Abstract
Rapidly changing demographics worldwide are evidenced by increased life expectancy and the concomitant increase in the ageing population. Longevity has recently became an important issue for the healthcare industry, especially for those working with the ageing population. Social media and popular books suggest ways in which people can stay healthy and live a long life, including enhancing psychological well-being. Economies, like Hong Kong, which already have a high life expectancy do not automatically put health-related measures in place to increase their peoples’ longevity. It is envisaged that healthcare policy, especially in primary care, is important for any country to promote the concepts and health-related practices to increase the longevity of their citizens. In this chapter, the theory and biological and psychological perspectives of longevity will be addressed, including the physiological aspects of ageing, nutrition and so on. Specific attention will be given to issues surrounding frailty in older people. This will be followed by the assimilation of relevant evidence from both western and eastern perspectives. Regarding the implementation of modalities to enhance longevity, case studies will be used to highlight the policy as well as implementation issues for the way towards healthy ageing to achieve longevity of world citizens.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ageing Better. (2021). Digital inclusion. https://www.ageing-better.org.uk/digital-inclusion
Alzheimer’s Disease International. (2020). Dementia statistics. https://www.alzint.org/about/dementia-facts-figures/dementia-statistics/
BBC. (2017). How China’s first emperor searched for elixir of life. https://morokbarok.ru/news/world-asia-china-42477083
Blue Zones. (2021). Blue zones project. https://www.bluezones.com/services/blue-zones-project/
Brørs, G., Norman, C. D., & Norekvål, T. M. (2020). Accelerated importance of eHealth literacy in the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 19(6), 458–461. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474515120941307
Buettner, D. (2012). Blue zones (2nd ed.). Random House Publisher Services.
Buettner, D. (2017). The blue zones of happiness: Lessons from the world’s happiest people. National Geographic Partners LLC.
Chung, R. Y., & Sir Marmot, M. (2020). People in Hong Kong have the longest life expectancy in the world: Some possible explanations. NAM perspectives. Commentary, National Academy of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.31478/202001d
DiNicolantonio, J., & Fung, J. (2019). The longevity solution: Rediscovering centuries-old secrets to a healthy, long life. Victory Belt Publishing.
EIU. (2021). Productive ageing in Hong Kong: Breaking the mould of ageing. The Economist Intelligence Unit. https://eiuperspectives.economist.com/financial-services/productive-ageing-hong-kong-breaking-mould-ageing
Finkel, T., & Holbrook, N. J. (2000). Oxidants, oxidative stress and the biology of ageing. Nature, 408, 239–247. https://doi.org/10.1038/35041687
Grønning, K., Espnes, G. A., Nguyen, C., Rodrigues, A. M. F., Gregorio, M. J., Sousa, R., Canhão, H., & André, B. (2018). Psychological distress in elderly people is associated with diet, wellbeing, health status, social support and physical functioning—A HUNT3 study. BMC Geriatrics, 18(1), 205. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-018-0891-3
Infoplease. (2021). Life expectancy for countries. https://www.infoplease.com/world/health-and-social-statistics/life-expectancy-countries
Kirkwood, T. B. L. (2011). Systems biology of ageing and longevity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 366(1561), 64–70. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0275
Leung, A., Parial, L., Tolabing, M., Sim, T., Mo, P., Okan, O., & Dadaczynski, K. (2021). Sense of coherence mediates the relationship between digital health literacy and anxiety about the future in aging population during the COVID-19 pandemic: A path analysis. Aging & Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2020.1870206
Li, W. (2014). Geropsychology, overview. In T. Teo (Eds.), Encyclopedia of critical psychology. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_405
López-Otin, C., Blasco, M. A., Serrano, M., & Kroemer, G. (2013). The hallmarks of ageing. Cell, 153, 1194–1217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.039
Mathers, J. C., Deary, I. J., Kuh, D., Lord, J. M., Khaw, K.-T., Lara, J., Nussan, J., Cooper, R., & Ginty, A. (2012). Guidelines for biomarkers of healthy ageing. Medical Research Council.
