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A critique of the active ageing index

dc.contributor.authorSão José, José
dc.contributor.authorTimonen, Virpi
dc.contributor.authorFilipe Amado, Carla Alexandra
dc.contributor.authorSantos, Sergio Pereira
dc.date.accessioned2019-11-20T15:08:04Z
dc.date.available2019-11-20T15:08:04Z
dc.date.issued2017-01
dc.description.abstractActive ageing and successful ageing are ubiquitous concepts in contemporary societies. In the European Union, active ageing is monitored and promoted chiefly by the Active Ageing Index, a policy tool in use since 2012. We acknowledge that the MI may contribute to sensitizing people, including policymakers, to the multidimensionality and complexity of the process of "ageing well". However, we note that despite being widely used and promoted, the Active Ageing Index remains under-scrutinized. In this article, we undertake a comprehensive critical analysis of the Active Ageing Index. This critical analysis is supported by the Theory of Model Ageing, the Capability Approach and, to a lesser extent, by relevant literature on composite indices. We conclude that the Active Ageing Index was developed with the paradoxical aim of deriving "the solution" from "the problem". It is an under-theorized and narrowly conceptualized index that contributes to the process of Model Ageing, as its conceptual foundation, and its domains and indicators, convey a certain model of active ageing. This model is expert-based and ingrained with a priori assumptions about the potential of older people, the domains of life and activities they value and how strongly they value them. Finally, the Active Ageing Index measures current achievements, not capabilities (i.e. the opportunity set of achievable "doings" and "beings"), resulting in a valuable but incomplete tool for policymaking purposes. We hope that this critical analysis will initiate a debate on the Active Ageing Index that, in our view, is overdue. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
dc.description.versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.jaging.2017.01.001
dc.identifier.issn0890-4065
dc.identifier.issn1879-193X
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/13345
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherElsevier Science
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectSocial Gerontology
dc.subjectLife
dc.subjectAge
dc.subjectGender
dc.titleA critique of the active ageing index
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.endPage56
oaire.citation.startPage49
oaire.citation.titleJournal of Aging Studies
oaire.citation.volume40
person.familyNameSão José
person.givenNameJosé
person.identifier.ciencia-idBE1D-EFD4-7AFA
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-8657-6443
person.identifier.ridB-8952-2018
person.identifier.scopus-author-id55522852500
rcaap.rightsrestrictedAccess
rcaap.typearticle
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationbb80a226-7f09-47ed-90a8-2e2144b9b7c6
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoverybb80a226-7f09-47ed-90a8-2e2144b9b7c6

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