Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

Providing adequate care for the elderly, while also preservingtheir dignity, will be one of the earliest challenges for existingwelfare systems. Handling the ageing challenge will yieldbroader insights for understanding how society at large caresfor itself. Harnessing the untapped potential of the elderly asa value-producing segment of society, rethinking societal andinstitutional roles and responsibilities, and devising new waysto measure progress and set targets constitute key areas forfuture development.The basic terms of the discussion remain open for definition.For instance, “old age” can be described in a multitude of ways:although a biological definition may be the easiest to evaluate,it can also be limiting. To recast ageing as an opportunity ratherthan as a problem—to change the very understanding of “elderly”is where we must start any conversation about the futureof these welfare systems and the populations they support.276