Aging & Social Change: Ninth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

A community perspective on healthy ageing is both a necessity and a virtue. The pace at which societies are ageing is creating significant societal impact in both the UK and Japan.When describing this impact in terms of fiscal burden, policy often generates explanations that appear deficit - focused and solutions that fail to acknowledge inherent complexity. In this context, perspectives on healthy ageing concerned with the reciprocal relationship of older people to the communities of which they are a part may be under-exposed. We propose that the contributory civic role of older people to their communities and the community supports on which they can draw must be seen in both policy and practice as essential inter-related assets. Recent international studies such as ODESSA * have highlighted the importance for an evidence base on healthy ageing to encompass complementary social and design perspectives; to develop alongside that for the built environment, evidence for the value of communities and the social network connectivity, civic engagement and support functions that they can provide. Following the 2018 conference, an academic collaboration for cross-cultural learning was established between the Centre for Citizenship and Community at UCLan in the UK and Toyo with other university partners in Japan with the aim of helping to shape research, practice and resource development in this area. Identified key themes: - the importance of inter-generational perspectives, rights and responsibilities of citizenship; the position of family and carers - will be discussed in a presentation of this initiative and its future aims.