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Balochi M, Dehnavieh R, shati M, Imani E, kalavani K. The Most Important Future Challenges of Aging in Iran. Elderly Health Journal 2022; 8 (1) :1-3
URL: http://ehj.ssu.ac.ir/article-1-243-en.html
Department of Healthcare Management, Faculty of Healthcare Management and Information Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Science, Kerman, Iran , modirtbzmed@gmail.com
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The Most Important Future Challenges of Aging in Iran

Monire Balochi 1, Reza Dehnavie.1, Mohsen Shati 2, Elahe Imani 1, Khalil Kalavani 3*


  1. Health Foresight and Innovation Research Canter, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
  2. Mental Health Research Center, Social Injury Prevention Research Institute, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  3. Department of Healthcare Management, Faculty of Healthcare Management and Information Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Science, Kerman, Iran

Received 4 Oct 2021
 

Copyright © 2022 Elderly Health Journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cite.

    In today's modern world, socio-economic development has reduced population growth and increased life expectancy worldwide. Due to the beginning of the transition of age structure from youth to aging and the ever-increasing growth rate of the elderly population compared to the total population growth in the country, the population aging phenomenon is going to be experienced in the coming years (1) .
    Facing the population aging phenomenon will cause serious challenges for the country, and managing such a complex condition requires adjusting the existing challenges and creating new horizons. In this regard, collective wisdom can be used for better system performance. In fact, it is necessary to consider new ways to manage the country's aging field with new thoughts and ideas and to solve the existing challenges. In order to use collective wisdom and experts’ point of view, the main challenges must be extracted and prioritized. To get started, reviewing the available documentation can help us make a list of the key challenges. This article addressed the most important challenges and key questions related to aging in terms of the documentation and research conducted in the country. Research conducted in Iran and the reports of the Ministry of Health in this field show that the challenges of aging in Iran can be classified into 6 categories (2-10). These challenges may be labeled into 6 concepts including policy-making, health system, social, economic, technology-infrastructure, and education. (Table 1)
    Given the rapid growth of technology in the world and the socio-economic situation of the people in Iran, it seems that among the existing challenges, two challenges "Technology" and "Economic" will be very highlight in the future. It is necessary to inform and familiarize the elderly with the technology and production of user-friendly software for the elderly, as well as the establishment of financial support funds for them.

Conflicts of Interest
    There is no conflict of interest for the authors of this article.

Funding
    The authors received no financial support for the research.

Authors’ contributions
    All authors have read and approved to the manuscript.

Table 1. Aging challenges in Iran


 
Question / Challenge Area
1- Considering the increasing elderly population in the next few years, what strategies should be considered from now on to sensitize different groups and beneficiaries?
2-How should guardianship work to provide services to the elderly in the future and what should be done now?
3-What solution do you propose to create coordination between policies and communication between policy makers regarding the issues of the elderly in the future?
4-What programs should be included in the country's upstream documents regarding the provision of services to the elderly in the future?
Policy-making
1- What should be done now to have adequate access to human resources (doctors, nurses, social workers) in the future provide adequate health services to the elderly?
2- How should the financing system for providing services to the elderly be in the future and what measures should be taken from now on?
3-What measures should be taken now for the physical structures of the health sector to appropriately deal with the issue of aging in the future?
Health system
1- Regarding the importance of social participation in old age (in order to maintain and promote their social health), what plans should we have from now on to deal with the country's peak population of the elderly?
2- How should plans be developed in order to maintain the elderly’s independence in financial and social fields considering the increased number of elderly people in the future?
3- Given that social support is one of the important components of social health in the elderly, what measures should be taken from now on to improve it in the future?
Social
1- What plans should be considered now to provide employment and support services to the increasing number of elderly people in the future?
2- Regarding the negative impact of aging on the economic growth of the country in the future, what plans and policies should be considered from now on to reduce it?
Economic
1- What measures and plans are needed from now on to create an urban space appropriate to the needs of the elderly in the future and to allocate special facilities for their transportation?
2- What plans should be considered from now on to increase the literacy of using technology in order to improve the elderly’s quality of life?
3- What plans should be considered from now on to develop suitable infrastructures for the production and use of technology?
Technology and Infrastructures
1. What measures should be taken to improve the health status of the elderly in the future through the education of students and the employees in the field of education?
2. What steps should be taken from now on to identify and create new university majors on the issues of the elderly and improving their quality of life?
3. What plans and measures should be considered from now on to educate the elderly in order to empower them and improve their life skills?
Education










































