Havighurst, 1963) there is still a lack of consensus among researchers regarding its constituents (Bowling, 2007 Depp/Jeste, 2006). Even though the concept has a history of almost half a century ( e.g. One major concern is the lack of agreement in defining what successful ageing really is. “Successful ageing” is, however, the term most frequently used in research (Hung/Kempen/de Vries, 2010 Peel, 2004), and it is also the one considered to have had the greatest impact on academic gerontology as well as on political arenas (Dillaway/Byrnes, 2009).ģ The successful ageing terminology has not been without critics, though. “positive ageing”, “productive ageing”, “ageing well” and “optimal ageing” to name a few. This “new gerontology” (Sheidt/Humpherys/Yorgason, 1999) has been given a number of different labels, e.g. During the last few decades, new perspectives have emerged (Gergen/Gergen, 2001), focusing more on positive outcomes and their determinants in old age. the risk of chronic illness, loneliness and decline. These thoughts did not reach the scientific arena until much later, and gerontological research was for a long time focused on the negative consequences of ageing, e.g. As early as 44 B.C., the Roman philosopher Cicero argued that old age is a time of pleasure and self-fulfilment (Cicero, 1923). In light of these demographic changes research on successful ageing has become of greater importance.Ģ Thoughts on old age as a time of positive growth are by no means new. In Europe, the proportion of the population aged 65+ is projected to reach 30% by 2060, and the number of adults over 80 years of age is projected to triple (Eurostat, 2008). Haut de pageġ Increases in life expectancy and ageing populations have given rise to a greater interest in old age and ageing. Thus, aging successfully can be achieved even without doing well. Most striking finding was that there is only weak correlation between decline in domains of functioning generally considered as crucial for successful and decline in general well-being. General well-being, on the other hand, does not decrease. Based on data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (n= 1257), we observed that ageing is associated with losses in multiple domains but decline in many functions is quite small. To investigate to what extend changes in various domains of functioning are related to changes in older adults’ perception of well being, we estimate fourteen year trajectories in both domains and estimate to what extend changes in these domains are interrelated. This paradoxical finding has fuelled the scientific and political arena for many years, and discussions about what is successful aging has not yet subsided.
Human ageing is inextricably bound to the loss of physical and cognitive functions, loss of social roles, and loss of social contacts, though losses in functioning and social roles not necessarily threatens the level of well-being according to older adults themselves.
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