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. 2023 Oct;42(10):2055-2065.
doi: 10.1177/07334648231182243. Epub 2023 Jun 20.

Active Aging Policies Targeting Health and Care During the of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Thematic Analysis of Italian National and Regional Policies

Francesco Barbabella  1 , Andrea Principi  1 , Davide Lucantoni  1 , Giovanni Lamura  1 , Marco Socci  1
Affiliations

Active Aging Policies Targeting Health and Care During the of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Thematic Analysis of Italian National and Regional Policies

Francesco Barbabella et al. J Appl Gerontol. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

A primary objective of active aging policies is to promote health and optimize care for individuals. In aging societies, the maintenance of good physical and mental health and the management of risk factors are of utmost importance. Few research studies have analyzed active aging policies related to health and care from a multi-level governance perspective. The aim of this study was to determine what national and regional policies in these domains existed in Italy. We conducted an inductive thematic analysis of health- and care-related policies on active aging, selected through a systematic review in 2019-2021. The analysis uncovered three themes at both the national and regional levels (health promotion and disease prevention, health monitoring, and informal caregivers) and two additional themes at the regional level (access to health and social care services, and mental health and well-being). According to the findings, COVID-19 partially influenced the evolution of active aging policies.

Keywords: COVID-19; active aging; caregiving; health promotion; policy; review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

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