The book ‘Políticas públicas sobre envejecimiento,’ which is the result of a conference held in 2022, calls for changes in public policies on ageing in an increasingly ageing society. It was presented at the Department of Applied Economics.
The 1st International Congress on Public Policies on Ageing held in 2022 was organised by Rosa Roig, Ángeles Tortosa and José M. Pavía, professors at the Department of Applied Economics, together with some foreign universities, such as the Federal University of Viçosa, the Universidade da Amazônia (Brazil) and the Minas Gerais State University, among others.
After the presentation of the book, hosted by Rosa Roig and Carmen Pineda, researcher at the GEGOP UFV, a debate was held. It was moderated by Gustavo Zaragoza, professor of Social Work at the Universitat de València and director of EVES.
The debate was attended by Gerdt Sundström, professor emeritus of the Jönköping University in Sweden; Priscila Vega, professor at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León in Mexico; Ángeles Tortosa, professor at the Universitat de València; as well as Silvia M. M. Costa and Carmen Pineda, researchers of the GEGOP (Federal University of Viçosa). The role of public administration in ageing societies was addressed from different perspectives, focusing on the diversity of the group of people aged 65 and over, the social differences within this group, the public health system, the digital divide among elders and structural ageism, among other issues.
In this book, Iván Beck calls for reflection on the elderly as a subject of social learning and on dialogue as a fundamental form of action for this learning process. Meanwhile, Rosa Roig and Carmen Pineda propose, in view of the transformation of the demographic structure of our societies, the need for a new approach from the public administration in order to meet the demands of the ever-growing group of elderly people. “To respond to the needs of an increasingly ageing society, it is necessary to call for the paradigm of ageing transversality in public management,” they stated.
Salinas and Esteban refer in their chapter to one of the greatest challenges that Western society will face in the coming years, the ageing of people with disabilities. While a few years ago the life expectancy and quality of life of people with disabilities led to premature death, the evolution of treatment and care in recent decades has favoured their life expectancy, which has been considerably extended.
The chapter by Alencar, Azevedo, Pineda and Dos Santos presents research on ageing in traditional Brazilian populations (indigenous, quilombos, riberinhos, etc.). This subject has been little researched and analysed, hence the importance of this work, which allows for an in-depth study of the relationship between ageing in quilombos, identity and community.
Nuria Blaya and Ángel Ortiz show an example from the Universitat dels Majors, a university of the third age, and what it means for the community of adult students from the Metropolitan Area of Valencia. The main objective of this university is to increase the well-being and quality of life of elderly students.
The following chapters are comparative research. The chapter by María Ángeles Tortosa and Gerdt Sundström deals with the coexistence between families, the State, companies and NGOs in two countries: Spain and Sweden. Meanwhile, Carmen Pineda analyses the violence against the elderly in Brazil and Spain, which is a silenced issue.
