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AARP released its 2018 Aging Readiness and Competitiveness (ARC) research, which examines how prepared nations are for the challenges and opportunities presented by a rapidly aging population. This year, the research examined Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, Lebanon, Mauritius, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and Taiwan.

Based on global research conducted by FP Analytics, 2018 ARC plays out against a dramatic, global demographic shift already underway.  By 2030, there will be nearly one billion people ages 65 and older around the world, a group that between 2015 and 2030 will grow at four times the rate of the overall global population.

The inaugural 2017 ARC report established a baseline understanding of the state of global aging policies, with in-depth assessments of a group of 12 countries that are geographically, culturally, and socioeconomically diverse and that, together, represent 61 percent of the global GDP and nearly half of the world’s population of people ages 65 and older. For the 2018 ARC report, the focus shifted to 10 small economies around the world that are leading their regions in responding to demographic change. As in 2017, countries were assessed on four pillars: 1. Community Social Infrastructure, 2. Productive Opportunity, 3. Technological Engagement and 4. Health Care & Wellness.

Among the notable findings in the 2018 ARC:  The World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities initiative has been adopted in seven of the 10 2018 ARC nations with Taiwan most strongly embracing the model and deploying it in more than 20 of the nation’s largest cities.

While providing access to affordable, high-quality health care remains a vexing, much-debated challenge in the U.S., it is cited by the majority (54 percent) of respondents from 2018 ARC nations as the area in which their nation is strongest, with nine of 10 ARC nations (all but Lebanon) having instituted universal health care coverage.  Additionally, health care and wellness was cited by 38 percent of respondents as the category that has seen the greatest improvement in their nation over the last three to five years.
As countries increasingly digitize government services, the ARC found that the risk of digital exclusion is only growing, making targeted outreach and training for older adults vitally important.

Despite considerable satisfaction among 2018 ARC respondents with progress made in their nation around the provision of health care, dementia is nearly uniformly seen as a hurdle. With lifespans extending and the prevalence of dementia growing dramatically, all 2018 ARC countries except Lebanon and Mauritius have national plans to manage dementia.

About AARP
AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and more than 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation’s largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org.

Leiden, The Netherlands, 25 September 2018 – Every doctor will face terminally ill patients. How can dying be properly addressed and discussed in medical practice? What does good care entail in the final phase of life? Researchers at Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing reviewed to what extent end-of-life care (ELC) is represented in the Dutch medical curricula. The education offered is very diverse and the subject remains underrepresented, the researchers conclude in an article published on 5 September in academic journal Perspectives on Medical Education.

Research method
Future doctors need to be trained in providing appropriate care to terminal patients. In many countries, medical curricula have been reviewed for the attention devoted to ELC. In the Netherlands, no formal review had been performed. The researchers first designed a checklist based on international standards consisting of five domains of ELC education that are considered essential, such as communication skills, juridical and ethical aspects, and self-reflection on experiences with death and loss. The checklist was used to review the Dutch Framework for Undergraduate Medical Education, which serves as a blueprint for medical education in the Netherlands. Secondly, the bachelor and master curricula and elective courses of the 8 Dutch medical faculties were studied. Is ELC being addressed, and if so how, in what educational form is it taught?

Room for improvement
The researchers conclude that there is much room for improvement. The Framework for Undergraduate Medical Education includes four of the five domains of ELC and describes the ELC-domains only superficially. None of the eight medical faculties taught all domains specifically on ELC; they were taught within other courses. Only one faculty offered an elective course that includes all essential aspects of the international standards.

ELC easily overlooked
The researchers believe that ELC is not left out of the medical curricula intentionally. Joris Slaets, Professor of Geriatric Medicine and one of the authors, explains: “Everybody agrees immediately that this is an important topic. Perhaps we all assume that end-of-life care is addressed somewhat in all courses in medical education. But this turns out not to be the case. Also, many medical specialties compete to be included in the national framework and curricula. End-of-life care is easily overlooked, since there are no real advocates pleading for its case.”

Confrontation with death
We need to better prepare young doctors for the medical practice where they will soon be confronted with death, the researchers argue. Joris Slaets: “When curative treatments are no longer effective, other skills are required of the physician: being able to have good conversations with dying patients and their families, attention to spiritual and psychosocial aspects, self-reflection. Skills that make you a better doctor, in any case. In Dutch society and politics, there is growing attention for quality of life at the end of life. It is about time that end-of-life care is adequately addressed in medical education.”

Make ELC a compulsory subject
The current Framework for Undergraduate Medical Education was introduced in 2009 and will be replaced next year. The researchers see this as a unique opportunity to firmly embed ELC in the Dutch blueprint for medical education. The medical faculties themselves can also make improvements, says Joris Slaets: “They can learn a lot from each other. Make end-of-life care a compulsory subject, address it in working groups. Providing care for a dying patient is ultimately one of the basic facets of being a doctor, regardless of which specialization you choose. Helping a person die in comfort and with dignity is truly a humbling and gratifying experience.”