References
1. Mosadeghrad AM. The futurology of aging population in Iran: Letter to the Editor. Tehran University Medical Journal. 2021; 79 (3): 248-9. [Persian]
2. Razzaghi A, Pourrajabi A, Daneshi S. Obstacles and problems related to elderly pedestrians: a qualitative study. Journal of Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention. 2017; 5(2): 73-8. [Persian]
3. Gholipour Z, Farahani MM, Riahi L, Hajinabi K. Priorities of active aging policy in Iran. Depiction of Health. 2020; 11(1): 52-61. [Persian]
4. Khodamoradi A, Hassanipour S, Daryabeigi Khotbesara R, Ahmadi B. The trend of population aging and planning of health services for the elderly: a review study. Journal of Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences. 2018; 6(3): 81-95. [Persian]
5. Rasel M, Ardalan A. The future of ageing and its health care costs: a warning for health system. Salmand: Iranian Journal of Ageing. 2007; 2(2): 300-5. [Persian]
6. Sadeghiyan F, Raei M, Hashemi M, Amiri M, Chaman R. Elderly and health problems: a cross sectional study in the Shahroud township. Salmand: Iranian Journal of Ageing. 2011; 6(20): 26-30. [Persian]
7. Gheibizadeh M, Pourghane P, Mossaffa Khomami H, Heidari F, Atrkar Roushan Z. Identifying the determinants of stress in the retired elderly. Journal of Geriatric Nursing. 2016; 3(1): 49-61. [Persian]
8. Mansouri T, Farhadi A, Borhaninejad V R, Kojaie Bidgoli A, Navvabi Rigi SD, Hosseinabadi R. Factors and barriers affecting the social participation of older people. Journal of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences. 2018; 9(4): 66-73. [Persian]
9. Elahi T, Khosravi R, Rashidi Rashtabadi S, Akhavan A. Hopefulness and mental disorders in the Elderly. Journal of Advances in Medical and Biomedical Research. 2014; 22(92): 119-25. [Persian]
10. Mohtasham-Amiri Z. Elderly, and challenges ahead, with a look at the results of the 2016 census. Journal of Social Research. 2017; 2(4): 71-8. [Persian]
Type of Study: Applicable | Subject: General
Received: 2021/10/4 | Accepted: 2022/05/25 | Published: 2022/06/29

References
1. Mosadeghrad AM. The futurology of aging population in Iran: Letter to the Editor. Tehran University Medical Journal. 2021; 79 (3): 248-9. [Persian]
2. Razzaghi A, Pourrajabi A, Daneshi S. Obstacles and problems related to elderly pedestrians: a qualitative study. Journal of Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention. 2017; 5(2): 73-8. [Persian]
3. Gholipour Z, Farahani MM, Riahi L, Hajinabi K. Priorities of active aging policy in Iran. Depiction of Health. 2020; 11(1): 52-61. [Persian]
4. Khodamoradi A, Hassanipour S, Daryabeigi Khotbesara R, Ahmadi B. The trend of population aging and planning of health services for the elderly: a review study. Journal of Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences. 2018; 6(3): 81-95. [Persian]
5. Rasel M, Ardalan A. The future of ageing and its health care costs: a warning for health system. Salmand: Iranian Journal of Ageing. 2007; 2(2): 300-5. [Persian]
6. Sadeghiyan F, Raei M, Hashemi M, Amiri M, Chaman R. Elderly and health problems: a cross sectional study in the Shahroud township. Salmand: Iranian Journal of Ageing. 2011; 6(20): 26-30. [Persian]
7. Gheibizadeh M, Pourghane P, Mossaffa Khomami H, Heidari F, Atrkar Roushan Z. Identifying the determinants of stress in the retired elderly. Journal of Geriatric Nursing. 2016; 3(1): 49-61. [Persian]
8. Mansouri T, Farhadi A, Borhaninejad V R, Kojaie Bidgoli A, Navvabi Rigi SD, Hosseinabadi R. Factors and barriers affecting the social participation of older people. Journal of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences. 2018; 9(4): 66-73. [Persian]
9. Elahi T, Khosravi R, Rashidi Rashtabadi S, Akhavan A. Hopefulness and mental disorders in the Elderly. Journal of Advances in Medical and Biomedical Research. 2014; 22(92): 119-25. [Persian]
10. Mohtasham-Amiri Z. Elderly, and challenges ahead, with a look at the results of the 2016 census. Journal of Social Research. 2017; 2(4): 71-8. [Persian]

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