Successful ageing

Successful aging (American English) or successful ageing (British English) refers to physical, mental and social well-being in older age. The concept of successful aging can be traced back to the 1950s, and was popularized in the 1980s. It reflects changing view on aging in Western countries, where a stigma associated with old age (see ageism) has led to considering older people as a burden on society. Consequently, in the past most of the scientists have been focusing on negative aspects of aging or preventing the decline of youth.

Research on successful aging, however, acknowledges the fact that there is a growing number of older adults functioning at a high level and contributing to the society. Scientists working in this area seek to define what differentiates successful from usual aging in order to design effective strategies and medical interventions to protect health and well-being from aging. Some researchers in aging studies are critical of the very term "successful aging" as it implies failure on the part of those who do not meet arbitrary criteria derived from neoliberal and/or biomedical definitions.

Previous research into ageing exaggerated the extent to which health disabilities, such as diabetes or osteoporosis, could be attributed exclusively to age, and research in gerontology exaggerated the homogeneity of samples of elderly people. Other research shows that even late in life, potential exists for physical, mental, and social growth and development.

Recent studies emphasize the importance of adaptation and emotional well-being in successful aging. New data suggests that for most senior citizens, subjective quality of life is more important than the absence of disease and other objective measures relating to physical and mental health. In two recent studies the vast majority of older people rated themselves as aging successfully, even when they did not meet all objective physical and mental criteria for successful aging. Studies which incorporated the perspectives of older adults into the model of successful aging found that optimism, effective coping styles, and social and community involvement are more important to aging successfully than traditional measures of health and wellness. Additionally, recent studies have shown that for most senior citizens, subjective quality of life is strongly tied with psychosocial protective traits such as resilience, optimism, and mental and emotional status.

To date, there has not been a universal definition for successful aging. While researchers have for many years tried to create such a definition, nothing really took hold until the late 1990s. At that time the following definition (adopted by researchers Rowe & Kahn summarizing the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Aging) started to become the operative standard: A person was deemed to have successfully aged if the person (1) lived free of disability or disease; (2) had high cognitive and physical abilities; and (3) was interacting with others in meaningful ways. This definition was followed for a significant period of time, although it has been expanded and, in the last ten years, its usefulness started to be questioned.

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