The impact of global population aging on older adults\' health and emotional well-being is examined in this study, emphasizing innovative technological solutions to address their diverse needs. Changes in physical and mental functions due to aging, along with emotional challenges that necessitate attention, are highlighted. Gaze estimation and interactive art are utilized to develop an interactive system tailored for elderly users, where interaction is simplified through eye movements to reduce technological barriers and provide a soothing art experience. By employing multi-sensory stimulation, the system aims to evoke positive emotions and facilitate meaningful activities, promoting active aging. Named \"Natural Rhythm through Eyes\", it allows for users to interact with nature-themed environments via eye movements. User feedback via questionnaires and expert interviews was collected during public demonstrations in elderly settings to validate the system\'s effectiveness in providing usability, pleasure, and interactive experience for the elderly. Key findings include the following: (1) Enhanced usability of the gaze estimation interface for elderly users. (2) Increased enjoyment and engagement through nature-themed interactive art. (3) Positive influence on active aging through the integration of gaze estimation and interactive art. These findings underscore technology\'s potential to enhance well-being and quality of life for older adults navigating aging challenges.

OBJECTIVE: The aging experiences of military veterans provide critical insights into what successful aging is and means for later life contexts constrained by distinct health and social needs. Can veterans \'successfully\' age when they are exposed to so many stressors with serious health and social consequences for later life? Veterans can offer valuable lessons for developing comprehensive approaches to refining successful aging, ensuring inclusivity of different older populations. Building on Rowe and Kahn\'s idea of successful aging, we utilize the complementary concept of \'active aging\' to explore if there are unique factors, characteristics, and interventions that support active aging in veterans, compared to non-veteran populations.
METHODS: A rapid review and evidence synthesis was conducted across 9 databases in medicine, psychology, anthropology, sociology, and public health to search for peer-reviewed articles and research reports.
RESULTS: Findings suggest that programs linking health and social dimensions can support the active aging of veterans, namely interventions promoting active physical and cognitive lifestyle as well as social connectedness and engagement. Such programs and interventions help prevent and combat mental and physical health decline and increase quality of life and well-being.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings have implications for veteran and non-veteran populations more broadly, as people can actively age even when they have unique health and social needs.

The social service approach for the elderly that emerged in the USSR in the late 1980s and was introduced within the framework of a federal law in 1995 was oriented towards care and service provision. However, various authors have noted that the needs of the elderly and the availability of services often do not coincide, and this gap is growing with the change of generations of the elderly. The modern approach, the founder of which was the Polish demographer E.Rosset, reflected in a number of international documents, prioritizes supporting employment and maintaining independence for the elderly for as long as possible. However, there is still little research clarifying the specific services needed by the elderly themselves. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that the needs and capabilities of the «older generation» are changing noticeably, and the existing approach to the provision of social services, which largely took shape in the 1990s, is outdated. Our research question is: do the digital ecosystems (services) being developed by the Information and Analytical Center of St. Petersburg Government correspond to the needs of the elderly on the one hand, and the provisions enshrined in the Madrid Plan on the other? The study employed qualitative methods: an analysis of a pilot survey of users of the «Active Longevity» service and the opinions of participants in a focus group (age of informants 60-75 years) of elderly individuals conducted on 16.03.2024.
Подход социального обслуживания пожилых, который складывался в СССР с конца 1980-х гг. и в 1995 г. был введен в рамки федерального закона, ориентирован на заботу о пожилых и предоставление им услуг. Однако разные авторы отмечали, что потребности пожилых и возможности получения услуг во многом не совпадают, и этот разрыв увеличивается со сменой поколений пожилых. В современном подходе, родоначальником которого был польский демограф Э.Россет, отраженном в ряде международных документов, приоритетное место отдается поддержке занятости пожилых и сохранению ими независимости как можно дольше. Но до сих пор мало исследований, где уточняется, в каких услугах нуждаются пожилые с их собственной точки зрения. Цель статьи — показать, что потребности и возможности старшего поколения заметно меняются, а существующий подход к предоставлению социальных услуг, сложившийся в основных чертах в 1990-е гг., устарел. Наш исследовательский вопрос: соответствуют ли проектируемые цифровые экосистемы (сервисы, услуги), которые разрабатываются Информационно-аналитическим центром правительства Петербурга, потребностям пожилых, с одной стороны, и положениям, закрепленным в Мадридском плане, с другой. Для исследования использованы качественные методы — анализ пилотного замера мнений пользователей сервиса «Активное долголетие» и мнений участников фокус-группы пожилых (возраст информантов 60–75 лет), проведенный 16.03.2024.