Mendoza, M. (2020). Why do the elderly commit suicide? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/understanding-grief/202001/why-do-the-elderly-commit-suicide
mHealth. (2021). Digital exclusion: New research reveals how touchscreen future leaves 5.6 million elderly behind. The Journal of mHealth. https://d1h06bsnqv2xsg.cloudfront.net/Images/DigitalExclusion_Report_NoIsolation_Jul2021.pdf
Morrow, D. (2006). Mitigating the impact of low health literacy on older adults’ self-care. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2006/10/morrow
NAAL. (2016). Demographics. National Assessment of Adult Literacy. https://nces.ed.gov/naal/kf_demographics.asp
National Institute of Ageing. (2017). Depression and older adults. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/depression-and-older-adults
Nutbeam, D. (2000). Health literacy as a public health goal: A challenge for contemporary health education and communication strategies into the 21st century. Health Promotion International, 15(3), 259–267. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/15.3.259
Paasche-Orlow, M. K., Parker, R. M., Gazmararian, J. A., Nielsen-Bohlman, L. T., & Rudd, R. R. (2005). The prevalence of limited health literacy. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 20(2), 175–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.40245.x
Panagioti, M., Skevington, S. M., Hann, M., Howells, K., Blakemore, A., Reeves, D., & Bower, P. (2018). Effect of health literacy on the quality of life of older patients with long-term conditions: A large cohort study in UK general practice. Quality of Life Research, 27(5), 1257–1268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1775-2
Partridge, L. (2010). The new biology of ageing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 365(1537), 147–154. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0222
Pignolo, R. J. (2019). Exceptional human longevity. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 94(1), 110–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.10.005
Punt, D. (2020). The world’s oldest people and their secrets to a long life. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2020/10/the-worlds-oldest-people-and-their-secrets-to-a-long-life-632895
Rathore, F. A., & Farooq, F. (2020). Information overload and infodemic in the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 70(5), S162–S165. https://doi.org/10.5455/JPMA.38
Schanzenbach, D. W., Nunn, R., & Bauer, L. (2016). The changing landscape of American life expectancy. https://www.hamiltonproject.org/papers/the_changing_landscape_of_american_life_expectancy
SCMP. (2019). Hong Kong has the highest life expectancy in the world—What is the secret behind it? https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3034349/hong-kong-has-highest-life-expectancy-world-what
Sinclair, D., & LaPlante, M. (2019). Lifespan: The revolutionary science of why we age—And why we don’t have to. Atria Books.
Speros, C. (2011). Promoting health literacy: A nursing imperative. Nursing Clinics of North America, 46(3), 321–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnur.2011.05.007
Stowe, J. D., & Cooney, T. M. (2015). Examining Rowe and Kahn’s concept of successful aging: Importance of taking a life course perspective. The Gerontologist, 55(1), 43–50. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnu055
Sudore, R., & Schillinger, D. (2009). Interventions to improve care for patients with limited health literacy. Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management, 16(1), 20–29.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2010). National action plan to improve health literacy. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Health_Literacy_Action_Plan.pdf
UW News. (2021). How long can a person live? The 21st century may see a record-breaker. https://www.washington.edu/news/2021/07/01/how-long-can-a-person-live-the-21st-century-may-see-a-record-breaker/
van Deursen, J. M. (2014). The role of senescent cells in ageing. Nature, 509, 439–446. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13193
Wilmanski, T., Diener, C., Rappaport, N., Patwardhan, S., Wiedrick, J., Lapidus, J., Earls, J. C., Zimmer, A., Glusman, G., Robinson, M., Yurkovich, J. T., Kado, D. M., Cauley, J. A., Zmuda, J., Lane, N. E., Magis, A. T., Lovejoy, J. C., Hood, L., Gibbons, S. M., … Price, N. D. (2021). Gut microbiome pattern reflects healthy ageing and predicts survival in humans. Nature Metabolism, 3, 274–286. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-021-00348-0
Wingfield, A., & Stine-Morrow, E. A. L. (2000). Language and speech. In F. I. M. Craik & T. A. Salthouse (Eds.), The handbook of aging and cognition (pp. 359–416). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Wong, S., Zhang, D., Sit, R., Yip, B., Chung, R., Wong, C., Chan, D., Kwok, W., & Mercer, S. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on loneliness, mental health, and health service utilisation: A prospective cohort study of older adults with multimorbidity in primary care. British Journal of General Practice, 70(700), e817–e824. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp20X713021
World Health Organization. (2020). Dementia. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia
World Health Organization. (2021). Ageing and health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health
Young, S. (2021). The science and technology of growing young: An insider’s guide to the breakthroughs that will dramatically extend our lifespan . . . and what you can do right now. BenBella Books, Inc.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ng, F.S.F., Watson, R., Smith, G.D. (2022). Longevity and Ageing of World Citizens. In: Law, V.T.S., Fong, B.Y.F. (eds) Ageing with Dignity in Hong Kong and Asia. Quality of Life in Asia, vol 16. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3061-4_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3061-4_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-3060-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-3061-4
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)