engleski

„WHAT DOES ‘HEALTHY AGEING‘ MEAN?” SOCIOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

According to the statistics, the population aging is a fundamental demographic process on both global and national levels (Nejašmić and Toskić 2013 ; Puljiz 2016 ; United Nations/World Population Ageing 2015). That is why aging should be considered a "great theme of the modern world" (Puljiz 2000, p. 109) and inescapable challenge whose economic, political, social, cultural and demographic importance will only increase in the coming years and decades (Zrinščak 2012). Given that aging is a phenomenon in which biological, social and cultural processes are tightly intertwined (Zeman and Geiger Zeman 2015), the scientific approach to it demands interdisciplinary collaborations and mind openness beyond usual limitations and restrictions. It is indisputable that people neither do live nor get old in a social and cultural vacuum. Therefore aging – in spite of its universal nature – always should be viewed contextually (Sokolovsky 2009) and intersectional, and one should never forget the full spectrum of important influences manifested in micro, mezzo, and macro level (Silverstein and Giarusso 2011). By taking into account both the context of aging in Croatian society and relevant literature, the authors put the question from the perspective of sociology and anthropology: „What does 'healthy age' mean?“ (Hung, Kempen, De Vries 2010 ; Deepika and Manpreet 2015). The authors emphasize importance of: (a) finding valid answers to questions about potentials and boundaries of the idea of healthy aging ; (b) getting new solutions for challenges posed by aging population in the contemporary national context ; 3) creating locally based policies and programs for healthy aging that would take seriously into account both older persons' experiences and the knowledge of the professionals.

healthy ageing, culture, older persons

nije evidentirano