Digital therapeutics refers to smartphone applications, software, and wearable devices that provide digital solutions to improve healthcare delivery. We developed a digital platform to support the GYM (Grow Your Muscle) study, an ongoing 48-week randomized, controlled trial on reduction of sarcopenia through a home-based, app-monitored physical exercise intervention. The GYM platform consists of a smartphone application including the exercise program and video tutorials of body-weight exercises, a wearable device to monitor heart rate during training, and a website for downloading training data to remotely monitor the exercise. The aim of this paper is to describe the platform in detail and to discuss the technical issues emerging during the study and those related to usability of the smartphone application through a retrospective survey. The main technical issue concerned the API level 33 upgrade, which did not enable participants using the Android operating systems to use the wearable device. The survey revealed some problems with viewing the video tutorials and with internet or smartphone connection. On the other hand, the smartphone application was reported to be easy to use and helpful to guide home exercising. Despite the issues encountered during the study, this digital-supported physical exercise intervention could provide useful to improve muscle measures of sarcopenia.

UNASSIGNED: Perceived expectations for active aging (PEAA) reflect subjective exposure to social expectations about staying active and fit in old age, for example, by maintaining health and social engagement. We investigated whether motivational and personality factors were related to PEAA in the domains of physical health, mental health, and social engagement.
UNASSIGNED: We used a nationally representative sample of German adults (SOEP-IS) covering the entire adult life span (N = 2,007, age range 16-94 years) to test our pre-registered hypotheses.
UNASSIGNED: Multiple regression analyses indicated that motivation (i.e. life goals and health-related worries) was consistently associated with PEAA in the matching domains and mediated the effects of openness to experience on PEAA. No other personality trait was associated with PEAA.
UNASSIGNED: Our findings suggest that individuals preferentially notice the expectations for active aging whose content relates to their personal concerns and goals.

UNASSIGNED: This study explores the impact of timebanking, where individuals earn time credits, nonmonetary currency, on promoting volunteerism among older adults.
UNASSIGNED: This study employed a quasi-experimental design with 116 timebank group (TBG) participants and 114 comparison group (CG) participants from 2021 to 2022. TBG received time credits to exchange for rewards, while CG received no time credits (i.e., volunteering as usual). The intervention of timebanking lasted for 1 year. Volunteering behaviors were tracked via an app, and intentions to volunteer were assessed at baseline (T0), after 6 months (the midpoint of the intervention, T1), and after 12 months (the endpoint of the intervention, T2). The use of rewards by TBG participants was also recorded (e.g., for personal use or sharing with others). Furthermore, focus group interviews were conducted to understand how rewards influenced participants\' volunteerism.
UNASSIGNED: TBG had significantly higher weekly volunteer hours at T2 (β = 1.37, p = .021) and increased intent to volunteer at T1 (β = 0.54, p = .001) and T2 (β = 0.51, p = .001) compared with CG. Participants using rewards personally volunteered more at T2 (β = 2.09, p = .014), although sharing rewards with family and friends or donating rewards to others did not yield the same effect. The qualitative study suggested that a sense of feeling recognized generated by timebanking may encourage increased volunteering and that personal reward use enriched the volunteer experience, and individuals sharing rewards with family and friends experienced a sense of fulfillment and reinforcement of their prosociality.
UNASSIGNED: Timebanking effectively encourages late-life volunteering. The study provides practical implications for promoting volunteering among older people.

