Serious Attention from Officials to Aging is the Condition for Turning This Demographic Shift into an Opportunity for Development
Serious Attention from Officials to Aging is the Condition for Turning This Demographic Shift into an Opportunity for Development
The Chancellor of the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, emphasizing the necessity of rethinking health systems, expanding rehabilitation and long-term care services, strengthening the social participation of the elderly, and developing age-friendly cities, stated: Investment in the silver economy requires national determination and inter-sectoral coordination.
According to the university's web correspondent, Dr. Seyed Ali Hosseini, the Chancellor, in a message on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons and the National Week of Respect and Status of the Elderly, emphasized the necessity of national planning to improve the quality of life for the elderly and to utilize the country's scientific and research capacities. The text of the message is as follows:
In the name of God
The arrival of the International Day of Older Persons on October 1st, coinciding with 9 Mehr 1405, and the National Week of Respect and Status of the Elderly with the slogan An Era of Longer Life; Rethinking Systems for a Better Life, is a golden opportunity to once again emphasize the strategic importance of aging in the country.
Today, Iran, with more than 10 million and 350 thousand elderly people, approximately 14 percent of the population, has entered the period of aging. Predictions show that by the year 1430, the share of the population over 60 will reach about 30 to 31 percent. This rapid demographic shift further reveals the necessity of redesigning health, welfare, economic, and social systems.
The University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, as a mission-driven university in the fields of rehabilitation, social health, and mental health, with 9 active research centers and more than 20 specialized educational groups, considers itself committed to producing applied knowledge and training specialized manpower to respond to the needs of the elderly. The university's Aging Research Center, as the first and only aging research center approved by the Ministry of Health, is at the forefront of national research in this field.
One of the honors of this center is the implementation of the national study Ardakan Cohort from Middle Age to Old Age, which began in 1399 and monitors information on about five thousand individuals aged 50 and over based on nearly one thousand physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and environmental variables in the coming years. This project is being implemented in cooperation with Yazd University of Medical Sciences and local institutions in Ardakan, providing valuable data for evidence-based policymaking and the design of preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative interventions.
Serious attention and commitment from the country's officials to the issue of aging is a necessary condition for turning this demographic shift into an opportunity for development. Rethinking health systems, expanding rehabilitation and long-term care services, strengthening the social participation of the elderly, developing age-friendly cities, and investing in the silver economy require national determination and inter-sectoral coordination.
The University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences announces its readiness for scientific, research, and executive cooperation with relevant agencies and hopes that by utilizing existing capacities, effective steps will be taken to improve the quality of life and preserve the dignity of the country's elderly.
Dr. Seyed Ali Hosseini
Chancellor of the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences
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