Claudia Miranda and Jean Gajardo from the Millenium Institute MICARE participated in the event organized by GERO at the Gabriela Mistral Center.
Representatives from academia, and public and private organizations gathered in September to discuss the challenges of the demographic change in Chile at the event “Healthy Aging: Recommendations for Public Policy” organized by the Geroscience Brain Health and Metabolism Center (GERO).
Claudia Miranda, director of the Millenium Institute MICARE, participated in a panel focused on the social and economic challenges of healthy aging. The expert said the concept of healthy aging should include the promotion of autonomy not just at an individual level, but also at the level of the social ecosystem. “There has to be an intersectoral and territorial approach in public policy”.
Jean Gajardo, MICARE’s researcher, and representative of the Advisory Committee of SENAMA, participated in the panel discussion on the biological and health factors of healthy aging, where he outlined the meaning of the concept. “Healthy aging means to be able to continue doing the things that give us sense and wellbeing”.
In this context, Jean Gajardo said it is crucial for the health system and the development of services, to consider two key concepts: the course of life and gender. The expert explained that the different stages of life are interrelated and that our current health is influenced by our previous health record. He added that women carry a larger disease burden because of their longer life expectancy, which outlined the need for an adequate care system, specifically because they tend to assume care responsibilities disproportionately.
The event also included the participation of Felipe Salech, Cecilia Albala, Esteban Calvo, Teresa Matus, Olga Urra, and Ximena Abogabir.
