Projects

Projects conducted currently or recently, some ongoing, at ILCSA’s three sites are listed below. Several projects are international in scope and thus conducted collaboratively. The projects each incorporate ILCSA’s four programmatic thrusts: Research, Education & Training, Policy & Advocacy, Care & Support.

Anti-Ageism Alliance Task Force

The UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021 – 2030) has identified ageism as a global obstacle curtailing older persons’ opportunities to contribute to society, realise their full potential, and lead fulfilling lives. The World Health Organisation (WHO) established the Global Campaign to Combat Ageism to build a world for all ages by changing the way we think, feel and act about age and ageing. To provide evidence-based support for the Campaign, the WHO in collaboration with other UN agencies released the landmark “Global Report on Ageism” in 2021.

Jaco Hoffman and Femada Shamam (CEO, The Association for the Aged (TAFTA), Durban) were invited by the Fondazione Internazionale Menarini to participate in a meeting in Florence, Italy, on April 5 – 6, 2024, to contribute to an Anti-Ageism Alliance Task Force. The focus of the meeting was to interrogate the adverse impact of ageism on the goals of care, the care itself and the health outcomes of older adults. The meeting underscored the multiple ways through which cultural stereotypes and social behaviours affect the care and well-being of older persons, including their involvement in critical decisions concerning their life and ability to maintain a positive role in the society. The Task Force identified remedial actions for prioritisation in education and legislation to eliminate ageism in health care and society.

The Anti-Ageism Alliance established a working group in the meeting, aimed at increasing an awareness of ageism; expanding research and knowledge on age-related discrimination in healthcare and other fields; and implementing intervention strategies to counteract ageism and its manifestations. It was noted that policies and laws, educational activities and intergenerational interventions have been proven to work to reduce ageism. To create a world for all ages, stakeholders across countries, sectors and disciplines should invest in these strategies and join the global movement to change negative narratives around age and ageing.

The Carta of Florence Against Ageism concluded: “Ageism is pervasive and involves most aspects of our life. We learn early that being ‘young’ as opposite to being ‘old’ is a positive value and this ageist cultural view persists over the whole lifespan. The ‘fear’ of becoming old and the ‘surprise’ of reaching old age are only a few examples of the ageist imprinting that we carry with us. Such negative cultural stereotypes of aging have severe consequences on the lives of older persons, who tend to be marginalized and left out of many opportunities just because of ‘old age’ (Ungar et al., 2024).”

Ungar A, Cherubini A, Fratiglioni L, de la Fuente-Núñez V, Fried LP, Krasovitsky MS, Tinetti ME, Officer A, Vellas B, Ferrucci L. Carta of Florence Against Ageism: No Place for Ageism in Healthcare. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2024 Mar 1;79(3):264. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glad264. PMID: 38419345; PMCID: PMC10902610.

Lancet Commission on Long-term Care for Older Persons (2023 – 2025)

Professors and ILC members Jaco Hoffman, Julie Byles (ILC Australia) and Kiran Rabheru (ILC Canada), as co-chair, were appointed with 12 other commissioners from different world regions to the Lancet Commission on “Long-Term Care for Older Persons” (LCLTC), which aims to contribute to shaping future long-term care for older persons. Lancet Commissions focus on transformational, strategic, science-based advocacy. The Commission’s work will result in a “call for action” for researchers, clinicians, policymakers, funders, healthcare planners, and other stakeholders to challenge conventions and current principles that may hamper progress.

The new Commission aims to focus on providing person-centred long-term care for older persons through a human-rights lens: This is in line with an increasing emphasis globally on person‐centredness as a quality requirement for long-term care provision. While the Healthy Ageing framework of the World Health Organisation states that long-term care should be person-centred, the provision of such care is complex, often misconstrued through an individualistic lens, surrounded by heterogeneity and temporal change, and hampered by stigma and unsupportive environments. A core question is what is needed to galvanise action and to speed up a shift towards the (re-)conceptualisation and provision of person-centred care.

Commentary announcing the new Commission may be accessed here: Pot AM, Rabheru K, Chew M. Person-centred long-term care for older persons: a new Lancet Commission. Lancet. 2023 May 27;401(10390):1754-1755. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00920-0. Epub 2023 May 16. PMID: 37207685.

Sweden/South Africa collaboration (2023 ongoing)

Professors Johan Sanmartin Berglund, Lisa Skär and Doris Bohman from the Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden visited Noth-West University (Jaco Hoffman), in April 2023, to renew an MoU between the universities, and to participate in a colloquium on “Longitudinal data collection, community care and partnerships: Swedish experiences and Swedish/South African prospects for collaboration.” The colloquium was facilitated by Hoffman and Vera Roos (NWU).

Professor Berglund, the principal investigator and main coordinator of the Swedish National Study on Ageing and Care (SNAC), focused on methodological issues pertaining to longitudinal research generally, including issues of representability, dropout, and other challenges. As a special advisor to the Swedish government regarding ageing during the Swedish EU presidency 2023, he shared future long-term care strategies.

The RuComm-4-AgeWell/ RuComm-para-Envej-Bien Project

The project RuComm-4-AgeWell/ RuComm-para-Envej-Bien is grounded in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) mission to leave no one behind. It is focused on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, with the aim of addressing the UN Decade of Healthy Aging action to ensure that communities foster the capabilities of older people. It aims to generate a baseline understanding of rural contexts and well-being outcomes for older residents.

A majority of older people worldwide live in LMICs and in rural areas. Here, they face challenges associated with climate change, poverty, and a lack of critical infrastructure. The project aimed to reduce the invisibility of older people in the Global South and highlight a need for local solutions in global discourse. The core team was Nereide Curreri (Stirling University, UK), Jose Parodi (Universidad de San Martín de Porres, Lima, Peru), Jaco Hoffman (NWU), Norah Keating (University of Alberta/NWU), Andrew Banda (NWU/ University of Zambia) and Anjonet Jordaan (NWU).

Activities

Several ILCSA activities focus on promoting healthy and productive ageing, empowering older persons to participate fully in society, and equipping and empowering carers to care for older persons in need. ILCSA’s four programmatic thrusts (Research, Education and Training, Policy and Advocacy, and Care) are incorporated to a greater or lesser extent in all the activities. Current and recent activities, which constitute projects, that are primarily care-related, are listed below.

Rights of Older Persons Advisory Committee

Jaco Hoffman has been appointed as a member of the Section 11 Committee of the Rights of Older Persons Advisory Committee of the South African Human Rights Commission, effective September 2024.