title: Aging in Italy: The Need for New Welfare Strategies in an Old Country.
abstract: Italy, a Southern European country with 60.8 million inhabitants, has the largest proportion of elderly citizens (aged ≥65) in Europe of 21.4%. The aging of the population is due to a number of reasons, such as baby boomers growing old, an increase in longevity, and low birth rate. Although international migration has increased in recent years, the addition of a foreign segment of the population has neither compensated for nor significantly curtailed the aging phenomenon. The impact of aging on the economic sustainability concerns the progressive reduction of the workforce, high incidence of pension spending in the overall resources allocated to welfare, recent reform of the pension system, and the growing issue of "non-self-sufficiency" in the elderly. Despite limited financial measures dedicated to research, Italy is conducting important studies on aging, both at the national and international level. Physicians and researchers in the field of geriatrics and gerontology are not only promoting quality of life in the elderly, and healthy-active aging, but also contributing to economic stability and social organization. Finally, nutritional and lifestyle habits-and their role in preventing chronic diseases-are the focus of the current international event EXPO 2015, with many sections dedicated to the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, and Geriatric Clinic, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy. Clinical Neurosciences Research Area, NeuroMI-Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milano, Italy. paolo.mazzola@unimib.it.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mazzola
authors.affiliation: Demography Unit, Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania Maria Lorenza
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Rimoldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Aging Branch, National Research Council-CNR, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noale
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Public Health Unit, Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rea
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Facchini
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Aging Branch, National Research Council-CNR, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maggi
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Public Health Unit, Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Corrao
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, and Geriatric Clinic, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy. Clinical Neurosciences Research Area, NeuroMI-Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Annoni
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D005853:Geriatrics; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000639:trends; D008019:Life Style; D011157:Population Dynamics / Q000639:trends; D011788:Quality of Life; D012939:Social Planning
keywords: Demographic aging; Europe; Italy; Welfare