The popular Imserso trips are losing the meaning with which they were designed at the end of the 20th century, as well as the concept of active aging that was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO), which spread like an oil slick through the developed world and which managed to get into the heads of the elderly the vital need to move to avoid, or at least delay, deterioration. All these plans, and many more, served (and a lot) to change the concept that prevailed until then about the last stage of life.
But all of this has become obsolete over the years, due to the arrival of new retirees with greater purchasing power, who have internalized the need to maintain an active life and who, quite often, have traveled not only in Spain, but by the foreigner New retirees who refuse to be cornered by the simple fact of getting older and who with their new habits and attitudes are significantly changing the concept of old age.
A change, however, that will be much more radical during the next decade, when around 14 million people will be part of this group and cause a real social revolution, points out Javier Yanguas, gerontologist and scientific director of the people program senior from the Fundació la Caixa, who a few days ago participated in a day on Aging and aging 2030: challenges and opportunities for the whole of society.
Yanguas is clear: a new model of old age is being imposed, with different stages, as a result of the extension of life. "It is not the same to be 65 years old as to be 80, just as it is not the same to be 90, the concerns and needs are different", he clarifies. And one of the most important achievements of this century is the increase in life expectancy, a "democratized longevity", which affects all social classes.
"Today's older adults will die close to 90, but the children born today will die at 100. It is an unprecedented success", says José Manuel Freire, pulmonologist, professor at the National School of Health, former health advisor of the Basque Government and current president of the Health and Social Health Coordination Commission of the Platform for the Elderly and Pensioners (PMP).
That is to say, when one reaches retirement, they will have, on average, between 20 and 25 more years of life, points out Yanguas, who states that the new pensioners no longer see the transition to retirement as the arrival at a stage of 'corner and pass the time until the end comes.
On the contrary, the experts point out, it is clear that "they retire from work, but not from life". They see in this time a stage of personal growth, of possibilities, of change. This "army of retirees" has the power to transform society, reiterates Yanguas, because they know they have a future.
Until now, old age has been seen as a stage to live "filling time with activities, which we don't know if they make sense", says the gerontologist. But this must change, because "the elderly have filled it with value, they are simply looking for fullness", he reiterates.
For this reason, "it is necessary to reconceptualize old age", points out José Augusto García Navarro, president of the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology, who participated with Freire in conferences on the elderly organized by the PMP and which was also attended by the retired judge and former mayor of Madrid Manuela Carmena, 79 years old.
The former councilwoman remains at the head of her oenagé (she has a shop where she sells the products made by the dams) and continues to participate in colloquia and talks. She is clear: we need to empower old age, because it is not a sad stage, it is one of pride, pride for having arrived, for having done and for what can be done in favor of society.
“We have a retirement model that devalues and leaves older people with a residual role, where it seems that all that matters is that they fill their time with activities. Enjoyment is necessary, of course, but you need to look beyond, look for personal development, commitment to others... A different way of being old. This change needs to be made, especially for those who sell, insists Yanguas.
Intergenerational commitment is one of the words that was repeated the most in the Caixa forum. Because, while the elderly manage to reach their well-deserved retirement, the young have a more than uncertain future. "At this moment the intergenerational view is failing. The elderly must look up and get involved so that society does not fracture", he explains.