The article ‘End-of-life care in the Dutch medical curricula’ by Josefien de Bruin, Mary-Joanne Verhoef, Joris P.J. Slaets and David van Bodegom was published in scientific journal Perspectives on Medical Education on 5 September 2018: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40037-018-0447-4

For more information, please contact Niels Bartels (communications manager) by phone +31 (0)71 524 0960 or by email.

Each year, alternatingly the portrait of a vital older man or woman is chosen to represent our institute on communication outings (e.g. for website, brochures, banners etc.). For this year, from 11-11-2018 through 11-11-2019, we are looking for a woman (from 75 years or older) who radiates a lust for life.

Procedure

• Several photos of multiple persons may be submitted.
• The management and communication department at Leyden Academy will choose the ‘winning’ portrait.
• The picture is royalty-free and will be used by Leyden Academy.
• Photos can be submitted up to the end of September 2018 to Yvonne Schinkel-Koemans at koemans@leydenacademy.nl.

Today, the EPIcenter Summer School on Healthy Living and Happy Ageing kicked off. In a two-week programme, thirty students will work on solutions for real-life challenges, aimed to improve the quality of life of (vulnerable) older people. After a successful first edition last year in Heidelberg, Germany,  the students are now welcomed at Leyden Academy. EPIcenter is a Summer School of EIT Health and is organised by Leyden Academy, the LUMC, Zilveren Kruis, Universität Heidelberg en Ireland Smart Ageing Exchange (ISAX).

The students have come to Leiden from all over the world: from Spain, Russia, China, Germany, The Netherlands, Romania, Taiwan, India, Iran, Sweden, Ecuador, Portugal, Croatia, Pakistan, France, Indonesia, and even Australia. The five teams will go through the full cycle of state of the art innovation methods to develop creative, practical solutions for the challenges submitted by organisations like Aegon, Espria, Achmea Zilveren Kruis and the municipality of Leiden. The teams are supported by coaches, mentors and experts.

For more information, visit the Summer School website or follow the latest developments on Twitter.

MOOC platform Class Central and the United Nations SDG Academy have compiled a list of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that contribute to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that the UN has set for 2030. The list consists of over a hundred MOOCs from universities including Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, and MIT. Leyden Academy is represented with the MOOC Healthy Ageing in 6 Steps. Let your environment do the work, developed in cooperation with TU Delft and Copenhagen University, as part of the EIT Health Campus. According to the authors, this MOOC supports Sustainable Development Goal number 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages. View the complete selection of courses here.

Since the launch in December 2016, over 10,000 people from 152 countries have participated in the free online course Healthy Ageing in 6 Steps. In six modules, the MOOC teaches participants how to make healthier choices and smart adjustments to their lifestyles and environments, to enable them to live healthier, happier and longer lives. The MOOC is still available on learning platform edX.

There is little current knowledge about the nature and prevalence of elder abuse in the Netherlands. The assumption is that with the increased ageing of the population, the elderly continuing to live at home longer, and the growing emphasis on self-sufficiency, the problem can become exacerbated in the future if we do not have sufficient control of prevention and intervention. Against this background, and at the request of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS), the Scientific Research and Documentation Centre (WODC) has commissioned Regioplan to conduct a study on the nature and scope of elder abuse. Regioplan has carried out the study in 2017 and 2018 in collaboration with Avans University of Applied Sciences (Lectorate of Safety in dependent relationships) and Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing.

The study took place in the Dutch cities of Rotterdam, Tilburg and Boxtel. Several frameworks were set in advance in order to define the research: (1) the elderly who participate in the study are 65 years old and older, and (2) the elderly who participate in the study live at home. A distinction is made in this study among five forms of elder abuse, specifically neglect, psychological abuse including violation of rights, physical abuse, financial disadvantage and sexual abuse. To be able to form as good a picture as possible of the prevalence, a combination of various research methods has been applied, specifically (1) a large number of face-to-face interviews with a representative group of those aged 65 and older in three municipalities of varied size, (2) an informant study where signals of elder abuse were registered by several professional groups in three municipalities, (3) registrations of the Veilig Thuis (‘Safe Home’) organisation (notifications and recommendations in three municipalities) as a supplementary source, and (4) a literature study as a frame of reference for the interpretation of the research results.

An English summary of the report can be found here.

In ten editions, each on a specific topic, Dr. David van Bodegom will give practical tips for a healthy lifestyle with less prescription drugs. He will personnaly select and curate relevant articles, infographics and videos. The micro learning ‘Unmedicate’ is of interest to anyone taking medications on a daily basis and who would like to minimize that. Always first consult your GP before adjusting your medication.

This micro learning will start on June 1, 2018, and well be in the Dutch language. However, the first edition, on Insomnia, is translated in Engslish. Please click here.

The micro learning Unmedicate is part of and funded by EIT Health Campus Education Programme and created by Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, Imperial College London Self Care Academic Research Unit (SCARU) and University of Copenhagen.

In September 2017 the EIT Health Summer School ‘euVENTION’ took place in Heidelberg, Germany. A select group of 36 motivated and creative students with diverse backgrounds from 12 different countries came together to work on business challenges. Such as: how do we make alarm sensors for elderly attractive and portable? How do we ensure that people start living healthier? How can we prevent seniors from falling? This video gives you an impression of the 2017 summer school.

