.…”

“…However, even at the national level there are often considerable cultural differences across the territory, as in the case of Italy where regional differences in participation as well as gender norms are pronounced [22]. In addition to these differences, Italy is an unequal and diverse country characterized by a remarkable North-South divide in terms of demographic, economic, social and environmental conditions [23], which demonstrates an urgent need of increasing the knowledge on regional diversity in active ageing [20], in order to support future policy making at the regional level in an innovative way (i.e., by employing the AAI).…”

Active Ageing in Italy: An Evidence-Based Model to Provide Recommendations for Policy Making and Policy Implementation

“…Therefore, the concept should be applied by respecting cultural diversity concerning activity patterns and norms. This is intended not only across countries, but also at the sub-national level (e.g., across country-regions) [ 33 , 34 ]. In fact, within countries, there are also large variations between ethnic/social groups in their preferences for different forms of activity [ 16 ].…”

“…Regional differences are pronounced since they are rooted in historical territorial divisions and autonomies [ 80 ], which result in different economic, social, cultural and political contexts, making evident the backwardness of the Southern part of Italy [ 81 ]. According to a recent study [ 34 ], five different groups of Italian regions have been found to demonstrate regional differences in the field of active ageing. Taking this into consideration, the idea was to produce recommendations for policy making general enough to allow their use both at the national and at the regional level, each level being capable to apply them starting from a different state-of-the-art, through renewable short-term objectives, in order to improve policy making according to the specific situations, competences and contexts.…”

Active Ageing in Italy: A Systematic Review of National and Regional Policies

“…However, in recent years, there has been an increased attention by Italian policy makers and stakeholders on the AA paradigm [ 32 , 33 ], with several emerging or established good practices. It has been demonstrated that the Italian population faces different experiences of AA due to institutional, policy and socio-economic differences between regions [ 34 , 35 ]. Furthermore, a first review of national and regional AA policies in 2016 showed an evolving policy context and interest at national and regional level [ 36 , 37 ].…”