Leader: Campostrini - Michele Marzulli (UNIVE); Other collaborator(s): Michele Bertani (UNIVE)
This task aims at: i) summarising the latest evidence about the evidence-based prevention programs to improve healthy and active ageing in terms of health, well-being, social-behaviours, opportunities, and independency, resources and overcome difficulties; ii) comparing the results of the literature with those obtained in the studies developed in other tasks of WP3; iii) analyse national and local policies to identify the institutional context and possible inconsistencies or overlaps. A continuous systematic review process will consider also grey literature (national or local guidelines, reports, papers…), with a particular focus on ICT innovations. A specific attention will be devoted to the different strategies proposed by risk.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
Towards Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: engagement of the research group with the municipalities of Venice, Verona and Palermo to test an integrated approach to co-design sustainable and 'age-friendly' cities through consensus-based research techniques
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
Participation in a preliminary meeting to define a strategy to identify the possible research products of Spoke 10. The meeting took place in Venice, during the Age-It General Meeting (20-22 May 2024).
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
Participation in the meeting promoted by UniPO to co-design a Workshop, in the context of Spoke 10, titled “What policies and actions to promote healthy and active ageing?”, aimed at raising awareness on the Age-It topics to regional and national policymakers.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
1. Topic Modeling on documentation collected from regions (in collaboration with UNIVE / Spoke 10 statisticians - WP 2). Focus: Piano Regionale della Prevenzione and ‘active ageing’. Continuation of the analysis
2. Age-friendly cities: published a working paper (Michele Bertani, Michele Marzulli and Andrea Pastore, Department of Economics, Ca’ Foscari University Venice) on the results of data analysis of the 1,200 questionnaires collected on the topic of 'age-friendly cities' in Venice, Verona and Palermo. The working paper is available at ‘Ca’ Foscari Department of Economics - Working Papers https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/venwpaper/2024_3a20.htm
3. Submission of a new article in a volume of the scientific journal ‘’Salute e Società‘’, responding to a call for contributions on the results of the PNRR Age-It project. Article submitted: Bertani M., Marzulli M., Pastore A.: “Cosa rende una città a misura di anziani? Evidenze dal dataset AFCCQ-IT”.
4. Presentation of evidence based on the data collected during the research. Invited as an expert (Michele Bertani) at the World Health Organization (WHO), 29th Annual Meeting of The Regions for Health Network (RHN), Trieste (ITALY), 28 November 2024, for the “Session Healthy ageing and long-term care”. https://tinyurl.com/uxct34s9
5. Presentation and discussion of some evidence based on the data collected during the research. Invited as expert and speaker (Michele Bertani) International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP 2024), CHINA, 22nd Annual Conference organised by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Shanghai Conference Hall, University of Wuhan, University of Xinxiang, 1-14 November 2024: for seminars and workshops (12 hours), topic Ageing Societies in Europe and Age-Friendly Cities and Communities.
6. Presentation and discussion of some evidence based on the data collected during the research. Participation as a speaker (Michele Bertani) at the “City&Co: Older Adults Co-Creating a Sustainable Age-friendly City Project - 4th Mutual Learning Visit 2024”, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA), Bucharest (Romania), 13-16 October 2024, Paper presentation: "Results from the Ageing Friendly Cities and Communities Questionnaire (AFCCQ) in Italy"
7. Presentation of some evidence based on the data collected during the research. Participation as a speaker (Michele Marzulli) at public conference “Le competenze dell’UE nell’era dell’ageing population. Quali effetti per la demografia?”, Europe Direct UE/Commissione Eu., Formez, “Forever Young” (webinar series on active ageing) 05/12/2024.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
At this point in the research, the task is, above all, to propose policy indications on how to align Italian national and local policies with the active ageing model as a response to the demographic crisis and epidemiological transition. Some results can be briefly mentioned here.
