The project "Longevity and Quality of Life - A Study on the Future Elderly in the City of Bergamo" aims to investigate which indicators are most likely to guide individuals on the verge of aging towards quality aging.
It targets residents of the Municipality of Bergamo who are in the pre-aging stage (55-65 years) and already old adults (65-75 years). In the first phase of the project, lasting about one year, we intend to analyze the mental representations of Bergamo's citizens regarding the transition to aging and old age itself, identifying needs, resources, and potential through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews (both online or in-person at the participant's discretion) that explore individual perspectives on aging.
The questionnaires will collect demographic information, quality of life, level of autonomy, and cognitive abilities of the participants. From the interviews, information on strategies participants intend to use or have already used to address the transition to aging, individual resources, and behavioral styles will be extracted, as well as identifying areas of fragility or criticality. Based on the collected data, participants will be divided into four groups characterized by their specificities and needs:
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Potential Super-Agers (SA): Future old adults who are completely autonomous, maintaining optimal psychophysical functioning without autonomy limitations, and maximizing their quality of life.
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Potential Healthy-Agers (HA): Future old adults who are not completely autonomous, with good psychophysical functioning, manageable limitations in daily life, and good quality of life.
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Potential Frail-Agers (FA): Future old adults with psychophysical frailties in the aging process, likely impacting autonomy and quality of life.
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Potential UnHealthy-Agers (UHA): Future old adults with pathologies (e.g., chronic disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, depression) that will likely significantly impact autonomy and quality of life.
The second phase of the project involves designing and implementing specific interventions for each of the four groups aimed at:
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Maintaining optimal aging trajectories for Potential Super-Agers.
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Improving aging trajectories for Potential Healthy-Agers, helping them better manage minor limitations and achieve conditions similar to fully autonomous potential elderly.
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Teaching protection and compensation strategies for frailties to Potential Frail-Agers.
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Guiding Potential UnHealthy-Agers in adopting protective behaviors and preventive actions, such as clinical or diagnostic exams, to positively impact their quality of life, ensuring quality aging even with existing pathologies.
This approach will identify dynamics favoring the construction of healthy aging trajectories for Bergamo's population and derive indicators to improve citizens' quality of life. The indicators will be used to provide opportunities for interventions aimed at the elderly population to introduce healthy lifestyles as they approach old age, and monitor behavior adoption to maximize the promotion of healthy aging.