Social participation and healthy ageing: a neglected, significant protective factor for chronic non communicable conditions

Low and middle income countries are ageing at a much faster rate than richer countries, especially in Asia. This is happening at a time of globalisation, migration, urbanisation, and smaller families. Older people make significant contributions to their families and communities, but this is often undermined by chronic disease and preventable disability.  This paper argues that social participation can help to protect against morbidity and mortality and that it deserves much greater attention as a protective factor, and that older people can play a useful role in the prevention and management of chronic conditions.

In particular the authors state that there is strong epidemiological and physiological evidence that social isolation, in particular, is as important a risk factor for chronic diseases as the ‘lifestyle’ risk factors. However, there are useful experiences of inexpensive and sustainable strategies to improve social participation among older people in low and lower middle income countries. The authors discuss their experience with forming Elders’ Clubs with retired tea estate workers in Sri Lanka and highlight the many  resulting benefits, including social support and participation, inter-generational contact, a collective voice, and facilitated access to health promotion activities, to health care and social welfare services.

The papers concludes that policies to address the increase in chronic non-communicable diseases should include consideration of healthy ageing, conditions that affect quality of life, and strategies to increase social participation. There are useful examples showing that it is feasible to catalyse the formation of Elders’ Clubs or older people’s associations which become self-sustaining, promote social participation, and improve health and well-being of elders and their families.