Page 97

AD ALTA

JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

ACTIVE AGEING AND ACTIVE OLD AGE IN THE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT

CTIBOR HATÁR

Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Education, Constantine the
Philosopher University in Nitra, Drážovská 4, 949 74 Nitra,
Slovakia
email:

chatar@ukf.sk

The study presented here was published within the research task VEGA of the
Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the
Slovak Academy of Science no. 1/0001/18 called Preparation for ageing and old age -
possibilities of andragogical intervention.

Abstract: The study analyses the concepts of active ageing and active old age,
comparing them to usual ageing and usual old age. In the first chapter the author deals
with the concept of active ageing, its attributes and influencing factors by means of
several transnational documents. He also pays his attention to the role of age
management in active ageing and active living of the old age. The second chapter is
focused on the relationship between active ageing, active old age and social inclusion
of older adults and seniors from the educational point of view.

Keywords: (active) ageing, (active) old age, social inclusion, older adults, seniors,
education, age management.

Introduction

Ageing, old age and retirement often provoke worries of young
and older people. Also seniors are worried about this life period.
They often think about its course, what it will look like, whether
it will be according to their expectations or whether it will fulfil
their required criteria of quality.

It is evident that several factors influence the life in the old age

(e.g. Tokárová, 2002; Balogová, 2005; Heřmanová, 2012;
Zimermanová, 2012a, 2013, etc.). People can influence some of
these factors so that they are beneficial for them. However, many
respondents (clients of institutions for seniors) stated that health
problems

and also their age are the key factors with a negative

impact on their need or interest in further education (Határ,
2014b, p. 42). Despite this fact, it is necessary to say that
physical and mental activity play a very important role if they
respect the health and age limitations of people (more in detail:

Čornaničová, 1998; Štilec, 2004; Křivohlavý, 2011; Gracová,
Selecký, 2017 etc.).

The aim of this study is to define the concepts of active ageing
and active old age comparing them to the traditional perception

of ageing and old age. R. Čevela, Z. Kalvach and L. Čeledová
(2012, p. 28) state that ageing and old age can have three basic
forms: 1) successful ageing and healthy (active) old age, 2)
usual ageing and old age and 3) pathological ageing, and we
would also add pathological old age. The subject of our study is
to compare these forms of ageing and old age, focusing more on
the active ageing and active living of the senior age. We
understand these concepts of active ageing and active old age as
tools of social inclusion of older adults (pre-retirement age) and
seniors because these age groups are often at the risk of being
socially excluded. We look at the topic of active ageing and
active old age mainly from the educational point of view.

1 (Active) ageing and (active) old age - conceptual and
relational analysis

1.1 Ageing versus Active Ageing and Old Age versus Active
Old Age

There is a difference between ageing, which is considered to be a
natural and lifelong process, and the old age, which is a period of
life and the result of ageing

. If we perceive this difference, then

it is necessary to differentiate also between the concepts of
active ageing and active old age. This is not a usual point of

In specialised literature there is often used the concept of polymorbidity that means

cumulation of illnesses (more in detail: e.g. Haškovcová, 2010, p. 251).

The mentioned definition of ageing and old age was stated in the Swiss Information

platform of human rights (https://www.humanrights.ch/de/menschenrechte-
themen/alter/problematik/).

view in English literature and legislation

(compare, e.g.: Active

Ageing: A Policy Framework, 2002 or Active Ageing Index for
28 European Union Countries, 2014). Also the Czech
sociologist J. Hasmanová Marhánková (2013, p. 17) or I. Tomeš
and

L. Bočková (2017, p. 47) probably understand these

concepts as synonyms. However, in our study we will strictly
differentiate the concepts of ageing and active ageing as well as
the concepts of old age and active old age, though these concepts
can overlap in the last periods of life (when people are in the
senior age and they continue getting older).

R. Čevela, Z. Kalvach and L. Čeledová (2012, p. 20) define the
concept of ageing as a complex of involutionary, morphological
and functional changes whose beginning is gradual, with a
significant interindividual variability. At the same time, it is also
a heterochronic process after reaching the sexual maturity. The
human body has to adapt to these changes. According to these
authors, the process of ageing is dissociated, disintegrated and
asynchronous, partially encoded genetically and partially
developed by coincidental phenomena, mistakes and disorders.

The above mentioned definition of the process of ageing is more
physiological, or medical. In order to complete this definition, it
is important to say that ageing is “a process of gradual involution
with accompanying biological, psychic and social changes in
the human organism and personality” (Hotár, Paška, Perhács et
al., 2000, p. 421). Nowadays, the spiritual changes / aspects in
the personalities of older people also belong to frequently
discussed topics (more in detail: Balogová, 2005; Ondrušová,

2011; Kováč, 2013; Kaminská, 2017 etc.).

R. Čevela, Z. Kalvach and L. Čeledová (2012, p. 19) perceive
old age as “the last developmental stage which closes the human
life. In general, this is an expression and result of involuntary
functional and morphological changes. They have a specific
speed and significant interindividual variability. These changes
lead to a typical form designed as the phenotype of the old age.

This phenotype is modified by the influence of surroundings,
health condition, lifestyle and socioeconomic and psychical
factors”.

As we have mentioned above, we consider it relevant to
differentiate not only the concepts of ageing and old age, but
also the concepts of ageing and active ageing and the concepts of
the old age and active old age. We perceive active ageing and
active old age as a higher level of the attitude of people to their
own ageing and old age. This attitude is not a passive approach,
but it is characterized with a meaningful activity. We could
compare the relationship between ageing and active ageing and
between the old age and active old age to the difference or
relationship between the education and self-education. The
prerequisite for the self-education is a mature personality which
has a high level of autoregulation (Perhács, 2011, p. 95). In the
same way, active ageing and active old age represent a certain
“top” of human effort.

In the specialised literature there we can find several concepts or
forms of the so called desirable ageing. P. Vanhuysse (2012, in:
Repková, 2012a, pp. 12 – 13) mentions four key concepts: the
concept of active ageing, the concept of healthy ageing, the
concept of productive ageing and the concept of successful
ageing. According to the definition of the WHO (2002), the
concept of healthy ageing is about the ability of people to keep
going even though their physical functions are becoming weaker.
The concept of productive ageing focuses on the economic
contribution of seniors that is measured with their paid work or
voluntarism. The concept of successful ageing is related to a low
predisposition to diseases or chronic disorders, as well as to a
high cognitive and physical capacity and active participation in
different areas of life. P. Vanhuysse (2012) explains that the
concept of active ageing is based on three key pillars: health,
participation and safety as they were defined by the WHO (in:
Repková, 2012a, pp. 12 – 13).

- 97 -