Has Demographic Revolution Come to a Halt? An Approximation to Successful Aging and the Need for Socio-Educational Action in the New Normal

Abstract

In the recent years, there has been an increasing interest in how the aging process in integrated in current societies. The existing body of research on aging suggests that society must promote support for successful aging, which implies living more and living better.  In this way, extensive research shows that older adults need to be engaged in social participation (Raymond and Grenier, 2015), and therefore, in recent years, older adult education has become a decisive part of the different policies applied to achieve successful aging.  The purpose of this paper is to review the different ways in which society acts when facing aging, with special attention devoted to the Spanish situation. This study examines demographic revolution and the different implications that it poses for quality of live and successful aging. A revision of the main aging theories and recommendations to achieve successful aging are provided. Socio-educational actions linked to successful aging promotion are presented, highlighting some university programmes specifically designed for older adults. This lifelong learning scheme has the potential to revolutionize current educational practice to socially integrate older adults in postmodern societies.