title: Demographic Changes and the Challenge for a Healthy Ageing.
abstract: Demographic changes bring about a wide range of new research fields including policy topics, health, social welfare, work &amp; productivity, urban &amp; rural development, communication tools, and mobility. This new situation requires a new multi-disciplinary approach bringing together different research programs in order to provide solutions for the upcoming challenges. National Health services are now facing a huge shift in the population structure with a predominance of older generations in the total number of citizens. Good health is the most important factor to live independently in old age. A better understanding of ageing processes and the related "plasticity" of individual performance for environmental adaptation, the prevention for age-related illnesses and healthcare strategies are the basis for keeping very old people healthy and active throughout the course of their lives. We will face mainly the biological, cognitive and psychological dimensions of ageing. Afterwards, we will focus on the relationships linking various biological and lifestyle factors - such as nutrition - that are crucial to obtain a comprehensive picture of ageing and to promote preventing strategies against degenerative neurological diseases. Finally we will investigate which interventions - nutritional and physical - could help in keeping people healthy, in particular which factors could promote people's physical, social and psychological functional abilities and the systemic multilevel consequences induced by a healthy ageing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric, Neuroscience and Orthopedics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo Maria
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Rossini
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric, Neuroscience and Orthopedics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Camillo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marra
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000458:organization & administration; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D017146:Models, Organizational; D011315:Preventive Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior