Why healthcare for an ageing population should focus on disease prevention, rather than treating people when they’re already ill

Our healthcare system focuses on treating illnesses. But ailments common in the elderly, like bone and heart disease, are preventable, experts say

Screening for diseases in at-risk age groups, and education on the importance of living healthily while young, are key in revolutionising how we address ageing

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Rather than just treating diseases as they occur, preemptive screening for at-risk age groups and education are key to proper healthcare for an ageing population. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 5:15pm, 9 Jan 2023Updated: 5:38pm, 9 Jan 2023

As the global population ages, healthcare systems around the world are under stress. Most systems are organised to treat specific illnesses, one at a time. They are ill-equipped to provide enough of the long-term care and treatment required by ageing people who suffer from multiple ailments.

This is why “ageing in place” has become a key focus: finding ways to provide older people with the technology and care to remain in their homes for the duration of their lives, rather than having to move into institutions.

It is also inextricably linked to the relatively new idea that older people should be given opportunities to continue to lead productive lives as members of society.

Nothing less than a total revolution in healthcare systems is required for “ageing in place”, according to expert panellists from the High-Level Forum on the Silver Economy – a hybrid live and online global event hosted by the Global Coalition on Ageing, which recently took place in New York, Geneva and Dublin.

“Ageing in place” involves older people being given opportunities to lead productive lives and to be able to remain in their homes rather than having to move into institutions. Photo: Shutterstock

Those attending the event included academics, doctors, pharmaceutical industry representatives and a United Nations delegation. They discussed providing older people with sustainable ways to make a living, the problems that retirement and dementia cause, and how ageism affects medical care.