Pathways
As the Pass It On Network grows, so will the choice of activities. Our goal is to discover innovative programs, projects and ideas that generate and support active, productive, positive aging wherever they have been developed around the world, and to “pass them on” through our network for sharing and adapting. We seek out programs, projects and ideas that are relatively simple and inexpensive to try out.
We have organized our positive ageing pathways into the following categories.
Ageing
Our perceptions about ageing affect our health and quality of life as we grow old. Added longevity, new medical procedures, and assistive technologies have empowered positive aging. It’s important for us to see the potential and learn about the ways in which we can live better longer. We must combat pervasive ageism that focuses exclusively on needs and disabilities. Here, we show information about demographic trends and resources relevant to positive ageing – i.e, promoting and maintaining health and wellness. We include resources for combatting “ageism,” defined as the expression of negative expectations about ageing that act as a barrier to positive ageing.
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Community Support
There’s no better way to gain personal support for positive aging than in a support group of people who are sharing their experience over time. And on a broader platform, there’s no better place to live than in communities that deliberately develop infrastructure that empowers the engagement, mobility, and security of older residents.
As older adults in a rapidly ageing world with shrinking public resources, we must: a) organize mutual support to help ourselves and each other, and b) develop communities that support positive aging lifelong.
Here, you will find innovative guides to form mutual support groups and build on community assets.
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Lifelong Learning
We are both teachers and learners all of our life, and there are now Third Age Universities and Lifelong Learning programs growing all over the world to foster peer-to-peer learning as well as traditional adult education. Here, you will find links to a full range of teaching and learning programs that are conducted either face to face or through the Internet while responding to the particular needs and interests of older adults.
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Work & Economic Security
Whether paid or unpaid, meaningful work builds on personal strengths, offers a sense of purpose, and produces benefits for both the doer and the community. Throughout the world, however, ageism in the workplace is pervasive, even while the increasing threat of financial insecurity in old age is creating anxiety. Here, you will find information about multiple routes to purposeful aging that generates good work and livelihood.
Work is much more than employment. It is paid or unpaid productivity that benefits you or your family, your employer or your community. It includes parenting and grandparenting, caring for yourself and others, creative expression, and teaching/learning. Purposeful work contributes to healthy aging throughout life. At Pass It On, we talk about the benefit of “Meaningful work, paid or unpaid, through the last breath.” And we talk about LifeWork – cultivating and honing your skills and interests through a lifelong pattern of meaningful work. Here we show resources that expand work opportunities and LifeWork planning.
Economic security sufficient to cover basic needs is basic to positive aging. Policies and programs to support both retirement and older workers seeking a livelihood are basic to economic security.