With demographic trends highlighting an inversion of the farming community age pyramid, with those aged 65 years and over constituting the fastest growing subgroup of the farming population globally, this article highlights a social initiative for older farmers called Farmer\'s Yards, embodying values, and aspirations pertinent to farmers in their later years, that is helping to create an age-friendly environment in farming in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines. By providing older farmers with a platform for sustained social engagement and inclusion within the farming community, this social initiative aligns with principles promoting active and healthy aging, thereby contributing positively to their mental health and wellbeing in later life. In doing so, Farmer\'s Yards is helping to address recent calls by the European Commission for an increased emphasis on the delivery of creative mechanisms that enhance the quality of life of older farmers through social policy. The pilot phase of this social initiative outlined in this article, held in a Livestock Mart (Auction Market) setting in the west of Ireland, demonstrates how Farmer\'s Yards can strengthen Mart\'s long-standing position and reputation as centres of social activity within rural areas by helping older farmers maintain legitimate social connectedness, collegiality, and comradeship with their peers in advancing age in their respective regions, and in turn, combat social isolation and loneliness in later life. Recommendations for future research and on the expansion of Farmer\'s Yards are subsequently outlined.

This paper presents the outcomes of a pioneering study that explores the potential of remote intergenerational communication to combat social isolation among children and older adults, especially under constraints posed by pandemics such as COVID-19. Acknowledging the limited mobility of many older adults, this research aims to provide insights into how digital platforms can facilitate meaningful exchanges between generations. Utilizing a mixed methodology approach, the study first conducted a user interaction analysis to outline guidelines for participant engagement with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based tool called IRAGE (Intergenerational Remote Access to Gaming Experiences) designed specifically for this purpose. Following the development of the ICT tool, three sessions of the remote intergenerational experience were held, during which participants\' interactions were recorded and subsequently analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Key findings from the study reveal that remote intergenerational communication can significantly mitigate feelings of isolation among older adults, contributing to their mental health and emotional well-being. Moreover, the study highlights the effectiveness of the web-based platform in facilitating these interactions, with older adults and children finding the user interface intuitive and the overall experience engaging. These outcomes underscore the importance of leveraging technology to maintain social connections during challenging times and offer valuable guidelines for developing ICT tools that cater to the needs of diverse user groups. By demonstrating the feasibility and benefits of remote intergenerational communication, this research contributes to the broader discourse on active aging and the role of digital technologies in promoting social inclusion and emotional health.

OBJECTIVE: Many older persons do not think of themselves as \"patients\" but as persons wishing to live as actively as possible for as long as possible. However, most health-related quality of life (HRQL) measures were developed for use with clinical populations. The aim of this project was to fill that gap and to develop, for international use, a measure of what matters to older persons as they age and seek to remain as active as possible, Older Persons for Active Living (OPAL).
METHODS: For content development, interviews about active living were conducted with older persons from Canada, USA, UK, and the Netherlands in English, French, Spanish and Dutch, respectively with subsequent thematic analysis and harmonization.
RESULTS: Analyses of transcripts from 148 older persons revealed that active living was a \"way of being\" and not merely doing activities. Saturation was reached and a total of 59 content areas were identified. After grouping similar \"ways\" together and after conducting a consensus rating of importance, 19 unique and important \"ways\" remained. In some languages, formulating was challenging for three of the 19, resulting in changes to two English words and dropping two other words, yielding a final list of 17 \"ways of being\" with harmonized wording in 4 languages.
CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the significance of listening to older adults and highlights the importance of considering linguistic and cultural nuances in measure development.

The global population is on a trajectory of continuous growth, with estimates projecting an increase from 7.7 billion in 2019 to approximately 9.7 billion by 2050. Longevity is also expected to rise rapidly, with advancements in healthcare contributing to increased life expectancies and an increase in the maximum lifespan. The aging process is accompanied by different changes, often leading to a decline in daily life activities and an increased susceptibility to disease. Age-related changes can cause cellular damage and subsequent cellular death. Oxidative stress and inflammation play significant roles in this process contributing to molecular damage and mitochondrial dysfunction. Active aging has been associated with improved quality of life and a reduced risk of morbidity and premature mortality. In this context, the Mediterranean diet has emerged as a promising approach to promoting healthy aging and sustainability. The phytochemical compounds within the Mediterranean diet have been linked to a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. The findings of peer-reviewed articles regarding the use of the Mediterranean diet as a healthy and sustainable dietary pattern written in Portuguese, Spanish or English were included in this narrative literature review. This dietary pattern\'s emphasis on the consumption of fresh and local food aligns with both health and environmental sustainability goals. This work provides a comprehensive review of the benefits of the Mediterranean diet and its components in a healthy aging process and highlights the importance of this dietary pattern as a sustainable approach.