A holistic adaptive ageing framework (HAAF) to address complex challenges in ageing.

Abstract

Many of the challenges facing ageing societies involve an interaction of factors from many domains and levels, including person-level age-related changes in function through to the physical environment, economy, urban design and social policies. The pace of change in our societies is accelerated by climate change and the rapid introduction of artificial intelligence and other technologies. When presented with practical challenges or problems to solve that are inherently due to an ageing society, it is not possible for any individual to have the expertise and capacity to address all the dimensions involved. Therefore, developing a multidisciplinary framework that signals the dimensions of influence that need to be considered in adaptive ageing, may assist in optimizing how complex issues in ageing are tackled. This paper proposes a holistic adaptive ageing framework (HAAF) as a starting point for multidisciplinary and multisectoral approaches to develop optimal solutions to complex problems. The five dimensions of the framework include lived experience, person-level adaptation, environmental context, technology and social and economic policy. Future research is needed to operationalize the framework and evaluate its application to complex problems.