NEWS:

In partnership with ILC-UK, the ILC Europe Network hosted its inaugural conference in Brussels on 6 March 2024 to explore the challenges and opportunities associated with an ageing European society. Other ILC Global Alliance members in attendance included ILC-Czech Republic, ILC-France and ILC-Netherlands.

With contributions from 21 authors, the book "Prevention of frailty among older persons in Japan: A community-wide approach" reflects the decades of first-hand experience of Prof. Tsujii, a former senior official at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

See ageing as a source of power instead of as a sign of decline and vulnerability, is the message of the newly published book “Silver Empowerment”, in which scientists from various disciplines discuss ways of improving self-reliance of elderly people. Promoting an age-friendly society is the main topic.

Zaiya Takahashi and Masako Osako gave a presentation, “Japanese traditional/contemporary views of life and death ('Shiseikan') and their implications for the end-of-life care”, at IAGG Asia Conference in Yokohama, Japan.

Dr. Linda P. Fried, the Director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center and the Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, delivered an Expert Reflection at the event titled "The UN Decade of Healthy Ageing: Health for All by Adding Life to Years." She spoke in her capacity as the Co-chair of the US National Academy of Medicine’s Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity Commission.

Ms. Masako Osako, Executive Director of ILC Global Alliance Secretariat, recently sat down with Ms. Keiko Higuchi, President (rijicho) of a Japan-based NPO, Women's Association for the Better Aging Society (WABAS) and a leading social commentator and popular author in Japan. At 90 years old, Higuchi has recently published a new book titled, “Hold on! I am still alive and thriving at age 90,” which is a sequel to her enormously popular book published in 2019, “Ready, set, go! You are now becoming an “old-old person.”

This report shows the real life of older adults in Japan. Their labour participation rate, financial assets, relationships with neighbours are described first, and then systems such as pension, medical and long-term care are being explained with numbers and figures.

We interviewed two older Japanese women who had moved from Tokyo to Izu Highland, a popular retreat for city dwellers, to build their private house and restaurant. They contribute to building a community by serving lunch and delivering meals to local residents.

On May 10, 2022, the conference ‘Enjoying Life Approach on location' took place in Arnhem (in the Netherlands), as a completion of the eponymous project.

The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) recently put a magnifying glass on elderly care in four countries: Japan, England, Germany and Denmark. One of the researchers is Tineke Abma, professor of Participation of Older People at the Leiden Medical University Centre and Executive-Director of Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing. What lessons can be learned from this research?