Healthy ageing
The World Health Organisation defines healthy ageing as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age.” Functional ability is about having the capabilities that enable all people to be and do what they have reason to value. This includes a person’s ability to:
- meet their basic needs;
- learn, grow and make decisions;
- be mobile;
- build and maintain relationships; and
- contribute to society.
It is possible to delay the onset and progression of many debilitating or disabling diseases, either to the point they are only present for a short period at the very end of life or, ideally, are never present at all. Enabling adults to live free from disease for longer involves preventing falls, diagnosing diseases earlier, delivering high quality social and palliative care, and improving infrastructure to enable independence.
Below you can find a number of documents identifying the local population needs. Please note that this list will be updated as and when the new information becomes available.