The theme for this year’s edition, which will take place from 20-31 August 2018, is ‘EPICenter: Healthy living and happy ageing’. The Summer School will be organised in Leiden, the Netherlands by Leyden Academy. Master and PhD students are invited to participate. Like last year, we welcome corporations and organizations to submit their challenges (deadline: July 1, 2018). Visit the website for more information and free registration (deadline: June 17, 2018) or contact Lex van Delden.

Leiden, The Netherlands, 10 January 2018 – In The Netherlands, most older adults do not reach the recommended level of 150 minutes of physical activity per week. Inactivity is a major cause of age-related health problems. When coached professionally, research shows that cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and even dementia can be prevented or delayed, but there are simply not enough resources and professionals to instruct all older adults on a daily basis. As it turns out, this is not necessary. Researchers of Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing monitored a group of older adults in Ulft, a rural town in The Netherlands, who have taken the initiative to exercise together every morning and to coach each other, with no involvement of professionals. This type of peer coaching results in long-term involvement and the members are happier, have a bigger social network and their physical performance improves. Because of the self-sustainable character of the intervention, peer coaching has the potential to be scaled up at low cost. The results were published on 9 January 2018 in the scientific journal Translational Behavioral Medicine.

Peer coaching works
People who pursue a common goal, achieve more. A well-known example of peer coaching is Alcoholics Anonymous, which provides health benefits to millions of people without the involvement of healthcare professionals. The 69 members of the FreeWheel Club in Ulft, with an average age of over 65 years, motivate each other since 2010 to exercise together for an hour each morning. Researchers from Leyden Academy interviewed the participants and analysed the results of a standard six-minute walk test between 2014 and 2016. Where most studies show a decline of 2-7 meter per year in the general population, members of the FreeWheel Club show an increase of 22 meters per year. Participants also reported a significant decrease in weight, and self-rated measures of quality of sleep, quality of life and physical capacity all improved significantly.

Persuade more people to become active
Many age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity, dementia and osteoporosis can be prevented or delayed by daily physical activity. In older adults it also reduces anxiety, depression, the risk of falls and increases mobility, quality of life and longevity. Unfortunately, most Dutch older adults do not reach the recommended level of 150 minutes of physical activity per week. So the question is not whether physical activity is good for you, but how we can persuade people to become more active, says researcher David van Bodegom. “Professional interventions, for instance by physiotherapists, are effective, but always temporary and they can only reach a limited amount of older adults. In Ulft we see how participants motivate each other to exercise daily. Anyone can start such an initiative in their own community.” The peer coaching model could be a promising solution to the demographic challenge of the growing number of older people with age-related health problems, loneliness and increasing healthcare costs. With the initiative ‘Vitality Club’, Leyden Academy currently explores whether, and under what conditions, this successful proof-of-principle could provide a basis for future implementation elsewhere. In the city of Leiden, we have set up three experimental peer coaching sports clubs for older adults.

The article ‘Vitality Club: a proof-of-principle of peer coaching for daily physical activity by older adults’ by Paul van de Vijver, Herman Wielens, Joris Slaets and David van Bodegom was published in scientific journal Translational Behavioral Medicine on 9 January 2018.

For more information, please contact Niels Bartels (communications manager) by phone +31 (0)71 524 0960 or by email.

The support of caregivers, both professionals and family members, is vital to the health, independence and well-being of older people around the globe. How can we help them in performing their important, challenging role? Startup EasyCare Academy develops courses, assessments and tools to support caregivers worldwide.

We are delighted to announce the collaboration between EasyCare Academy and Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, the latter delivering expert consultancy. The first EasyCare Academy course, the Basis of Caregiving, will be available in January 2018. Additional courses for caregivers will be developed for both professionals in profit and non-profit organisations as well as for family members responding to the needs of older people.

Background of EasyCare Academy
Based on 28 years’ experience across more than 30 countries, EasyCare Academy is a social impact company focused on supporting personalized care for healthy ageing to enable people to live better as they live longer. EasyCare Academy’s digital platform, validated by more than 90 scientific, peer-reviewed publications assesses biologic, social, psychological and environmental domains to determine – at an individual level – care plans matched to local resources. Respond 4.0, EasyCare Academy’s standardized assessment is proven to enable the health, independence and well-being of older people while lowering the burden on healthcare budgets.

Learn more about what EasyCare Academy is about in this video: co-founder Ian Philps in an interview with Marieke van der Waal, director of Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing.

A long term collaboration
Both EasyCare Academy and Leyden Academy share the same mission, to improve the quality of life of older people, and have expressed the ambition for a long term collaboration. The following Leyden Academy staff members will deliver expertise, advise and consultancy in the first phase:

• prof. dr. Joris Slaets, professor of geriatric medicine and director of Leyden Academy, regarding the quality of subject matter content;
• Marie-Louise Kok, digital learning specialist, on digital learning guidelines and the development of a learning platform.

For more information on the programme, please visit the EasyCare Academy website. You can sign up here as well.