The work on national and subnational (regional) planning suggests that the idea of active ageing should be made explicit in the PNP (national level) and the PRPs (sub-national level) as a reference framework for prevention and health promotion policies. One might consider implementing a predefined Program focused on active ageing and other potential solutions. However, the prevailing imperative lies in prioritising regional policies on prevention and promotion. This entails the implementation of interventions that, while potentially low-intensity, represent a strategic investment in future outcomes. From this perspective, the research on age-friendly cities suggests proposing specific interventions on certain aspects of the demographic transition issue (e.g., focusing on the need for effective and widespread communication of the services and opportunities offered by cities to older people, e.g., with the contribution of digital technologies).
However, these aspects are the subject of joint reflection with colleagues from other Spoke tasks. The project is to build a wide-ranging policy proposal that considers the issue's multidimensionality and thus responds from different points of view (health, demographic, epidemiological, sociological, educational, etc.).
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
1. Piani Regionali della Prevenzione (Prevention Regional Plans for Health and Wellbeing) and ageing. Research question: “How do the Italian Regions design and create policies for the ageing population?”. Tools: Topic Modelling on documentation collected from regions (in collaboration with UNIVE / Spoke 10 statisticians - WP 2). Implementation of the analysis.
2. Socio-statistical analysis for the survey on the age-friendly cities in Italy, with the aim of publishing a paper in a scientific journal.
3. Discussion of main research findings (Speaker Michele Bertani) Workshop “La famiglia che invecchia: proposte operative per accompagnare la transizione”, organized by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, 24 January 2025. Paper presented: “D. Lgs. n. 29/2024. Disposizioni in materia di politiche in favore delle persone anziane. Un’occasione mancata?”
4. Internal research seminar (Speaker Michele Bertani) Workshop PNRR AGE-IT, Department of Economics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Paper presented: “Venice and the Ageing Population. A Model for Creating Age-Friendly Environments”, 27 February 2025
5. Invited expert (Michele Bertani). Presentation of the Age-It Programme and discussion of some evidence based on the data collected during the research. University Miguel Hernandez Alicante (Spain), 20 March-2 April 2024. Salud Global, Campus de Sant Joan de Alacant https://www.instagram.com/p/DHvHPt0KXJG/?img_index=3
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
The research aims to provide policy recommendations for aligning Italian national and local strategies with the active ageing model in response to demographic and health transitions. Key findings suggest that active ageing should be explicitly integrated into national (PNP) and regional (PRPs) frameworks, especially in prevention and health promotion. While dedicated programs could be introduced, the priority is strengthening regional policies through strategic, low-intensity interventions with long-term benefits. Research on age-friendly cities highlights the need for targeted actions, such as improving communication of services for older adults through digital tools. These insights contribute to a broader, interdisciplinary policy proposal that addresses the issue from multiple perspectives—health, demographic, sociological, and educational. A key challenge of our Spoke – mainstreaming ageing - will be discussed in June and September 2025: two dedicated workshops open to Spoke 10’s researchers and stakeholders are on the agenda for sharing the research output and defining a tentative list of policy recommendations.
- New article (Journal). Scientific journal (Anvur MUR Class A) ‘’Salute e Società‘’, responding to a call for contributions on the results of the PNRR Age-It project. Authors: Bertani M., Marzulli M., Pastore A.: “Cosa rende una città a misura di anziani? Evidenze dal dataset AFCCQ-IT”. Salute e Società, 2/2025 https://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/sommario/107/salute-e-societ%C3%A0
- New article (Conference proceedings). Authors: Bertani Michele, Bramanti Donatella, Nanetti Sara, Activating the potential of older adults. Education and active ageing in Italy, Proceedings of the Third International Conference of the journal Scuola Democratica. Education and/for Social Justice. Vol. 1: Inequality, Inclusion, and Governance. ASSOCIAZIONE “PER SCUOLA DEMOCRATICA”, pp. 1479-1488, Convegno: Education and/for Social Justice, 3-6 giugno 2024 (ISBN 979-12-985016-1-4) https://www.scuolademocratica-conference.net/conference-proceedings-iii/